White nights, and other stories — Page 11
The girl flew straight as an arrow,
La ragazza volò dritta come una freccia,
with the timid haste one sees in all girls who do not want any one to volunteer to accompany them home at night, and no doubt the staggering gentleman would not have pursued her, if my good luck had not prompted him.
con la timida fretta che si vede in tutte le ragazze che non vogliono che nessuno si offra di accompagnarle a casa di notte, e senza dubbio il barcollante signore non l'avrebbe inseguita, se la mia buona sorte non lo avesse spinto a farlo.
Suddenly, without a word to any one, the gentleman set off and flew full speed in pursuit of my unknown lady.
Improvvisamente, senza dire una parola a nessuno, il signore si mosse e volò a tutta velocità all'inseguimento della mia sconosciuta.
She was racing like the wind, but the staggering gentleman was overtaking--overtook her.
Lei correva come il vento, ma il barcollante signore la stava raggiungendo--la raggiunse.
The girl uttered a shriek, and ... I bless my luck for the excellent knotted stick, which happened on that occasion to be in my right hand.
La ragazza lanciò un grido, e... benedico la mia fortuna per l'eccellente bastone nodoso, che in quella occasione si trovava per caso nella mia mano destra.
In a flash I was on the other side of the street; in a flash the obtrusive gentleman had taken in the position, had grasped the irresistible argument, fallen back without a word, and only when we were very far away protested against my action in rather vigorous language.
In un lampo fui dall'altro lato della strada; in un lampo l'importuno signore aveva compreso la situazione, aveva afferrato l'irresistibile argomento, si era ritirato senza dire una parola, e solo quando eravamo molto lontani protestò contro la mia azione con un linguaggio piuttosto vigoroso.
But his words hardly reached us.
Ma le sue parole giunsero a malapena fino a noi.
"Give me your arm," I said to the girl. "And he won't dare to annoy us further."
«Datemi il vostro braccio,» dissi alla ragazza. «E lui non oserà più molestarci.»
She took my arm without a word, still trembling with excitement and terror.
Lei mi prese il braccio senza dire una parola, ancora tremante per l'emozione e il terrore.
Oh, obtrusive gentleman! How I blessed you at that moment!
Oh, importuno signore! Come vi benedissi in quel momento!
I stole a glance at her, she was very charming and dark--I had guessed right.
Le lanciai uno sguardo furtivo, era molto affascinante e bruna--avevo indovinato.
On her black eyelashes there still glistened a tear--from her recent terror or her former grief--I don't know.
Sulle sue ciglia nere brillava ancora una lacrima--per il terrore recente o per il dolore passato--non so.
Vocabulary
- ragazza
- A young woman or girl.
- volò
- She/he flew or dashed away quickly.
- dritta
- Straight, directly, without deviation.
- come
- As, like, or how; used for comparison.
- freccia
- An arrow; something fast and straight.
- timida
- Shy, timid, lacking confidence.
- fretta
- Haste, hurry, urgency in movement.
- vede
- One sees or observes something visible.
- tutte
- All, every (feminine plural form).
- ragazze
- Girls or young women (plural).
- vogliono
- They want or desire something (third person plural).
- nessuno
- Nobody, no one, not anyone.
- offra
- (That someone) offers or proposes something.
- accompagnarle
- To accompany them (feminine); escort or go along.
- casa
- Home or house; one's place of residence.
- notte
- Night; the dark hours after sunset.
- senza
- Preposition meaning 'without'.
- dubbio
- Doubt, uncertainty about something.
- barcollante
- Staggering, tottering, moving unsteadily.
- signore
- A gentleman or mister; adult male person.
- avrebbe
- He/she would have (conditional auxiliary verb).
- inseguita
- Chased, pursued (feminine past participle).
- buona
- Good, favorable (feminine singular adjective).
- sorte
- Fate, luck, fortune or destiny.
- avesse
- Had (subjunctive past of avere, third person singular).
- spinto
- Pushed, impelled, driven to do something.
- farlo
- To do it; infinitive combined with pronoun.
- Improvvisamente
- Suddenly, unexpectedly, without prior warning.
- dire
- To say or tell; verbal communication.
- parola
- A word; single unit of spoken language.
- mosse
- He/she moved or set in motion (past tense).
- tutta
- All, entire, whole (feminine singular adjective).
- velocità
- Speed, velocity, swiftness of movement.
- inseguimento
- Pursuit, chase after someone or something.
- sconosciuta
- Unknown woman; a stranger not previously known.
- correva
- She/he was running (imperfect past tense).
- vento
- Wind; moving air; also used metaphorically for speed.
- stava
- He/she was (doing something); imperfect of stare.
- raggiungendo
- Reaching, catching up to, drawing near.
- raggiunse
- He/she reached or caught up (simple past).
- lanciò
- He/she threw, launched, or let out (a cry).
- grido
- A cry, shout, or scream.
- benedico
- I bless or give thanks for something.
- fortuna
- Luck, fortune, good chance or destiny.
- eccellente
- Excellent, outstanding, of very high quality.
- bastone
- A stick, cane, or walking staff.
- nodoso
- Knotty, gnarled, full of knots.
- quella
- That (feminine singular demonstrative adjective/pronoun).
- occasione
- Occasion, opportunity, favorable moment or chance.
- trovava
- Was found, was located (imperfect past tense).
- caso
- Case, chance, coincidence or circumstance.
- mano
- Hand; the end part of the arm.
- destra
- Right (hand or side); opposite of left.
- lampo
- A flash, lightning bolt; something instantaneous.
- fui
- I was (simple past of essere, first person).
- altro
- Other, another, different (masculine singular).
- lato
- Side; one of two opposite surfaces or directions.
- strada
- Road, street, path for travel.
- importuno
- An importunate, intrusive, bothersome individual.
- compreso
- Understood, grasped, comprehended (past participle).
- situazione
- Situation, circumstance, state of affairs.
- afferrato
- Grabbed, seized, grasped firmly (past participle).
- irresistibile
- Irresistible, impossible to resist or oppose.
- argomento
- Argument, reason, point used to persuade.
- ritirato
- Withdrawn, retreated, pulled back (past participle).
- solo
- Only, alone, just (adjective or adverb).
- quando
- When; conjunction indicating time of an event.
- eravamo
- We were (imperfect past of essere, first person plural).
- molto
- Very, much, a lot (adverb or adjective).
- lontani
- Far away, distant (masculine plural adjective).
- protestò
- He/she protested, objected loudly (simple past).
- contro
- Preposition meaning 'against'.
- azione
- Action, act, deed performed by someone.
- linguaggio
- Language, speech, manner of speaking or expression.
- piuttosto
- Rather, quite, somewhat (adverb of degree).
- vigoroso
- Vigorous, strong, energetic and forceful.
- parole
- Words; units of spoken or written language.
- giunsero
- They arrived, reached a point (simple past plural).
- malapena
- Barely, hardly, scarcely (adverbial phrase).
- fino
- Until, up to, as far as.
- Datemi
- Give me (imperative plural with dative pronoun).
- vostro
- Your (masculine singular, addressing multiple people).
- braccio
- Arm; the limb from shoulder to hand.
- dissi
- I said (simple past of dire, first person).
- oserà
- He/she will dare (future tense of osare).
- più
- More; no longer (with negation); comparative adverb.
- molestarci
- To bother or harass us (infinitive + pronoun).
- prese
- She/he took, grabbed (simple past of prendere).
- ancora
- Still, yet, again (adverb of time or repetition).
- tremante
- Trembling, shaking, quivering with emotion or fear.
- emozione
- Emotion, feeling, strong inner sensation.
- terrore
- Terror, extreme fear, overwhelming dread.
- Come
- How; used in exclamations expressing degree.
- vi
- You (plural object pronoun) or reflexive 'yourselves'.
- benedissi
- I blessed (simple past of benedire, first person).
- quel
- That (masculine singular demonstrative adjective).
- momento
- Moment, instant, brief period of time.
- lanciai
- I threw or cast (simple past, first person singular).
- sguardo
- A glance, look, or gaze at someone.
- furtivo
- Furtive, stealthy, done secretly or covertly.
- affascinante
- Fascinating, charming, captivating in appearance.
- bruna
- Dark-haired or dark-complexioned woman.
- avevo
- I had (imperfect past of avere, first person).
- indovinato
- Guessed correctly, figured out (past participle).
- ciglia
- Eyelashes; the hairs on the eyelid rim.
- nere
- Black (feminine plural adjective).
- brillava
- Was shining, sparkling, gleaming (imperfect past).
- lacrima
- A tear; drop of liquid from the eye.
- recente
- Recent, happening not long ago.
- dolore
- Pain, grief, sorrow or suffering.
- passato
- Past; something that has already occurred.
- so
- I know (present tense of sapere, first person).
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