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小说: 12-italian without a master 字数: 每页4000字

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There are several fires:  also a couple of accidents。  This is

one of them:





Grave disgrazia sul Ponte Vecchio





Stammattina; circe le 7;30; mentre Giuseppe Sciatti; di anni 55;

di Casellina e Torri; passava dal Ponte Vecchio; stando seduto sopra

un barroccio carico di verdura; perse l' equilibrio e cadde al suolo;

rimanendo con la gamba destra sotto una ruota del veicolo。



Lo Sciatti fu subito raccolto da alcuni cittadini; che; per mezzo

della pubblica vettura n。  365; lo transporto a San Giovanni di Dio。



Ivi il medico di guardia gli riscontro la frattura della gamba

destra e alcune lievi escoriazioni giudicandolo guaribile in 50

giorni salvo complicazioni。





What it seems to say is this:  〃Serious Disgrace on the Old

Old Bridge。  This morning about 7。30; Mr。 Joseph Sciatti; aged 55;

of Casellina and Torri; while standing up in a sitting posture

on top of a carico barrow of vedure (foliage? hay? vegetables?);

lost his equilibrium and fell on himself; arriving with his left

leg under one of the wheels of the vehicle。



〃Said Sciatti was suddenly harvested (gathered in?) by several citizens;

who by means of public cab No。 365 transported to St。 John of God。〃



Paragraph No。 3 is a little obscure; but I think it says that

the medico set the broken left legright enough; since there

was nothing the matter with the other oneand that several

are encouraged to hope that fifty days well fetch him around

in quite giudicandolo…guaribile way; if no complications intervene。



I am sure I hope so myself。



There is a great and peculiar charm about reading news…scraps in a

language which you are not acquainted withthe charm that always goes

with the mysterious and the uncertain。  You can never be absolutely

sure of the meaning of anything you read in such circumstances;

you are chasing an alert and gamy riddle all the time; and the

baffling turns and dodges of the prey make the life of the hunt。 

A dictionary would spoil it。  Sometimes a single word of doubtful

purport will cast a veil of dreamy and golden uncertainty over a

whole paragraph of cold and practical certainties; and leave steeped

in a haunting and adorable mystery an incident which had been vulgar

and commonplace but for that benefaction。  Would you be wise to draw

a dictionary on that gracious word? would you be properly grateful?



After a couple of days' rest I now come back to my subject and seek

a case in point。  I find it without trouble; in the morning paper;

a cablegram from Chicago and Indiana by way of Paris。  All the words

save one are guessable by a person ignorant of Italian:





Revolverate in teatro





PARIGI; 27。La PATRIE ha da Chicago:



Il guardiano del teatro dell'opera di Walace (Indiana); avendo voluto

espellare uno spettatore che continuava a fumare malgrado il diviety;

questo spalleggiato dai suoi amici tir‘o diversi colpi di rivoltella。 

Il guardiano ripose。  Nacque una scarica generale。  Grande panico

tra gli spettatori。  Nessun ferito。





TRANSLATION。〃Revolveration in Theater。  PARIS; 27TH。  LA PATRIE

has from Chicago:  The cop of the theater of the opera of Wallace;

Indiana; had willed to expel a spectator which continued to smoke

in spite of the prohibition; who; spalleggiato by his friends;

tir'o (Fr。 TIR'E; Anglice PULLED) manifold revolver…shots;

great panic among the spectators。  Nobody hurt。〃



It is bettable that that harmless cataclysm in the theater of the opera

of Wallace; Indiana; excited not a person in Europe but me; and so

came near to not being worth cabling to Florence by way of France。 

But it does excite me。  It excites me because I cannot make out;

for sure; what it was that moved the spectator to resist the officer。 

I was gliding along smoothly and without obstruction or accident;

until I came to that word 〃spalleggiato;〃 then the bottom fell out。 

You notice what a rich gloom; what a somber and pervading mystery;

that word sheds all over the whole Wallachian tragedy。  That is the charm

of the thing; that is the delight of it。  This is where you begin;

this is where you revel。  You can guess and guess; and have all

the fun you like; you need not be afraid there will be an end to it;

none is possible; for no amount of guessing will ever furnish you

a meaning for that word that you can be sure is the right one。 

All the other words give you hints; by their form; their sound;

or their spellingthis one doesn't; this one throws out no hints;

this one keeps its secret。  If there is even the slightest slight

shadow of a hint anywhere; it lies in the very meagerly suggestive

fact that 〃spalleggiato〃 carries our word 〃egg〃 in its stomach。 

Well; make the most out of it; and then where are you at? 

You conjecture that the spectator which was smoking in spite

of the prohibition and become reprohibited by the guardians;

was 〃egged on〃 by his friends; and that was owing to that evil

influence that he initiated the revolveration in theater that has

galloped under the sea and come crashing through the European

press without exciting anybody but me。  But are you sure;

are you dead sure; that that was the way of it?  No。 Then the

uncertainty remains; the mystery abides; and with it the charm。 

Guess again。



If I had a phrase…book of a really satisfactory sort I would

study it; and not give all my free time to undictionarial readings;

but there is no such work on the market。  The existing phrase…books

are inadequate。  They are well enough as far as they go; but when

you fall down and skin your leg they don't tell you what to say。

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