Some delicious english expressions to translate - please help...

Hi,
I need to translate some text from english to czech and I am having problems with some expressions written here...
For example:

"That is the thing itself, she felt, as if there were...."

What does the "thing itself" mean ???

Thanks.

it means "the thing" :)

itself is redundant, it makes the emphasis on "the thing" as an individual.

it is similar to saying:

I, myself, ...


My understanding anyway ;)

Do you speak German?

I know that many people of the Czech Republic learn German. So if you know German I could translate the text to German and you would be able to translate it to Czech.

If so, just give me the full text and I will do...

Thanks guys!
I think I know english quite good, but this is quite hard text to translate (chiefly to understand the point) and especially when it is competitive text, I need to understand all...

So, hope the last expression I dont understand well is:

"And, from having been quite grown up, a moment before, talking with the others, she became a child again, and what they had been doing was a game, ..."

What does it mean "...from having been quite grown up, a moment before, talking with the others..."

It's the situation when she's completely grown up ? I'm not sure with the preposition "from", I would put there first "since"...

I'm just confused with the "time situation" in this part of the text...

Thanks.

I would suggest "because of" rather than "since" as a replacement for "from".

The "talking with the others" depends on the contect of this sentence. I see two possibilities.

1) A moment ago she was talking with the others and "was" (mentally, emotionally, etc) a grownup. She has now reverted to a child and realized that what they had been doing was a game.

2) A momemt ago she "was" a grownup, but now talking with the others, she has reverted to a child....

Hope this helps...