The Tale of Two Bad Mice — Page 1

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THE TALE OF TWO BAD MICE

LA STORIA DEI DUE TOPOLINI CATTIVI

FOR W. M. L. W. THE LITTLE GIRL WHO HAD THE DOLL'S HOUSE

A W. M. L. W. LA BAMBINA CHE AVEVA LA CASA DELLE BAMBOLE

THE TALE OF TWO BAD MICE BY BEATRIX POTTER

LA STORIA DEI DUE TOPOLINI CATTIVI DI BEATRIX POTTER

Author of 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit,' &c.

Autrice di «La storia di Peter Coniglio», ecc.

ONCE upon a time there was a very beautiful doll's-house; it was red brick with white windows, and it had real muslin curtains and a front door and a chimney.

C'ERA una volta una bellissima casa delle bambole; era di mattoni rossi con finestre bianche, e aveva vere tende di mussola e una porta d'ingresso e un camino.

IT belonged to two Dolls called Lucinda and Jane; at least it belonged to Lucinda, but she never ordered meals.

APPARTENEVA a due bambole chiamate Lucinda e Jane; almeno apparteneva a Lucinda, ma lei non ordinava mai i pasti.

Jane was the Cook; but she never did any cooking, because the dinner had been bought ready-made, in a box full of shavings.

Jane era la Cuoca; ma non cucinava mai nulla, perché la cena era stata comprata già pronta, in una scatola piena di trucioli.

THERE were two red lobsters and a ham, a fish, a pudding, and some pears and oranges.

C'ERANO due aragoste rosse e un prosciutto, un pesce, un budino, e alcune pere e arance.

They would not come off the plates, but they were extremely beautiful.

Non si staccavano dai piatti, ma erano straordinariamente belli.

ONE morning Lucinda and Jane had gone out for a drive in the doll's perambulator.

UN mattino Lucinda e Jane erano uscite per un giro in carrozzina con la bambola.

There was no one in the nursery, and it was very quiet.

Non c'era nessuno in sala dei giochi, e regnava un gran silenzio.

Presently there was a little scuffling, scratching noise in a corner near the fire-place, where there was a hole under the skirting-board.

Ben presto si sentì un piccolo rumore di tramestio e grattugliamento in un angolo vicino al caminetto, dove c'era un buco sotto il battiscopa.

Tom Thumb put out his head for a moment, and then popped it in again.

Pollicino tirò fuori la testa per un momento, e poi la ritirò di nuovo dentro.

Tom Thumb was a mouse.

Pollicino era un topo.

Vocabulary

STORIA: storia — Story, history, or narrative
DUE: due — Two (the number 2)
TOPOLINI: topolini — Little mice (diminutive plural of topo)
CATTIVI: cattivi — Bad, naughty, or wicked (masculine plural)
BAMBINA: bambina — Little girl, young female child
AVEVA: aveva — Had (third person singular imperfect of avere)
CASA: casa — House, home, dwelling place
BAMBOLE: bambole — Dolls (plural of bambola)
Autrice: autrice — Female author or writer of a work
storia: storia — Story, history, or narrative
Coniglio: coniglio — Rabbit, a small burrowing mammal
ecc: eccetera — Etcetera, abbreviation meaning and so on
LONDRA: Londra — London, capital city of England
Tutti: tutti — All, everyone (masculine plural adjective/pronoun)
diritti: diritti — Rights (plural); legal or moral entitlements
riservati: riservati — Reserved, kept exclusively for specific use
REGISTRATO: registrato — Registered, officially recorded or documented
C': ci — There (clitic particle, contraction of ci)
ERA: era — Was, there was (imperfect of essere)
volta: volta — Time, occasion; once (as in 'once upon a time')
bellissima: bellissima — Very beautiful, extremely lovely (feminine superlative)
casa: casa — House, home, dwelling place
bambole: bambole — Dolls (plural of bambola)
era: era — Was, there was (imperfect of essere)
mattoni: mattoni — Bricks, rectangular blocks used in construction
rossi: rossi — Red (masculine plural adjective)
finestre: finestre — Windows (plural of finestra)
bianche: bianche — White (feminine plural adjective)
aveva: aveva — Had (third person singular imperfect of avere)
vere: vere — Real, true (feminine plural adjective)
tende: tende — Curtains, drapes for covering windows
mussola: mussola — Muslin, a lightweight thin cotton fabric
porta: porta — Door, entrance to a building or room
ingresso: ingresso — Entrance, entry, front door area
camino: camino — Fireplace, chimney for heating a room
APPARTENEVA: apparteneva — Belonged to (imperfect tense of appartenere)
due: due — Two (the number 2)
chiamate: chiamate — Called, named (feminine plural past participle)
almeno: almeno — At least, as a minimum
apparteneva: apparteneva — Belonged to (imperfect tense of appartenere)
ordinava: ordinava — Used to order, arrange (imperfect of ordinare)
mai: mai — Never, ever (adverb of time)
pasti: pasti — Meals (plural of pasto)
Cuoca: cuoca — Female cook, woman who prepares food
cucinava: cucinava — Used to cook (imperfect tense of cucinare)
nulla: nulla — Nothing, not anything at all
perché: perché — Because, why (conjunction/interrogative adverb)
cena: cena — Dinner, the evening meal
stata: stata — Been (feminine past participle of essere)
comprata: comprata — Bought, purchased (feminine past participle)
già: già — Already, previously (adverb of time)
pronta: pronta — Ready, prepared (feminine adjective)
scatola: scatola — Box, container made of cardboard or tin
piena: piena — Full, filled (feminine singular adjective)
trucioli: trucioli — Wood shavings, small curls of shaved material
ERANO: erano — Were (third person plural imperfect of essere)
aragoste: aragoste — Lobsters (plural of aragosta)
rosse: rosse — Red (feminine plural adjective)
prosciutto: prosciutto — Cured Italian ham, sliced thin
pesce: pesce — Fish (singular noun)
budino: budino — Pudding, a soft sweet dessert
alcune: alcune — Some, a few (feminine plural indefinite adjective)
pere: pere — Pears (plural of pera)
arance: arance — Oranges (plural of arancia)
staccavano: staccavano — Used to detach, came off (imperfect of staccare)
piatti: piatti — Plates, dishes (plural of piatto)
erano: erano — Were (third person plural imperfect of essere)
straordinariamente: straordinariamente — Extraordinarily, remarkably (adverb)
belli: belli — Beautiful, handsome (masculine plural adjective)
mattino: mattino — Morning, the early part of the day
uscite: uscite — Gone out, left (feminine plural past participle)
giro: giro — Walk, ride, tour, stroll around somewhere
carrozzina: carrozzina — Pram, baby carriage or small doll's carriage
bambola: bambola — Doll, a toy figure resembling a person
c': ci — There (clitic particle, contraction of ci)
nessuno: nessuno — Nobody, no one, not anyone
sala: sala — Room, hall, large interior space
giochi: giochi — Games, plays (plural of gioco)
regnava: regnava — Reigned, prevailed (imperfect of regnare)
gran: gran — Great, big (shortened form of grande)
silenzio: silenzio — Silence, absence of sound or noise
Ben: ben — Well, quite (adverb, often in 'ben presto')
presto: presto — Soon, quickly (adverb of time or manner)
sentì: sentì — Heard, felt (third person singular past tense)
piccolo: piccolo — Small, little (masculine singular adjective)
rumore: rumore — Noise, sound (singular noun)
tramestio: tramestio — Rustling, scurrying, confused bustling noise
grattugliamento: grattugliamento — Scraping, scratching sound or action
angolo: angolo — Corner, angle of a room or street
vicino: vicino — Near, close to (adjective/preposition)
caminetto: caminetto — Small fireplace or hearth in a room
dove: dove — Where (interrogative/relative adverb)
buco: buco — Hole, gap or opening in a surface
sotto: sotto — Under, below (preposition/adverb)
battiscopa: battiscopa — Baseboard, skirting board along a wall's base
tirò: tirò — Pulled, drew out (third person singular past tense)
fuori: fuori — Outside, out (adverb of place)
testa: testa — Head, the upper part of the body
momento: momento — Moment, a very short period of time
poi: poi — Then, afterwards, later (adverb of time)
ritirò: ritirò — Withdrew, pulled back (third person singular past)
nuovo: nuovo — New; again (in 'di nuovo' means again)
dentro: dentro — Inside, within (adverb/preposition of place)
topo: topo — Mouse, a small rodent

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