Table Of ContentItalian Reader
Short Stories
English – Italian Parallel Text
Elementary to Intermediate (A2-B1)
Compiled by Alex Kouzine
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
Abbreviations
Fortune and the man / Fortuna e l’uomo
The doctor’s advice / Il consiglio del medico
The bellboy / Il fattorino
Aesop and the traveler / Aesop e il viaggiatore
The clever poor man / Il povero uomo intelligente
Ruthless (after W. de Mille) / Spietato
While the auto waits (after O. Henry) / Mentre l’automobile attende
Jimmy Valentine’s retrieved reformation (after O. Henry) /
Jimmy Valentine recupera la sua trasformazione
Art for heart’s sake (after R. Goldberg) / Arte per il bene del cuore
The Luncheon (after W. Somerset Maugham) / Il pranzo
Double Dyed Deceiver (after O. Henry) / Un Imbroglione Matricolato
The happiest man on Earth (after A. Maltz) / L’uomo più Felice sulla
Terra
Three at table (after W. W. Jacobs) / Tre al tavolo
Introduction
This book contains a selection of 8 finest short stories which have been
adapted from originals written by the world’s greatest storytellers such as: O.
Henry, W.S. Maugham, A. Maltz, W. de Mille; R. Goldberg and others. In
addition there are 5 mini-stories presented at the beginning of the book as a
“warm-up exercise”.
The stories have been thoroughly adapted (to preserve the gist of the
original) and translated into Italian language. They presented here as English –
Italian parallel text with Italian text been printed in blue.
The stories have been arranged according to their degree of difficulty and
each story is accompanied by a “Key Vocabulary”.
Although this book can be useful for learners of both – English and Italian
languages – it was mainly intended as a reading material for learners of Italian
language.
Level
The book is intended mainly for Elementary to middle-Intermediate level
learners (that is, those who have already studied the basic structures of Italian).
It will also be useful for more advanced learners as a way of practicing their
reading skills and comprehension of Italian language.
Using the book effectively
In our opinion it will be most beneficial if you read each story in English
first.
Then review ‘Key Vocabulary’ and reread the story once more as a
‘parallel text’.
Knowledge of the context will enable you to link together English words
and phrases to their Italian counterparts, thus expanding your vocabulary and
improving your reading comprehension of Italian language.
After reading through a story a couple of times you’ll notice that you
understand an ‘Italian version’ of the story as if it was written in your native
tongue. And remember that your fluency in Italian will grow with each story you
read.
Have fun! Divertiti!
Abbreviations
(used in ‘Key Vocabulary’)
agg. – aggetivo (adjective)
avv. – avverbio (adverb) cong. – congiunzione (conjunction)
fig. – figurato (figurative) intr. – interiezione (interjection)
prep. – preposizione (preposition)
pron. – pronome (pronoun)
s.f. – sostantivo femminile (feminine noun) s.m. – sostantivo maschile
(masculine noun) v.aus. – verbo ausiliare (auxiliary verb)
v.intr. – verbo intransitivo (intransitive verb)
v.tr. – verbo transitivo (transitive verb) v.rf. – verbo riflessivo (reflexive
verb)
Fortune and the man / Fortuna e l’uomo
One day a man was walking along the street. He had only an old bag in his
hands. He was wondering why people who had a lot of money were never
satisfied and always wanted more. “As far as I’m concerned”, he said, “if I only
had enough to eat, I would not ask for anything else”.
Un giorno, un uomo stava camminando lungo una strada. Aveva solo una
vecchia borsa nelle mani. Si chiedeva perché le persone che possedevano tanto
denaro non fossero mai soddisfatte e desiderassero sempre di più. “Per quanto
mi riguarda”, disse, “se solo avessi abbastanza da mangiare, non chiederei niente
altro”.
Just at this moment Fortune came down the street. She heard the man and
stopped.
In quello stesso istante, Fortuna passeggiava lungo la stessa strada. Sentì le
parole dell’uomo e si fermò.
“Listen,” she said, “I want to help you. Open your bag and I will pour
diamonds into it. But every diamond which falls on the ground will become dust.
Do you understand?”
“Oh, yes, I understand,” replied the man.
“Senti,” disse lei, “Voglio aiutarti. Apri la borsa e ci verserò dei
diamanti. Ma ogni diamante che cadrà a terra si trasformerà in polvere. Hai
capito?”
“Oh, sì, ho capito,” rispose l’uomo.
He quickly opened his bag and saw a stream of diamonds was poured into
it. The bag began to grow heavy. “Is that enough?” asked Fortune. “Not yet.”
The man’s hands began to tremble.
“You are the richest man in the world now,” said Fortune.
Egli aprì velocemente la sua borsa e vide una corrente di diamanti
riversarsi in essa. La borsa iniziò a diventare pesante. “È sufficiente?” chiese
Fortuna. “Non ancora.” Le mani dell’uomo iniziarono a tremare.
“Ora, sei l’uomo più ricco del mondo,” disse Fortuna.
“Just a few more, add a few more,” said the man. Another diamond was
added and the old bag split. All the diamonds fell on the ground and became
dust.
“Ancora un po’, aggiungine ancora un po’,” disse l’uomo. Venne aggiunto
un altro diamante e la vecchia borsa si strappò. Tutti i diamanti caddero a terra e
si trasformarono in polvere.
Fortune disappeared, leaving the man along on the street.
Fortuna sparì, lasciando l’uomo solo per la strada.
Key Vocabulary:
o camminare v.intr. [cam-mi-nà-re] – to walk.
o chiedere v.tr. [chiè-de-re] – to ask, to request.
o possedere v.tr. [pos-se-dé-re] – to possess, to have, to own.
o soddisfatto agg. [sod-di-sfàt-to] – satisfied, pleased.
o desiderare v.tr. [de-si-de-rà-re] – to desire, to long for.
o riguardare v.tr. [ri-guar-dà-re] – to regard; to concern.
o per quanto mi riguarda – as far as I’m concerned.
o abbastanza avv. [ab-ba-stàn-za] – enough; fairly, quite.
o passeggiare v.intr. [pas-seg-già-re] – to walk, to stroll.
o stesso agg. [stés-so] – same.
o fermare v.tr. [fer-mà-re] – to stop, to halt.
o versare v.tr. [ver-sà-re] – to pour, to spill.
o trasformare v.tr. [trasfor-mà-re] – to transform, to turn (into).
o aggiungere v.tr. [ag-giùn-ge-re] – to add (to).
o ancora avv. [an-có-ra] – still; yet (in negative phrases).
o po’ avv. = truncated poco.
o poco agg. [pò-co] – little, not much; few.
o strappare v.tr. [strap-pà-re] – to rip, to split; to tear out.
o sparire v.intr. [spa-rì-re] – to disappear.
The doctor’s advice / Il consiglio del medico
One time an old gentleman went to see a doctor. The doctor examined him
and said: “Medicine won’t help you. You must have a complete rest. Go to a
quiet country place for a month, walk a lot, drink milk, go to bed early, and
smoke just one cigar a day.”
“Thank you very much,” said the old gentleman, “I shall do everything
you say.”
Un giorno, un vecchio gentiluomo andò dal medico. Il medico lo visitò e
disse: “La medicina non l’aiuterà. Lei ha bisogno di riposo assoluto. Vada in un
paese tranquillo per un mese, cammini molto, beva latte, vada a dormire presto e
fumi soltanto un sigaro al giorno.”
“Grazie mille,” disse il vecchio gentiluomo, “Farò tutto quello che mi ha
detto.”
A month later the gentleman came to the doctor again. “How do you feel?”
said the doctor, “I am very glad to see you. You look much younger.”
Un mese più tardi, il gentiluomo ritornò dal medico. “Come si sente ora?”
chiese il medico, “Mi fa piacere rivederla. Sembra molto più giovane.”
“Oh, doctor,” said the gentleman, “I feel quite well now. I had a good rest.
I went to bed early, I drank a lot of milk, and I walked a lot. Your advice
certainly helped me. But you told me to smoke one cigar a day, and that one
cigar a day almost killed me at first. It’s no joke to start smoking at my age.
“Oh, dottore,” disse il gentiluomo, “Mi sento abbastanza bene ora.
Mi sono riposato. Sono andato a letto presto, ho bevuto molto latte e ho
camminato molto. Il suo consiglio mi ha sicuramente aiutato. Ma mi ha detto di
fumare un sigaro al giorno, e quell’unico sigaro al giorno mi ha quasi ucciso
all’inizio. Non è uno scherzo iniziare a fumare alla mia età.
Key Vocabulary:
o visitare v.tr. [vi-si-tà-re] – to visit; to examine.
o riposo s.m. [ri-pò-so] – rest, repose.
o tranquillo agg. [tran-quìl-lo] – quiet; tranquil.
o soltanto avv. [sol-tàn-to] – only, just.
o ritornare v.intr. [ri-tor-nà-re] – to return; to come back.
