The Prince — Page 4
Whereas the magnificence of the Medicean rule during the life of Lorenzo appeared to have impressed Machiavelli strongly, for he frequently recurs to it in his writings, and it is to Lorenzo's grandson that he dedicates _The Prince_.
Die Pracht der mediceischen Herrschaft zu Lebzeiten Lorenzos scheint auf Machiavelli einen starken Eindruck gemacht zu haben, denn er kommt in seinen Schriften häufig darauf zurück, und es ist an Lorenzos Enkel, dem er _Der Fürst_ widmet.
Machiavelli, in his "History of Florence," gives us a picture of the young men among whom his youth was passed.
Machiavelli gibt uns in seiner „Geschichte von Florenz" ein Bild der jungen Männer, unter denen er seine Jugend verbrachte.
He writes: "They were freer than their forefathers in dress and living, and spent more in other kinds of excesses, consuming their time and money in idleness, gaming, and women; their chief aim was to appear well dressed and to speak with wit and acuteness, whilst he who could wound others the most cleverly was thought the wisest."
Er schreibt: „Sie waren in Kleidung und Lebensweise freier als ihre Vorfahren und gaben mehr für andere Arten von Ausschweifungen aus, indem sie ihre Zeit und ihr Geld mit Müßiggang, Spiel und Frauen verschwendeten; ihr hauptsächliches Ziel war es, gut gekleidet zu erscheinen und mit Witz und Scharfsinn zu sprechen, während derjenige, der andere am geschicktesten verletzen konnte, für den Weisesten gehalten wurde."
In a letter to his son Guido, Machiavelli shows why youth should avail itself of its opportunities for study, and leads us to infer that his own youth had been so occupied.
In einem Brief an seinen Sohn Guido zeigt Machiavelli, warum die Jugend ihre Gelegenheiten zum Lernen nutzen sollte, und lässt uns schlussfolgern, dass seine eigene Jugend auf diese Weise ausgefüllt gewesen war.
He writes: "I have received your letter, which has given me the greatest pleasure, especially because you tell me you are quite restored in health, than which I could have no better news; for if God grant life to you, and to me, I hope to make a good man of you if you are willing to do your share.
Er schreibt: „Ich habe Euren Brief erhalten, der mir die größte Freude bereitet hat, besonders weil Ihr mir mitteilt, dass Ihr vollständig genesen seid, worüber ich keine bessere Nachricht erhalten könnte; denn wenn Gott Euch und mir das Leben schenkt, hoffe ich, einen rechtschaffenen Mann aus Euch zu machen, wenn Ihr bereit seid, Euren Teil dazu beizutragen.
Vocabulary
- Pracht
- Splendor, magnificence, grandeur
- Herrschaft
- Rule, dominion, authority over others
- Lebzeiten
- During one's lifetime, while alive
- scheint
- Appears, seems to be the case
- starken
- Strong, powerful, intense in degree
- Eindruck
- Impression made on someone's mind
- denn
- Conjunction meaning 'because' or 'for'
- Schriften
- Writings, texts, published works
- häufig
- Frequently, often, on many occasions
- darauf
- Thereupon, back to it, referring to that
- zurück
- Back, returning to a previous point
- Enkel
- Grandson, male grandchild
- widmet
- Dedicates something to someone
- Geschichte
- History, story, narrative of past events
- Bild
- Picture, image, portrait or depiction
- jungen
- Young, adjective describing youth
- Männer
- Men, plural of Mann
- Jugend
- Youth, the period of being young
- verbrachte
- Spent time; past tense of verbringen
- Kleidung
- Clothing, garments worn on the body
- Lebensweise
- Way of life, lifestyle, manner of living
- freier
- Freer, more liberal, comparative of frei
- Vorfahren
- Ancestors, forebears, predecessors in lineage
- Arten
- Types, kinds, varieties of something
- Ausschweifungen
- Excesses, debaucheries, extravagant indulgences
- indem
- By doing, by means of, while doing
- Zeit
- Time; duration or a specific moment
- Geld
- Money, currency used for transactions
- Müßiggang
- Idleness, laziness, doing nothing productive
- Spiel
- Play, game, recreational activity
- Frauen
- Women, plural of Frau
- verschwendeten
- Wasted, squandered; past tense of verschwenden
- hauptsächliches
- Main, primary, most important objective
- Ziel
- Goal, aim, target to be achieved
- gekleidet
- Dressed, clothed; past participle of kleiden
- erscheinen
- To appear, seem, look to others
- Witz
- Wit, humor, cleverness in speech
- Scharfsinn
- Acuity, sharpness of mind and insight
- sprechen
- To speak, talk, converse with others
- während
- While, during; conjunction of time
- derjenige
- The one who; demonstrative pronoun referring back
- geschicktesten
- Most skillfully; superlative of geschickt
- verletzen
- To injure, offend, or wound someone
- Weisesten
- Wisest; superlative of weise meaning wise
- gehalten
- Held, considered; past participle of halten
- Brief
- Letter, written message sent to someone
- Sohn
- Son, male child of a parent
- zeigt
- Shows, demonstrates; third-person singular present
- warum
- Why; interrogative asking for a reason
- Gelegenheiten
- Opportunities, occasions, chances to do something
- Lernen
- Learning, studying, acquiring new knowledge
- nutzen
- To use, utilize, make use of
- lässt
- Lets, allows; third-person singular of lassen
- schlussfolgern
- To conclude, infer, draw a conclusion
- eigene
- Own, one's own; possessive adjective
- Weise
- Way, manner, fashion of doing something
- ausgefüllt
- Filled, occupied; past participle of ausfüllen
- Euren
- Your; possessive pronoun, formal plural accusative
- erhalten
- Received; past participle of erhalten
- größte
- Greatest, largest; superlative of groß
- Freude
- Joy, happiness, delight, pleasure
- bereitet
- Prepared, caused; past participle of bereiten
- besonders
- Especially, particularly, above all else
- weil
- Because; subordinating conjunction of cause
- Ihr
- You; formal or archaic second-person pronoun
- mitteilt
- Communicates, informs; third-person singular of mitteilen
- vollständig
- Completely, fully, entirely recovered
- genesen
- Recovered from illness, healed, restored to health
- worüber
- About which, whereof; relative adverb
- bessere
- Better; comparative form of gut
- Nachricht
- News, message, piece of information received
- könnte
- Could; subjunctive II of können
- wenn
- If, when; conditional or temporal conjunction
- Gott
- God, the divine being
- Euch
- You; dative/accusative formal or plural pronoun
- Leben
- Life, existence, being alive
- schenkt
- Grants, gives as a gift; present tense
- hoffe
- Hope; first-person singular of hoffen
- rechtschaffenen
- Upright, honest, virtuous in character
- Mann
- Man, adult male person
- bereit
- Ready, prepared, willing to act
- Teil
- Part, portion, share of something
- dazu
- To that, thereto, in addition to it
- beizutragen
- To contribute, help, add one's part
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →