On the Method of Zadig: Essay #1 from "Science and Hebrew Tradition" — Page 7
Those who are interested in learning more of the fateful history of Zadig must turn to the original; we are dealing with him only as a philosopher, and this brief excerpt suffices for the exemplification of the nature of his conclusions and of the methods by which he arrived at them.
Quienes estén interesados en conocer más sobre la fatídica historia de Zadig deben recurrir al original; nosotros lo tratamos únicamente como filósofo, y este breve fragmento es suficiente para ejemplificar la naturaleza de sus conclusiones y los métodos por los cuales llegó a ellas.
These conclusions may be said to be of the nature of retrospective prophecies; though it is perhaps a little hazardous to employ phraseology which perilously suggests a contradiction in terms--the word "prophecy" being so constantly, in ordinary use, restricted to "foretelling."
Podría decirse que estas conclusiones son de la naturaleza de las profecías retrospectivas; aunque quizás sea un poco arriesgado emplear una fraseología que peligrosamente sugiere una contradicción en los términos: la palabra «profecía» está tan constantemente, en el uso ordinario, restringida a «predecir».
Strictly, however, the term prophecy applies as much to outspeaking as to foretelling; and, even in the restricted sense of "divination," it is obvious that the essence of the prophetic operation does not lie in its backward or forward relation to the course of time, but in the fact that it is the apprehension of that which lies out of the sphere of immediate knowledge; the seeing of that which, to the natural sense of the seer, is invisible.
Sin embargo, en sentido estricto, el término profecía se aplica tanto a la declaración abierta como a la predicción; e incluso en el sentido restringido de «adivinación», es obvio que la esencia de la operación profética no reside en su relación hacia atrás o hacia adelante con el curso del tiempo, sino en el hecho de que es la aprehensión de aquello que se encuentra fuera del ámbito del conocimiento inmediato; el ver aquello que, para el sentido natural del vidente, es invisible.
The foreteller asserts that, at some future time, a properly situated observer will witness certain events; the clairvoyant declares that, at this present time, certain things are to be witnessed a thousand miles away; the retrospective prophet (would that there were such a word as "backteller!") affirms that, so many hours or years ago, such and such things were to be seen.
El predictor afirma que, en algún momento futuro, un observador bien situado será testigo de ciertos eventos; el clarividente declara que, en el momento presente, ciertas cosas pueden ser presenciadas a mil millas de distancia; el profeta retrospectivo (¡ojalá existiera una palabra como «retrodictor»!) afirma que, hace tantas horas o años, tales y cuales cosas podían ser vistas.
Vocabulary
- Quienes
- Those who; referring to people in a group
- estén
- Subjunctive form of 'estar'; to be
- interesados
- Interested; those who have interest in something
- en
- In, on, at; common preposition of location
- conocer
- To know or become acquainted with someone or something
- más
- More; indicating greater quantity or degree
- sobre
- About, over, on top of; preposition of topic
- fatídica
- Fateful, ominous; relating to a destined outcome
- historia
- History or story; a narrative of events
- deben
- They must or should; obligation third person plural
- recurrir
- To resort to or turn to something for help
- al
- To the; contraction of 'a' and 'el'
- original
- Original; the first or authentic version of something
- nosotros
- We, us; first person plural subject pronoun
- lo
- Him, it; masculine direct object pronoun
- tratamos
- We treat or deal with; first person plural present
- únicamente
- Only, solely; exclusively and nothing else
- como
- As, like; used for comparison or role description
- filósofo
- Philosopher; one who studies philosophy and ideas
- este
- This; masculine singular demonstrative adjective
- breve
- Brief, short; of little length or duration
- fragmento
- Fragment; a small piece or excerpt of text
- suficiente
- Sufficient, enough; meeting the required amount
- para
- For, in order to; preposition of purpose
- ejemplificar
- To exemplify; to illustrate something with an example
- naturaleza
- Nature; the essential character or natural world
- sus
- His, her, their, your; possessive adjective plural
- conclusiones
- Conclusions; final judgments reached after reasoning
- métodos
- Methods; systematic ways of doing something
- por
- By, through, for; versatile Spanish preposition
- cuales
- Which; relative pronoun used after a preposition
- llegó
- Arrived, reached; third person singular preterite
- ellas
- They, them; feminine third person plural pronoun
- Podría
- Could, might; conditional form of 'poder'
- decirse
- To be said; reflexive infinitive of 'decir'
- estas
- These; feminine plural demonstrative pronoun
- profecías
- Prophecies; predictions about future events
- retrospectivas
- Retrospective; looking back at past events
- aunque
- Although, even though; concessive conjunction
- quizás
- Perhaps, maybe; expressing uncertainty or possibility
- sea
- May be; present subjunctive of 'ser'
- poco
- A little, a bit; small amount or degree
- arriesgado
- Risky, daring; involving potential danger or risk
- emplear
- To use, employ; to make use of something
- fraseología
- Phraseology; characteristic way of expressing something
- peligrosamente
- Dangerously; in a manner involving risk or peril
- sugiere
- Suggests; third person singular present of 'sugerir'
- contradicción
- Contradiction; a statement that opposes another directly
- términos
- Terms; words or expressions used in a specific context
- palabra
- Word; a unit of language expressing meaning
- profecía
- Prophecy; a prediction or foretelling of future events
- está
- Is; third person singular present of 'estar'
- tan
- So, as; used in comparisons of equality
- constantemente
- Constantly; happening without interruption or change
- uso
- Use, usage; the act of using something
- ordinario
- Ordinary, common; usual and not exceptional
- restringida
- Restricted, limited; confined to a specific scope
- predecir
- To predict, foretell; to say what will happen
- Sin
- Without; preposition indicating absence of something
- embargo
- Embargo; used in 'sin embargo' meaning however
- sentido
- Sense, meaning; understanding or direction
- estricto
- Strict, precise; exact and without flexibility
- término
- Term; a word or expression with specific meaning
- se
- Reflexive pronoun; used for reflexive or passive constructions
- aplica
- Applies; third person singular of 'aplicar'
- tanto
- As much, so much; indicates equal or great degree
- declaración
- Declaration, statement; a formal announcement or assertion
- abierta
- Open; frank or unrestricted, feminine adjective
- predicción
- Prediction; a statement about what will happen
- e
- And; variant of 'y' before words starting with i
- incluso
- Even, including; used to emphasize inclusion
- restringido
- Restricted; limited in scope or application
- adivinación
- Divination, guessing; the practice of foretelling events
- obvio
- Obvious; clearly apparent and easy to understand
- esencia
- Essence; the fundamental nature of something
- operación
- Operation; a process or activity with a purpose
- profética
- Prophetic; relating to or resembling a prophecy
- reside
- Resides, lies in; to be located or found
- su
- His, her, its, your; singular possessive adjective
- relación
- Relation, relationship; connection between two things
- hacia
- Toward; indicating direction or orientation
- atrás
- Back, behind; indicating a backward direction
- adelante
- Forward, ahead; indicating direction or progress
- con
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means
- curso
- Course, flow; the progression of time or events
- del
- Of the; contraction of 'de' and 'el'
- tiempo
- Time, weather; duration or meteorological conditions
- sino
- But rather; used to contrast a negative statement
- hecho
- Fact, deed; something done or a true statement
- aprehensión
- Apprehension, grasp; the act of seizing knowledge
- aquello
- That, that thing; neuter demonstrative pronoun
- encuentra
- Finds, is found; third person singular of 'encontrar'
- fuera
- Outside, beyond; outside the limits of something
- ámbito
- Scope, realm; the range or field of activity
- conocimiento
- Knowledge; information and understanding acquired
- inmediato
- Immediate, direct; happening right away or nearby
- ver
- To see; to perceive with the eyes
- natural
- Natural; existing in or derived from nature
- vidente
- Seer, clairvoyant; one who can see hidden things
- invisible
- Invisible; unable to be seen by the naked eye
- predictor
- Predictor; one who makes predictions about future events
- afirma
- Affirms, states; third person singular of 'afirmar'
- algún
- Some, any; indefinite adjective before masculine noun
- momento
- Moment; a very brief period of time
- futuro
- Future; the time that is yet to come
- observador
- Observer; someone who watches and notices things
- bien
- Well, good; in a satisfactory or proper manner
- situado
- Situated, positioned; placed in a specific location
- será
- Will be; third person singular future of 'ser'
- testigo
- Witness; someone who sees or observes an event
- ciertos
- Certain, some; particular but unspecified things
- eventos
- Events; things that happen, especially important ones
- clarividente
- Clairvoyant; one who perceives things beyond normal senses
- declara
- Declares; third person singular present of 'declarar'
- presente
- Present; the current time or moment
- ciertas
- Certain; feminine plural for specific unspecified things
- cosas
- Things; objects or matters in general
- pueden
- Can, are able to; third person plural of 'poder'
- ser
- To be; fundamental Spanish verb of being
- presenciadas
- Witnessed; seen firsthand, feminine past participle
- mil
- Thousand; the number 1000
- millas
- Miles; unit of distance measurement
- distancia
- Distance; the amount of space between two points
- profeta
- Prophet; one who foretells or speaks divine messages
- retrospectivo
- Retrospective; looking back to past events
- ojalá
- Hopefully, I wish; expressing a strong desire
- existiera
- Existed; imperfect subjunctive of 'existir'
- hace
- Makes, does, ago; third person singular of 'hacer'
- tantas
- So many; feminine plural indicating a large quantity
- horas
- Hours; units of time equal to sixty minutes
- años
- Years; units of time equal to twelve months
- tales
- Such; of that kind, used with plural nouns
- podían
- Could, were able to; imperfect of 'poder'
- vistas
- Seen, viewed; feminine plural past participle of 'ver'
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