her heart pounding so loud it was everything he could do not to grasp it in his hand

[nzaballa]

Hello everybody!
I'm in the process of translating a fantasy book and I am not sure about this sentence:

"...her heart pounding so loud it was everything he could do not to grasp it in his hand."

Context: This is a vampire with the physical ability to actually grasp someone's heart out of their chest, but this is a woman he loves and I don't understand the construction of the sentence, something is making it figurative (I'm guessing it's the "it was everything he could do not to) but still it sounds like an awful thing to say about someone you love. He's definitely not thinking about killing her. Any ideas on how to translate this?

Thank you!

 

[Mister Draken]

Existe un viejo relato (no recuerdo autor/a en este momento, lo siento) que dice que un hijo (o hija) cruel mata a su madre y le arranca el corazón con las manos. Corre, huye del lugar, se tropieza en su carrera y se le cae el corazón al suelo. El corazón aún palpitante le pregunta: "¿Te has hecho daño, hijo mío?".

De modo que tiene un antecedente.

¿Podemos leer la frase entera donde aparece la cita entrecomillada? Gracias

 

[S.V.]

everything he could do / not to grasp it in his hand

Hola. Todo lo que podía hacer / para no tomarlo en sus manos. Te imaginas la pausa oral, sin comas.

"It was all that Lewis could do not to laugh aloud"
Fue todo lo que Lewis pudo hacer, para no reírse en voz alta

Cf. "could do not to" site:goodreads.com, en un buscador.

 

[nzaballa]

Muchas gracias a ambos, ¡creo que ya lo entiendo!