THE IMPORTANCE OF

BEING EARNEST

WEBSTER'S SPANISH THESAURUS

EDITION

for ESL, EFL, ELP, TOEFL®, TOEIC®, and AP® Test Preparation

Oscar Wilde

TOEFL, TOEIC, AP and Advanced Placement are trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which has neither reviewed nor endorsed this book. All rights reserved.

The Importance of

Being Earnest

Webster's Spanish

Thesaurus Edition

for ESL, EFL, ELP, TOEFL®, TOEIC®, and AP® Test

Preparation

Oscar Wilde

TOEFL®, TOEIC®, AP® and Advanced Placement® are trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which has neither reviewed nor endorsed this book. All rights reserved.

ii

I C O N C L A S S I C S

Published by ICON Group International, Inc.

7404 Trade Street

San Diego, CA 92121 USA

www.icongrouponline.com

The Importance of Being Earnest: Webster's Spanish Thesaurus Edition for ESL, EFL, ELP, TOEFL®, TOEIC®, and AP® Test Preparation

This edition published by ICON Classics in 2005

Printed in the United States of America.

Copyright ©2005 by ICON Group International, Inc.

Edited by Philip M. Parker, Ph.D. (INSEAD); Copyright ©2005, all rights reserved.

All rights reserved. This book is protected by copyright. No part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

Copying our publications in whole or in part, for whatever reason, is a violation of copyright laws and can lead to penalties and fines. Should you want to copy tables, graphs, or other materials, please contact us to request permission (E-mail: iconedit@san.rr.com). ICON Group often grants permission for very limited reproduction of our publications for internal use, press releases, and academic research. Such reproduction requires confirmed permission from ICON Group

International, Inc.

TOEFL®, TOEIC®, AP® and Advanced Placement® are trademarks of the Educational Testing

Service which has neither reviewed nor endorsed this book. All rights reserved.

ISBN 0-497-26155-3

iii

Contents

PREFACE FROM THE EDITOR ........................................................................................ 1

THE PERSONS IN THE PLAY........................................................................................... 2

THE SCENES OF THE PLAY............................................................................................ 3

FIRST ACT ...................................................................................................................... 4

SECOND ACT ............................................................................................................... 38

THIRD ACT ................................................................................................................... 81

GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................. 103

Oscar Wilde

1

P R E F A C E F R O M T H E E D I T O R

Webster’s paperbacks take advantage of the fact that classics are frequently assigned readings in English courses. By using a running English-to-Spanish thesaurus at the bottom of each page, this edition of The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trvial Comedy for Serious People by Oscar Wilde was edited for three audiences. The first includes Spanish-speaking students enrolled in an English Language Program (ELP), an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) program, an English as a

®

®

Second Language Program (ESL), or in a TOEFL or TOEIC preparation program. The second audience includes English-speaking students enrolled in bilingual education programs or Spanish speakers enrolled in English speaking schools. The third audience consists of students who are actively building their vocabularies in Spanish in order to take foreign service, translation

®

®

certification, Advanced Placement (AP )1 or similar examinations. By using the Webster's Spanish Thesaurus Edition when assigned for an English course, the reader can enrich their vocabulary in anticipation of an examination in Spanish or English.

Webster’s edition of this classic is organized to expose the reader to a maximum number of difficult and potentially ambiguous English words. Rare or idiosyncratic words and expressions are given lower priority compared to “difficult, yet commonly used” words. Rather than supply a single translation, many words are translated for a variety of meanings in Spanish, allowing readers to better grasp the ambiguity of English, and avoid them using the notes as a pure translation crutch.

Having the reader decipher a word’s meaning within context serves to improve vocabulary retention and understanding. Each page covers words not already highlighted on previous pages. If a difficult word is not translated on a page, chances are that it has been translated on a previous page. A more complete glossary of translations is supplied at the end of the book; translations are extracted from Webster’s Online Dictionary.

Definitions of remaining terms as well as translations can be found at www.websters-online-

dictionary.org. Please send suggestions to websters@icongroupbooks.com

The Editor

Webster’s Online Dictionary

www.websters-online-dictionary.org

1 TOEFL®, TOEIC®, AP® and Advanced Placement® are trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which has neither reviewed nor endorsed this book. All rights reserved.

2

The Importance of Being Earnest

T H E P E R S O N S I N T H E P L A Y

John Worthing, J.P.

Algernon Moncrieff

Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D.

Merriman, Butler

Lane, Manservant

Lady Bracknell

Hon. Gwendolen Fairfax

Cecily Cardew

Miss Prism, Governess

Oscar Wilde

3

T H E S C E N E S O F T H E P L A Y

ACT I.

Algernon Moncrieff's Flat in Half-Moon Street, W.

ACT II. The Garden at the Manor House, Woolton.

ACT III. Drawing-Room at the Manor House, Woolton.

TIME:

The Present.

4

The Importance of Being Earnest

F I R S T A C T

SCENE—Morning-room%in Algernon's flat in Half-Moon Street. The room is

luxuriously and artistically furnished. The sound of a piano is heard in the adjoining room. [LANE is arranging afternoon tea on the table, and after the music has ceased, ALGERNON enters.]

ALGERNON.

Did you hear what I was playing, Lane?

LANE.

I didn't think it polite to listen, sir.

ALGERNON.

I'm sorry for that, for your sake. I don't play accurately - any one can play accurately - but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is

concerned, sentiment is my forte. I keep science for Life.

LANE.

Yes, sir.

ALGERNON.

And, speaking of the science of Life, have you got the cucumber sandwiches

cut for Lady Bracknell?

Spanish

accurately: exactamente, precisión.

flat: plano, llano, apartamento, piso,

piano: el piano, piano.

adjoining: contiguo, vecino,

liso, bemol, bastidor, desinflado,

playing: jugando, tocando, jugar.

adyacente.

cuarto.

polite: cortés, educado.

afternoon: tarde, la tarde.

forte: zona de fuerte de la hoja, fuerte. sake: motivo, fin, bien, causa.

arranging: arreglando, organizando,

furnished: amueblado.

sandwiches: sándwichs.

disponiendo.

lane: calleja, senda, carril, pista,

science: ciencia, la ciencia.

artistically: artísticamente.

camino.

sentiment: sentimiento, opinión,

ceased: ceso, Cesado.

listen: escuchar, escuche, escucha,

sensibilidad, parecer,

cucumber: pepino, el pepino.

escuchas, escuchad, escuchen,

sentimentalismo.

cut: cortar, corte, cortado, cortadura.

escucho, escucháis, escuchamos,

speaking: hablando, parlante.

don't: no.

escuchan, oír.

tea: té, te.

expression: expresión.

luxuriously: lujosamente.

wonderful: maravilloso.

Oscar Wilde

5

LANE.

Yes, sir. [Hands them on a salver.]

ALGERNON.

[Inspects them, takes two, and sits down on the sofa.] Oh!... by the way, Lane, I see from your book that on Thursday night, when Lord Shoreman and Mr.

Worthing were dining with me, eight bottles of champagne are entered as having been consumed.%

LANE.

Yes, sir; eight bottles and a pint.

ALGERNON.

Why is it that at a bachelor's establishment the servants invariably drink the champagne? I ask merely for information.

LANE.

I attribute it to the superior quality of the wine, sir. I have often observed that in married households the champagne is rarely of a first-rate brand.

ALGERNON.

Good heavens! Is marriage so demoralising as that?

LANE.

I believe it IS a very pleasant state, sir. I have had very little experience of it myself up to the present. I have only been married once. That was in

consequence of a misunderstanding between myself and a young person.

ALGERNON.

[Languidly.] I don't know that I am much interested in your family life, Lane.

LANE.

No, sir; it is not a very interesting subject. I never think of it myself.

ALGERNON.

Very natural, I am sure. That will do, Lane, thank you.

LANE.

Thank you, sir. [LANE goes out.]

Spanish

attribute: atributo, atribuir.

primera categoría, de primera clase. misunderstanding: malentendido,

bottles: las botellas.

heavens: cielo, cielos.

equivocación.

brand: marca, marcar.

households: hogares.

observed: observado.

champagne: champaña, champán.

interested: interesado.

pint: pinta.

consequence: consecuencia, secuela.

interesting: interesante.

pleasant: agradable, simpático,

demoralising: desmoralizar.

invariably: invariablemente.

placentero, grato.

dining: cenando.

marriage: matrimonio, casamiento,

rarely: raramente, rara vez.

drink: beber, bebida, tomar, el

enlace.

servants: servicio.

refresco, trago, copa.

married: casado, casada, se casado,

sits: asienta, siente, sopla, empolla, se

entered: entrado, inscrito, montado.

conyugal.

sienta.

establishment: establecimiento.

merely: meramente, simplemente,

superior: jefe, superior.

first-rate: primera clase, superfino, de sólo.

wine: vino, el vino.

6

The Importance of Being Earnest

ALGERNON.

Lanes views on marriage seem somewhat lax. Really, if the lower orders don't set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them? They seem, as

a class, to have absolutely no sense of moral responsibility.%

[Enter LANE.]

LANE.

Mr. Ernest Worthing.

[Enter JACK.]

[LANE goes out.]

ALGERNON.

How are you, my dear Ernest? What brings you up to town?

JACK.

Oh, pleasure, pleasure! What else should bring one anywhere? Eating as usual, I see, Algy!

ALGERNON.

[Stiffly.] I believe it is customary in good society to take some slight

refreshment at five o'clock. Where have you been since last Thursday?

JACK.

[Sitting down on the sofa.] In the country.

ALGERNON.

What on earth do you do there?

JACK.

[Pulling off his gloves.] When one is in town one amuses oneself. When one

is in the country one amuses other people. It is excessively boring.

ALGERNON.

And who are the people you amuse?

JACK.

[Airily.] Oh, neighbours, neighbours.