Italian–English parallel text
Il telefono nel taxi
The Phone in the Taxi
DuoText
A bilingual Italian–English edition: the Italian text with the English beside it, paragraph by paragraph.
Opening the reader…
Il giovane
The young man
Claire vive a Parigi. Ha quarantaquattro anni. Guida un taxi.
Claire lives in Paris. She is forty-four. She drives a taxi.
Lavora tutti i giorni, dalle sette alle otto. Il suo taxi è vecchio, ma è molto pulito.
She works every day, from seven to eight. Her taxi is old, but it is very clean.
Claire è divorziata. Ha un figlio, ma adesso è un uomo. Vive a Lione. Non la chiama molto.
Claire is divorced. She has a son, but he is a man now. He lives in Lyon. He does not call her much.
È lunedì mattina e piove. Un giovane corre verso il taxi. Ha una borsa grande e una borsa piccola.
It is Monday morning, and it is raining. A young man runs to the taxi. He has a big bag and a small bag.
«Buongiorno! Alla banca grande in Rue de Rivoli, per favore. E veloce, per favore! Sono in ritardo.»
“Good morning! To the big bank on Rue de Rivoli, please. And fast, please! I am late.”
«Tutti sono in ritardo a Parigi», dice Claire. Sorride.
“Everybody is late in Paris,” says Claire. She smiles.
Il giovane non sorride. Parla al telefono. Guarda l’orologio. Parla di nuovo al telefono.
The young man does not smile. He talks on his phone. He looks at his watch. He talks on his phone again.
«Sì, mamma. No, mamma. Lo so, mamma. Stasera alle nove. Sì, ho tutto.»
“Yes, Mum. No, Mum. I know, Mum. Tonight at nine. Yes, I have everything.”
Claire ascolta. Pensa a suo figlio. Suo figlio non dice mai “Sì, mamma” al telefono. Suo figlio non chiama.
Claire listens. She thinks of her son. Her son never says “Yes, Mum” on the phone. Her son does not call.
«È sua madre?», chiede.
“Is that your mother?” she asks.
«Sì. Chiama ogni ora. Si preoccupa per tutto.»
“Yes. She calls every hour. She worries about everything.”
«Le madri si preoccupano», dice Claire. «È il loro lavoro. E i giovani dimenticano tutto.»
“Mothers worry,” says Claire. “It is their job. And young men forget everything.”
Il taxi si ferma davanti a una grande banca. Il giovane le dà i soldi. Prende le sue borse e corre.
The taxi stops in front of a big bank. The young man gives her the money. He takes his bags and runs.
The beginning is free to read here. The rest of the book, the narration and the downloads for Kindle, Kobo and other e-readers come with Reader. How to get it onto your e-reader
The full story continues in the reader. Want your own book like this? Make a parallel text from any book.
The same story in German with English · Greek with English · English with German · English with Greek · English with Spanish · English with French · English with Hindi · English with Indonesian · English with Italian · English with Japanese · English with Korean · English with Dutch · English with Polish · English with Portuguese · English with Romanian · English with Turkish · English with Vietnamese · English with Chinese · Spanish with English · French with English · Hindi with English · Indonesian with English · Japanese with English · Korean with English · Dutch with English · Polish with English · Portuguese with English · Romanian with English · Turkish with English · Vietnamese with English · Chinese with English · all languages