The Wonderful Wizard of Oz — Page 1
The Cyclone
Il Ciclone
Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife.
Dorothy viveva in mezzo alle grandi praterie del Kansas, con lo zio Henry, che era un contadino, e la zia Em, che era la moglie del contadino.
Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles.
La loro casa era piccola, perché il legname per costruirla doveva essere trasportato su un carro per molte miglia.
There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cookstove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds.
C'erano quattro muri, un pavimento e un tetto, che formavano un'unica stanza; e questa stanza conteneva una cucina dall'aspetto arrugginito, una credenza per i piatti, un tavolo, tre o quattro sedie e i letti.
Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in another corner.
Lo zio Henry e la zia Em avevano un grande letto in un angolo, e Dorothy un piccolo letto in un altro angolo.
There was no garret at all, and no cellar—except a small hole dug in the ground, called a cyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path.
Non c'era alcun solaio, e nessuna cantina—eccetto un piccolo buco scavato nel terreno, chiamato rifugio anticiclone, dove la famiglia poteva rifugiarsi nel caso in cui uno di quei grandi vortici si sollevasse, abbastanza potente da distruggere qualsiasi edificio nel suo percorso.
It was reached by a trap door in the middle of the floor, from which a ladder led down into the small, dark hole.
Vi si accedeva tramite una botola al centro del pavimento, dalla quale una scala scendeva nel piccolo e buio buco.
When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side.
Quando Dorothy si fermava sulla soglia e si guardava intorno, non riusciva a vedere altro che la grande prateria grigia da ogni parte.
Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions.
Né un albero né una casa interrompevano la vasta distesa di pianura che si estendeva fino all'orizzonte in tutte le direzioni.
The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it.
Il sole aveva cotto la terra arata trasformandola in una massa grigia, attraversata da piccole crepe.
Vocabulary
- Ciclone
- A violent rotating windstorm; cyclone
- viveva
- She/he lived; past imperfect of vivere
- mezzo
- Middle, center, or half of something
- praterie
- Prairies, open grassy plains or meadows
- zio
- Uncle; a male relative, parent's brother
- contadino
- A farmer or peasant working the land
- zia
- Aunt; a female relative, parent's sister
- moglie
- Wife; a married woman in relation to husband
- legname
- Timber or lumber used in construction
- costruirla
- To build it; infinitive costruire with clitic
- doveva
- Had to, was required to; past imperfect of dovere
- trasportato
- Transported, carried; past participle of trasportare
- carro
- A cart or wagon used to transport goods
- miglia
- Miles; plural of miglio, unit of distance
- muri
- Walls; plural of muro, vertical structural elements
- pavimento
- Floor; the horizontal surface of a room
- tetto
- Roof; the covering structure atop a building
- formavano
- They formed; past imperfect of formare
- unica
- Unique, sole, only one; feminine adjective
- stanza
- Room; an enclosed space within a building
- conteneva
- It contained; past imperfect of contenere
- cucina
- Kitchen; the room used for cooking food
- aspetto
- Appearance, look, or aspect of something
- arrugginito
- Rusty; covered or affected by rust
- credenza
- A sideboard or cupboard for storing dishes
- piatti
- Plates or dishes; plural of piatto
- tavolo
- Table; a piece of furniture with a flat top
- sedie
- Chairs; plural of sedia, seat with a back
- letti
- Beds; plural of letto, furniture for sleeping
- letto
- Bed; furniture used for sleeping and resting
- angolo
- Corner or angle; a point where two lines meet
- alcun
- Any, no; indefinite adjective used in negation
- solaio
- Attic or loft; an upper storage space in a building
- nessuna
- No, none, not any; feminine negative adjective
- cantina
- Cellar or basement used for storage
- eccetto
- Except, apart from; exclusion preposition
- buco
- Hole; an opening or hollow in a surface
- scavato
- Dug, excavated; past participle of scavare
- terreno
- Ground, soil, land; the earth's surface
- rifugio
- Shelter, refuge; a safe place from danger
- anticiclone
- Anticyclone; a weather system opposing a cyclone
- poteva
- Could, was able to; past imperfect of potere
- rifugiarsi
- To take shelter, to seek refuge somewhere safe
- caso
- Case, event, situation; also chance or circumstance
- cui
- Whom, which; relative pronoun used after prepositions
- quei
- Those; masculine plural demonstrative adjective
- vortici
- Vortices, whirlwinds; plural of vortice
- sollevasse
- Might lift, should rise; subjunctive of sollevare
- abbastanza
- Enough, sufficiently; common Italian adverb
- potente
- Powerful, strong; adjective describing great force
- distruggere
- To destroy, to demolish completely
- qualsiasi
- Any, whatever; indefinite adjective for any type
- edificio
- Building, structure; a constructed architectural work
- percorso
- Path, route, course traveled by something
- Vi
- There, to it; locative pronoun referring to a place
- accedeva
- One accessed it; past imperfect of accedere
- tramite
- Through, by means of; preposition of means
- botola
- Trapdoor; a hinged door set into a floor
- quale
- Which, whom; relative or interrogative pronoun
- scala
- Staircase or ladder; steps connecting different levels
- scendeva
- It descended, went down; past imperfect of scendere
- buio
- Darkness; the absence of light
- fermava
- She stopped, stood still; past imperfect of fermarsi
- soglia
- Threshold, doorstep; the entrance of a building
- guardava
- She looked, watched; past imperfect of guardare
- intorno
- Around, surrounding; adverb or preposition of vicinity
- riusciva
- Managed to, was able to; past imperfect of riuscire
- prateria
- Prairie, grassland; flat open grassy landscape
- grigia
- Gray; feminine adjective describing a dull color
- ogni
- Every, each; indefinite adjective of totality
- Né
- Neither, nor; negative correlative conjunction
- albero
- Tree; a large woody perennial plant
- interrompevano
- They interrupted, broke up; past imperfect of interrompere
- vasta
- Vast, wide, extensive; feminine adjective of size
- distesa
- Expanse, stretch; a wide open flat area
- pianura
- Plain, flatland; flat level geographical terrain
- estendeva
- It extended, stretched out; past imperfect of estendersi
- fino
- Until, as far as, up to; preposition of limit
- orizzonte
- Horizon; the line where earth and sky meet
- direzioni
- Directions; plural of direzione, ways or bearings
- sole
- Sun; the star at the center of our solar system
- cotto
- Cooked, baked; past participle of cuocere
- terra
- Earth, ground, land, soil; surface underfoot
- arata
- Plowed, tilled; past participle of arare
- trasformandola
- Transforming it; gerund of trasformare with clitic
- massa
- Mass, bulk; a large body or quantity of matter
- attraversata
- Crossed, traversed; past participle of attraversare
- crepe
- Cracks, fissures; plural of crepa, splits in a surface
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