Atlantis: The Antedeluvian World — Page 5
About the greatest action which the Athenians ever did, and which ought to have been most famous, but which, through the lapse of time and the destruction of the actors, has not come down to us."
Della più grande impresa che gli Ateniesi abbiano mai compiuto, e che avrebbe dovuto essere la più famosa, ma che, a causa del trascorrere del tempo e della scomparsa dei protagonisti, non è giunta fino a noi."
"Tell us," said the other, "the whole story, and how and from whom Solon heard this veritable tradition."
"Raccontaci," disse l'altro, "tutta la storia, e come e da chi Solone apprese questa autentica tradizione."
He replied: "At the head of the Egyptian Delta, where the river Nile divides, there is a certain district which is called the district of Sais, and the great city of the district is also called Sais, and is the city from which Amasis the king was sprung.
Egli rispose: "All'apice del Delta egiziano, dove il fiume Nilo si divide, vi è una certa regione che è chiamata la regione di Sais, e la grande città della regione è anch'essa chiamata Sais, ed è la città da cui proveniva il re Amasi.
And the citizens have a deity who is their foundress: she is called in the Egyptian tongue Neith, which is asserted by them to be the same whom the Hellenes called Athene.
E i cittadini hanno una divinità che è la loro fondatrice: ella è chiamata nella lingua egiziana Neith, che da loro si afferma essere la stessa che gli Elleni chiamavano Atena.
Now, the citizens of this city are great lovers of the Athenians, and say that they are in some way related to them.
Ora, i cittadini di questa città sono grandi ammiratori degli Ateniesi, e dicono di essere in qualche modo imparentati con loro.
Thither came Solon, who was received by them with great honor; and he asked the priests, who were most skilful in such matters, about antiquity, and made the discovery that neither he nor any other Hellene knew anything worth mentioning about the times of old.
Là giunse Solone, che fu da loro accolto con grande onore; ed egli interrogò i sacerdoti, che erano i più esperti in tali materie, riguardo all'antichità, e fece la scoperta che né lui né alcun altro Elleno sapeva alcunché di degno di nota riguardo ai tempi antichi.
Vocabulary
- più
- More, most; used for comparisons and superlatives
- grande
- Large, great, important, or significant
- impresa
- Enterprise, undertaking, feat, or deed
- che
- That, which, who; versatile conjunction and pronoun
- gli
- The (masculine plural); also indirect pronoun 'to him'
- abbiano
- They have; subjunctive form of 'avere'
- mai
- Ever, never; used in questions and negations
- compiuto
- Accomplished, completed, carried out, done
- avrebbe
- Would have; conditional form of 'avere'
- dovuto
- Should have, ought to; past participle of 'dovere'
- essere
- To be; fundamental Italian auxiliary verb
- famosa
- Famous, well-known, celebrated, renowned
- ma
- But; conjunction expressing contrast or exception
- causa
- Cause, reason; 'a causa di' means 'because of'
- trascorrere
- To pass, elapse; refers to time passing by
- tempo
- Time, weather; fundamental Italian noun
- scomparsa
- Disappearance, death, passing away of someone
- dei
- Of the (masculine plural); also means 'gods'
- protagonisti
- Main characters, protagonists, key figures in events
- giunta
- Reached, arrived; past participle of 'giungere'
- fino
- Until, up to; used in 'fino a' meaning 'as far as'
- noi
- We, us; first person plural pronoun
- Raccontaci
- Tell us; imperative of 'raccontare' with clitic
- disse
- Said, told; past tense of 'dire'
- altro
- Other, another, else; common Italian adjective
- tutta
- All, entire, whole; feminine form of 'tutto'
- storia
- Story, history, narrative, account of events
- come
- How, like, as; interrogative and comparative word
- da
- From, by, since; versatile Italian preposition
- chi
- Who, whom; interrogative and relative pronoun
- apprese
- Learned, found out; past tense of 'apprendere'
- autentica
- Authentic, genuine, true, reliable account
- tradizione
- Tradition, account handed down through generations
- Egli
- He; formal or literary third person subject pronoun
- rispose
- Answered, replied; past tense of 'rispondere'
- apice
- Apex, peak, tip, highest point of something
- Delta
- Delta; triangular river mouth, as of the Nile
- egiziano
- Egyptian; relating to Egypt or its people
- dove
- Where; interrogative and relative adverb of place
- fiume
- River; large natural flowing body of water
- si
- Oneself, itself; reflexive pronoun or passive marker
- divide
- Divides, splits; third person singular of 'dividere'
- vi
- There, here; locative pronoun replacing a place
- certa
- Certain, particular, a specific; feminine adjective
- regione
- Region, area, district, geographic zone
- chiamata
- Called, named; past participle of 'chiamare'
- città
- City, town; important Italian noun, invariable form
- anch'
- Also, too; elided form of 'anche' before vowels
- essa
- It, she; third person singular feminine pronoun
- cui
- Whose, of which; relative pronoun with preposition
- proveniva
- Came from, originated; imperfect of 'provenire'
- re
- King; masculine noun, invariable in Italian
- cittadini
- Citizens, residents of a city or state
- hanno
- They have; third person plural of 'avere'
- divinità
- Deity, divinity, god or goddess; sacred being
- loro
- Their, them, they; third person plural pronoun
- fondatrice
- Female founder, one who established something
- ella
- She; literary or formal feminine subject pronoun
- lingua
- Language, tongue; spoken or written communication system
- egiziana
- Egyptian (feminine); relating to Egypt
- afferma
- Affirms, states, claims; third singular of 'affermare'
- stessa
- Same, herself, itself; feminine emphatic pronoun
- chiamavano
- Used to call, named; imperfect of 'chiamare'
- Ora
- Now, at this moment; common Italian time adverb
- grandi
- Great, large, grand; plural of 'grande'
- ammiratori
- Admirers, fans, those who greatly admire someone
- dicono
- They say, they claim; third plural of 'dire'
- qualche
- Some, a few, certain; indefinite adjective
- modo
- Way, manner, mode; how something is done
- imparentati
- Related, akin by kinship or family ties
- Là
- There, over there; adverb indicating a distant place
- giunse
- Arrived, reached; past tense of 'giungere'
- fu
- Was; simple past tense of 'essere'
- accolto
- Welcomed, received; past participle of 'accogliere'
- onore
- Honor, respect, esteem given to someone important
- egli
- He; literary or formal Italian subject pronoun
- interrogò
- Questioned, interrogated; past tense of 'interrogare'
- sacerdoti
- Priests, religious officiants, clergy members
- erano
- Were; imperfect tense of 'essere'
- esperti
- Experts, specialists, those skilled in a subject
- tali
- Such, those; plural demonstrative adjective or pronoun
- materie
- Subjects, matters, fields of knowledge or study
- riguardo
- Regarding, respect, concern; 'riguardo a' means 'about'
- antichità
- Antiquity, ancient times, the distant past
- fece
- Made, did; past tense of 'fare'
- scoperta
- Discovery, finding; something newly uncovered or learned
- né
- Neither, nor; negative correlative conjunction
- lui
- He, him; common third person masculine pronoun
- alcun
- Any, no; indefinite adjective in negative context
- sapeva
- Knew, was aware; imperfect tense of 'sapere'
- alcunché
- Anything, something; used in negative or doubtful sentences
- degno
- Worthy, deserving, noteworthy, of merit
- nota
- Note, notice; 'degno di nota' means 'noteworthy'
- tempi
- Times, periods, eras; plural of 'tempo'
- antichi
- Ancient, old, past; masculine plural of 'antico'
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