ALENCAR

O Guarani 5.21 · 5.21

A flicker of pique

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Ela parou em face de Cecília meio deitada sobre a rede, e não pôde furtar-se à admiração que lhe inspirava essa beleza delicada, de contornos tão suaves; e uma sombra imperceptível, talvez de um despeito, passou pelo seu rosto, mas esvaeceu-se logo.

She stopped before Cecília, half-reclining on the hammock, and could not escape the admiration that this delicate beauty stirred in her, with its contours so soft; and a faint shadow, perhaps of pique, passed across her face, but vanished at once.

Word by word

ElaE-laSheparoupa-ROHstoppedemenginfaceFA-seefrontdejeeofCecíliameioMAY-oohalfdeitadaday-TA-darecliningsobreSO-breeonaatheredeHE-jeehammock,eeeandnãonowngnotpôdePO-jeecouldfurtar-sefoor-TAR-seescapeàahtheadmiraçãoad-mee-ra-SOWNGadmirationquekeethatlhelyein herinspiravaeens-pee-RA-vastirredessaE-sathatbelezabe-LE-zabeautydelicadade-lee-KA-dadelicate,dejeeofcontornoskon-TOR-nooscontourstãotowngsosuavessoo-A-vessoft;eeeandumaOO-maasombraSOM-brashadowimperceptíveleem-per-sep-TEE-velfaint,talveztal-VESperhapsdejeeofumoongadespeitodes-PAY-toopique,passoupa-SOHpassedpeloPE-looacrossseuSE-oo(her)rostoHOS-tooface,masmasbutesvaeceu-sees-va-e-SEH-oo-sevanishedlogoLO-gooat once.

The setting

Chapter V. The daydream ends; Cecília's cousin Isabel comes into the garden — a Brazilian beauty set as her opposite.

A note on this passage

Alencar hands Isabel her first secret in a single 'faint shadow': envy, or unrequited longing, quickly mastered. The whole tragedy of Isabel — loving where she is not loved, standing beside a beauty she can admire but not equal — is compressed into that flicker she will not let show.

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