A Modest Proposal: For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick — Page 13
Supposing that one thousand families in this city, would be constant customers for infants flesh, besides others who might have it at merry meetings, particularly at weddings and christenings, I compute that Dublin would take off annually about twenty thousand carcasses; and the rest of the kingdom (where probably they will be sold somewhat cheaper) the remaining eighty thousand.
Supponendo che mille famiglie in questa città siano clienti abituali di carne di bambini, oltre ad altri che potrebbero consumarla in allegre riunioni, in particolare a matrimoni e battesimi, calcolo che Dublino assorbirebbe annualmente circa ventimila carcasse; e il resto del regno (dove probabilmente verranno vendute a un prezzo leggermente inferiore) le restanti ottantamila.
I can think of no one objection, that will possibly be raised against this proposal, unless it should be urged, that the number of people will be thereby much lessened in the kingdom.
Non riesco a pensare ad alcuna obiezione che possa essere sollevata contro questa proposta, a meno che non si sostenga che il numero di persone nel regno ne risulterebbe notevolmente ridotto.
This I freely own, and was indeed one principal design in offering it to the world.
Questo lo ammetto liberamente, ed era infatti uno degli scopi principali nel proporlo al mondo.
I desire the reader will observe, that I calculate my remedy for this one individual Kingdom of Ireland, and for no other that ever was, is, or, I think, ever can be upon Earth.
Desidero che il lettore osservi che il mio rimedio è calcolato per questo singolo Regno d'Irlanda, e per nessun altro che sia mai esistito, esista, o, a mio avviso, possa mai esistere sulla Terra.
Vocabulary
- Supponendo
- Supposing, assuming a certain condition is true
- che
- That, which, who; common conjunction and pronoun
- mille
- One thousand; cardinal number
- famiglie
- Families; plural of famiglia
- in
- In, into; basic preposition of location
- questa
- This; feminine singular demonstrative adjective
- città
- City, town; urban settlement
- siano
- Are; third person plural present subjunctive of essere
- clienti
- Customers, clients; plural of cliente
- abituali
- Regular, habitual; describing recurring customers
- di
- Of, from; extremely common Italian preposition
- carne
- Meat, flesh; animal flesh used as food
- bambini
- Children, kids; plural of bambino
- oltre
- Beyond, besides, over; indicating addition or excess
- ad
- To, at; variant of 'a' before vowels
- altri
- Others; plural masculine of altro
- potrebbero
- They could; third person plural conditional of potere
- consumarla
- To consume it; infinitive with direct object pronoun
- allegre
- Cheerful, merry; feminine plural adjective
- riunioni
- Gatherings, meetings; plural of riunione
- particolare
- Particular, especially; specific or noteworthy instance
- a
- To, at; fundamental Italian preposition
- matrimoni
- Weddings, marriages; plural of matrimonio
- e
- And; basic coordinating conjunction
- battesimi
- Baptisms, christenings; plural of battesimo
- calcolo
- Calculation, estimate; result of mathematical reasoning
- assorbirebbe
- Would absorb, take in; third person singular conditional
- annualmente
- Annually, yearly; occurring once per year
- circa
- About, approximately; indicating rough estimate
- ventimila
- Twenty thousand; cardinal number
- carcasse
- Carcasses; bodies or remains of slaughtered animals
- il
- The; masculine singular definite article
- resto
- Rest, remainder; what is left over
- del
- Of the; contraction of di and il
- regno
- Kingdom, realm; territory ruled by a monarch
- dove
- Where; adverb of place
- probabilmente
- Probably, likely; with reasonable expectation
- verranno
- They will come, will be; future of venire
- vendute
- Sold; feminine plural past participle of vendere
- un
- A, an; masculine singular indefinite article
- prezzo
- Price, cost; monetary value of something
- leggermente
- Slightly, lightly; to a small degree
- inferiore
- Lower, inferior; below in value or position
- le
- The; feminine plural definite article
- restanti
- Remaining, leftover; those still to be accounted for
- ottantamila
- Eighty thousand; cardinal number
- Non
- Not; basic negation adverb
- riesco
- I manage, I succeed; first person singular of riuscire
- pensare
- To think, to consider; mental activity verb
- alcuna
- Any, no; feminine singular indefinite adjective
- obiezione
- Objection; argument raised against a proposal
- possa
- Can, may; present subjunctive of potere
- essere
- To be; fundamental auxiliary and copular verb
- sollevata
- Raised, lifted; feminine past participle of sollevare
- contro
- Against; preposition indicating opposition
- proposta
- Proposal, suggestion; plan put forward for consideration
- meno
- Less, unless; indicating reduction or exception
- non
- Not; negation particle
- si
- Oneself, one; reflexive pronoun or impersonal particle
- sostenga
- Maintains, argues; present subjunctive of sostenere
- numero
- Number, quantity; count of items or people
- persone
- People, persons; plural of persona
- nel
- In the; contraction of in and il
- ne
- Of it, from it; partitive or locative pronoun
- risulterebbe
- Would result; third person singular conditional of risultare
- notevolmente
- Notably, considerably; to a remarkable degree
- ridotto
- Reduced, decreased; past participle of ridurre
- Questo
- This; masculine singular demonstrative pronoun
- lo
- It, him; masculine singular direct object pronoun
- ammetto
- I admit, I acknowledge; first person singular of ammettere
- liberamente
- Freely, openly; without restriction or hesitation
- ed
- And; variant of 'e' used before vowels
- era
- Was; third person singular imperfect of essere
- infatti
- In fact, indeed; emphasizing truth of a statement
- uno
- One; masculine cardinal number or indefinite article
- degli
- Of the; contraction of di and gli
- scopi
- Purposes, aims; plural of scopo
- principali
- Main, principal; most important, primary
- proporlo
- To propose it; infinitive with direct object pronoun
- al
- To the; contraction of a and il
- mondo
- World; the earth and all its inhabitants
- Desidero
- I wish, I desire; first person singular of desiderare
- lettore
- Reader; person who reads a text
- osservi
- Note, observe; present subjunctive of osservare
- mio
- My; first person singular possessive adjective
- rimedio
- Remedy, solution; cure or fix for a problem
- è
- Is; third person singular present of essere
- calcolato
- Calculated, designed; past participle of calcolare
- per
- For, by, through; versatile Italian preposition
- questo
- This; masculine singular demonstrative adjective
- singolo
- Single, individual; one alone, not multiple
- Regno
- Kingdom; sovereign state ruled by a monarch
- d'
- Of; elided form of di before a vowel
- nessun
- No, none; masculine singular negative adjective
- altro
- Other, another; different or additional thing
- sia
- Is, be; present subjunctive of essere
- mai
- Ever, never; adverb of time with negation
- esistito
- Existed; past participle of esistere
- esista
- Exists; present subjunctive of esistere
- o
- Or; basic disjunctive conjunction
- avviso
- Opinion, notice; belief or formal announcement
- esistere
- To exist; to have real being or presence
- sulla
- On the; contraction of su and la
- Terra
- Earth, land; planet or ground beneath our feet
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