The Yellow Wallpaper — Page 4
" So we took the nursery, at the top of the house.
Así que tomamos el cuarto de los niños, en lo alto de la casa.
It is a big, airy room, the whole floor nearly, with windows that look all ways, and air and sunshine galore.
Es una habitación grande y espaciosa, casi toda la planta, con ventanas que miran en todas direcciones, y abundante aire y luz solar.
It was nursery first and then playground and gymnasium, I should judge; for the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the walls.
Fue primero cuarto de niños y luego patio de recreo y gimnasio, a juzgar por lo que veo; pues las ventanas tienen barrotes para los niños pequeños, y hay argollas y cosas por el estilo en las paredes.
The paint and paper look as if a boys' school had used it.
La pintura y el papel tienen el aspecto de haber sido usados por una escuela de niños.
It is stripped off—the paper—in great patches all around the head of my bed, about as far as I can reach, and in a great place on the other side of the room low down.
Está arrancado —el papel— en grandes trozos alrededor del cabecero de mi cama, hasta donde alcanzo con la mano, y en un gran trozo al otro lado de la habitación, en la parte baja.
I never saw a worse paper in my life.
En mi vida había visto un papel peor.
One of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin.
Uno de esos estampados extravagantes y recargados que cometen todos los pecados artísticos posibles.
It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate, and provoke study, and when you follow the lame, uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide—plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard-of contradictions.
Es lo suficientemente apagado como para confundir la vista al seguirlo, lo suficientemente marcado como para irritar constantemente y provocar su estudio, y cuando se siguen las torpes e inciertas curvas durante un trecho, de repente se suicidan —se lanzan en ángulos escandalosos, se destruyen a sí mismas en contradicciones inauditas.
The color is repellant, almost revolting; a smouldering, unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight.
El color es repelente, casi repugnante; un amarillo sucio y sofocante, extrañamente desteñido por la lenta rotación de la luz solar.
It is a dull yet lurid orange in some places, a sickly sulphur tint in others.
Es un naranja apagado pero lúgubre en algunos lugares, y un tono de azufre enfermizo en otros.
No wonder the children hated it!
¡Con razón los niños lo detestaban!
I should hate it myself if I had to live in this room long.
Yo misma lo odiaría si tuviera que vivir mucho tiempo en esta habitación.
There comes John, and I must put this away,—he hates to have me write a word.
Ahí viene John, y debo guardar esto —le molesta que yo escriba ni una sola palabra.
Vocabulary
- Así
- In this way; used to indicate manner or result
- que
- That; conjunction connecting clauses or meaning 'that'
- tomamos
- We took; first person plural past tense of tomar
- cuarto
- Room; also means fourth or quarter
- niños
- Children; young boys or kids in general
- lo
- The; neuter article used with adjectives or adverbs
- alto
- High, tall; describes elevation or height
- casa
- House; a building where people live
- habitación
- Room; a distinct space within a house
- grande
- Large, big; describes something of great size
- espaciosa
- Spacious; having a lot of room or space
- casi
- Almost, nearly; indicates something close to complete
- toda
- All, entire; feminine form of todo
- planta
- Floor, level; one story of a building
- ventanas
- Windows; openings in walls that let in light
- miran
- They face, look out; third person plural of mirar
- todas
- All; feminine plural form of todo
- direcciones
- Directions; orientations or ways something faces
- abundante
- Abundant, plentiful; present in large quantities
- aire
- Air; the invisible gaseous substance surrounding us
- luz
- Light; visible illumination from sun or other sources
- solar
- Solar; relating to or coming from the sun
- Fue
- It was; third person singular past tense of ser
- primero
- First; indicates the first in a sequence or order
- luego
- Then, later; indicates sequence or subsequent time
- patio
- Courtyard, patio; outdoor area attached to a building
- recreo
- Recreation, recess; time or place for play and rest
- gimnasio
- Gymnasium; room or building equipped for physical exercise
- juzgar
- To judge; to form an opinion or evaluation
- veo
- I see; first person singular present of ver
- pues
- Well, since, then; connective or explanatory word
- tienen
- They have; third person plural present of tener
- barrotes
- Bars, iron bars; thick bars used on windows or cages
- pequeños
- Small ones, little ones; refers to small children here
- hay
- There is, there are; impersonal form of haber
- argollas
- Rings, iron rings; large metal rings fixed to walls
- cosas
- Things; general term for objects or items
- estilo
- Style; manner, design, or characteristic appearance
- paredes
- Walls; vertical structures forming sides of a room
- pintura
- Paint, painting; coating applied to surfaces for color
- papel
- Wallpaper, paper; material used to cover walls or write on
- aspecto
- Appearance, aspect; the way something looks overall
- haber
- To have; auxiliary verb used to form compound tenses
- sido
- Been; past participle of ser used in perfect tenses
- usados
- Used; past participle of usar, meaning utilized or worn
- escuela
- School; institution where children receive education
- Está
- Is; third person singular present of estar
- arrancado
- Torn off, ripped away; past participle of arrancar
- grandes
- Large, big; plural form of grande
- trozos
- Pieces, chunks; fragments torn or cut from something
- alrededor
- Around; surrounding or in the vicinity of something
- cabecero
- Headboard; board at the head of a bed
- cama
- Bed; furniture used for sleeping and resting
- hasta
- Until, up to; preposition indicating limit or extent
- donde
- Where; relative or interrogative adverb of place
- alcanzo
- I reach; first person singular present of alcanzar
- mano
- Hand; the part of the arm below the wrist
- gran
- Great, large; shortened form of grande before nouns
- trozo
- Piece, chunk; a fragment of something torn or broken
- otro
- Other, another; refers to a different person or thing
- lado
- Side; one of two or more faces or parts of something
- parte
- Part; a section or portion of a larger whole
- baja
- Low; the lower section or area of something
- vida
- Life; the existence of a living person or being
- había
- There was, had; imperfect of haber used as auxiliary
- visto
- Seen; past participle of ver
- peor
- Worse, worst; comparative or superlative of malo
- Uno
- One; number or indefinite pronoun meaning one of
- esos
- Those; masculine plural demonstrative adjective or pronoun
- estampados
- Patterns, prints; decorative printed designs on surfaces
- extravagantes
- Extravagant, outlandish; bizarre or excessively elaborate
- recargados
- Overloaded, overly ornate; excessively decorated or cluttered
- cometen
- They commit; third person plural present of cometer
- todos
- All, every; masculine plural of todo
- pecados
- Sins; moral wrongs or offenses against principles
- artísticos
- Artistic; relating to art or aesthetic principles
- posibles
- Possible; capable of happening or being done
- suficientemente
- Sufficiently, enough; to an adequate degree or extent
- apagado
- Dull, faded; lacking brightness or intensity of color
- como
- Like, as, how; used for comparison or explanation
- confundir
- To confuse; to cause someone to become disoriented
- vista
- Sight, vision; the sense of seeing or one's gaze
- seguirlo
- To follow it; infinitive seguir with object pronoun lo
- marcado
- Marked, pronounced; clearly noticeable or defined
- irritar
- To irritate; to annoy or cause discomfort continuously
- constantemente
- Constantly; without stopping or changing, all the time
- provocar
- To provoke; to stimulate or arouse a reaction
- estudio
- Study; the act of examining or analyzing something carefully
- cuando
- When; temporal conjunction or adverb
- siguen
- They follow; third person plural present of seguir
- torpes
- Clumsy, awkward; lacking grace or skill in movement
- e
- And; variant of y used before words starting with i
- inciertas
- Uncertain, wavering; not definite or steady in form
- curvas
- Curves; lines that bend gradually without sharp angles
- durante
- During, for; preposition indicating a period of time
- trecho
- Stretch, distance; a portion of space or time
- repente
- Suddenly; used in the phrase 'de repente' meaning suddenly
- suicidan
- They commit suicide; used metaphorically for lines that end abruptly
- lanzan
- They launch, they throw; third person plural of lanzar
- ángulos
- Angles; the space between two intersecting lines
- escandalosos
- Scandalous, shocking; causing outrage or disbelief
- destruyen
- They destroy; third person plural present of destruir
- sí
- Themselves; reflexive pronoun, or yes as affirmation
- mismas
- Themselves; feminine plural of mismo used reflexively
- contradicciones
- Contradictions; statements or things that are inconsistent
- inauditas
- Unheard-of, outrageous; unprecedented or shockingly unusual
- color
- Color; the visual property produced by different wavelengths
- repelente
- Repellent, repulsive; causing strong feelings of disgust
- repugnante
- Repugnant, disgusting; causing intense disgust or revulsion
- amarillo
- Yellow; the color between orange and green in spectrum
- sucio
- Dirty; not clean, soiled or unpleasant in appearance
- sofocante
- Suffocating, stifling; uncomfortably hot or oppressive
- extrañamente
- Strangely; in an unusual or bizarre manner
- desteñido
- Faded; having lost its original color or brightness
- lenta
- Slow; feminine form of lento, moving at low speed
- rotación
- Rotation; the action of rotating around an axis
- naranja
- Orange; the color between red and yellow
- pero
- But; coordinating conjunction indicating contrast
- lúgubre
- Lugubrious, gloomy; dark and mournful in character
- algunos
- Some; masculine plural indefinite adjective or pronoun
- lugares
- Places; specific locations or positions in space
- tono
- Tone, shade; a particular quality or shade of color
- azufre
- Sulfur; a yellow chemical element with pungent smell
- enfermizo
- Sickly; suggesting or causing illness or unhealthiness
- otros
- Others; masculine plural of otro, meaning other places
- razón
- Reason; used in 'con razón' meaning no wonder or rightly
- detestaban
- They detested; imperfect past tense of detestar
- misma
- Myself; feminine reflexive intensifier meaning 'myself'
- odiaría
- I would hate; first person singular conditional of odiar
- si
- If; conditional conjunction introducing hypothetical clauses
- tuviera
- I had, were to have; imperfect subjunctive of tener
- vivir
- To live; infinitive expressing existence or dwelling somewhere
- mucho
- Much, a lot; indicates a large quantity or degree
- tiempo
- Time; the indefinite continued progress of existence
- esta
- This; feminine singular demonstrative adjective or pronoun
- Ahí
- There; adverb indicating a place nearby
- viene
- Comes; third person singular present of venir
- debo
- I must, I owe; first person singular present of deber
- guardar
- To put away, to keep; to store or hide something
- esto
- This; neuter demonstrative pronoun referring to a thing
- molesta
- It bothers; third person singular of molestar
- escriba
- Write; present subjunctive of escribir used in subordinate clause
- ni
- Not even, nor; negative conjunction indicating negation
- sola
- Alone; feminine form of solo, by oneself without others
- palabra
- Word; a single unit of language with meaning
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