The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies — Page 3
He stared at them for some time.
Li fissò per un po' di tempo.
Presently a fly settled on one of them and it moved.
Poco dopo una mosca si posò su uno di loro e quello si mosse.
Mr. McGregor climbed down on to the rubbish heap--
Il signor McGregor scese sul mucchio di rifiuti--
"One, two, three, four! five! six leetle rabbits!" said he as he dropped them into his sack.
"Uno, due, tre, quattro! cinque! sei coniglietti!" disse mentre li lasciava cadere nel suo sacco.
The Flopsy Bunnies dreamt that their mother was turning them over in bed.
I Coniglietti Flopsy sognavano che la loro madre li stesse girando nel letto.
They stirred a little in their sleep, but still they did not wake up.
Si mossero un poco nel sonno, ma non si svegliarono lo stesso.
Mr. McGregor tied up the sack and left it on the wall.
Il signor McGregor legò il sacco e lo lasciò sul muro.
He went to put away the mowing machine.
Andò a riporre la falciatrice.
While he was gone, Mrs. Flopsy Bunny (who had remained at home) came across the field.
Mentre era via, la signora Coniglia Flopsy (che era rimasta a casa) attraversò il campo.
She looked suspiciously at the sack and wondered where everybody was?
Guardò il sacco con sospetto e si chiese dove fossero tutti.
Then the mouse came out of her jam pot, and Benjamin took the paper bag off his head, and they told the doleful tale.
Poi il topo uscì dal suo barattolo di marmellata, e Benjamin si tolse il sacchetto di carta dalla testa, e raccontarono la triste storia.
Benjamin and Flopsy were in despair, they could not undo the string.
Benjamin e Flopsy erano disperati, non riuscivano a sciogliere lo spago.
But Mrs. Tittlemouse was a resourceful person.
Ma la signora Tittlemouse era una persona piena di risorse.
She nibbled a hole in the bottom corner of the sack.
Rosicchiò un buco nell'angolo in fondo al sacco.
The little rabbits were pulled out and pinched to wake them.
I coniglietti furono tirati fuori e pizzicati per svegliarli.
Their parents stuffed the empty sack with three rotten vegetable marrows, an old blacking-brush and two decayed turnips.
I loro genitori riempirono il sacco vuoto con tre zucche marce, una vecchia spazzola da scarpe e due rape putrefatte.
Then they all hid under a bush and watched for Mr. McGregor.
Poi si nascosero tutti sotto un cespuglio e aspettarono il signor McGregor.
Mr. McGregor came back and picked up the sack, and carried it off.
Il signor McGregor tornò, prese il sacco e se lo portò via.
He carried it hanging down, as if it were rather heavy.
Lo portava penzolante, come se fosse piuttosto pesante.
Vocabulary
- Li
- Them (masculine plural direct object pronoun)
- fissò
- He/she stared or fixed gaze upon something
- per
- For, through, or in order to
- un
- A, an (masculine indefinite article)
- po'
- A little, a short amount of time
- di
- Of, from (common Italian preposition)
- tempo
- Time or weather
- Poco
- Little, not much, a small amount
- dopo
- After, afterward, later
- una
- A, an (feminine indefinite article)
- mosca
- A fly (small flying insect)
- si
- Reflexive pronoun: himself, herself, itself
- posò
- Landed or rested on a surface
- su
- On, upon (Italian preposition)
- uno
- One (masculine numeral or pronoun)
- loro
- Their, them, they (pronoun)
- e
- And (basic Italian conjunction)
- quello
- That one (masculine demonstrative pronoun)
- mosse
- Moved or stirred (past tense)
- Il
- The (masculine singular definite article)
- signor
- Mister, title of address for a man
- scese
- He/she descended or got down
- sul
- On the (contraction of su + il)
- mucchio
- A heap, pile of things
- rifiuti
- Rubbish, waste, garbage
- due
- Two (Italian numeral)
- tre
- Three (Italian numeral)
- quattro
- Four (Italian numeral)
- cinque
- Five (Italian numeral)
- sei
- Six (Italian numeral)
- coniglietti
- Little rabbits, small bunnies
- disse
- He/she said (past tense of dire)
- mentre
- While, as, meanwhile
- lasciava
- He/she was letting, leaving something
- cadere
- To fall, to drop down
- nel
- In the (contraction of in + il)
- sacco
- A bag or sack
- Coniglietti
- Little rabbits, small bunnies (plural)
- sognavano
- They were dreaming (imperfect tense)
- che
- That, which, who (conjunction/pronoun)
- madre
- Mother, female parent
- stesse
- Was staying or being (subjunctive imperfect)
- girando
- Turning, spinning, going around
- letto
- Bed (furniture for sleeping)
- mossero
- They moved (past tense of muovere)
- sonno
- Sleep, drowsiness
- ma
- But (Italian conjunction)
- non
- Not (Italian negation word)
- svegliarono
- They woke up (past tense)
- lo
- Him, it (masculine singular direct object)
- stesso
- Same, self (adjective/pronoun)
- legò
- He/she tied, bound something up
- lasciò
- He/she left or let go
- muro
- A wall (of a building or structure)
- Andò
- He/she went (past tense of andare)
- a
- To, at (basic Italian preposition)
- riporre
- To put away, store something
- falciatrice
- A lawn mower or reaping machine
- era
- He/she/it was (imperfect of essere)
- via
- Away, off, gone
- signora
- Mrs., madam, title for a woman
- Coniglia
- Female rabbit, doe rabbit
- rimasta
- Remained, stayed behind (feminine past participle)
- casa
- Home, house
- attraversò
- He/she crossed over, went through
- campo
- A field or open outdoor area
- Guardò
- He/she looked at, observed something
- con
- With (Italian preposition)
- sospetto
- Suspicion, mistrust, doubt
- chiese
- He/she asked a question
- dove
- Where (interrogative or conjunction)
- fossero
- They were (subjunctive imperfect of essere)
- tutti
- Everyone, all of them
- Poi
- Then, afterward, next
- topo
- A mouse or rat
- uscì
- He/she exited, came out
- dal
- From the (contraction of da + il)
- barattolo
- A jar or tin container
- marmellata
- Jam or marmalade (fruit preserve)
- tolse
- He/she removed or took off something
- sacchetto
- A small bag or pouch
- carta
- Paper or card material
- dalla
- From the (contraction of da + la)
- testa
- Head (part of the body)
- raccontarono
- They told, narrated a story
- triste
- Sad, sorrowful, unhappy
- storia
- Story, history, account of events
- erano
- They were (imperfect of essere)
- disperati
- Desperate, hopeless, in despair
- riuscivano
- They managed or were able to
- sciogliere
- To untie, loosen or dissolve something
- spago
- String, twine used for tying
- persona
- A person, individual human being
- piena
- Full of, filled with something
- risorse
- Resources, means, capabilities
- Rosicchiò
- He/she gnawed or nibbled at something
- buco
- A hole, gap or opening
- nell'
- In the (contraction of in + l')
- angolo
- A corner or angle
- in
- In, inside (Italian preposition)
- fondo
- Bottom, back, far end
- al
- To the (contraction of a + il)
- furono
- They were (past tense of essere)
- tirati
- Pulled out, dragged (past participle plural)
- fuori
- Outside, out, beyond
- pizzicati
- Pinched, nipped (past participle plural)
- svegliarli
- To wake them up (infinitive + pronoun)
- genitori
- Parents, mother and father
- riempirono
- They filled up something
- vuoto
- Empty space, void, emptiness
- zucche
- Pumpkins or squashes (plural)
- marce
- Rotten, decayed (feminine plural adjective)
- vecchia
- Old, elderly (feminine adjective)
- spazzola
- A brush used for cleaning or hair
- da
- From, by, since (Italian preposition)
- scarpe
- Shoes (plural)
- rape
- Turnips (root vegetables, plural)
- putrefatte
- Rotted, putrid, decomposed (feminine plural)
- nascosero
- They hid themselves or something
- sotto
- Under, beneath, below
- cespuglio
- A bush or shrub
- aspettarono
- They waited, stayed waiting
- tornò
- He/she returned, came back
- prese
- He/she took or grabbed something
- se
- Himself, herself (reflexive pronoun)
- portò
- He/she carried or brought something
- Lo
- Him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
- portava
- He/she was carrying or bringing
- penzolante
- Dangling, hanging loosely downward
- come
- As, like, how
- fosse
- Were, was (subjunctive imperfect of essere)
- piuttosto
- Rather, quite, somewhat
- pesante
- Heavy, weighty, burdensome
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →