Cover of The Swindler

The Swindler

L'Imbroglione

In a busy kingdom long ago, a charming man named Simon travels from town to town. He dresses in fine clothes and claims to be a wealthy diamond merchant. When Simon meets lonely young women, he shows them pictures of gold and jewels. He takes them to expensive dinners and buys them beautiful gifts. But Simon has a dangerous secret that will change many lives forever.

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Listen well, children, to this tale of a clever thief.

Ascoltate bene, bambini, questa storia di un ladro astuto.

In a busy kingdom, there lived a man named Simon.

In un regno molto trafficato, viveva un uomo di nome Simon.

He was not rich, but he wanted people to think he was.

Non era ricco, ma voleva che la gente pensasse che lo fosse.

Simon had many magic talking boxes that could reach people far away.

Simon aveva molte scatole magiche parlanti che potevano raggiungere persone lontane.

Simon found lonely young women in the kingdom.

Simon trovò giovani donne sole nel regno.

He sent them pictures of himself wearing fine clothes.

Ha mandato loro delle foto di se stesso che indossava abiti eleganti.

He showed them gold coins and jewels that were not his.

Mostrò loro monete d'oro e gioielli che non erano suoi.

"I am a diamond merchant," he told them.

"Sono un mercante di diamanti," disse loro.

"I travel to far lands and buy precious stones."

Viaggio in terre lontane e compro pietre preziose.

The women thought Simon was wonderful.

Le donne pensavano che Simon fosse meraviglioso.

He was handsome and seemed very rich.

Era bello e sembrava molto ricco.

He took them to expensive inns for dinner.

Li portò in locande costose per cena.

He bought them beautiful gifts.

Ha comprato loro dei bei regali.

But Simon paid for everything with borrowed money.

Ma Simon pagò tutto con soldi presi in prestito.

After some weeks, Simon would send urgent messages.

Dopo alcune settimane, Simon avrebbe inviato messaggi urgenti.

"Help me!

I notice you wrote "translate from English to it" but didn't specify what "it" refers to - which target language you'd like the translation in. Could you please clarify which language you'd like me to translate "Help me!" into?

Bad men are chasing me!

Degli uomini cattivi mi stanno inseguendo!

They want to steal my diamonds!

Vogliono rubare i miei diamanti!

I need gold coins quickly, or they will hurt me!"

Ho bisogno di monete d'oro velocemente, o mi faranno del male!

The women loved Simon.

Le donne amavano Simon.

They wanted to save him.

Volevano salvarlo.

Some women gave him hundreds of gold coins.

Alcune donne gli diedero centinaia di monete d'oro.

Others sold their houses and horses to help him.

Altri vendettero le loro case e i loro cavalli per aiutarlo.

But Simon was lying.

Ma Simon stava mentendo.

There were no bad men.

Non c'erano uomini cattivi.

There were no diamonds.

Non c'erano diamanti.

Simon took the money and disappeared.

Simon prese i soldi e scomparve.

He moved to new towns and found new women to trick.

Si trasferì in nuove città e trovò nuove donne da ingannare.

One brave woman named Anna lost all her money to Simon.

Una donna coraggiosa di nome Anna perse tutti i suoi soldi a causa di Simon.

She was very angry.

Lei era molto arrabbiata.

Anna found other women who had been tricked.

Anna trovò altre donne che erano state ingannate.

Together, they went to the king's guards.

Insieme, andarono dalle guardie del re.

The guards caught Simon.

Le guardie hanno catturato Simon.

He had stolen thousands of gold coins from many women.

Aveva rubato migliaia di monete d'oro da molte donne.

Simon went to prison, but most of the women never got their money back.

Simon andò in prigione, ma la maggior parte delle donne non riuscì mai a riavere i propri soldi.

Remember this story, children.

Ricordate questa storia, bambini.

Pretty words and shiny things do not always tell the truth.

Le parole belle e le cose luccicanti non dicono sempre la verità.