The Grapes of Wrath
أبريل 6th, 2008I was at a local bookshop this week that carries Arabic-language books, movies, and other items. They have a selection of classic novels that are translated into Arabic, along with the English on the opposite page. I picked up a copy of “The Grapes of Wrath” (عناقيد الغضب) by John Steinbeck, and starting now on Chapter One, along with the preface which gives a brief biography of the author.
Some words to learn so far, with the first part of the chapter introducing the time and setting of the story:
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رواية (riwaya) - novel
روائي (riwa’i) - novelist مزارع (muzari) - farmer محصول (mahsul) - crop; محاصيل (mahasil) - crops هكذا (hakatha) - thus كسب (kasaba) - to earn مدى سنوات (mada senuat) - many years فجأة (faj’atan) - suddenly, all at once, all of a sudden حزيران (haziran) or يونيو (yunio) - June هطل (hatala) - downpour, fall heavily (rain) قليل (qalil) - little مطر (matar) - rain |
غدأ (ghada’) - become, grow, turn (into)
شمس (shams) - sun كرة (kora) - ball نار (nar) - fire تلهب (talahaba) - blaze جف (jaffa) - dry, become dry, dry out الأرض - ground, the land حل - disintegrate, dissolve, descend (into wrath) تربة (turba) - soil, dirt خصب (khasaba) - fertilize, fertile جرد (jarada) - peel, denude; جرد (jarid), as an adjective - barren, bald, bleak, without vegetation غبار (ghubar) - dust |
Thus, we understand that the novel is starts out in 1930 in the central United States (Oklahoma). Things had been good and prosperous for farmers, with fertile soil and rich crops. But in that June (1930), the conditions suddenly turned with drought (little rain fell) and the sun as a “blazing ball of fire” that turned the soil dry and dusty.
