History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 1 — Page 13
Guizot goes on to state his own impressions on reading Gibbon's history, and no authority will have greater weight with those to whom the extent and accuracy of his historical researches are known:—
Guizot prosegue esponendo le proprie impressioni sulla lettura della storia di Gibbon, e nessuna autorità avrà maggior peso presso coloro che conoscono l'ampiezza e l'accuratezza delle sue ricerche storiche:—
"After a first rapid perusal, which allowed me to feel nothing but the interest of a narrative, always animated, and, notwithstanding its extent and the variety of objects which it makes to pass before the view, always perspicuous, I entered upon a minute examination of the details of which it was composed;
«Dopo una prima rapida lettura, che non mi permise di avvertire altro che l'interesse di una narrazione sempre animata e, nonostante la sua ampiezza e la varietà degli oggetti che fa scorrere dinanzi allo sguardo, sempre perspicua, mi accinsi a un minuzioso esame dei particolari di cui era composta;
and the opinion which I then formed was, I confess, singularly severe.
e il giudizio che ne ricavai fu, lo confesso, singolarmente severo.
I discovered, in certain chapters, errors which appeared to me sufficiently important and numerous to make me believe that they had been written with extreme negligence;
Scoprii, in certi capitoli, errori che mi parvero abbastanza rilevanti e numerosi da farmi credere che fossero stati scritti con estrema negligenza;
in others, I was struck with a certain tinge of partiality and prejudice, which imparted to the exposition of the facts that want of truth and justice, which the English express by their happy term _misrepresentation_.
in altri, fui colpito da una certa tinta di parzialità e pregiudizio, che conferiva all'esposizione dei fatti quella mancanza di verità e di giustizia che gli inglesi esprimono con il loro felice termine _misrepresentation_.
Some imperfect (_tronquées_) quotations; some passages, omitted unintentionally or designedly cast a suspicion on the honesty (_bonne foi_) of the author;
Alcune citazioni incomplete (_tronquées_); alcuni passi, omessi involontariamente o deliberatamente, gettavano un'ombra di sospetto sull'onestà (_bonne foi_) dell'autore;
and his violation of the first law of history—increased to my eye by the prolonged attention with which I occupied myself with every phrase, every note, every reflection—caused me to form upon the whole work, a judgment far too rigorous.
e la sua violazione della prima legge della storia — acuita ai miei occhi dalla prolungata attenzione con cui mi soffermai su ogni frase, ogni nota, ogni riflessione — mi indusse a formulare sull'opera nel suo insieme un giudizio di gran lunga troppo severo.
After having finished my labors, I allowed some time to elapse before I reviewed the whole.
Dopo aver terminato le mie fatiche, lasciai trascorrere qualche tempo prima di riesaminare il tutto.
Vocabulary
- prosegue
- He/she continues, proceeds further
- esponendo
- Exposing, presenting, or setting forth ideas
- le
- The (feminine plural article) or her/them
- proprie
- Own, one's own (feminine plural adjective)
- impressioni
- Impressions, opinions, feelings about something
- sulla
- On the, upon the (feminine singular contraction)
- lettura
- Reading, the act of reading a text
- della
- Of the (feminine singular contraction)
- storia
- History or story, narrative of past events
- di
- Of, by, from (common Italian preposition)
- e
- And (basic Italian coordinating conjunction)
- nessuna
- No, none, not any (feminine singular)
- autorità
- Authority, power, or recognized expertise
- avrà
- Will have (future tense of avere)
- maggior
- Greater, larger, more important (comparative adjective)
- peso
- Weight, importance, or influence
- presso
- Near, with, among, in the opinion of
- coloro
- Those people, those ones (pronoun)
- che
- Who, that, which (relative pronoun/conjunction)
- conoscono
- They know, are familiar with something
- l'
- The (elided definite article before vowel)
- ampiezza
- Breadth, width, extent of something
- accuratezza
- Accuracy, precision, careful correctness
- delle
- Of the (feminine plural contraction)
- sue
- His/her/its own (feminine plural possessive)
- ricerche
- Researches, investigations, scholarly inquiries
- storiche
- Historical (feminine plural adjective)
- Dopo
- After, following (preposition or conjunction)
- una
- A, one (feminine singular indefinite article)
- prima
- First, before (ordinal adjective or adverb)
- rapida
- Rapid, quick, fast (feminine adjective)
- non
- Not (basic Italian negation adverb)
- mi
- Me, myself (first person singular pronoun)
- permise
- Allowed, permitted (past tense of permettere)
- avvertire
- To notice, perceive, or warn someone
- altro
- Other, another, else (adjective or pronoun)
- interesse
- Interest, curiosity, engagement with something
- narrazione
- Narration, narrative, storytelling account
- sempre
- Always, ever, still (adverb of time)
- animata
- Animated, lively, vivid (feminine adjective)
- nonostante
- Despite, notwithstanding, in spite of
- la
- The (feminine singular definite article)
- sua
- His, her, its own (feminine singular possessive)
- varietà
- Variety, diversity, range of different things
- degli
- Of the (masculine plural contraction)
- oggetti
- Objects, subjects, things, topics
- fa
- Makes, does (third person singular of fare)
- scorrere
- To flow, scroll, pass before one's eyes
- dinanzi
- Before, in front of, ahead
- allo
- To the (masculine singular contraction)
- sguardo
- Gaze, glance, look of the eyes
- perspicua
- Clear, lucid, easy to understand (feminine)
- accinsi
- I set about, undertook (past tense of accingersi)
- a
- To, at, in (basic Italian preposition)
- un
- A, one (masculine singular indefinite article)
- minuzioso
- Meticulous, detailed, very thorough examination
- esame
- Examination, analysis, close scrutiny
- dei
- Of the (masculine plural contraction)
- particolari
- Details, particulars, specific elements
- cui
- Which, whom, of which (relative pronoun)
- era
- Was, it was (imperfect tense of essere)
- composta
- Composed, made up of parts (feminine past participle)
- il
- The (masculine singular definite article)
- giudizio
- Judgment, opinion, assessment, verdict
- ne
- Of it, from it, thereof (partitive pronoun)
- ricavai
- I derived, obtained, extracted (past tense)
- fu
- Was (third person singular past of essere)
- lo
- Him, it (masculine singular direct object pronoun)
- confesso
- I confess, admit (first person singular present)
- singolarmente
- Singularly, remarkably, unusually (adverb)
- severo
- Severe, strict, harsh (masculine adjective)
- Scoprii
- I discovered, found out (past tense of scoprire)
- in
- In, into, within (basic Italian preposition)
- certi
- Certain, some specific (masculine plural adjective)
- capitoli
- Chapters, sections of a book
- errori
- Errors, mistakes, inaccuracies
- parvero
- They seemed, appeared (past tense of parere)
- abbastanza
- Enough, sufficiently, rather (adverb)
- rilevanti
- Relevant, significant, notable (plural adjective)
- numerosi
- Numerous, many, plentiful (masculine plural)
- da
- From, by, since (Italian preposition)
- farmi
- To make me, to cause me (infinitive + pronoun)
- credere
- To believe, think, suppose
- fossero
- Were (subjunctive imperfect of essere)
- stati
- Been, states (past participle of essere, plural)
- scritti
- Written (past participle of scrivere, plural)
- con
- With (basic Italian preposition)
- estrema
- Extreme, utmost (feminine singular adjective)
- negligenza
- Negligence, carelessness, lack of attention
- altri
- Others, other ones (masculine plural pronoun/adjective)
- fui
- I was (first person singular past of essere)
- colpito
- Struck, hit, affected (past participle of colpire)
- certa
- A certain, some (feminine singular adjective)
- tinta
- Tint, shade, hue, coloring of tone
- parzialità
- Partiality, bias, favoritism, one-sidedness
- pregiudizio
- Prejudice, bias, preconceived notion
- conferiva
- Conferred, gave, imparted (imperfect of conferire)
- all'
- To the (elided contraction before vowel)
- esposizione
- Exposition, presentation, display of information
- fatti
- Facts, deeds, events (masculine plural noun)
- quella
- That (feminine singular demonstrative adjective/pronoun)
- mancanza
- Lack, absence, deficiency of something
- verità
- Truth, truthfulness, factual accuracy
- giustizia
- Justice, fairness, rightfulness
- gli
- The (masculine plural article) or to him
- inglesi
- English people or English (plural adjective/noun)
- esprimono
- They express, convey (third person plural present)
- loro
- Their, them, they (pronoun or possessive)
- felice
- Happy, fortunate, apt (adjective)
- termine
- Term, word, expression, limit
- Alcune
- Some, a few (feminine plural indefinite adjective)
- citazioni
- Citations, quotations, references to sources
- incomplete
- Incomplete, unfinished, lacking parts (feminine plural)
- alcuni
- Some, a few (masculine plural indefinite adjective)
- passi
- Passages, excerpts, steps (masculine plural noun)
- omessi
- Omitted, left out (masculine plural past participle)
- involontariamente
- Involuntarily, unintentionally, without meaning to
- o
- Or (basic Italian disjunctive conjunction)
- deliberatamente
- Deliberately, intentionally, on purpose
- gettavano
- They cast, threw (imperfect tense of gettare)
- un'
- A, an (elided feminine indefinite article)
- ombra
- Shadow, shade, hint of doubt
- sospetto
- Suspicion, doubt, distrust (noun or adjective)
- sull'
- On the (elided contraction before vowel)
- onestà
- Honesty, integrity, moral uprightness
- dell'
- Of the (elided contraction before vowel)
- autore
- Author, writer of a text
- violazione
- Violation, breach, infringement of a rule
- legge
- Law, rule, or he/she reads
- acuita
- Sharpened, heightened, intensified (feminine past participle)
- ai
- To the (masculine plural contraction)
- miei
- My (masculine plural possessive adjective)
- occhi
- Eyes (masculine plural noun)
- dalla
- From the (feminine singular contraction)
- prolungata
- Prolonged, extended, lengthy (feminine past participle)
- attenzione
- Attention, focus, careful consideration
- soffermai
- I paused, dwelt upon (past tense of soffermarsi)
- su
- On, upon, about (Italian preposition)
- ogni
- Every, each, any (invariable adjective)
- frase
- Phrase, sentence, expression
- nota
- Note, remark, observation (feminine noun)
- riflessione
- Reflection, thought, careful consideration
- indusse
- Induced, led, prompted (past tense of indurre)
- formulare
- To formulate, express, state clearly
- opera
- Work, opus, literary or artistic production
- nel
- In the (masculine singular contraction)
- suo
- His, her, its (masculine singular possessive)
- insieme
- Together, whole, entirety (adverb or noun)
- gran
- Great, big (elided form of grande)
- lunga
- Long (feminine adjective); di gran lunga means by far
- troppo
- Too, too much, excessively (adverb/adjective)
- aver
- To have (elided infinitive of avere)
- terminato
- Finished, completed (past participle of terminare)
- mie
- My (feminine plural possessive adjective)
- fatiche
- Labors, efforts, toils (feminine plural noun)
- lasciai
- I left, allowed, let (past tense of lasciare)
- trascorrere
- To pass, elapse, spend time
- qualche
- Some, a few, a certain amount of
- tempo
- Time, weather, period (masculine noun)
- riesaminare
- To re-examine, review again carefully
- tutto
- All, everything, whole (adjective or pronoun)
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