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Anche Mario in un primo brevissimo tempo ne rise. I due fratelli stavano cenando insieme e fu sorprendente come dopo i primi bocconi presi con tutta calma, Mario ad un tratto, da solo, senza che nessuno gli avesse detto un'altra parola, si sentisse addirittura mancare scoprendo intera la burla.

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Mario also laughed about it for a very short time. The two brothers were eating dinner and it was surprising how, after the first few bites he had taken calmly, Mario suddenly, all by himself, without anyone saying another word to him, felt his breath catch , when he fully understood the joke.

La scopriva con enorme sorpresa, e nello stesso tempo si sorprendeva di aver dovuto attendere una vaga parola d'avvertimento per saperla tutta. Aveva chiuso gli occhi apposta per non vedere e non intendere?

Completely surprised, everything became clear to him and at the same time he was amazed that it took an imprecise word to fully understand him. Had he perhaps closed his eyes on purpose so as not to see and not to understand?

Da bel principio egli aveva indovinato l'intima natura dei due messeri coi quali aveva avuto da fare e li avrebbe potuti smascherare subito quando in sua presenza i due svergognati s'erano abbandonati al riso.

From the start he had sensed the close relationship between the two gentlemen he was dealing with and he could have unmasked them when the two shameless men burst out laughing in his presence.

Perchè non aveva pensato, perchè non guardato? Ricordò ancora: sul naso affilato del tedesco gli occhiali avevano tremato per il riso trattenuto; un'oscillazione simile a quella di un motore su una vettura. Mario ebbe allora il pensiero tanto pronto e acuto che scoperse qualche cosa che dai suoi occhi era stato chiaramente percepito ma non ancora comunicato al suo cervello:

Why hadn't he thought of that, why hadn't he looked? He still remembered it: "The glasses on the German's narrow-backed nose trembled from the effort to hold back the laughter. A vibration that resembled that of the engine on a van. Mario's thoughts were now so clear and sharp that he discovered something that his eyes had already recognized clearly, but had not yet communicated to his memory:

quel pezzettino di carta tratto dal portafogli del tedesco, e che doveva scusare il riso cui i due compari s'erano abbandonati, era coperto di uno stampatello gotico. Gotico, tutto rette ed angoli. Ne era sicuro, come se lo vedesse allora.

this scrap of paper, which the German had pulled out of his wallet and which was intended to excuse the laughter to which the two comrades had indulged, was covered in Gothic writing. everything square and right-angled. He was as sure of it as if he could see it now.

Perciò non poteva provenire da un postribolo di Trieste. Mentitori! E mentitori che gli avevano denotato il loro disprezzo non curandosi neppure d'essere accorti. Se era stato deriso, egli meritava qualunque punizione. E avrebbe voluto castigare se stesso subito, ficcandosi i denti nelle labbra.

So it couldn't have come from a whorehouse in Trieste. Liars! And liars, showing their contempt by not even caring about it whether they will be caught. If he had been mocked, then he deserved some kind of punishment. And he would have punished himself immediately by gritting his teeth punched in the lips.

Ma tanta chiaroveggenza era tuttavia accompagnata da dubbio. Un'ulteriore dimostrazione della propria insanabile bestialità? Povero Mario! Un'evidenza per quanto intera, quando apporti tanto dolore, non è mai accettata senza un tentativo di oscurarla.

But even this clairvoyance was still accompanied by doubts. A final proof of his own incurable stupidity? Poor Mario! A fact so obvious is never accepted without an attempt being made to cover it up when it was so painful.

Ognuno lotta contro il destino come sa, e Mario tentò d'arrestarlo dicendosi che non bisognava ammettere si trattasse di una burla finchè non se ne fosse scoperto lo scopo. Per il piacere di ridere? Ma è un piacere che il deriso non intende. Tentò però di liberarsi del dubbio non perchè gli sembrasse poco fondato, ma perchè gli sembrava contribuisse ad agitarlo ed aumentasse il suo dolore.

Everyone fights fate in their own way and Mario tried to stop him, telling himself that he need not admit it was a joke until the purpose of the joke had been revealed. Just for fun? But it was an amusement whose purpose was not to laugh. However, he tried to free himself from the doubts. Not because they seemed unfounded to him, but because they seemed to help agitate him and increase his pain.

Voleva passare la notte almeno nella certezza. E non c'era altra via di procurarsela che la riflessione. Fuori soffiava muggendo e ululando la bora, e se non fosse bastata a trattenere Mario, c'era anche l'impossibilità di raggiungere il Gaia il quale, specialmente di notte, era introvabile.

He wanted to at least spend the night in safety, and there was no other way to achieve that than reflection. Outside, the north wind was blowing, moaning and groaning, and if that hadn't been enough to hold Mario back, then there was still the impossibility, especially at night, of finding him.