The Odyssey: Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original — Page 5
Now all the rest, as many as fled from sheer destruction, were at home, and had escaped both war and sea, but Odysseus only, craving for his wife and for his homeward path, the lady nymph Calypso held, that fair goddess, in her hollow caves, longing to have him for her lord.
Ora tutti gli altri, quanti erano fuggiti dalla totale rovina, erano a casa, ed erano scampati sia alla guerra che al mare, ma Odisseo soltanto, che bramava sua moglie e il cammino verso la sua patria, la nobile ninfa Calipso lo tratteneva, quella bella dea, nelle sue grotte profonde, desiderando averlo come suo signore.
But when now the year had come in the courses of the seasons, wherein the gods had ordained that he should return home to Ithaca, not even there was he quit of labours, not even among his own; but all the gods had pity on him save Poseidon, who raged continually against godlike Odysseus, till he came to his own country.
Ma quando ormai era giunto l'anno nel corso delle stagioni, nel quale gli dèi avevano stabilito che egli facesse ritorno a Itaca, neppure allora era libero dalle fatiche, neppure in mezzo ai suoi; ma tutti gli dèi avevano pietà di lui tranne Poseidone, che infuriava senza sosta contro il divino Odisseo, finché questi non giunse alla sua terra.
Howbeit Poseidon had now departed for the distant Ethiopians, the Ethiopians that are sundered in twain, the uttermost of men, abiding some where Hyperion sinks and some where he rises.
Tuttavia Poseidone si era ora recato dagli Etiopi lontani, gli Etiopi che sono divisi in due, gli ultimi degli uomini, che dimorano alcuni dove Iperione tramonta e alcuni dove egli sorge.
There he looked to receive his hecatomb of bulls and rams, there he made merry sitting at the feast, but the other gods were gathered in the halls of Olympian Zeus.
Là egli si aspettava di ricevere la sua ecatombe di tori e montoni, là si rallegrava seduto al banchetto, ma gli altri dèi erano riuniti nelle sale dello Zeus olimpico.
Then among them the father of men and gods began to speak, for he bethought him in his heart of noble Aegisthus, whom the son of Agamemnon, far-famed Orestes, slew.
Allora tra loro il padre degli uomini e degli dèi cominciò a parlare, poiché gli era venuto in mente nel suo cuore il nobile Egisto, che il figlio di Agamennone, il tanto celebrato Oreste, aveva ucciso.
Thinking upon him he spake out among the Immortals: 'Lo you now, how vainly mortal men do blame the gods! For of us they say comes evil, whereas they even of themselves, through the blindness of their own hearts, have sorrows beyond that which is ordained.
Pensando a lui parlò tra gli Immortali: «Vedete ora, quanto vanamente gli uomini mortali danno la colpa agli dèi! Poiché da noi, dicono, viene il male, mentre essi stessi, per la cecità dei loro cuori, hanno dolori al di là di ciò che è stabilito.
Vocabulary
- Ora
- Now; used to indicate the current moment
- tutti
- All, everyone; referring to a complete group
- gli
- The (masculine plural definite article)
- altri
- Others; referring to different or additional people
- quanti
- How many; used in questions or exclamations
- erano
- They were; past tense of essere (to be)
- fuggiti
- Fled, escaped; past participle of fuggire
- dalla
- From the; contraction of da and la
- totale
- Total, complete; describing something entire or whole
- rovina
- Ruin, destruction; complete collapse or devastation
- a
- To, at; common Italian preposition
- casa
- Home, house; a place where one lives
- ed
- And; variant of e used before vowels
- scampati
- Escaped, survived; past participle of scampare
- sia
- Both, whether; used in sia...che constructions
- alla
- To the; contraction of a and la
- guerra
- War; armed conflict between groups or nations
- che
- That, which, than; versatile conjunction or pronoun
- al
- To the; contraction of a and il
- mare
- Sea; large body of salt water
- ma
- But; conjunction expressing contrast or opposition
- soltanto
- Only, just; indicating exclusivity or limitation
- bramava
- Longed for, yearned; imperfect tense of bramare
- sua
- His, her; possessive adjective (feminine singular)
- moglie
- Wife; a woman married to someone
- e
- And; basic coordinating conjunction in Italian
- il
- The; masculine singular definite article
- cammino
- Path, journey; a route or way traveled
- verso
- Toward; preposition indicating direction or destination
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article
- patria
- Homeland, native land; one's country of origin
- nobile
- Noble; having high moral or aristocratic qualities
- ninfa
- Nymph; mythological female nature spirit
- lo
- Him, it; masculine singular direct object pronoun
- tratteneva
- Was detaining, holding back; imperfect of trattenere
- quella
- That; feminine singular demonstrative adjective
- bella
- Beautiful; feminine adjective describing attractiveness
- dea
- Goddess; a female deity in mythology
- nelle
- In the; contraction of in and le
- sue
- Her, his; feminine plural possessive adjective
- grotte
- Caves, grottos; natural underground hollow spaces
- profonde
- Deep; describing great depth or profundity
- desiderando
- Desiring, wishing; gerund of desiderare
- averlo
- To have him; infinitive avere combined with lo
- come
- As, like, how; versatile conjunction or adverb
- suo
- His, her; masculine singular possessive adjective
- signore
- Lord, master, sir; title of respect or authority
- Ma
- But; conjunction indicating contrast at sentence start
- quando
- When; temporal conjunction or adverb
- ormai
- By now, already; indicating something has finally occurred
- era
- Was; third person singular imperfect of essere
- giunto
- Arrived, reached; past participle of giungere
- l'anno
- The year; a twelve-month period of time
- nel
- In the; contraction of in and il
- corso
- Course, passage; the flow or progression of time
- delle
- Of the; contraction of di and le
- stagioni
- Seasons; the four annual periods of the year
- quale
- Which, that; relative pronoun or adjective
- dèi
- Gods; plural of dio, divine immortal beings
- avevano
- They had; third person plural imperfect of avere
- stabilito
- Established, decreed; past participle of stabilire
- egli
- He; formal masculine third person subject pronoun
- facesse
- Would make, did; subjunctive imperfect of fare
- ritorno
- Return; the act of coming back home
- neppure
- Not even; emphatic negation reinforcing impossibility
- allora
- Then, at that time; temporal adverb
- libero
- Free; not constrained or bound by something
- dalle
- From the; contraction of da and le
- fatiche
- Hardships, toils; laborious struggles or efforts
- in
- In, into; basic Italian locative preposition
- mezzo
- Middle, midst; the central point among things
- ai
- To the; contraction of a and i
- suoi
- His; masculine plural possessive adjective
- pietà
- Pity, compassion; sympathy felt for someone's suffering
- di
- Of, from; very common Italian preposition
- lui
- Him, he; masculine third person pronoun
- tranne
- Except, apart from; preposition expressing exclusion
- infuriava
- Was raging; imperfect tense of infuriare
- senza
- Without; preposition indicating absence of something
- sosta
- Stop, rest, pause; a break in activity
- contro
- Against; preposition indicating opposition or hostility
- divino
- Divine; relating to or coming from a god
- finché
- Until; conjunction indicating a condition's end point
- questi
- This one, he; demonstrative pronoun referring to someone nearby
- non
- Not; basic Italian negation particle
- giunse
- Arrived, reached; past absolute of giungere
- terra
- Land, earth, ground; solid surface or territory
- Tuttavia
- Nevertheless, however; concessive conjunction
- si
- Himself, itself; reflexive or impersonal pronoun
- recato
- Gone, traveled; past participle of recarsi
- dagli
- From the; contraction of da and gli
- lontani
- Distant, far away; describing great physical distance
- sono
- Are; first or third person plural present of essere
- divisi
- Divided, split; past participle of dividere
- due
- Two; the number 2
- ultimi
- Last, farthest; superlative adjective of ultimo
- degli
- Of the; contraction of di and gli
- uomini
- Men, humans; plural of uomo
- dimorano
- Dwell, reside; third person plural present of dimorare
- alcuni
- Some, a few; indefinite pronoun or adjective
- dove
- Where; adverb indicating location or place
- tramonta
- Sets (sun); third person singular of tramontare
- sorge
- Rises (sun); third person singular present of sorgere
- Là
- There; adverb indicating a distant location
- aspettava
- Was waiting; third person singular imperfect of aspettare
- ricevere
- To receive; infinitive verb meaning to get something
- tori
- Bulls; plural of toro, adult male cattle
- montoni
- Rams; plural of montone, male sheep
- là
- There; adverb pointing to a distant place
- rallegrava
- Was rejoicing; imperfect tense of rallegrarsi
- seduto
- Seated, sitting; past participle of sedere
- banchetto
- Banquet, feast; a formal celebratory meal
- riuniti
- Gathered, assembled; past participle of riunire
- sale
- Halls; plural of sala, large rooms or spaces
- dello
- Of the; contraction of di and lo
- olimpico
- Olympian; relating to Mount Olympus and its gods
- Allora
- Then, at that point; temporal adverb
- tra
- Among, between; preposition indicating position
- loro
- Their, them; third person plural pronoun
- padre
- Father; a male parent or paternal figure
- cominciò
- Began, started; past absolute of cominciare
- parlare
- To speak, to talk; infinitive of parlare
- poiché
- Since, because; causal conjunction
- venuto
- Come; past participle of venire
- mente
- Mind; the faculty of thought and memory
- cuore
- Heart; seat of emotion and feeling
- figlio
- Son; a male child in relation to parents
- tanto
- So much, so; adverb or adjective of quantity
- celebrato
- Celebrated, renowned; past participle of celebrare
- aveva
- Had; third person singular imperfect of avere
- ucciso
- Killed; past participle of uccidere
- Pensando
- Thinking; gerund of pensare
- parlò
- Spoke; past absolute third person singular of parlare
- Immortali
- Immortals; beings who never die, i.e., gods
- Vedete
- You see, look; second person plural of vedere
- quanto
- How much, how; interrogative or exclamatory adverb
- vanamente
- Vainly, in vain; without result or purpose
- mortali
- Mortals; plural of mortale, beings subject to death
- danno
- Give; third person plural present of dare
- colpa
- Blame, fault; responsibility for a wrongdoing
- agli
- To the; contraction of a and gli
- Poiché
- Since, because; introduces a causal explanation
- da
- From, by; common Italian preposition
- noi
- Us, we; first person plural pronoun
- dicono
- They say; third person plural present of dire
- viene
- Comes; third person singular present of venire
- male
- Evil, harm, bad; something negative or harmful
- mentre
- While, whereas; temporal or contrastive conjunction
- essi
- They; third person plural subject pronoun
- stessi
- Themselves, same; reflexive or emphatic pronoun
- per
- For, through, because of; common Italian preposition
- cecità
- Blindness; inability to see, literal or figurative
- dei
- Of the; contraction of di and i
- cuori
- Hearts; plural of cuore, seat of emotions
- hanno
- They have; third person plural present of avere
- dolori
- Pains, sorrows; plural of dolore
- ciò
- This, that; neuter demonstrative pronoun
- è
- Is; third person singular present of essere
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