The Yellow Wallpaper — Page 8
I never saw so much expression in an inanimate thing before, and we all know how much expression they have!
Nunca había visto tanta expresión en algo inanimado, ¡y todos sabemos cuánta expresión tienen!
I used to lie awake as a child and get more entertainment and terror out of blank walls and plain furniture than most children could find in a toy-store.
De niña solía quedarme despierta y encontrar más entretenimiento y terror en paredes en blanco y muebles sencillos de lo que la mayoría de los niños podría encontrar en una juguetería.
I remember what a kindly wink the knobs of our big old bureau used to have, and there was one chair that always seemed like a strong friend.
Recuerdo el amable guiño que tenían los tiradores de nuestro viejo y gran armario, y había una silla que siempre parecía un amigo fuerte y leal.
I used to feel that if any of the other things looked too fierce I could always hop into that chair and be safe.
Solía sentir que si alguna de las otras cosas parecía demasiado amenazante, siempre podía saltar a esa silla y estar a salvo.
The furniture in this room is no worse than inharmonious, however, for we had to bring it all from downstairs.
El mobiliario de esta habitación no es peor que disonante, sin embargo, pues tuvimos que traerlo todo desde abajo.
I suppose when this was used as a playroom they had to take the nursery things out, and no wonder!
Supongo que cuando esto se usaba como sala de juegos tuvieron que sacar las cosas del cuarto de los niños, ¡y no es de extrañar!
I never saw such ravages as the children have made here.
Nunca había visto semejantes destrozos como los que han hecho los niños aquí.
The wallpaper, as I said before, is torn off in spots, and it sticketh closer than a brother—they must have had perseverance as well as hatred.
El papel tapiz, como dije antes, está arrancado en algunos lugares, y se pega más que un hermano: debieron de haber tenido tanta perseverancia como odio.
Then the floor is scratched and gouged and splintered, the plaster itself is dug out here and there, and this great heavy bed, which is all we found in the room, looks as if it had been through the wars.
Además, el suelo está rayado, agujereado y astillado, el yeso en sí está excavado aquí y allá, y esta gran cama pesada, que es lo único que encontramos en la habitación, parece como si hubiera pasado por la guerra.
But I don't mind it a bit—only the paper.
Pero no me importa en absoluto, solo el papel.
There comes John's sister.
Ahí viene la hermana de John.
Such a dear girl as she is, and so careful of me!
¡Qué muchacha tan querida es, y qué bien me cuida!
Vocabulary
- Nunca
- Never; used to negate actions at any time
- había
- Had; past perfect auxiliary verb form of haber
- visto
- Seen; past participle of the verb ver
- tanta
- So much; feminine form of tanto
- expresión
- Expression; a display of feeling or meaning
- algo
- Something; an unspecified thing or matter
- inanimado
- Inanimate; lacking life or living qualities
- todos
- Everyone, all; refers to an entire group
- sabemos
- We know; first person plural of saber
- cuánta
- How much; feminine interrogative/exclamative quantity word
- tienen
- They have; third person plural of tener
- niña
- Girl; a young female child
- solía
- Used to; imperfect form indicating habitual past action
- quedarme
- To stay, remain; reflexive form of quedar
- despierta
- Awake; alert, not sleeping, feminine form
- encontrar
- To find; to locate or discover something
- más
- More; indicates greater quantity or degree
- entretenimiento
- Entertainment; amusement or enjoyable activity
- terror
- Terror; extreme fear or dread
- paredes
- Walls; interior vertical surfaces of a room
- blanco
- White; the color white
- muebles
- Furniture; movable items that furnish a room
- sencillos
- Simple, plain; not elaborate or complicated
- mayoría
- Majority; the greater part of a group
- niños
- Children, boys; young male or mixed children
- podría
- Could, would be able; conditional form of poder
- juguetería
- Toy store; a shop that sells toys
- Recuerdo
- I remember; first person singular of recordar
- amable
- Kind, friendly; describing a pleasant disposition
- guiño
- Wink; a quick closing of one eye
- tenían
- They had; imperfect third person plural of tener
- tiradores
- Drawer handles, knobs; pulls used to open drawers
- nuestro
- Our; first person plural possessive adjective
- viejo
- Old; something or someone of advanced age
- gran
- Great, large; shortened form of grande before noun
- armario
- Wardrobe, closet; large furniture for storing clothes
- silla
- Chair; a seat with a back for one person
- siempre
- Always; at all times, on every occasion
- parecía
- Seemed, appeared; imperfect form of parecer
- amigo
- Friend; a person one has affection and trust for
- fuerte
- Strong; having great strength or intensity
- leal
- Loyal; faithful and devoted to someone or something
- Solía
- Used to; imperfect indicating repeated past habit
- sentir
- To feel; to perceive an emotion or sensation
- si
- If; conditional conjunction introducing a hypothesis
- alguna
- Some, any; feminine indefinite adjective or pronoun
- otras
- Other; referring to different or additional things
- cosas
- Things; objects or matters of any kind
- demasiado
- Too much, too; exceeding an acceptable or desired amount
- amenazante
- Threatening; seeming likely to cause harm or danger
- podía
- Could; imperfect form of poder indicating past ability
- saltar
- To jump; to leap from one place to another
- esa
- That; feminine singular demonstrative adjective
- estar
- To be; indicates state or condition
- salvo
- Safe; free from danger or harm
- mobiliario
- Furniture, furnishings; collective term for room furniture
- esta
- This; feminine singular demonstrative adjective
- habitación
- Room; an enclosed space within a building
- peor
- Worse; comparative form of malo indicating lower quality
- disonante
- Dissonant; lacking harmony or seeming out of place
- sin
- Without; preposition indicating absence of something
- embargo
- Sin embargo: however; nevertheless, used for contrast
- pues
- Well, since, then; filler or causal conjunction
- tuvimos
- We had; preterite first person plural of tener
- traerlo
- To bring it; infinitive traer with direct object pronoun
- todo
- Everything, all; refers to the totality of things
- desde
- From, since; preposition indicating starting point
- abajo
- Below, downstairs; indicating a lower position or floor
- Supongo
- I suppose; first person singular of suponer
- cuando
- When; temporal conjunction or adverb
- esto
- This; neuter demonstrative pronoun for nearby thing
- usaba
- Was used; imperfect form of usar
- como
- As, like; comparison or function conjunction
- sala
- Room, living room; a common room in a home
- juegos
- Games, play; activities done for fun
- tuvieron
- They had; preterite third person plural of tener
- sacar
- To take out, remove; to extract from a place
- cuarto
- Room; a room in a house or apartment
- extrañar
- To miss; to feel the absence of someone or something
- semejantes
- Such, similar; of that kind or resemblance
- destrozos
- Damage, destruction; broken or wrecked state of things
- han
- Have; third person plural present perfect auxiliary
- hecho
- Done, made; past participle of hacer
- aquí
- Here; in this place
- papel
- Paper; material made from pulp, used for writing
- tapiz
- Tapestry, wallpaper; decorative wall covering
- dije
- I said; preterite first person singular of decir
- antes
- Before; previously in time or order
- está
- Is; third person singular present of estar
- arrancado
- Torn off, ripped out; past participle of arrancar
- algunos
- Some; masculine plural indefinite adjective or pronoun
- lugares
- Places; specific locations or spots
- pega
- Sticks, adheres; third person singular of pegar
- hermano
- Brother; a male sibling
- debieron
- They must have; preterite of deber expressing obligation
- haber
- To have; auxiliary verb used in compound tenses
- tenido
- Had; past participle of tener
- perseverancia
- Perseverance; steady persistence in a course of action
- odio
- Hate, hatred; intense dislike or hostility
- Además
- Furthermore, also; adds additional information
- suelo
- Floor, ground; the surface one walks on indoors
- rayado
- Scratched, striped; marked with lines or scratches
- agujereado
- Full of holes; perforated or punctured with holes
- astillado
- Splintered; broken into sharp fragments of wood
- yeso
- Plaster; material used to coat walls and ceilings
- sí
- Yes; affirmative response or emphasis particle
- excavado
- Dug out, excavated; hollowed out from a surface
- allá
- Over there; indicates a distant location
- cama
- Bed; furniture used for sleeping
- pesada
- Heavy; having great weight, feminine form
- único
- Only, unique; the sole or singular one
- encontramos
- We found; preterite first person plural of encontrar
- parece
- It seems, appears; third person singular of parecer
- hubiera
- Had; past subjunctive of haber used in conditionals
- pasado
- Passed, gone through; past participle of pasar
- por
- Through, by, for; versatile Spanish preposition
- guerra
- War; armed conflict between groups or nations
- Pero
- But; conjunction expressing contrast or exception
- importa
- Matters, cares; third person singular of importar
- absoluto
- Absolute; en absoluto means not at all
- solo
- Only, alone; by oneself or exclusively
- Ahí
- There; nearby location, closer than allá
- viene
- Comes; third person singular present of venir
- hermana
- Sister; a female sibling
- Qué
- What, what a; exclamatory or interrogative word
- muchacha
- Girl, young woman; a female youth
- tan
- So, such; intensifier modifying adjectives or adverbs
- querida
- Dear, beloved; affectionate adjective for someone loved
- qué
- What; exclamatory or interrogative pronoun
- bien
- Well; adverb indicating doing something in a good way
- cuida
- Takes care; third person singular of cuidar
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