Chapter 1 (4) Kapitel 1 (4) Capítulo 1 (4) Розділ 1 (4) 第1章（4）

Mary was very fond of him, and very proud of him, too. She had been with his mother ever since he was born; and, after his father's death, had been cook and housemaid and nurse and everything else. Era stata con la madre fin dalla sua nascita e, dopo la morte del padre, era stata cuoca, domestica, infermiera e tutto il resto. She was proud of his graceful, strong little body and his pretty manners, and especially proud of the bright curly hair which waved over his forehead and fell in charming love-locks on his shoulders. Era orgogliosa del suo corpicino grazioso e forte e dei suoi modi graziosi, e soprattutto dei capelli ricci e luminosi che gli ondeggiavano sulla fronte e cadevano in incantevoli ciocche d'amore sulle spalle. She was willing to work early and late to help his mamma make his small suits and keep them in order. Era disposta a lavorare presto e tardi per aiutare la mamma a confezionare i suoi vestitini e a tenerli in ordine.

" 'Ristycratic, is it?" "Ristycratic, vero?". she would say. direbbe. "Faith, an' I'd loike to see the choild on Fifth Avey- noo as looks loike him an' shteps out as handsome as himself. "Fede, e mi piacerebbe vedere il ragazzo della Quinta Strada, che ha il suo stesso aspetto e si presenta bello come lui. An' ivvery man, woman, and choild lookin' afther him in his bit of a black velvet skirt made out of the misthress's ould gownd; an' his little head up, an' his curly hair flyin' an' shinin'. It's loike a young lord he looks." Cedric did not know that he looked like a young lord; he did not know what a lord was. His greatest friend was the groceryman at the corner--the cross groceryman, who was never cross to him. Il suo più grande amico era il droghiere all'angolo, il droghiere crudele, che non era mai crudele con lui. His name was Mr. Hobbs, and Cedric admired and respected him very much. He thought him a very rich and powerful person, he had so many things in his store,--prunes and figs and oranges and biscuits,--and he had a horse and wagon. Lo riteneva una persona molto ricca e potente, perché aveva tante cose nel suo negozio, prugne, fichi, arance e biscotti, e aveva un cavallo e un carro. Cedric was fond of the milkman and the baker and the apple-woman,, but he liked Mr.Hobbs best of all, and was on terms of such intimacy with him that he went to see him every day, and often sat with him quite a long time, discussing the topics of the hour. Cedric era affezionato al lattaio, al fornaio e alla donna delle mele, ma più di tutti gli piaceva il signor Hobbs, con il quale era in rapporti di tale intimità che andava a trovarlo tutti i giorni e spesso stava seduto con lui a lungo, discutendo degli argomenti del momento. It was quite surprising how many things they found to talk about--the Fourth of July, for instance. È stato sorprendente vedere quante cose hanno trovato di cui parlare: il 4 luglio, per esempio. When they began to talk about the Fourth of July there really seemed no end to it. Mr. Hobbs had a very bad opinion of "the British," and he told the whole story of the Revolution, relating very wonderful and patriotic stories about the villainy of the enemy and the bravery of the Revolutionary heroes, and he even generously repeated part of the Declaration of Independence. Il signor Hobbs aveva una pessima opinione degli "inglesi" e raccontava tutta la storia della Rivoluzione, raccontando storie meravigliose e patriottiche sulla malvagità del nemico e sul coraggio degli eroi della Rivoluzione, ripetendo generosamente anche parte della Dichiarazione di Indipendenza. Cedric was so excited that his eyes shone and his cheeks were red and his curls were all rubbed and tumbled into a yellow mop. Cedric era così eccitato che i suoi occhi brillavano, le sue guance erano rosse e i suoi riccioli erano tutti sfregati e ridotti a una zazzera gialla. He could hardly wait to eat his dinner after he went home, he was so anxious to tell his mamma. Non vedeva l'ora di cenare dopo essere tornato a casa, tanto era ansioso di raccontarlo alla mamma. It was, perhaps, Mr. Hobbs who gave him his first interest in politics. Mr. Hobbs was fond of reading the newspapers, and so Cedric heard a great deal about what was going on in Washington; and Mr. Hobbs would tell him whether the President was doing his duty or not. Mr. Hobbs amava leggere i giornali e così Cedric veniva a sapere molto di ciò che accadeva a Washington; e Mr. Hobbs gli diceva se il Presidente stava facendo il suo dovere o meno. And once, when there was an election, he found it all quite grand, and probably but for Mr. Hobbs and Cedric the country might have been wrecked. E una volta, quando ci furono le elezioni, trovò tutto molto grandioso, e probabilmente se non fosse stato per Mr. Hobbs e Cedric il paese sarebbe naufragato.

Mr. Hobbs took him to see a great torchlight procession, and many of the men who carried torches remembered afterward a stout man who stood near a lamp-post and held on his shoulder a handsome little shouting boy, who waved his cap in the air. Mr. Hobbs lo portò a vedere una grande fiaccolata, e molti degli uomini che portavano le torce ricordarono in seguito un uomo robusto che stava vicino a un lampione e teneva sulla spalla un bel ragazzino urlante, che agitava il cappello in aria.

It was not long after this election, when Cedric was between seven and eight years old, that the very strange thing happened which made so wonderful a change in his life. It was quite curious, too, that the day it happened he had been talking to Mr. Hobbs about England and the Queen, and Mr. Hobbs had said some very severe things about the aristocracy, being specially indignant against earls and marquises. Era anche abbastanza curioso che il giorno in cui accadde il fatto lui stesse parlando con Mr. Hobbs dell'Inghilterra e della Regina, e Mr. Hobbs aveva detto cose molto severe sull'aristocrazia, indignandosi in particolare contro i conti e i marchesi. It had been a hot morning; and after playing soldiers with some friends of his, Cedric had gone into the store to rest, and had found Mr. Hobbs looking very fierce over a piece of the Illustrated London News, which contained a picture of some court ceremony. Era stata una mattinata calda e, dopo aver giocato a soldatini con alcuni suoi amici, Cedric era entrato nel negozio per riposare e aveva trovato il signor Hobbs che guardava con grande accanimento un pezzo dell'Illustrated London News, che conteneva l'immagine di una cerimonia di corte.

"Ah," he said, "that's the way they go on now; but they'll get enough of it some day, when those they've trod on rise and blow 'em up sky-high,--earls and marquises and all! "Ah", disse, "è così che vanno avanti adesso; ma un giorno ne avranno abbastanza, quando quelli che hanno calpestato si alzeranno e li faranno saltare in aria, per le orecchie, i marchesi e tutto il resto! It's coming, and they may look out for it!" Sta arrivando, e possono stare attenti!". Cedric had perched himself as usual on the high stool and pushed his hat back, and put his hands in his pockets in delicate compliment to Mr. Hobbs. Cedric si era appollaiato come al solito sull'alto sgabello, aveva spinto indietro il cappello e si era messo le mani in tasca per fare un delicato complimento al signor Hobbs.

"Did you ever know many marquises, Mr. "Ha mai conosciuto molti marchesi, Mr. Hobbs?" Cedric inquired,--"or earls?" "No," answered Mr. Hobbs, with indignation; "I guess not. "No", rispose Mr. Hobbs, con indignazione, "credo di no". I'd like to catch one of 'em inside here; that's all! I'll have no grasping tyrants sittin' 'round on my cracker-barrels!" Non voglio che tiranni arraffoni si siedano sui miei barili di cracker!". And he was so proud of the sentiment that he looked around proudly and mopped his forehead. Ed era così fiero di questo sentimento che si guardò intorno orgoglioso e si aggrottò la fronte.

"Perhaps they wouldn't be earls if they knew any better," said Cedric, feeling some vague sympathy for their unhappy condition. "Forse non sarebbero conti se sapessero fare di meglio", disse Cedric, provando una vaga compassione per la loro infelice condizione. "Wouldn't they!" "Non è vero!" said Mr. Hobbs. "They just glory in it! "Si gloriano di questo! It's in 'em. They're a bad lot." Sie sind ein übler Haufen." Sono un brutto gruppo". They were in the midst of their conversation, when Mary appeared.

Cedric thought she had come to buy some sugar, perhaps, but she had not. She looked almost pale and as if she were excited about something.

"Come home, darlint," she said; "the misthress is wantin' yez." "Torna a casa, tesoro", disse, "la signora ti vuole". Cedric slipped down from his stool. Cedric è scivolato giù dallo sgabello.

"Does she want me to go out with her, Mary?" he asked. "Good-morning, Mr. Hobbs. I'll see you again." He was surprised to see Mary staring at him in a dumfounded fashion, and he wondered why she kept shaking her head. Si sorprese nel vedere Mary che lo fissava stupita e si chiese perché continuasse a scuotere la testa.

"What's the matter, Mary?" he said. "Is it the hot weather?" "No," said Mary; "but there's strange things happenin' to us." "No", disse Mary, "ma ci succedono cose strane". "Has the sun given Dearest a headache?" "Il sole ha fatto venire il mal di testa a Dearest?". he inquired anxiously.

But it was not that. When he reached his own house there was a coupe standing before the door. Quando arrivò a casa sua c'era un coupé davanti alla porta. and some one was in the little parlor talking to his mamma. e qualcuno era nel salottino a parlare con la mamma. Mary hurried him upstairs and put on his best summer suit of cream-colored flannel, with the red scarf around his waist, and combed out his curly locks. Mary lo portò di corsa al piano di sopra e gli fece indossare il suo miglior vestito estivo di flanella color crema, con la sciarpa rossa intorno alla vita, e gli pettinò i capelli ricci.

"Lords, is it?" he heard her say. "An' the nobility an' gintry. "E la nobiltà e la gintry. Och! bad cess to them! male a loro! Lords, indade--worse luck." Signori, indade... peggio per voi". It was really very puzzling, but he felt sure his mamma would tell him what all the excitement meant, so he allowed Mary to bemoan herself without asking many questions. Era davvero molto sconcertante, ma si sentiva sicuro che la mamma gli avrebbe detto cosa significasse tutta questa agitazione, così lasciò che Mary si lamentasse senza fare molte domande. When he was dressed, he ran downstairs and went into the parlor. Una volta vestito, corse al piano di sotto e andò in salotto. A tall, thin old gentleman with a sharp face was sitting in an arm-chair. His mother was standing near by with a pale face, and he saw that there were tears in her eyes.

"Oh! Ceddie!" she cried out, and ran to her little boy and caught him in her arms and kissed him in a frightened, troubled way. "Oh! Ceddie, darling!" The tall old gentleman rose from his chair and looked at Cedric with his sharp eyes. He rubbed his thin chin with his bony hand as he looked.

He seemed not at all displeased. Non sembrava affatto dispiaciuto.

"And so," he said at last, slowly,--"and so this is little Lord Fauntleroy."