The Games of Life 1732 Studios

Italian · The Games of Life

Freddo

Cold

257 sentences · 29 notes

Tap a sentence to open its words.

  1. 1

    “The snow can’t be long in coming,” the young servant girl announced, looking at the white sky, “—take at least an umbrella, Maureddu….”

    Latheil · determiner, feminine, singulardeterminer of neve
    nevesnowneve · noun, feminine, singularsubject of tardare
    nonnotnon · adverbmodifies tardare
    puòcanpotere · auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularauxiliary of tardare
    tardarebe longtardare · verb, infinitivemain verb of the quoted clause
    annunziòannouncedannunciare · verb, past, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence, introduces the quoted speech

    older spelling of 'annunciare'

    latheil · determiner, feminine, singulardeterminer of serva
    giovineyounggiovane · adjective, feminine, singularmodifies serva

    older/literary spelling of 'giovane'

    servaservant girlserva · noun, feminine, singularsubject of annunziò
    guardandolookingguardare · verb, gerundadverbial clause on annunziò
    iltheil · determiner, masculine, singulardeterminer of cielo
    cieloskycielo · noun, masculine, singulardirect object of guardando
    biancowhitebianco · adjective, masculine, singularmodifies cielo
    prendititakeprendere · verb, imperative, second-person, singularmain verb of the resumed quoted clause

    -ti enclitic pronoun = 'yourself'

    almenoat leastalmeno · adverbmodifies ombrello
    unanuno · determiner, masculine, singulardeterminer of ombrello
    ombrelloumbrellaombrello · noun, masculine, singulardirect object of prenditi
    MauredduMauredduMaureddu · proper nounvocative, addressed to Maureddu
  2. 2

    An umbrella?

  3. The young master burst out laughing.

  4. Carrying an umbrella was, to him, a sign of weakness, almost of cowardice.

  5. 3

    “You’ll see, it will snow; why are you leaving in this weather?…” the girl resumed, in a fervent, plaintive voice.

  6. “I won’t be able to sleep….”

  7. 4

    Maureddu laughed again.

  8. For him everything was a thing to laugh at, but with an almost childlike laugh, one that offended no one.

  9. 5

    “You won’t be able to sleep?”

  10. “Then come down to the kitchen, then,” he said, while he finished saddling the horse.

  11. 6

    She too laughed a little, melancholy and sensuous.

  12. 7

    “If you’re not there….” she murmured.

  13. 8

    “You’ll hug the sleeping-mat instead….”

  14. Go, tell grandmother I’m about to leave….

  15. Wait, first.

  16. 9

    He chased her under the shed and held her tight.

  17. She was taller than him, beautiful, rosy, with an aquiline nose and two big round, shining eyes.

  18. She too held him tight, almost lifted him off his feet, and said to him:

  19. 10

    “Promise me at least that you won’t pass through my village.”

  20. You know my brother wants to kill you.

  21. 11

    “He doesn’t know me.”

  22. And besides…. what can he do to me? — the young man said, with that contempt which rich Sardinian villagers have for the poor.

  23. “An ant!”

  24. 12

    “An ant?”

  25. You’ll see how that ant can sting! — the girl exclaimed, pushing him away.

  26. “Get close to him and we’ll see!”

  27. 13

    “Enough!” he ordered in a harsh voice.

  28. But then he softened and lied, with that air of his of an ingenuous child:

  29. 14

    “And besides, won’t I marry you?”

  30. 15

    “When?”

  31. When the kite hawk weaves the cloth for my wedding shirt?

  32. 16

    He laughed.

  33. 17

    *

  34. 18

    Mauro spurred the horse, up, up, across the frozen plateau.

  35. The sky sank lower and lower; white clouds passed, heavy and cold as blocks of snow, against the white backdrop of the horizon.

  36. The mountains, in a ring, faced one another livid with cold, sending toward each other enormous gusts of icy wind: the black oaks along the road trembled with powerful shudders, and seemed to want revenge on the weather, lashing the racing clouds with their highest boughs.

  37. 19

    The resigned words of his young lover kept returning to Mauro’s mind.

  38. She must have taken it from the old song:

  39. 20

    “Yes, she is reasonable: that’s why I love her.”

  40. What can one do?

  41. A rich landowner, an only son, an only grandson, an owner of a hundred sheep and two hundred pigs, cannot marry a servant girl, a young stranger from elsewhere….

  42. One of my own kind….

  43. 21

    However much in love, that is however much he likes his lover, Mauro laughs at the mere thought of having to marry her.

  44. 22

    *

  45. 23

    All at once the wind ceased, the clouds dissolved, white against the white sky.

  46. Here and there some oak, tall and twisted, took on a ghostly rigidity, a somber color; and everything was silence, intense silence, the stillness of waiting.

  47. Not a bird’s trill could be heard; not a leaf’s rustle.

  48. 24

    “I think this is it!” Mauro thought, sniffing the air.

  49. And he pulled up his hood.

  50. A flake of snow, as big as the wing of a little moth, fell on the horse’s ear.

  51. The horse shook its ear; millions of white wings whirled through the air.

  52. 25

    *

  53. 26

    On and on he rode; on the tip of the hood of the “rich owner of a hundred sheep” the snow built up a little mountain; the roads disappeared, the oaks, white and black, wrapped in the fine dust of snow, took on a strange look, of masked giants, lying in wait behind the rocks.

  54. The day declined, everything turned a violet-gray, the cold grew intense; but the young landowner burst out laughing.

  55. 27

    “We’ve seen worse than this!” he boasted to his horse, which shook its ears and left behind it, more and more slowly, the black prints of its crescent-shaped shoes.

  56. “Do you remember, Cumpanzeddu, when up on the mountains of Oliena we fell into a nurra?”

  57. And they say demons live there….

  58. Demons are black, snow is white: go on, walk, Cumpanzeddu.

  59. 28

    Cumpanzeddu trotted on, but the snow grew ever thicker, unceasing, silent.

  60. There was a moment when Mauro, despite his stoicism, had a strange, spellbound impression: it seemed to him that he was destined to ride like this for his whole life, through a mysterious landscape, in the terrible silence of an endless snowfall.

  61. 29

    “Are you sleepy, devil that you are?” he asked himself, yawning.

  62. “Shame on you.”

  63. A capable young man like you?

  64. Walk on, Cumpanzeddu….

  65. 30

    But despite all his mettle, the cold was overcoming him, giving him a strange, dangerous drowsiness.

  66. So it occurred to him to drink a sip of grappa, from the little flask which he, though himself a teetotaler, always carried with him on his travels to offer companions or friends he might meet.

  67. 31

    He drank, one, two sips, making nervous grimaces: then he spat against the snow, as a sign of defiance, become cheerful and brave again.

  68. “A young man like me, letting himself be caught by the cold!”

  69. Bah!

  70. Walk on, Cumpanzeddu!

  71. 32

    *

  72. 33

    Cumpanzeddu walked on, poor creature, but by now his legs left only white holes in the white snow.

  73. The mountains vanished, the trees vanished; every trace vanished.

  74. Mauro found himself suspended between the white sky and the white earth, in a dense atmosphere, or rather, in a moving, silent cloud of frozen snow.

  75. At times it seemed to him that he was riding against a marble wall, and a vague unease began to trouble him.

  76. 34

    “Could you have lost your way, devil?”

  77. A young man like you, a gentleman, a lion?

  78. Bah!

  79. 35

    Sleep kept overtaking him, with confused dreams, sweet and frightening at once.

  80. It seemed to him that he was in his big kitchen, on the thick rush mat.

  81. He couldn’t move: his feet were heavy.

  82. The young servant girl was caressing him, but her hands were icy cold, and they froze his face….

  83. At the back of the kitchen a wall of snow was rising.

  84. 36

    “I must drink again….”

  85. 37

    As he bent to take the flask from his saddlebag he noticed that on top of his foot the snow had deposited a little cone.

  86. 38

    “So that’s why my feet are heavy.”

  87. It’s strange; it seems to me that I’m cold.

  88. I?

  89. Shame on you, Maureddu Corrias, shame on you for being cold.

  90. 39

    He drank, shook his legs, and looked around.

  91. It was already night: a bright night with no light, no air, no horizon: a cloud.

  92. But the wall there, in the distance, had turned gray, with a red point at its center.

  93. The horse, now sinking almost to mid-leg in snow soft as foam, was heading toward the red point.

  94. 40

    *

  95. 41

    It was the road-keeper’s house.

  96. Cumpanzeddu stopped under the little red-lit window, and Mauro did not have the courage to spur him on.

  97. 42

    “As for me, I would have gone on,” he thought proudly.

  98. “I’ve seen worse than a bit of snow!”

  99. But this poor devil of a beast can’t go on.

  100. 43

    Without dismounting he struck the door with his heel.

  101. 44

    “Who is it?” cried a child’s voice.

  102. 45

    Mauro struck again, high-handedly: to a lion like him the door ought to be opened without asking “who is it?”

  103. 46

    “Who is it?” cried a woman’s voice.

  104. 47

    Mauro struck harder.

  105. 48

    “But who is it?” a man’s voice shouted.

  106. 49

    “Gentlemen!” the traveler answered.

  107. 50

    At once the door was thrown open, and he added with contempt: “oh, are you afraid someone will steal your silver cutlery?”

  108. 51

    “My handsome fellow,” answered the road-keeper’s wife, a beautiful woman in costume, with a child in her arms, “we have no silver cutlery, but when we ask ‘who is it?’ people answer us all the same.”

  109. What do you want?

  110. 52

    “To sleep here.”

  111. Road-keepers’ cottages belong to travelers!

  112. 53

    The road-keeper’s wife, that is the wife of the road-keeper, must have recognized in the young man a rich villager, one of those who are respected and command respect, for she did not answer back.

  113. She only said, amiably:

  114. 54

    “Road-keepers’ cottages belong to the king, but to the road-keeper too; still, if you want to dismount and are content with little, you are welcome indeed.”

  115. 55

    He dismounted, had the horse tied up, then went into the kitchen, stamping his feet and shaking the snow off his coat.

  116. A small fire barely lit the poor, cold room.

  117. A man, tall and strong, was sitting in a corner, and at first, seeing him dressed as a commoner, in an old suit of yellowish fustian, Mauro took him for the road-keeper.

  118. 56

    “Good health to you,” said the young landowner, become good-natured and kind again, “it’s devilish weather!”

  119. Who knows what time it is!

  120. 57

    “It must be seven, I think,” answered the road-keeper’s wife, standing by the fire, with the child in her arms.

  121. “My husband, who has gone to Nuoro, has taken the clock away with him.”

  122. 58

    Then Mauro looked at the man and felt a strange impression: it seemed to him he had already seen him somewhere, but he could not recall when or where.

  123. 59

    “This one too is a traveler,” the woman explained, “a traveler more unfortunate than you.”

  124. His horse died on him on the road!

  125. 60

    Mauro laughed.

  126. Then he drew from his saddlebag the flask of grappa and held it out to the man.

  127. 61

    The stranger drank, without further ado, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, gave back the flask.

  128. 62

    “Yes,” he said, “my horse died suddenly, not far from here.”

  129. 63

    “Well, at least the crows will have something to eat, in these days of snow!” observed Mauro, who did not believe the stranger’s lie.

  130. “Drink, woman.”

  131. You don’t want to drink?

  132. Give your child a drink: it’ll do him good, I tell you, it’ll do him good.

  133. One must get used to drinking as a child, otherwise one picks up the vice of not drinking, as I have.

  134. And you, stranger, will you drink some more?

  135. 64

    The other did not need to be begged.

  136. 65

    *

  137. 66

    The road-keeper’s wife retired early and the two men remained alone in the kitchen.

  138. Every so often Mauro offered his flask.

  139. The other drank: his very black, round eyes, close-set, almost suspended above an aquiline nose, grew bright.

  140. In the hearth burned a log that Mauro had gone to dig out of the snow.

  141. 67

    A strange thing was happening.

  142. While Mauro, who was not drinking, chattered, boasting and laughing like a drunk, the other man grew more and more silent and withdrawn.

  143. Invited by the young landowner he had drawn near the fire: now he sat on the floor, cross-legged, but he was so gigantic that his head, covered by a wet rag of a hat, came up almost to the level of Mauro’s head, seated on a stool.

  144. 68

    “I’m headed toward Bono,” Mauro was telling him.

  145. “I’m looking for a wood of oaks, where there might be plenty of acorns for my pigs.

  146. I’m willing to pay even three hundred scudi in rent, but I want to fatten my pigs.

  147. This year no acorns are to be found around Nuoro.

  148. 69

    “Since you’re from Nuoro,” the man dressed in fustian then said, “do you happen to know a certain Mauro Corrias?”

  149. 70

    A dark instinct warned the young man to lie; but he was too vain, and could not.

  150. 71

    “A certain?”

  151. A certain one?

  152. What do you mean, a certain one?

  153. There’s only one Mauro Corrias, a gentleman, a lion; and it’s me! — he said frankly.

  154. “What do you have to say to Mauro Corrias?”

  155. 72

    “No; I was just asking: I heard your name mentioned.”

  156. Are you very rich?

  157. 73

    “Sure I’m rich!”

  158. A hundred pigs, two hundred sheep; everyone respects me.

  159. Drink, stranger, what is your trade?

  160. 74

    “A farmhand,” the other answered, and went back to fixing his round, bright eyes on the flame.

  161. 75

    Mauro went back to chattering and boasting of his possessions.

  162. 76

    “My pigs?”

  163. The finest in all the woodlands of Nuoro.

  164. I’ll go all over the island, but I need to find a good wood.

  165. I have a wood of my own too, up in the mountains of Nuoro, where the axe has never touched a trunk.

  166. But this year there isn’t a single acorn, not even one to use as a target for a rifle shot.

  167. Last year, yes, it was a good year.

  168. But the winter was mild and, as a result, this year’s crop is poor.

  169. Next year, let’s hope, it will be better.

  170. What do you say to that?

  171. 77

    “Let’s hope so!” said the other, indifferent.

  172. 78

    All at once Mauro laughed, remembering something pleasant.

  173. 79

    “Yes, only once did it snow, and it was very cold.”

  174. I remember it because….

  175. Ah,” he then asked, “are there pretty women in your village?

  176. 80

    “Pretty indeed — to the devil with whoever made them!” said the stranger.

  177. 81

    “Why are you cursing?”

  178. You must like women a great deal, instead!

  179. A big man like you!

  180. Come on, then, tell me something….

  181. Drink.

  182. 82

    The other drank again, and with his hand made a gesture as if to say: “wait, now you’ll hear something….”

  183. 83

    The young villager’s little puppy-dog eyes lit up with a lively flame.

  184. He loved women greatly, and whenever he found himself in the company of some friend, his greatest pleasure lay in recalling amorous adventures.

  185. 84

    “You should know,” the other finally began, “you should know that I am in the service of a rich family, a large family, made up mostly of women.

  186. Besides the mistress, who is a stout woman, still very good-looking, there are three daughters and two servant girls.

  187. The master is paralyzed….

  188. 85

    “Ah, ah,” exclaimed Mauro, “now comes the good part!”

  189. 86

    Indeed the other began to tell an almost unbelievable story of amorous adventures: all the women of the house where he served had thrown themselves into his arms; just the other night the mistress, the aging mistress, stout but still good-looking, had thrown herself onto his chest like a girl of fifteen….

  190. 87

    Mauro laughed and listened.

  191. He did not believe the other man’s tall tales, but he enjoyed hearing them.

  192. And as happens with children, he too began to list his own adventures, exaggerating them for the childish pleasure of making them sound bolder than his companion’s.

  193. 88

    “…. last year, then, I had a beautiful girl, truly beautiful, tall, plump, rosy as an apple.

  194. It happened in a strange way.

  195. It was because of the cold!

  196. Don’t laugh: I don’t know if you’ve noticed that in winter women please us more than in summer.

  197. Not that I mean in summer they don’t, but…. let’s leave it there!

  198. So you should know that I was up on the mountain: the weather was mild, my pigs were fattening before my eyes, and I never left them for a moment.

  199. For fifteen days I hadn’t gone back to the village.

  200. When one morning I see two women arriving: my old nurse and a pretty “outsider” girl I didn’t yet know.

  201. 89

    “She’s your grandmother’s new servant girl,” my old nurse told me….

  202. “We’ve come to gather acorns.

  203. Help us.”

  204. 90

    I helped them.

  205. The weather had changed, the sky had turned white as snow, an icy wind was blowing.

  206. The women complained of the cold, and all at once my nurse went into the hut to warm herself.

  207. 91

    “Don’t touch her,” she warned me, nodding toward the girl.

  208. 92

    “If I touch her she’ll certainly scream,” I answered, laughing.

  209. 93

    As soon as we were alone I went up to her and said:

  210. 94

    “Will you scream?”

  211. 95

    She started running to get away from me, and I chased her.

  212. 96

    The wind drove us like two leaves: I was laughing and shouting:

  213. 97

    “Don’t be afraid, little devil!”

  214. I only, only want to kiss you….

  215. 98

    But instead of heading toward the hut the girl was moving away from it: I kept chasing her all the same.

  216. 99

    “Silly girl,” I told her, “can’t you see you’re losing your way?”

  217. If you keep running like this you’ll end up plunging into the valley.

  218. Wait for me, little devil; I only want one kiss.

  219. 100

    She stopped; I came close and noticed that she was trembling all over with cold and fear.

  220. “Let me go,” she pleaded, “I’m a poor servant girl, don’t touch me.”

  221. 101

    “Don’t be afraid,” I told her, taking her frozen hands in mine.

  222. “Now I’ll warm your hands.”

  223. I’m not a bad man; I’m a gentleman.

  224. If you kiss me you’ll see you won’t regret it.

  225. Now let’s go to the hut; you’ll warm up.

  226. 102

    I took her by the waist, but instead of leading her to the hut I dragged her even further off, to a place where my nurse could not find us.

  227. The wind was growing furious: a few flakes of snow were falling.

  228. The girl was trembling with cold: she tried to slip from me, but by now I held her fast and I was telling her so many sweet things.

  229. 103

    “Why can’t a master marry his servant girl?”

  230. Nonsense.

  231. I’ll marry you; I’m an only son and I’ll do as I please.

  232. 104

    So I led her far off, toward an old hut set against a cave.

  233. 105

    “I’m cold, I’m cold,” she was saying, “this isn’t your hut.”

  234. There’s no fire.

  235. 106

    “The fire is here, in my lips.”

  236. Feel it.

  237. I kissed her and she did not scream.

  238. So she became mine.

  239. 107

    “And your nurse?” asked the other.

  240. 108

    “And my nurse?”

  241. I gave her a three-night-old suckling pig and…. she kept quiet.

  242. Besides, what did she really know? — said Mauro.

  243. And he laughed.

  244. 109

    The stranger stared at the fire with his round eyes wide open: for a few moments he stayed silent, and when Mauro stopped laughing, a great silence reigned in the road-keeper’s kitchen.

  245. 110

    Outside the snow kept falling: not a sound crossed the velvety silence of the white night.

  246. 111

    But suddenly Mauro heard a kind of stifled howl, a distant moan, wild as the cry of a wounded boar.

  247. He turned his head toward the door, and all at once he saw everything go black before him, and felt something like the weight of a boulder crushing him.

  248. Only after an instant did he grasp what was really happening.

  249. The stranger had leapt to his feet and thrown himself on him, pinning his shoulders with his powerful hands.

  250. 112

    “Ah, a three-night-old suckling pig!” he shouted, sneering, breathless.

  251. “You go-between, I’ll be the one to pay you back; I’ll pay you too for the milk you gave your master.

  252. Ah, you even lead the poor servant girls up onto the mountain for him…. and leave them alone with him…. to please him….

  253. 113

    “What’s wrong with you, damn it?” Mauro yelled, driving his head into his attacker’s belly.

  254. 114

    “Do you know a certain Sebastiano Loi?” the big man then asked, pulling back a little, but still keeping the unlucky man’s shoulders pinned fast in his hands.

  255. 115

    Mauro raised his eyes, bewildered: ah, yes, now he remembered!

  256. The round eyes, the aquiline nose….

  257. His attacker was the young servant girl’s brother.

The particulars

The text
I giuochi della vita, Grazia Deledda. The Games of Life.
Translation
Public-domain Italian (Deledda, d. 1936; collection published 1905). English translation © 2026 1732 Studios, LLC.
Words
Every word of the text, by letter.
Data
JSON · Markdown · A guide for agents
Two whoopie pies and a pine. An inside joke.