War and Peace — Page 5
Anna Pávlovna in dismay detained him with the words: "Do you know the Abbé Morio? He is a most interesting man."
Anna Pávlovna costernata lo trattenne con le parole: «Conosce l'abate Morio? È un uomo molto interessante.»
"Yes, I have heard of his scheme for perpetual peace, and it is very interesting but hardly feasible."
«Sì, ho sentito parlare del suo progetto per la pace perpetua, ed è molto interessante ma difficilmente realizzabile.»
"You think so?" rejoined Anna Pávlovna in order to say something and get away to attend to her duties as hostess.
«Davvero?» replicò Anna Pávlovna con l'intento di dire qualcosa e di allontanarsi per attendere ai suoi doveri di padrona di casa.
But Pierre now committed a reverse act of impoliteness.
Ma Pierre commise ora una scortesia di segno opposto.
First he had left a lady before she had finished speaking to him, and now he continued to speak to another who wished to get away.
Prima aveva abbandonato una signora prima che ella avesse finito di parlargli, e ora continuava a parlare con un'altra che desiderava andarsene.
With his head bent, and his big feet spread apart, he began explaining his reasons for thinking the abbé's plan chimerical.
Con la testa china e i suoi grandi piedi divaricati, cominciò a spiegare le sue ragioni per cui riteneva il piano dell'abate chimerico.
"We will talk of it later," said Anna Pávlovna with a smile.
«Ne parleremo più tardi,» disse Anna Pávlovna con un sorriso.
And having got rid of this young man who did not know how to behave, she resumed her duties as hostess and continued to listen and watch, ready to help at any point where the conversation might happen to flag.
E dopo essersi liberata di questo giovane che non sapeva come comportarsi, riprese i suoi doveri di padrona di casa e continuò ad ascoltare e a osservare, pronta a intervenire in ogni punto in cui la conversazione potesse languire.
Vocabulary
- costernata
- Dismayed, distressed, or greatly troubled
- lo
- Him or it; masculine singular direct object pronoun
- trattenne
- Held back, restrained, or kept someone from leaving
- con
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means
- le
- The (plural feminine) or her; article or pronoun
- parole
- Words; units of spoken or written language
- Conosce
- He/she knows or is acquainted with someone
- l'
- Elided definite article before a vowel-initial word
- abate
- Abbot; head of a monastery or religious community
- È
- Is; third person singular present tense of essere
- un
- A, an; masculine indefinite article
- uomo
- Man; adult male human being
- molto
- Very, much; adverb or adjective of quantity
- interessante
- Interesting; attracting curiosity or attention
- Sì
- Yes; affirmative response or agreement
- ho
- I have; first person singular of avere
- sentito
- Heard or felt; past participle of sentire
- parlare
- To speak, to talk; basic verb of communication
- del
- Of the; contracted preposition combining di and il
- suo
- His, her, its; third person singular possessive adjective
- progetto
- Project, plan, or proposal for a future undertaking
- per
- For, through, by; versatile Italian preposition
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article
- pace
- Peace; absence of war or conflict
- perpetua
- Perpetual, everlasting, never-ending; feminine adjective
- ed
- And; conjunction used before vowels for euphony
- è
- Is; third person singular present tense of essere
- ma
- But; coordinating conjunction expressing contrast
- difficilmente
- With difficulty; hardly or not easily achievable
- realizzabile
- Achievable, feasible, capable of being realized
- Davvero
- Really, truly; adverb expressing surprise or confirmation
- replicò
- Replied, responded; past tense of replicare
- intento
- Intent, intention, or purpose; focused aim
- di
- Of, from; very common Italian preposition
- dire
- To say, to tell; fundamental verb of speech
- qualcosa
- Something; indefinite pronoun referring to an unspecified thing
- e
- And; basic coordinating conjunction joining elements
- allontanarsi
- To move away, to distance oneself from someone
- attendere
- To attend to, to wait, or to tend to duties
- ai
- To the; contracted preposition combining a and i
- suoi
- His, her; plural possessive adjective or pronoun
- doveri
- Duties, obligations, responsibilities one must fulfill
- padrona
- Mistress, owner, hostess; female head of household
- casa
- House, home; place where one lives
- Ma
- But; coordinating conjunction expressing contrast or exception
- commise
- Committed, made; past tense of commettere
- ora
- Now; adverb indicating the present moment
- una
- A, an; feminine singular indefinite article
- scortesia
- Rudeness, discourtesy; impolite or inconsiderate behavior
- segno
- Sign, mark, gesture, or indication of something
- opposto
- Opposite, contrary; on the other side or direction
- Prima
- Before, first; adverb or adjective of time or order
- aveva
- Had; third person singular imperfect of avere
- abbandonato
- Abandoned, left behind; past participle of abbandonare
- signora
- Lady, Mrs.; polite title for a woman
- prima
- Before; adverb or conjunction indicating earlier time
- che
- That, who, which; conjunction or relative pronoun
- ella
- She; formal third person feminine subject pronoun
- avesse
- Had; third person singular imperfect subjunctive of avere
- finito
- Finished, ended, completed; past participle of finire
- parlargli
- To speak to him; infinitive plus indirect object clitic
- continuava
- Was continuing, kept on; imperfect of continuare
- a
- To, at; basic Italian preposition of location or direction
- un'
- A, an; elided feminine indefinite article before vowel
- altra
- Another, other; feminine adjective or pronoun
- desiderava
- Desired, wished, wanted; imperfect tense of desiderare
- andarsene
- To go away from there; reflexive verb with particle ne
- Con
- With; preposition expressing accompaniment or manner
- testa
- Head; upper part of the human body
- china
- Bowed, bent downward; adjective describing lowered head
- i
- The; masculine plural definite article
- grandi
- Large, big, great; plural adjective describing size
- piedi
- Feet; plural of piede, lower extremities of body
- divaricati
- Spread apart, wide open; adjective describing separated feet
- cominciò
- Began, started; third person singular past of cominciare
- spiegare
- To explain, to clarify; verb of verbal communication
- sue
- His, her; feminine plural possessive adjective
- ragioni
- Reasons, arguments, justifications for a position
- cui
- Which, whom; relative pronoun used after preposition
- riteneva
- Considered, believed, held to be; imperfect of ritenere
- il
- The; masculine singular definite article
- piano
- Plan, scheme; also means floor or flat surface
- dell'
- Of the; elided contraction of di and l'
- chimerico
- Chimerical, fanciful, wildly unrealistic or impossible
- Ne
- Of it, about it; partitive or referential pronoun
- parleremo
- We will talk; first person plural future of parlare
- più
- More, later, anymore; adverb of degree or quantity
- tardi
- Later, late; adverb of time
- disse
- Said, told; third person singular past of dire
- sorriso
- Smile; noun or past participle of sorridere
- E
- And; basic coordinating conjunction
- dopo
- After, then, later; adverb or preposition of time
- essersi
- Having been; reflexive infinitive of essere with clitic
- liberata
- Freed, released, rid of; feminine past participle of liberare
- questo
- This; masculine singular demonstrative adjective or pronoun
- giovane
- Young person, youth; adjective or noun
- non
- Not; basic negation adverb in Italian
- sapeva
- Knew how to, knew; imperfect tense of sapere
- come
- How, as, like; conjunction or adverb of manner
- comportarsi
- To behave, to conduct oneself; reflexive infinitive
- riprese
- Resumed, took up again; past tense of riprendere
- continuò
- Continued, went on; third person singular past of continuare
- ad
- To, at; preposition used before vowels for euphony
- ascoltare
- To listen to, to hear attentively
- osservare
- To observe, to watch carefully, to notice
- pronta
- Ready, prepared; feminine adjective indicating readiness
- intervenire
- To intervene, to step in, to participate actively
- in
- In, into, at; common Italian preposition of place
- ogni
- Every, each; invariable adjective of totality
- punto
- Point, moment, spot; noun with various contextual meanings
- conversazione
- Conversation; spoken exchange between two or more people
- potesse
- Could, might; imperfect subjunctive of potere
- languire
- To languish, to flag, to lose energy or momentum
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