The Autumn of the Heroes by David C. Hall Adapted, Annotated and Glossed for Young ESL Learners

Glossary available at https://quizlet.com/145220554/the-autumn-of-the-heroes-by-david-c-hall-adapted-for-young-esl-learners-by-t-naves-and-the-author-himself-glossary-in-spanish-and-catalan-by-t-naves-mnaves3xteccat-flash-cards/ or https://quizlet.com/145220554/

The Autumn of the Heroes by David C. Hall. Adapted, Annotated and Glossed for young ESL learners by T. Naves and the author himself

THE AUTUMN OF THE HEROES

David C. Hall

When Lucius Severus woke up that night in the dark there was a moment when he did not even know who he was. But it passed. When his eyes got accustomed to the dark he could distinguish the silhouette of the woman at his side, but he felt so alone he did not even want to embrace her.

“That’s the time old men tend to die,” his doctor had told him once, years before. “The body is wise[1], Lucius, much wiser than you or I. As you get older, you’ll begin to wake up at that hour more often, perhaps just to confirm that you’re still alive[2].”

And the doctor had laughed. He was a thin bony[3] old man with bad breath[4]. So used to dealing with death[5] that he was more friend to it than to the living[6].

A few days before, Lucius had gone out, as was his custom at that time of year, to hunt boars, the wild pigs that lived in the forest. And today, if morning ever came, he would eat the animal he had killed. He remembered the smell of the woods, the noise of the dogs, the sound of his own breath as he ran, the men waiting for him to kill the boar[7]. It was a formidable beast[8] this year, clever, far cleverer, evidently, than the dogs, killing two of them before they cornered[9] him. Had he been afraid at some point? Perhaps. But he knew his slaves would ensure nothing happened to him.

“Who are you trying to convince,” his cousin Alexander had asked him when he returned home tired and dirty but smiling, “your young wife or yourself?”

Poor Alexander.

And as he imagined the taste and smell of the stewed boar[10] that he would eat in a few hours, Lucius Severus went back to sleep.

In the morning he saw off[11] his wife and said good bye to her. His wife was going to visit her sister, who lived half a day’s journey away. She had postponed the trip a number of times, for one reason or another, until he encouraged her to go before the weather got cold.

He had been afraid that she would be bored in the country, but that had not happened. They had been happy, perhaps too happy. They kissed and stood for a moment looking at one another. Looking at the fine lines around her eyes, it occurred to Lucius Severus that he would never see her face grow old, and he felt a sadness[12] come over him that he had to make an effort to hide. After that, when the cart[13] that was carrying her had disappeared into the woods[14] and he had looked at her one last time, he went for a walk around the estate[15].

It was a clear day, with a cool wind and blue sky, and Lucius was surprised to find that he could still find a sharp[16], intense pleasure in the smell of the morning. He looked at the olive trees, heavy with fruit, and felt proud of them, thinking of the barrels of oil that would come from the press that winter. He remembered how the Greeks, when at war, would uproot[17] the olive trees in their enemies’ fields. How cruel, he thought, and how astute. Like tearing[18] the soul from the earth.

Then, as he continued along the path[19] that descended gently from the house and down into the forest of pines and oak[20] trees, he noticed a cat following him. It was tiger-striped, black on grey, and small, probably not yet full grown. It stopped when Lucius looked at it and stood watching him, with curiosity but unafraid. There were always cats around the house and the terrain around it, and they were tolerated because they caught mice, but they were nervous, since the slaves often kicked them out of the way.

Lucius smiled and the cat ran on ahead of him for a while, then stopped suddenly, looking at something on the ground in front of it. Lucius saw a dark brown snake, not very big, stopped still, like the cat. It was an ordinary looking snake, not dangerous at all, but the cat, Lucius thought, had no reason to know that.

Abruptly, the snake began to move smoothly over the dust[21]. When it had almost completely disappeared into the grass at the edge of the path, leaving no more than an inch or two of tail to be seen, the cat jumped forward, throwing out one foot in attack, but the snake was already gone. Then the cat turned with an air of satisfaction, proud of itself, as if to say it had done all it could.

What an actor, Lucius said to himself, smiling. A dog would probably have attacked the snake at once without thinking. The dog is a noble animal, he thought, remembering the two he had lost on his last hunt[22]. The cat, on the other hand, calculates its possibilities, and is brave when it wants to, when it suits its purposes[23]. But who would win if the two, cat and dog, were to compete to be lords[24] of the world? It seemed clear enough.

He remembered then how when he was a child his grandmother had told him that seeing a snake in the morning would bring bad luck, bad luck that could only be avoided[25] by cutting off the snake’s head and throwing its body into the fire. Just one of the old lady’s silly superstitions, he thought, since in spite[26] of her wealth[27] and family she had been a countrywoman at heart, but for an instant he felt cold, as if a shadow[28] had fallen across the sun.

When he raised his head the cat was gone. He saw a slave coming out of the pigsty[29] next to the stables, called to him, and the man came running as fast as he could. His body was deformed, probably from birth so that when he moved it was as if he were walking sideways, like a crab[30]. His nose was flat, the mouth large, toothless[31] and, apparently, always open. He bent over and was going to kiss Lucius’s hand, but his master restrained[32] him with a gesture.

“Have you finished feeding the pigs?” he asked.

The pig man moved his head, his lips seemed about to shape a word, but nothing came out of his mouth.

“You see that pine?” Lucius asked him, pointing to a tree on the top of a hill not far away. “Go up there and watch. If you see someone coming along the road, come and tell me at once[33]. Do you understand?”

He saw the panic in the slave’s eyes and it occurred to him that though he had spent his whole life on the estate, the pig man had probably never entered the big house.

“Don’t worry. I’ll leave word with Paulus to let you in.”

Lucius went back to the house then and sat down with his overseer[34], the farm manager. It promised to be, as always, a long and boring conversation. Three years had gone by since Lucius had moved to the country and taken charge of the estate, and the manager was still afraid that he would discover that he had been stealing from him for years, something which Lucius, on his part, had never doubted. The farm manager was a tricky[35] but ignorant creature, and some years before Lucius had amused[36] himself for a few weeks with his wife, who was good looking though not particularly clever, knowing that she would end up telling her husband about it and that he would have to take it, to swallow[37] it in silence. Lucius had almost forgotten all that by this time, but the overseer almost certainly had not.

When he had finished with him, Lucius could no longer resist the temptation to go down to the kitchen, because the aroma of cooking had by then reached almost every corner of the house. The young slave girls went suddenly quiet and blushed[38], turned bright red, when he came in, but Lavinia, the cook, laughed, and her old face turned into a map full of wrinkles[39].

“What is your

majesty doing here?” she demanded.

“Do I need a reason to come and see you, lovely as you are?”

The old woman laughed again, while the girls went even redder.

“Let’s see how this is coming along,” their master said, pointing at the great black pot on the fire, which gave off a smell of cooking meat, herbs and wine so delicious that for a moment Lucius thought his eyes were about to fill with tears.

“It’s coming along as it should,” the cook told him. “You are master in this house, but in this kitchen, as long as I’m still alive, I am in charge. And you are not going to see or touch it until I say it’s ready.”

“You’re cruel, like most beauties.”

“And you know all about that, don’t you?”

She had been a young girl when he was only just beginning to walk and had taken care of him when he came to spend the summer months with his grandparents. When he was a boy she was already a young woman and smiled on remembering how she had bathed[40] him when he was a child and not even so much of a child. Looking at her now he could still see, or imagined he could see, in spite of all the wrinkles, the face of a happy, lively girl, a bit of a flirt almost without realizing. She had had a husband, another slave, of course, long dead now, children. Perhaps even one of those girls helping her now was one of her own.

“Go on now,” the old woman said in a gentle[41] tone, “We have work to do. It will be ready in an hour or so.”

He found Alexander on the terrace. The view was beautiful from there, fields and forest, the hills in the distance a green so deep[42] it was almost blue.

“Let’s go inside,” he said when his cousin had greeted[43] him. “It’s chilly[44].”

He ordered the servant to bring wine, olives and cheese, and they took their places before the fire. It was a spacious room, simply furnished, one wall painted with a scene of nymphs[45] bathing in a lake, done in a style so naive that Lucius had always found it amusing.

“Have you gone by the kitchen?” his cousin asked.

“How did you know?”

“I guessed.”

“It smells divine.”

“The divine Lavinia,” Alexander said, with a hint of a smile.

“Yes,” Lucius replied while the servant brought them their wine and began to set the table. “Imagine, in Rome it’s not unusual to attend a supper of fourteen dishes, not counting the desserts of course, each one more elaborate and amazing than the one before, and great cooks are more famous than poets. But I doubt if many of those dishes would be as tasty[46] as what our Lavinia is preparing for us today.”

“Perhaps you’re exaggerating a bit.”

“Always so careful, eh, Alexander?”

“It was you, not I, who frequented those suppers, remember?”

“That’s true enough.”

“Though perhaps you paid more attention to your friends’ wives than to what you were eating.”

“No doubt,” Lucius admitted with a smile, though it was not a memory he was particularly happy about. As a young man he had been proud and cruel, though no more so than any of the others of his circle. It had all been a game, amusing and meaningless[47]. He could remember the faces of the women he loved. Some were now dead, others had turned into respectable matrons[48], wives and mothers, still others amused themselves with young actors or poets whom they promoted with their money and influence and looked jealously at the younger women they saw around them.

“I admit there have been good cooks,” he went on, “and there still are some, but…”

“But you know very well that all your hosts were interested in was impressing people, showing off[49] their fortunes and ensuring everyone would talk about them…”

“That’s so,” Lucius replied.

It was three years since he had been back to Rome and he didn’t miss it. He had been fed up[50] when he left, fed up with streets that smelled of urine[51], of the people he knew with their clothes, their jewels, their houses and their armies of slaves, their foolish[52] smiles and the fear[53] in their eyes, fear that someone was about to take all that away from them, their enemies, the Emperor, death itself.

The only thing that had bothered[54] him, when he retired to the country, was the possibility that Julia would miss her friends and life in the capital. They had not been married long and they had not really known one another before the wedding. She was a young widow, from a good family but with practically no money. His wife had just died after a long illness. He was tired, indifferent.

“They’ll think I wanted to get you away from temptation,” he had said to her, half joking[55].

“Or that it’s you who’s running away[56] from his lovers,” she answered. And he had noticed then that she had sad eyes but a sympathetic[57] smile.

Running away, he thought, looking into the fire. If only one could.

Then the servant announced they could take their places at the table.

The meal[58] began with a salad of asparagus and onion, with fresh oregano and soft cheese seasoned[59] with black pepper and olive oil. Then came a dish of lentils[60] with garlic, vinegar and honey. And finally the great serving dish loaded[61] with stewed boar.

Lucius looked at his plate for a moment, savouring the aroma. He had reached the age when good food brings back memories, one after another, and he wanted to enjoy them for a moment before he began to eat.

“You were right,” Alexander said after they had eaten in silence for a few moments.

“In what way?”

“I would say Lavinia has surpassed herself.”

“I think so,” Lucius agreed. The meat had a strong flavour and even after being marinated for two days still had to be cooked for hours to make it tender. He noticed the taste of celery[62], a touch of honey in the wine sauce.

“What would your Greek friends think if they saw you eating like this?” he asked his cousin. “Don’t they claim a man ought to put away the pleasures of the flesh[63] if he wishes[64] to attain[65] the more exquisite pleasures of the mind[66]?”

“Perhaps that was why I could never make a philosopher,” Alexander replied, and noticing the sadness in his voice, Lucius regretted[67] joking in that way. Poor Alexander. He had been a beautiful youth in his day, with a brilliant mind. He could have remained[68] in Rome and led a life of luxury and amusement[69], but he had preferred Athens where he could study at the Academy. And there he had stayed, until Caesar had had his father killed, to get his villa so the story went, though he ended up, as usual, taking everything else as well. Alexander had been forced to return, poor and in disgrace. His friends of years before turned their backs on him, he was no longer beautiful, and he spent the little money he had left paying for his pleasures.

When Lucius decided to move to the country he had invited him to accompany them. Julia was fond of[70] him and enjoyed his conversation, particularly his sad but sweet stories of his love affairs. He came and stayed. He spent the days sleeping, reading and chatting with the two of them. He was grateful[71] and made an effort to be amusing[72] and talkative. Only occasionally, when he forgot himself, would he let the sadness show in his eyes.

“Lavinia told me once that it is not a particularly complicated dish,” Lucius said while they ate, “and I believe her. Complication is not necessarily the point, is it? We Romans let ourselves be taken in by virtuosity and ostentation. We have lost all taste for simplicity.”

“In this and in many other things.”

“I suspect I know what you’re referring to.”

“Do you?”

“I do,” Lucius said, taking a piece of bread and dipping[73] it in the sauce[74]. “But isn’t it possible that this nostalgia for the Republic that we pretend to miss so much – a Republic that we have never known, by the way – is not just a pose that we imagine gives us a sense of our nobility, makes us interesting when we stand in front of the mirror?”

“You’re more sceptical[75] than usual today, cousin,” Alexander replied. “You know very well what I think about the subject.”

“Oh yes. And it’s what I think as well. Or believed that I thought. But I suspect, in spite of myself, that in the end it may be true what they say, that the Empire cannot be governed by a Republic of free men.”

“One might ask then what the point of it is.”

“It serves, perhaps,” Lucius replied, “to make it possible for men like us to eat a plate of stewed boar like this and talk about things we know nothing about, which are the only things worth talking about. Isn’t that enough for you?”

“No,” his cousin said, drinking his wine.

“Didn’t your beloved Plato try to educate tyrants[76]?”

“And Seneca too, as I remember,” Alexander responded with a smile.

“Can you name anyone who has succeeded in[77] doing so?”

“No. But that’s of no importance. A man who thinks must, from time to time, confront[78] reality, in order to think it once again.”

“Your teachers taught you well,” Lucius said while the servant refilled[79] his cup. “That’s a beautiful phrase.”

“I have no interest in making beautiful phrases.”

“I know, Alexander, I know. What was it Protagoras said about the gods?”

“As to[80] the gods,” Alexander replied, speaking in Greek, “I cannot know whether they exist or not, nor, as regards[81] their form, what they are like. Many things prevent[82] me from knowing this: the difficulty of the question, for instance, and the shortness of men’s lives.”

“Yes, Lucius murmured, “which is a beautiful phrase as well. And if it were all no more than that? Beautiful phrases?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Alexander said, intrigued. He could not remember ever hearing his cousin talk like that.

“No,” Lucius murmured and ate another piece of boar meat. He was almost finished, sated[83], and as tended to occur to him after experiencing any sort of sensual pleasure, if he did not go to sleep at once, he began to feel a curious unease, a touch of inexplicable bitterness[84].

“Do you know why we love wine, Alexander?”

“I know why I do.”

“Because it is the only thing that can, if only for a moment, make time stop.”

The two of them had left off eating, and, with a glance[85], the steward[86] asked Lucius if he should take away the platter[87].

“No, Paulus, leave it a moment, perhaps I’ll eat a bit more.”

“I couldn’t eat another bite,” Alexander announced, putting his hand on his little thin man’s belly[88].

“Tell me, Alexander…” Lucius began and then fell silent. The autumn afternoon was almost over, the sky – what they could see of it – growing dark over the forest and the fields[89]. Now there was the fire in the fireplace[90], the light from the oil lamps that the servant had discreetly lit.

“What is it that we want, Alexander?” Lucius went on after a moment. “What is it we have tried to do?”

“I don’t know,” the other man said after a long pause, “perhaps just to see things as they are.”

Lucius picked up his glass and drank. In the silence they could hear the wind coming up.

“Well said,” he pronounced finally. “Thank you.”

Shortly after that the pig man came in. He was afraid. He had a frightened[91] look on his face and looked nervously all around him, trying to take everything in at once, because he had never been in a real house that was anything more than a cabin and wanted to be able to tell about it afterwards.

“I saw…” he mumbled.

“Good,” Lucius interrupted. “I understand. You can go.” And then, when the slave, moving like a crab, had almost reached the door: “Wait.”

Lucius, rising from his chair, picked up a piece of boar meat with two fingers.

“No doubt you’ve never eaten this before, and you’ll never eat it again. Open your mouth.”

The pig man, after hesitating[92] and thinking about it for a moment, obeyed, and Lucius put the piece of meat into his mouth and smiled as he watched him eat it with the two or three molars he had left.

“Now go,” Lucius ordered. “I haven’t much time.”

He turned to Alexander.

“In ten or fifteen minutes,” he said, “an officer will walk in here with an order for my arrest. I want you to entertain[93] him for a while. I’ll tell Paulus to bring out another platter of meat.”

“No,” Alexander protested, looking at him openmouthed[94].

“I’ve been a soldier. I know what they’re like,” Lucius went on, one hand on his cousin’s shoulder. “There are tasks one cannot trust[95] a slave to do, however loyal[96] he might be. Talk to him, give him some wine, a dish of the stewed boar, which, by the way, was superb, don’t you think?”

“It was,” Alexander said softly, in a whisper[97], with his head lowered[98] because he could not look him in the eye.

“Everything has been taken care of. You will have what you need to live well. Julia will have money. She’ll be able to marry again.”

“I’ll be alone.”

“We are all alone, Alexander.”

The philosopher took a few moments to raise his head. When he did, his eyes were bright with tears.

“Let me then kiss you goodbye”

“What a fool[99] you are, my friend.”

The officer entered with his helmet[100] under his arm. He had left his men, his escort outside with their horses. Later it would be necessary to feed all of them, find them somewhere to sleep, keep them from taking advantage of the slave girls. The officer was a Praetorian, no longer young, with tired eyes and a face the colour and texture of old leather[101]. He looked at the table out of the corner of his eye, then spoke.

“I’m looking for Lucius Severus, by order of the Senate.”

“You mean of Caesar,” Alexander corrected.

“I say what they tell me I’m supposed to say,” the officer replied.

“And you don’t think,” Alexander asked, filling a glass of wine and handing it to him.

“I think less and less,” the officer answered, accepting the glass, “and, you know, the less I think, the better things go for me.”

“I can see you are a man with good judgement,” Alexander said. “Do you like boar, I wonder?”

“I wouldn’t say no.”

“We were eating when suddenly my cousin found himself indisposed. Would you like to try a bit in the meantime? He’ll be back shortly.”

“Doesn’t seem like a bad idea,” the officer said, taking a chair. The servant set a plate in front of him and began to serve.

“Tell me,” Alexander went on, taking a sip[102] of wine, “what’s the news from the capital?”

The officer finished his second dish of stewed boar, took a long drink of wine and burped loudly.

“Excuse me,” he said. “So where is he?”

“This way,” Alexander told him. His voice was firm, but when he got to his feet he could feel the trembling in his legs.

The bathroom smelt of moisture[103] and humidity, the floor was still wet, the knife on the floor, the water in bath the colour of wine. He had cut his wrists[104] and the jugular vein as well, and his head lay back. Alexander bent over to look into his open eyes. He thought perhaps he might still be able to see something in them, but there was nothing but emptiness[105]. He closed them with his fingertips, then covered his own eyes with his hand.

“I’ll tell them we got here too late,” the Praetorian said. “As always. Thank you. I believe that was the best boar I’ve ever eaten.”

© The Autumn of the Heroes by David C. Hall was first published in Spanish as El otoño de los héroes and was awarded the literary and gastronomic Premi Pou de la Neu prize in 2008. It was published in English as The Autumn of the Heroes in the literary magazine, Barcelona INK, the city’s writing #09 edited by Ryan Chandler in 2012. It was also re-printed in Spanish in the commemorative volume Premio Literario Gastronómico Pou de la Neu. Relatos ganadores 2004-2013 edited by author and journalist Mariano Sánchez Soler jointly published by Editorial Aguaclara, Universidad de Alicante and Hotel Gastronòmic Pou de la Neu in 2015.

[1] Wise: savi, ‘sabio’

[2] Alive: viu, ‘vivo’

[3] Bony: ‘huesudo’. Bone: ‘hueso’

[4] Breath: alè, ‘aliento’

[5] Death: mort, ‘muerte’

[6] The living: els vius, ‘los vivos’

[7] Board: porc senglar, ‘jabalí’

[8] Beast: bèstia, ‘bestia’

[9] To corner –ed –ed: acorralar

[10] Stewed board: estofat de porc senglar, ‘estofado de jabalí’

[11] To see, saw, seen off: acomiadar, ‘despedirse’

[12] Sadness: tristesa, tristor, ‘tristeza’

[13] Cart: carruatge, ‘carruaje’

[14] Woods: boscos, ‘bosques’

[15] Estate: propietat, finca, terreny, ‘propiedad’, ‘terreno’

[16] Sharp: afilat, aquí agut, punyent, fort, ‘afilado’, ‘agudo’

[17] To uproot –ed –ed: desenterrar. Root: arrel, raíz

[18] To tear, tore, torn: esquinçar, estripar, ‘rasgar’

[19] Path: camí, ‘camino’

[20] Oak tree: roure, ‘roble’

[21] Dust: pols, ‘polvo’

[22] Hunt: cacera, ‘cacería’. To hunt –ed –ed: caçar, ‘cazar’

[23] When it suits its purposes: quan li convé, ‘cuando le conviene’

[24] Lord: amo, ‘dueño’

[25] To avoid –ed –ed: evitar

[26] In spite of = Despite: malgrat, ‘a pesar de’

[27] Wealth = Richness: riquesa, ‘riqueza’

[28] Shadow: ombra, ‘sombra’

[29] Pigsty: corral de porcs, ‘pocilga’

[30] Crab: cranc, ‘cangrejo’

[31] Toothless: sense dents, ‘desdentado’

[32] To restrain –ed –ed: refrenar, aturar

[33] At once: de seguida, ‘de inmediato’

[34] Overseer: encarregat, adminsitrador, ‘encargado’

[35] Tricky: persona que fa trucs, de poc fiar, ‘persona de la que no te puedes fiar’

[36] To amuse –d –d: divertir

[37] To swallow –ed –ed: empassar-se, ‘tragar’

[38] To blush –ed –ed: posar-se vermell, ‘sonrojarse’

[39] Wrinkle: arruga

[40] To bathe –d –d: banyar, ‘bañar’

[41] Gente: amable

[42] Deep: profund, intens, ‘profundo’, ‘intenso’

[43] To greet –ed –ed: saludar

[44] Chilly = cold: fred, ‘frío’

[45] Nymph: ninfa

[46] Tasty: saborós, ‘sabroso’

[47] Meaningless: sense sentit, ‘sin sentido’. Meaning: sentit, significat, ‘sentido’, ‘significado’

[48] Matrons: matriarques, ‘matriarcas’

[49] To show, showed, shown off: presumir, fer ostentació ,‘fardar’

[50] To be fed up: estar fart, ‘estar harto’

[51] Urine: orina, ‘orines’

[52] Foolish: tonto, estúpid, ‘estúpido’

[53] Fear: por, ‘miedo’

[54] To bother –ed –ed: preocupar

[55] To joke –d –d: fer broma, ‘bromear’

[56] To run, ran, run away: escapar

[57] Sympathetic: comprensiu, ‘comprensivo’

[58] Meal: àpat, ‘comida’

[59] Seasoned: amanit, ‘aderezado’

[60] Lentils: llenties, ‘lentejas’

[61] To load –ed –ed: carregar, ‘cargar’

[62] Celery: api, ‘apio’

[63] Flesh: carn, ‘carne’. Pleasures of the flesh: els plaers de la carn

[64] To wish –ed –ed; desitjar, ‘desear’

[65] To attain –ed –ed: aconseguir, ‘conseguir’, ‘obtener’

[66] Mind: ment, ‘mente’

[67] To regret –ted –ted: penedir-se, ‘arrepentirse’

[68] To remain –ed –ed: romandre, ‘permanecer’

[69] Amusement: divertiment, ‘diversión’

[70] To be fond of = To be keen on: agradar molt, ‘gustar mucho’

[71] Grateful: Agraït, ‘agradecido’

[72] Amusing: divertit, entretingut, ‘divertido’, ‘entretenido’

[73] To dip –ped –ped: sucar, ‘mojar’, ‘huntar’

[74] Sauce: salsa

[75] Sceptical: escèptic, ‘escéptico’

[76] Tyrant: tirà, ‘tirano’

[77] To succeed –ed –ed in: sortir-se’n, aconseguir, reeixir, ‘conseguir’, ‘tener éxito’

[78] To confront –ed –ed: enfrontar, contrastar, confrontar, ‘enfrentar’

[79] To refill –ed –ed: reomplir, ‘volver a llenar’

[80] As to: pel que fa a, ‘en lo que concierne a’

[81] As regards: pel que fa a, ‘en lo referente a’

[82] To prevent –ed –ed. To prevent someone or something from happening: Evitar o impedir que algú o quelcom faci quelcom, ‘impedir o evitar que alguien o algo haga algo o ocurra’

[83] Sated: satisfet, ‘saciado’

[84] Bitterness: amargor, ‘amargura’

[85] Glance: mirada

[86] Steward: servent, ‘sirviente’

[87] Platter: plata, safata, ‘bandeja’, ‘plata’

[88] Belly = stomach: estómac, ‘estómago’

[89] Field: camp, ‘campo’

[90] Fireplace: llar de foc, ‘chimenea’

[91] Frightened: aterrit, de por, ‘aterrado’. To frighten –ed –ed: atemorir, ‘asustar’

[92] To hesitate –d –d: dubtar, ‘dudar’

[93] To entertain –ed –ed: entretenir, ‘entretener’

[94] Openmouthed: bocabadat, amb la boca oberta, ‘boquiabierto’

[95] To trust –ed –ed: confiar

[96] Loyal: lleial, ‘leal’

[97] Whisper: suspir, ‘suspiro’. To whisper –ed –ed: suspirar

[98] To lower –ed –ed: abaixar, ajupir, ‘agachar’, ‘bajar’

[99] Fool: tonto

[100] Helmet: casc, ‘casco’

[101] Leather: pell de cuir, ‘cuero’

[102] Sip: glop, ‘sorbo’

[103] Moisture: verdet, ‘moho’

[104] Wrist: canell, ‘muñeca’

[105] Emptiness: buidor, ‘vacío’. Empty: buit, ‘vacío’2015.

GLOSSARY:

Alive: viu, ‘vivo

Amusement: divertiment, ‘diversión’

Amusing: divertit, entretingut, ‘divertido’, ‘entretenido’

As regards: pel que fa a, ‘en lo referente a’

As to: pel que fa a, ‘en lo que concierne a’

At once: de seguida, ‘de inmediato’

Beast: bèstia, ‘bestia’

Belly = stomach: panxa, estómac, ‘barriga’, ‘estómago’

Bitterness: amargor, ‘amargura’

Board: porc senglar, ‘jabalí’

Bony: ‘huesudo’. Bone: ‘hueso’

Breath: alè, ‘aliento’

Cart: carruatge, ‘carruaje’

Celery: api, ‘apio’

Chilly = cold: fred, ‘frío’

Crab: cranc, ‘cangrejo’

Death: mort, ‘muerte’

Deep: profund, intens, ‘profundo’, ‘intenso’

Dust: pols, ‘polvo’

Emptiness: buidor, ‘vacío’. Empty: buit, ‘vacío’

Estate: propietat, finca, terreny, ‘propiedad’, ‘terreno’

Fear: por, ‘miedo’

Field: camp, ‘campo’

Fireplace: llar de foc, ‘chimenea’

Flesh: carn, ‘carne’. Pleasures of the flesh: els plaers de la carn

Fool: tonto

Foolish: tonto, estúpid, ‘estúpido’

Frightened: aterrit, de por, ‘aterrado’. To frighten –ed –ed: atemorir, ‘asustar’

Gente: amable

Glance: mirada

Grateful: Agraït, ‘agradecido’

Helmet: casc, ‘casco’

Hunt: cacera, ‘cacería’. To hunt –ed –ed: caçar, ‘cazar’

In spite of = Despite: malgrat, ‘a pesar de’

Leather: pell de cuir, ‘cuero’

Lentils: llenties, ‘lentejas’

Lord: amo, ‘dueño’

Loyal: lleial, ‘leal’

Matrons: matriarques, ‘matriarcas’

Meal: àpat, ‘comida’

Meaningless: sense sentit, ‘sin sentido’. Meaning: sentit, significat, ‘sentido’, ‘significado’

Mind: ment, ‘mente’

Moisture: verdet, ‘moho’

Nymph: ninfa

Oak tree: roure, ‘roble’

Openmouthed: bocabadat, amb la boca oberta, ‘boquiabierto’

Overseer: encarregat, adminsitrador, ‘encargado’

Path: camí, ‘camino’

Pigsty: corral de porcs, ‘pocilga’

Platter: plata, safata, ‘bandeja’, ‘plata’

Sadness: tristesa, tristor, ‘tristeza’. Sad: trist, ‘triste’

Sated: satisfet, ‘saciado’

Sauce: salsa

Sceptical: escèptic, ‘escéptico’

Seasoned: amanit, ‘aderezado’

Shadow: ombra, ‘sombra’

Sharp: afilat, aquí agut, punyent, fort, ‘afilado’, ‘agudo’

Sip: glop, ‘sorbo’

Steward: servent, ‘sirviente’

Stewed board: estofat de porc senglar, ‘estofado de jabalí’

Sympathetic: comprensiu, ‘comprensivo’

Tasty: saborós, ‘sabroso’

The living: els vius, ‘los vivos’

To amuse –d –d: divertir

To attain –ed –ed: aconseguir, ‘conseguir’, ‘obtener’

To avoid –ed –ed: evitar

To bathe –d –d: banyar, ‘bañar’

To be fed up: estar fart, ‘estar harto’

To be fond of = To be keen on: agradar molt, ‘gustar mucho’

To blush –ed –ed: posar-se vermell, ‘sonrojarse’

To bother –ed –ed: preocupar

To confront –ed –ed: enfrontar, contrastar, confrontar, ‘enfrentar’

To corner –ed –ed: acorralar, arraconar, ‘arrinconar’

To dip –ped –ped: sucar, ‘mojar’, ‘huntar’

To entertain –ed –ed: entretenir, ‘entretener’

To greet –ed –ed: saludar

To hesitate –d –d: dubtar, ‘dudar’

To joke –d –d: fer broma, ‘bromear’

To load –ed –ed: carregar, ‘cargar’

To lower –ed –ed: abaixar, ajupir, ‘agachar’, ‘bajar’

To prevent –ed –ed. To prevent someone or something from happening: Evitar o impedir que algú o quelcom faci quelcom, ‘impedir o evitar que alguien o algo haga algo o ocurra’

To refill –ed –ed: reomplir, ‘volver a llenar’

To regret –ted –ted: penedir-se, ‘arrepentirse’

To remain –ed –ed: romandre, ‘permanecer’

To restrain –ed –ed: refrenar, aturar

To run, ran, run away: escapar

To see, saw, seen off: acomiadar, ‘despedirse’

To show, showed, shown off: presumir, fer ostentació ,‘fardar’

To succeed –ed –ed in: sortir-se’n, aconseguir, reeixir, ‘conseguir’, ‘tener éxito’

To swallow –ed –ed: empassar-se, ‘tragar’

To tear, tore, torn: esquinçar, estripar, ‘rasgar’

To trust –ed –ed: confiar

To uproot –ed –ed: desenterrar. Root: arrel, raíz

To wish –ed –ed; desitjar, ‘desear’

Toothless: sense dents, ‘desdentado’

Tricky: persona que fa trucs, de poc fiar, ‘persona de la que no te puedes fiar’

Tyrant: tirà, ‘tirano’

Urine: orina, ‘orines’

Wealth = Richness: riquesa, ‘riqueza’

When it suits its purposes: quan li convé, ‘cuando le conviene’

Whisper: suspir, ‘suspiro’. To whisper –ed –ed: suspirar

Wise: savi, ‘sabio’

Woods: boscos, ‘bosques’

Wrinkle: arruga

Wrist: canell, ‘muñeca’