The Wonderful Wizard of Oz — Page 4
Aunt Em, badly frightened, threw open the trap door in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small, dark hole.
La zia Em, molto spaventata, aprì di scatto la botola nel pavimento e scese la scala nella piccola, buia cavità.
Dorothy caught Toto at last and started to follow her aunt.
Dorothy riuscì finalmente ad afferrare Toto e cominciò a seguire la zia.
When she was halfway across the room there came a great shriek from the wind, and the house shook so hard that she lost her footing and sat down suddenly upon the floor.
Quando fu a metà della stanza, giunse un grande sibilo dal vento, e la casa tremò così forte che perse l'equilibrio e cadde all'improvviso sul pavimento.
Then a strange thing happened.
Poi accadde una cosa strana.
The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through the air.
La casa girò su se stessa due o tre volte e si sollevò lentamente nell'aria.
Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.
Dorothy aveva la sensazione di salire su una mongolfiera.
The north and south winds met where the house stood, and made it the exact center of the cyclone.
I venti del nord e del sud si incontrarono nel punto in cui sorgeva la casa, e la resero l'esatto centro del ciclone.
In the middle of a cyclone the air is generally still, but the great pressure of the wind on every side of the house raised it up higher and higher, until it was at the very top of the cyclone; and there it remained and was carried miles and miles away as easily as you could carry a feather.
Al centro di un ciclone l'aria è generalmente ferma, ma la grande pressione del vento su ogni lato della casa la sollevò sempre più in alto, finché non raggiunse la vetta stessa del ciclone; e lì rimase e fu trasportata per miglia e miglia con la stessa facilità con cui si potrebbe trasportare una piuma.
It was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, but Dorothy found she was riding quite easily.
Era molto buio, e il vento ululava in modo orribile intorno a lei, ma Dorothy scoprì che stava procedendo abbastanza agevolmente.
After the first few whirls around, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.
Dopo i primi giri vorticosi, e un'altra volta in cui la casa si inclinò pericolosamente, ebbe la sensazione di essere dondolata dolcemente, come un bambino in una culla.
Toto did not like it.
Toto non ne era affatto contento.
Vocabulary
- zia
- Aunt; a female relative, sister of a parent
- molto
- Very; to a great degree or extent
- spaventata
- Frightened; feeling fear or alarm
- aprì
- Opened; past tense of 'aprire'
- scatto
- Sudden movement or jolt; snap or click
- botola
- Trapdoor; a hinged door set in a floor
- pavimento
- Floor; the lower surface of a room
- scese
- Descended; went down, past tense of 'scendere'
- scala
- Staircase or ladder; steps used to climb
- piccola
- Small; of limited size or extent
- buia
- Dark; lacking light, feminine form of 'buio'
- cavità
- Cavity; a hollow or empty space within something
- riuscì
- Managed to; succeeded in doing something
- finalmente
- Finally; at last, after a long time
- afferrare
- To grab; to seize or catch hold of
- cominciò
- Began; started doing something, past tense
- seguire
- To follow; to go after someone or something
- Quando
- When; at the time that something happened
- fu
- Was; past tense of 'essere' (to be)
- metà
- Half; one of two equal parts
- stanza
- Room; an enclosed space within a building
- giunse
- Arrived; reached a place, past tense of 'giungere'
- grande
- Great or large; of considerable size or intensity
- sibilo
- Hiss or whistle; a sharp sibilant sound
- vento
- Wind; moving air, natural atmospheric phenomenon
- casa
- House; a building used as a home
- tremò
- Shook; trembled or vibrated, past tense
- così
- So; to such a degree or in such a way
- forte
- Strong or hard; with great force or intensity
- perse
- Lost; past tense of 'perdere', to lose
- equilibrio
- Balance; a state of physical steadiness
- cadde
- Fell; dropped down, past tense of 'cadere'
- improvviso
- Sudden; happening unexpectedly without warning
- Poi
- Then; afterwards, indicating sequence of events
- accadde
- Happened; occurred, past tense of 'accadere'
- cosa
- Thing; an object, event, or matter
- strana
- Strange; unusual or surprising, feminine form
- girò
- Turned or spun; rotated, past tense of 'girare'
- stessa
- Herself; same, used in reflexive expressions
- due
- Two; the number 2
- tre
- Three; the number 3
- volte
- Times; occasions or repetitions of an action
- sollevò
- Lifted; rose upward, past tense of 'sollevare'
- lentamente
- Slowly; in a slow or unhurried manner
- aria
- Air; the invisible gaseous substance surrounding earth
- aveva
- Had; imperfect tense of 'avere', to have
- sensazione
- Sensation; a feeling or perception experienced physically
- salire
- To rise or go up; to ascend
- mongolfiera
- Hot-air balloon; aircraft lifted by heated air
- venti
- Winds; plural of 'vento', moving air currents
- nord
- North; one of the four cardinal directions
- sud
- South; the cardinal direction opposite to north
- incontrarono
- Met; encountered each other, past tense
- punto
- Point or spot; a precise location or place
- cui
- Which/where; relative pronoun used after prepositions
- sorgeva
- Stood or rose; was situated, imperfect tense
- resero
- Made or rendered; past tense of 'rendere'
- esatto
- Exact; precise, perfectly accurate or correct
- centro
- Center; the middle point of something
- ciclone
- Cyclone; a violent rotating windstorm
- è
- Is; third person singular of 'essere', to be
- generalmente
- Generally; usually, in most cases or situations
- ferma
- Still or stationary; not moving, feminine form
- ma
- But; coordinating conjunction expressing contrast
- pressione
- Pressure; force exerted on a surface area
- ogni
- Every; each one of a group individually
- lato
- Side; one of the surfaces of an object
- sempre
- Always; at all times, continuously
- più
- More; to a greater degree or extent
- alto
- High; elevated, at a great height
- finché
- Until; up to the point when something happens
- raggiunse
- Reached; attained, past tense of 'raggiungere'
- vetta
- Summit or top; the highest point of something
- lì
- There; at or in that place
- rimase
- Remained; stayed, past tense of 'rimanere'
- trasportata
- Carried or transported; moved from one place
- miglia
- Miles; plural of 'miglio', unit of distance
- facilità
- Ease; the quality of being done without difficulty
- potrebbe
- Could; conditional tense of 'potere', to be able
- trasportare
- To transport; to carry or convey something somewhere
- piuma
- Feather; a light flat structure from a bird
- Era
- Was/it was; imperfect tense of 'essere'
- buio
- Dark or darkness; absence of light
- ululava
- Howled; made a long wailing sound, imperfect tense
- modo
- Way or manner; the how of doing something
- orribile
- Horrible; causing horror or extreme displeasure
- intorno
- Around; on all sides, surrounding something
- lei
- She/her; third person singular feminine pronoun
- scoprì
- Discovered; found out, past tense of 'scoprire'
- stava
- Was; imperfect of 'stare', used in progressive tenses
- procedendo
- Proceeding or moving; gerund of 'procedere'
- abbastanza
- Quite or enough; to a sufficient degree
- agevolmente
- Smoothly or easily; without difficulty or trouble
- Dopo
- After; following in time or sequence
- primi
- First; the initial ones, masculine plural form
- giri
- Turns or rotations; plural of 'giro'
- vorticosi
- Swirling or whirling; spinning rapidly in circles
- altra
- Another; a different or additional one, feminine
- volta
- Time or turn; an instance of something happening
- inclinò
- Tilted; leaned or inclined, past tense
- pericolosamente
- Dangerously; in a way that causes risk or harm
- ebbe
- Had; past tense of 'avere', to have
- essere
- To be; fundamental Italian verb of existence
- dondolata
- Rocked or swayed; gently moved back and forth
- dolcemente
- Gently or sweetly; in a soft, tender manner
- come
- Like/as; used for comparison or similarity
- bambino
- Baby or child; a young human being
- culla
- Cradle; a small rocking bed for a baby
- ne
- Of it/about it; partitive or pronoun replacing phrase
- era
- Was; imperfect tense of 'essere', to be
- affatto
- At all; used for emphasis in negative sentences
- contento
- Happy or pleased; feeling satisfaction or contentment
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