Canne al vento: an Italian graded reader at level B1
Grazia Deledda · adapted by Alessio Insegnante · CEFR level B1
Grazia Deledda's classic (1913), rewritten for learners of Italian at level B1: calibrated sentences, footnotes, a final glossary and comprehension questions in every chapter.
Ebook $4.99 · also in 6×9 paperback
Look inside: the first page
CAPITOLO 1
L’argine del podere
The Embankment
Tutto il giorno Efix aveva lavorato. Costruiva un argine di terra e pietre lungo il fiume, in fondo al podere delle dame Pintor.
Era un lavoro vecchio di anni. Ogni primavera il fiume cresceva e rompeva il muro.1 Ogni primavera Efix lo rifaceva, da solo, con le mani.
Quando venne la sera, il vecchio servo si sedette davanti alla capanna e guardò in basso. Il podere era tutto ai suoi piedi, silenzioso, con l'acqua che brillava nel buio.
◆
Efix lavorava in quella terra da trent'anni. Non riceveva uno stipendio: solo il pane e un posto dove dormire. Era la povertà, ma lui non la chiamava così.
argine = embankment · podere = smallholding · servo = servant · povertà = poverty
1 Il fiume che rompe sempre l'argine è il primo simbolo del libro: c'è una forza che l'uomo non può fermare, e che l'uomo continua a combattere lo stesso.
Chapter 1 · CEFR B1 · 23 words of the real textGet the book on Amazon ↗︎
The plot of Canne al vento
In a Sardinian village live the three Pintor sisters, impoverished nobility, and their servant Efix, who works their land to atone for a secret guilt that binds him to the family forever. The arrival of their young nephew Giacinto shatters a balance held for years.
Amid village feasts, debts and superstitions, the characters bend to fate «like reeds in the wind». Deledda's most famous novel is a song of guilt, atonement and the mysterious power of her Sardinia.
Why read Canne al vento to learn Italian
The descriptions of Sardinia are a goldmine of adjectives and descriptive imperfetto, and Deledda's rhythmic prose is beautiful to read aloud. The vocabulary of traditions, feasts and nature opens a window onto deep Italian culture.
Inside the glossary
Glossary
- agonia · agony ((sin. fine, trapasso))
- Le ultime ore di chi sta per morire.
- The last hours of a person who is dying.
- Dying here is never merely physical. It is the moment a person looks back over everything and decides what to say.
- alba · dawn ((sin. aurora, levata))
- La prima luce del mattino.
- The first light of the morning.
- Dawn never brings relief in this book. It brings another identical day, and Efix waits for it the way you wait for a sentence that has been postponed.
- argine · embankment ((sin. diga, sbarramento))
- Un muro di terra costruito lungo un fiume per fermare l'acqua.
- A wall of earth built along a river to hold back the water.
- Every year the river breaks it, every year Efix builds it again. It is his whole quarrel with a force far larger than himself.
- attesa · waiting ((sin. aspettativa, trepidazione))
- Il tempo passato aspettando che succeda qualcosa.
- The time spent waiting for something to happen.
- In the Pintor house the waiting lasts for years. They wait for an heir, a marriage, a change. And meanwhile they grow old.
- autorità · authority ((sin. comando, dominio))
- Il potere di comandare ed essere obbediti.
- The power to command and be obeyed.
- Don Zame's authority was violent. He kept his daughters locked in the house and allowed no questions.
- calcolo · calculation ((sin. convenienza, interesse))
- Il pensare ai propri vantaggi prima di agire.
- Weighing your own advantage before you act.
- Grixenda loves without calculating, and in that world it is almost a mistake: everyone else is always working out the odds.
- canna · reed ((sin. giunco, stelo))
- Una pianta alta e sottile che cresce vicino all'acqua. Nel vento si piega fino a terra, ma non si rompe: e si rialza.
- A tall thin plant that grows by water. The wind bends it to the ground, but it does not break.
- This is the image that gives the book its title: reeds in the wind.
- colpa · guilt ((sin. responsabilità, peccato))
- La responsabilità di aver fatto qualcosa di grave.
- The weight of having done something seriously wrong.
- In this novel guilt isn't an event, it's a weight. Efix carries it every day of his life, and it's why he works thirty years for nothing.
The glossary contains 78 entries in all
Inside this reader
CEFR adaptation
The text is fully rewritten for level B1, with controlled vocabulary and syntax, while staying faithful to the original plot.
Footnotes and glossary
Footnotes on difficult words and a final glossary, so you can read independently without a dictionary.
Comprehension questions
Every chapter ends with questions to check understanding, just like in class.
Paperback and ebook
6×9 paperback on cream paper, or Kindle ebook. The same text also lives in the ti app.
Language focus: what you practise
In this level-B1 edition you mainly practise the present subjunctive, the conditional, real hypothetical clauses and discourse connectors. The vocabulary revolves around nature, traditions and feasts: the key words, with translations, are in the glossary below and recur throughout the text, so you learn them in context.
About the author: Grazia Deledda
Grazia Deledda (1871–1936), born in Nuoro, was the first Italian woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1926. In her novels Sardinia becomes a universal landscape of passion and fate.
Details and difficulty level
B1 is the threshold of independence: longer sentences, the present subjunctive, rich everyday vocabulary. This reader suits intermediate students and anyone preparing a B1 certification (CILS, CELI, PLIDA). Format: 6×9 paperback on cream paper or Kindle ebook; 20 chapters with footnotes, a final glossary and comprehension questions. Paperback ISBN: 9798187884223. All level B1 books →︎
Essential glossary (Italian · English · Dutch)
| Italian | English | Dutch |
|---|---|---|
| il servo | servant | de knecht |
| la canna | reed | het riet |
| il vento | wind | de wind |
| il destino | fate | het lot |
| la colpa | guilt | de schuld |
| la nobiltà | nobility | de adel |
| la festa | feast | het feest |
| la superstizione | superstition | het bijgeloof |
Frequently asked questions
What level of Italian do I need to read Canne al vento?
This edition of Canne al vento is rewritten for CEFR level B1. B1 is the threshold of independence: longer sentences, the present subjunctive, rich everyday vocabulary. This reader suits intermediate students and anyone preparing a B1 certification (CILS, CELI, PLIDA).
Is this Grazia Deledda's original text?
No, it is an adaptation: the plot and spirit of Grazia Deledda's original remain, but vocabulary and syntax are rewritten for level B1, with footnotes, a final glossary and comprehension questions at the end of every chapter.
Which formats is it available in?
Paperback (6×9, cream paper) and Kindle ebook on Amazon. The ebook is $4.99. The same text also lives in the 
amo Italian app, with vocabulary translated into 17 languages.
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Canne al vento also lives inside the ti app, with tap-to-translate vocabulary in 17 languages and animated scenes. On the site you'll also find 700+ free Italian exercises and the blog for Italian learners.
