Cuore: an Italian graded reader at level A1

Glossary

addio · farewell ((sin. saluto, commiato))

La parola che si dice quando si va via per sempre.

The word you say when you leave for ever.

Cuore ends with a goodbye, not a celebration. School closes, the boys scatter, the master is left alone. De Amicis refuses to hand you a happy ending: he says that good things end, and that it hurts. Nobody had ever dared say that to children before.

aiutare · to help ((sin. soccorrere, dare una mano))

Fare qualcosa per una persona che ha bisogno.

To do something for a person who needs it.

This is the verb of the book. Not «love», not «understand»: HELP. Nobody in Cuore makes speeches about feelings: they hand over their bread, lend their notebook, drag a child out from under a cart. Goodness here is something you do with your hands.

bugiardo · liar ((sin. falso, menzognero))

Chi dice le bugie.

Someone who tells lies.

The children in this book lie often: and almost always to protect somebody. Giulio lies to his father for a whole year, and does it out of love. De Amicis doesn't condemn that lie: he tells it, and makes us weep.

castigo · punishment ((sin. punizione, pena))

La punizione che si dà a chi ha fatto una cosa sbagliata.

What is given to someone who has done wrong.

Punishment almost never arrives. The schoolmaster could punish and doesn't; the injured old man could have Garoffi arrested and forgives him instead. Chapter after chapter, De Amicis says the same thing: trust achieves more than punishment ever will.

cattivo · bad, wicked ((sin. malvagio, crudele))

Chi fa del male agli altri, e lo fa apposta.

Someone who hurts others, and does it on purpose.

There is exactly one villain in this book: Franti. And De Amicis does something almost nobody does: he doesn't forgive him, doesn't explain him, doesn't redeem him at the end. Franti is bad on the last page too, and his story ends badly.

classe · class, classroom ((sin. aula, scolaresca))

La stanza dove i bambini studiano, e i bambini che stanno dentro.

The room where children study, and the children in it.

In this book the class isn't a room, it's a small city. There are rich boys and poor boys, strong and weak, the good ones and Franti. The whole of Italy fits inside four walls: and De Amicis did that on purpose.

The glossary contains 22 entries in all