Plays of Sophocles: Oedipus the King; Oedipus at Colonus; Antigone — Page 6
King Phoebus bids us straitly extirpate
Il re Febo ci ordina severamente di estirpare
A fell pollution that infests the land,
Una terribile contaminazione che infesta la terra,
And no more harbor an inveterate sore.
E di non tollerare oltre un male inveterato.
What expiation means he? What's amiss?
Quale espiazione intende? Che cosa è andato storto?
Banishment, or the shedding blood for blood.
L'esilio, o il versare sangue per sangue.
This stain of blood makes shipwreck of our state.
Questa macchia di sangue fa naufragare il nostro stato.
Whom can he mean, the miscreant thus denounced?
Chi intende, il malfattore così denunciato?
Before thou didst assume the helm of State,
Prima che tu prendessi il timone dello Stato,
The sovereign of this land was Laius.
Il sovrano di questa terra era Laio.
I heard as much, but never saw the man.
Ne ho sentito parlare, ma non ho mai visto quell'uomo.
He fell; and now the god's command is plain:
Egli cadde; e ora il comando del dio è chiaro:
Punish his takers-off, whoe'er they be.
Punite i suoi assassini, chiunque essi siano.
Where are they? Where in the wide world to find
Dove sono? Dove nel vasto mondo trovare
The far, faint traces of a bygone crime?
Le lontane, sbiadite tracce di un crimine passato?
In this land, said the god; "who seeks shall find;
In questa terra, disse il dio; «chi cerca troverà;
Who sits with folded hands or sleeps is blind."
Chi siede con le mani in grembo o dorme è cieco».
Was he within his palace, or afield,
Era nel suo palazzo, o in aperta campagna,
Or traveling, when Laius met his fate?
O in viaggio, quando Laio incontrò il suo destino?
Abroad; he started, so he told us, bound
Fuori città; era partito, così ci disse, diretto
For Delphi, but he never thence returned.
A Delfi, ma non fece mai ritorno da lì.
Came there no news, no fellow-traveler
Non giunse alcuna notizia, nessun compagno di viaggio
To give some clue that might be followed up?
A fornire qualche indizio che potesse essere seguito?
But one escape, who flying for dear life,
Uno solo fuggì, che scappando a perdifiato,
Could tell of all he saw but one thing sure.
Di tutto ciò che vide poteva riferire una sola cosa con certezza.
And what was that? One clue might lead us far,
E quale era? Un solo indizio potrebbe portarci lontano,
With but a spark of hope to guide our quest.
Con una sola scintilla di speranza a guidare la nostra ricerca.
Robbers, he told us, not one bandit but
Briganti, ci disse, non un solo bandito ma
A troop of knaves, attacked and murdered him.
Una banda di malvagi, lo aggredì e lo uccise.
Vocabulary
- re
- King; male monarch ruling a kingdom
- ci
- Us; to us; reflexive or locative pronoun
- ordina
- Orders; commands someone to do something
- severamente
- Severely; strictly; in a harsh manner
- estirpare
- To eradicate; to uproot and eliminate completely
- terribile
- Terrible; causing fear or great distress
- contaminazione
- Contamination; pollution making something impure or corrupt
- infesta
- Infests; plagues a place causing harm
- terra
- Earth; land; ground or territory
- tollerare
- To tolerate; to accept or endure something unpleasant
- oltre
- Beyond; further; any longer than already
- male
- Evil; harm; something morally bad or injurious
- inveterato
- Ingrained; deep-rooted; long-established and hard to remove
- Quale
- Which; what kind of; interrogative or relative adjective
- espiazione
- Expiation; atonement for a sin or crime
- intende
- Intends; means; plans to do something
- andato
- Gone; past participle of andare (to go)
- storto
- Wrong; crooked; gone awry or incorrectly
- esilio
- Exile; forced removal from one's homeland
- versare
- To shed; to pour; used for blood or liquid
- sangue
- Blood; the fluid circulating in living bodies
- macchia
- Stain; blemish; moral or physical mark of guilt
- naufragare
- To shipwreck; to cause ruin or collapse
- stato
- State; nation; the political body or condition
- malfattore
- Wrongdoer; criminal; person who commits harmful acts
- denunciato
- Denounced; formally accused or reported as guilty
- Prima
- Before; previously; earlier in time
- prendessi
- You took; imperfect subjunctive of prendere (to take)
- timone
- Helm; rudder; device used to steer a ship
- Stato
- State; sovereign political entity or government
- sovrano
- Sovereign; supreme ruler or supreme in authority
- Ne
- Of it; about it; partitive or ablative pronoun
- sentito
- Heard; past participle of sentire (to hear)
- parlare
- To speak; to talk about something or someone
- mai
- Never; ever; used in negative or emphatic contexts
- visto
- Seen; past participle of vedere (to see)
- uomo
- Man; adult male human being
- Egli
- He; formal third-person masculine singular subject pronoun
- cadde
- He fell; third-person singular past remote of cadere
- comando
- Command; order; directive from an authority
- dio
- God; deity; divine being worshipped in religion
- chiaro
- Clear; bright; unmistakable in meaning or light
- Punite
- Punish; imperative plural form of punire
- assassini
- Assassins; murderers; those who kill someone deliberately
- chiunque
- Whoever; anyone; indefinite relative pronoun
- siano
- Are; present subjunctive of essere (to be)
- vasto
- Vast; immense; very large in extent or scope
- mondo
- World; the earth and all people on it
- trovare
- To find; to locate or discover something
- lontane
- Distant; faraway; remote in space or time
- sbiadite
- Faded; washed-out; having lost original color or clarity
- tracce
- Traces; tracks; faint marks or clues left behind
- crimine
- Crime; serious illegal act against a person or society
- passato
- Past; gone by; time or events that have occurred
- disse
- Said; third-person singular past remote of dire
- cerca
- Seeks; looks for; searches to find something
- troverà
- Will find; third-person singular future of trovare
- siede
- Sits; third-person singular present of sedersi
- mani
- Hands; the paired grasping extremities of the arms
- grembo
- Lap; bosom; the upper front of a seated person
- dorme
- Sleeps; third-person singular present of dormire
- cieco
- Blind; unable to see; lacking visual perception
- palazzo
- Palace; large stately building or royal residence
- aperta
- Open; exposed; not closed or restricted
- campagna
- Countryside; rural open land outside the city
- viaggio
- Journey; trip; act of travelling from one place
- incontrò
- Encountered; met; came across someone or something
- destino
- Fate; destiny; predetermined course of events
- Fuori
- Outside; out; beyond the limits of something
- città
- City; large urban settlement or municipality
- partito
- Departed; left; past participle of partire (to leave)
- diretto
- Directed; headed; going straight toward a destination
- fece
- Made; did; third-person singular past remote of fare
- ritorno
- Return; coming back to a previous place
- giunse
- Arrived; reached; third-person singular past remote of giungere
- alcuna
- Any; no; feminine singular indefinite negative adjective
- notizia
- News; piece of information or report about events
- nessun
- No; not any; negative indefinite adjective or pronoun
- compagno
- Companion; fellow traveller; person who accompanies someone
- fornire
- To provide; to supply with something needed
- fornire
- To provide; to supply with something needed
- indizio
- Clue; indication; piece of evidence pointing to something
- potesse
- Could; imperfect subjunctive of potere (to be able)
- seguito
- Followed; sequel; something that comes or comes after
- solo
- Only; alone; just one and no more
- fuggì
- Fled; escaped; third-person singular past remote of fuggire
- scappando
- Escaping; fleeing; present participle of scappare
- perdifiato
- At full speed; breathlessly; running as fast as possible
- ciò
- That; this; neutral demonstrative pronoun for things
- vide
- Saw; third-person singular past remote of vedere
- poteva
- Could; was able; imperfect of potere
- riferire
- To report; to recount what one has witnessed
- certezza
- Certainty; sure knowledge; absence of doubt
- potrebbe
- Could; might; conditional of potere (to be able)
- portarci
- To bring us; to lead us to a place
- lontano
- Far; distant; far away from a reference point
- scintilla
- Spark; tiny flash of light; small glimmer of hope
- speranza
- Hope; expectation of something desired or positive
- guidare
- To guide; to lead; to direct someone on a path
- ricerca
- Search; inquiry; investigation to find something
- Briganti
- Brigands; bandits; armed criminals who attack travellers
- bandito
- Bandit; outlaw; person who commits violent robbery
- banda
- Gang; band; group of people acting together criminally
- malvagi
- Wicked; evil; morally bad or villainous people
- aggredì
- Attacked; assaulted; third-person singular past of aggredire
- uccise
- Killed; slew; third-person singular past remote of uccidere
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