Buondì. 
Thanks to those of you who’ve already bought a copy of our newest easy reader ebook, L’imperatore e i giochi.
But actually, sales have been rather slow, which is a shame because this is a good one!
Perhaps it’s the fault of the free sample chapter (.pdf), which is rather dry.
I don’t usually do this… but desperate times call for desperate measures, so to speak.
Hence, below is another extract, this time from Chapter 4, by which point things have really started to hum!
(Remember, the story is about a Roman emperor who ISN’T that into violence…)
Capitolo 4. Gladiatori
Dal centro dello stadio, uno dei combattenti, dotato di un elmo scintillante e una mazza chiodata, si rivolge all’imperatore: “Ave Cesare, noi che ci prepariamo a morire ti salutiamo.” Marco Aurelio detesta questa frase. Si sente responsabile delle morti che ben presto avverranno davanti ai suoi occhi.
Un brivido gli corre lungo la schiena. Tutti aspettano il suo cenno per far cominciare i giochi. Si guarda intorno. Nel silenzio dell’attesa gli spettatori fremono. L’imperatore non ha scelta: alza un braccio e dà il via ai combattimenti. Un boato di eccitazione si leva dagli spalti e, dalle porte laterali, sei gladiatori fanno il proprio ingresso.
Un uomo enorme, con due grosse catene in una mano e un’ascia nell’altra, ingaggia un corpo a corpo con il gladiatore con l’elmo. Quest’ultimo, rapidamente schiva tutti i colpi e lo trafigge da parte a parte con una spada. Esulta e ingaggia la lotta con un giovane dai lunghi capelli neri sciolti, con gli occhi verdi truccati abbondantemente. La folla inizia a inneggiare, tifano per quest’ultimo: “Per-sia-no! Per-sia-no!”
Not sure which of them to cheer for…
But the big guy with the chains definitely had it coming.
So there: Chapter 4 and 5 have the good bits!
Head over to our online shop and treat yourself to the full version of L’imperatore e i giochi for just £5.99.
From next week, it’ll sell for the standard easy reader price of £7.99, remember.
N.b. The whole story is available to listen to, for FREE online, whether or not you actually buy the text. The audio link is to be found at the top of Chapter 1 in the free sample chapter (.pdf). Enjoy!
L’imperatore e i giochi | Free Sample Chapter (.pdf) | Catalog
Dante Canto XXII
… is here.
Pitch-covered sinners, devils and poets to perk you up this Wednesday morning.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you’ll find the whole series of extracts from Dante’s Inferno on our Literature page.
Join us on our guided tour of hell!
P.S.
Ciao to Michael and Heather, he being an EasyItalianNews.com fan and she his patient wife, who dropped by the school yesterday to say ‘Ciao’.
We had quite a long chat, which was nice. Michael mentioned that he’s been doing an Italian course somewhere in west London, I forget the details. He was very happy with his teacher, apparently, and from what he was telling me, the guy (an Italian) seems very professional, with well-prepared lessons and follow ups via email for missing students.
Which got me thinking…
The club has a ‘Course Finder‘ page, which is supposed to showcase language schools, courses, and even individual teachers that club members feel like recommending to other club members.
I took a look and there are a few entries for London in the UK, mostly commercial language schools, but nothing resembling the course/teacher that Michael was enthusiastic about.
So Michael, and anyone else, if you have a course, teacher or school to suggest, do email me the details.
Anyway, Tuesday’s free bulletin of ‘Easy’ Italian news is here, if you haven’t already read/listened to it.
And you can subscribe and so receive each thrice-weekly edition via email as soon as it is published on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings.
For free.
A venerdì, allora.