Carmela’s Nightmare Posted by Geoff on Oct 27, 2015 in Italian Language, Vocabulary
Here is Chapter 4 of Carmela’s Story. You can find the previous chapters by clicking on the links below
Carmela picked up the faded newspaper clipping that had slipped out of her libretto and nestled it amongst a small collection of photos, letters, and other memoirs held together by an elastic band. She had no need to look at it, she new the contents off by heart, but its presence served to remind her that her nightmare had its origins in reality.
Everything is temporary, no matter how secure we believe ourselves to be, no matter how tight we may hold on …. things, people, can be taken from us, everything can change in an instant, never to be the same again.
Gazzetta della Garfagnana 17 Ottobre 1998
Valico di Sotto, incendio in casa: muoiono tre persone. Salvata una ragazza di 11 anni.
Valico di Sotto, house fire, three dead. 11 year old girl rescued.
Le vittime, Antonio Santini (47 anni), Maria Carmela de Rossi (41), e Alda Gentiloni (78) sono morti nella loro casa a causa di un incendio divampato nella notte. Le fiamme sono scaturite poco dopo le 3 in un casolare vicino al paese.
The victims, Antonio Santini (47 years old), Maria Carmela de Rossi (41), e Alda Gentiloni (78) died in their home due to a fire that broke out during the night. The flames rose up just after 3 a.m. in a farmhouse near the village.
E’ ancora da verificare se si è trattato di una fiamma libera o di un cortocircuito. Di sicuro c’è che quella casa di Valico di Sotto, nei pressi di Lucca, è diventata un inferno, provocando la morte per asfissia di un uomo di 47 anni, padre di due figli, sua moglie di 41 anni e la 78enne madre di quest’ultima. L’unica superstite è stata la figlia che ha tentato invano di uscire dal rogo ma è stata salvata alla fine da un vicino di casa e i suoi due figli. Il vicino Roberto Zerbini (56) è riuscito a salire su una scala a pioli e afferrare la ragazza, Carmela Santini (11), dalla finestra della sua camera da letto al secondo piano.
It hasn’t yet been verified if it was caused by a naked flame or a short circuit. What is certain however is that the house in Vallico di Sotto near Lucca became an inferno, causing the death by asphyxiation of a 47 year old father of 2, his 41 year old wife and her 78 year old mother. The only survivor was the daughter, who tried in vain to get out of the blaze, but was finally rescued by a neighbour and his two sons. The neighbour, Roberto Zerbini (56) managed to climb up a ladder and grab the girl, Carmela Santini (11), from her bedroom window on the second floor.
La polizia sta provando a contattare il fratello della ragazza, Federico Santini (22) che è attualmente dislocato all’estero con le forze speciali italiane.
The police are trying to contact the girl’s brother, Federico Santini (22) who is presently on deployment abroad with the Italian special forces.
Carmela knew the real story behind this rather empty and anonymous news article. Sooner or later it had been bound to happen, but who had listened then, and what difference would it make now anyway. What had happened had happened: “sono stanca … stanca di viaggiare, di stare in pensioni low-cost, di mangiare nelle pizzerie e i bar … è ora che torni a casa e che finisca il mio lavoro, quello di creare l’unico posto dove posso proprio riposarmi” she told herself, “quindi, domani ritiro i soldi, faccio l’ultimo acquisto, mi compro il biglietto … e poi me ne vado a casa.”
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Comments:
rita Kostopoulos:
Che triste avventura!!!Povera Carmela con queste tristi memorie. Con il fuoco non si scherza. Nell’Isola le case sono tutte fatte di legno e se c’e’ un incendio in pochi minuti tutto e’ cenere.
janet mccourt:
It’s funny. I am on my second Masters and have had no time to read hardly any of your posts, although I must admit I save each one for when I do finally have time, but time never seems to catch up to me. Anyway, today I read a piece of Carmela, then I wanted more, so I went to Chapter 1, then 2, then 3, and now I can’t wait for the rest. Of course I should have been doing homework, but I am glad I took the time to read it. Thank you..
Geoff:
@janet mccourt Tante grazie Janet, ci saranno altri capitoli a seguire. A presto, Geoff
Patricia:
Meglio non mettere una lista di vocaboli.
Geoff:
@Patricia Non ho capito, non c’è nessun vocabolario!
Roberto:
Anche si io un principiante, a mi piace il tuo blog. Potrebbe aiutare, per favore, con questo proverbio italiano? “Femmene ciuccie e crape tenene una capa” …e scritto sul’un piccolo piatto. Grazie mille!
Serena:
@Roberto Salve Roberto e benvenuto!
Il proverbio vuol dire: “Donne, asini e capre hanno la stessa testa”. Il proverbio, del sud d’Italia (Basilicata o Campania) è dedicato alla testardaggine delle donne. NON è un complimento per le donne!
Saluti da Serena
Ann Finlay:
Please could you give a little amplification to “poi me ne vado a casa”? … Andarsene (in comparison to andare) as it is commonly used would be a helpful verb to explain.
Thanks
Geoff:
@Ann Finlay Ciao Ann,
A learner of English might ask you what the difference is between ‘I’m going home’ and ‘I’m going off home’. They’re both shades of the same concept. To simplify things let’s say that ‘I’m going home’ = ‘vado a casa’ and ‘I’m going off home’ = ‘me ne vado a casa’.
Andarsene is one of those constructions that’s difficult to explain because, like so many other colloquial expressions, it’s something that only begins to make sense when you’re immersed in the language and culture and here it used day to day.
Have you seen this blog: https://blogs.transparent.com/italian/te-ne-vai/ ?
A presto, Geoff
Roberto:
Grazie, Serena! I won’t talk to my wife about “testardaggine” ever again! Andremo a Puglia in due settimane, forse posso trovare di più.
judi:
Did I get lost?
I just read all four in sequence, yet a few weeks back I read the first one, then another where she was actually in a shoe store, buys a pair of black boots, then leaves, presumably to do the bank thing.
This time the four chapters involve a nightmare about a fire; no sign of the shoe store.
Then it moves into a story about Carmela’s cat?
Please clarify. Thanks./
Geoff:
@judi Ciao Judi,
Carmela’s story is a fairly long term project. So far, each chapter has presented a small fragment of Carmela’s life, with a common thread running throughout.
For example, in the latest chapter we find Carmela at home for the first time, and discover that she has a cat. As Carmela chats with Bianchina she makes reference to her trips to the city, and the shoes that she’s acquired.
Carmela’s Nightmare makes reference to an event in her childhood which is relevant to her ‘activities’. But that will become apparent in a later chapter.
At the end of Carmela’s Nightmare she says: “ … è ora che torni a casa e che finisca il mio lavoro, quello di creare l’unico posto dove posso proprio riposarmi”
“… it’s time to go home and finish my work, to create the only place where I can really rest”
When you read the next chapter you’ll begin to see how the pieces fit together.
Grazie per il tuo commento, a presto, Geoff
jane bowden:
I agree with Judi. I managed the Italian ok but found the sequence of events and plot mystifying. Maybe dimwits like me need an explanation – in Italian. Thanks.
Geoff:
@jane bowden Hi Jane, I’m sure you’re not a dimwit 🙂
See my reply to Judi.
Saluti da Geoff