White nights, and other stories — Page 4
They had spared nothing, neither columns, nor cornices, and my poor little friend was as yellow as a canary.
Non avevano risparmiato nulla, né colonne, né cornici, e il mio povero piccolo amico era giallo come un canarino.
It almost made me bilious.
Mi fece quasi venire la nausea.
And to this day I have not had the courage to visit my poor disfigured friend, painted the colour of the Celestial Empire.
E ancora oggi non ho avuto il coraggio di visitare il mio povero amico sfigurato, dipinto del colore dell'Impero Celeste.
So now you understand, reader, in what sense I am acquainted with all Petersburg.
Ora capite dunque, lettore, in quale senso io conosca tutta Pietroburgo.
I have mentioned already that I had felt worried for three whole days before I guessed the cause of my uneasiness.
Ho già detto che mi ero sentito inquieto per tre giorni interi prima di indovinare la causa del mio disagio.
And I felt ill at ease in the street--this one had gone and that one had gone, and what had become of the other?--and at home I did not feel like myself either.
E mi sentivo a disagio per strada -- questo era andato e quello era andato, e che ne era stato dell'altro? -- e a casa non mi sentivo me stesso nemmeno lì.
For two evenings I was puzzling my brains to think what was amiss in my corner;
Per due sere mi ero lambicato il cervello cercando di capire cosa non andasse nel mio angolo;
why I felt so uncomfortable in it.
perché mi sentissi così a disagio in esso.
And in perplexity I scanned my grimy green walls, my ceiling covered with a spider's web, the growth of which Matrona has so successfully encouraged.
E con perplessità scrutai le mie sudice pareti verdi, il mio soffitto coperto di ragnatele, la cui crescita Matrona aveva incoraggiato con tanto successo.
I looked over all my furniture, examined every chair, wondering whether the trouble lay there (for if one chair is not standing in the same position as it stood the day before, I am not myself).
Esaminai tutti i miei mobili, controllai ogni sedia, chiedendomi se il problema fosse lì (poiché se una sedia non si trova nella stessa posizione in cui si trovava il giorno prima, non sono me stesso).
I looked at the window, but it was all in vain ...
Guardai verso la finestra, ma fu tutto inutile...
I was not a bit the better for it!
Non ne ricavai alcun giovamento!
Vocabulary
- avevano
- Third person plural past of 'to have'
- risparmiato
- Spared or saved something from being used
- nulla
- Nothing; not anything at all
- né
- Neither; used in negative correlative constructions
- colonne
- Columns; vertical architectural support structures
- cornici
- Frames or cornices; decorative molding borders
- povero
- Poor; lacking money or evoking pity
- piccolo
- Small; little in size or importance
- amico
- Friend; a person one knows well
- giallo
- Yellow; the color of lemons and sunflowers
- canarino
- Canary; small yellow songbird kept as pet
- fece
- Made or caused; third person singular past of fare
- quasi
- Almost; nearly but not completely
- venire
- To come; basic verb of motion toward
- nausea
- Nausea; sick feeling in the stomach
- ancora
- Still or yet; indicating continuation of state
- oggi
- Today; the current day
- coraggio
- Courage; bravery to face difficult situations
- visitare
- To visit; to go and see a place
- sfigurato
- Disfigured; having an altered or ruined appearance
- dipinto
- Painted; also a noun meaning a painting
- colore
- Color; the visual property of hue
- Impero
- Empire; a large dominion ruled by an emperor
- Celeste
- Celestial or sky blue; heavenly in tone
- Ora
- Now; at the present moment
- capite
- You understand; second person plural of capire
- dunque
- Therefore or so; indicating logical consequence
- lettore
- Reader; a person who reads a text
- quale
- Which or what; interrogative or relative pronoun
- senso
- Sense or meaning; the way something is understood
- conosca
- Know; first person singular present subjunctive of conoscere
- tutta
- All or whole; feminine singular of tutto
- già
- Already; something that occurred before now
- detto
- Said; past participle of dire
- sentito
- Felt or heard; past participle of sentire
- inquieto
- Restless or uneasy; feeling inner disquiet
- giorni
- Days; plural of giorno
- interi
- Entire or whole; plural of intero
- prima
- Before or first; indicating earlier time
- indovinare
- To guess; to figure out something unknown
- causa
- Cause or reason; what produces an effect
- disagio
- Discomfort or unease; a sense of awkwardness
- sentivo
- I felt or heard; first person imperfect of sentire
- strada
- Street or road; a path through a town
- andato
- Gone; past participle of andare
- quello
- That; masculine singular demonstrative pronoun
- ne
- Of it or from there; partitive clitic pronoun
- altro
- Other or else; something or someone different
- casa
- House or home; a place where one lives
- stesso
- Same or myself; indicating identity or emphasis
- nemmeno
- Not even; stronger form of negation
- lì
- There; indicating a place away from speaker
- sere
- Evenings; plural of sera
- lambicato
- Racked or taxed; strained one's brain thinking hard
- cervello
- Brain; the organ of thought and intelligence
- cercando
- Searching or trying; gerund of cercare
- capire
- To understand; to comprehend something
- cosa
- What or thing; interrogative pronoun or noun
- andasse
- Was going; third person imperfect subjunctive of andare
- angolo
- Corner or angle; a place where two lines meet
- perché
- Why or because; introduces reason or question
- sentissi
- I felt; first person imperfect subjunctive of sentire
- così
- So or thus; indicating manner or degree
- esso
- It; third person singular neuter pronoun
- perplessità
- Perplexity; state of being puzzled or confused
- scrutai
- I scrutinized; examined carefully and intensely
- sudice
- Dirty or grimy; unclean in appearance
- pareti
- Walls; interior vertical surfaces of a room
- verdi
- Green; plural of verde
- soffitto
- Ceiling; the overhead interior surface of a room
- coperto
- Covered; past participle meaning something is overlaid
- ragnatele
- Cobwebs; spider-spun webs found in neglected spaces
- cui
- Whose or which; relative pronoun for indirect reference
- crescita
- Growth; the process of increasing in size
- incoraggiato
- Encouraged; motivated or supported someone's actions
- tanto
- So much or so many; indicating a great degree
- successo
- Success or happened; noun or past participle of succedere
- Esaminai
- I examined; inspected carefully in detail
- tutti
- All; masculine plural of tutto
- mobili
- Furniture; movable household objects and pieces
- controllai
- I checked; inspected to verify something
- ogni
- Every or each; referring to all individually
- sedia
- Chair; a piece of furniture for sitting
- chiedendomi
- Asking myself; reflexive gerund of chiedere
- se
- If or whether; conditional conjunction
- problema
- Problem; a difficulty requiring a solution
- fosse
- Were; third person singular imperfect subjunctive of essere
- poiché
- Since or because; introducing a causal clause
- trova
- Is located; third person singular of trovarsi
- stessa
- Same; feminine singular of stesso
- posizione
- Position; the place where something is located
- trovava
- Was located; imperfect third person of trovarsi
- giorno
- Day; a 24-hour period
- Guardai
- I looked; past tense of guardare
- verso
- Toward; preposition indicating direction
- finestra
- Window; an opening in a wall for light
- fu
- Was; third person singular passato remoto of essere
- tutto
- All or everything; masculine singular of tutto
- inutile
- Useless; not producing any helpful result
- ricavai
- I obtained or derived; extracted benefit from something
- alcun
- Any; used in negative contexts meaning 'no'
- giovamento
- Benefit or improvement; gain from an action
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