The Prince — Page 10
In a letter to Francesco Vettori, dated 13th December 1513, he has left a very interesting description of his life at this period, which elucidates his methods and his motives in writing _The Prince_.
In einem Brief an Francesco Vettori vom 13. Dezember 1513 hat er eine sehr interessante Beschreibung seines Lebens in dieser Zeit hinterlassen, die seine Methoden und seine Beweggründe beim Verfassen von _Der Fürst_ erläutert.
After describing his daily occupations with his family and neighbours, he writes: "The evening being come, I return home and go to my study;
Nachdem er seine täglichen Beschäftigungen mit seiner Familie und seinen Nachbarn geschildert hat, schreibt er: „Wenn der Abend gekommen ist, kehre ich nach Hause zurück und begebe mich in mein Arbeitszimmer;
at the entrance I pull off my peasant-clothes, covered with dust and dirt, and put on my noble court dress, and thus becomingly re-clothed I pass into the ancient courts of the men of old,
am Eingang lege ich meine Bauernkleidung ab, bedeckt mit Staub und Schmutz, und ziehe mein edles Hofgewand an, und so angemessen neu gekleidet trete ich ein in die alten Höfe der Männer der Vorzeit,
where, being lovingly received by them, I am fed with that food which is mine alone;
wo ich von ihnen liebevoll empfangen werde und mit jener Speise gespeist werde, die mir allein gehört;
where I do not hesitate to speak with them, and to ask for the reason of their actions, and they in their benignity answer me;
wo ich nicht zögere, mit ihnen zu sprechen und nach dem Grund ihrer Handlungen zu fragen, und sie mir in ihrer Güte antworten;
and for four hours I feel no weariness, I forget every trouble, poverty does not dismay, death does not terrify me;
und für vier Stunden spüre ich keine Müdigkeit, ich vergesse jeden Kummer, die Armut schreckt mich nicht, der Tod erschreckt mich nicht;
I am possessed entirely by those great men.
ich bin ganz und gar von diesen großen Männern in Besitz genommen.
Vocabulary
- einem
- Indefinite article, dative masculine/neuter singular 'a/an'
- Brief
- A written letter sent to someone
- an
- Preposition meaning 'to' or 'at'
- vom
- Contraction of 'von dem', meaning 'from the'
- Dezember
- The twelfth month of the year, December
- hat
- Third person singular of 'haben', meaning 'has'
- er
- Third person singular masculine pronoun meaning 'he'
- eine
- Indefinite article, feminine singular nominative 'a/an'
- sehr
- Adverb meaning 'very' or 'very much'
- interessante
- Adjective meaning engaging, holding one's attention
- Beschreibung
- A detailed account or description of something
- seines
- Possessive pronoun, genitive masculine 'his'
- Lebens
- Genitive form of 'Leben', meaning 'of life'
- dieser
- Demonstrative adjective meaning 'this' (feminine dative)
- Zeit
- A period or point in time
- hinterlassen
- To leave behind something for others to find
- die
- Definite article or relative pronoun meaning 'the/which'
- seine
- Possessive pronoun meaning 'his' (nominative feminine/plural)
- Methoden
- Plural of Methode; systematic ways of doing things
- und
- Coordinating conjunction meaning 'and'
- Beweggründe
- Plural noun meaning motives or reasons driving action
- beim
- Contraction of 'bei dem', meaning 'while doing/at the'
- Verfassen
- The act of composing or writing a text
- von
- Preposition meaning 'of', 'from', or 'by'
- Fürst_
- Noun meaning prince or sovereign ruler of a state
- erläutert
- Third person singular; to explain or elucidate something
- Nachdem
- Subordinating conjunction meaning 'after' in temporal sense
- täglichen
- Adjective meaning daily, occurring every day
- Beschäftigungen
- Plural noun meaning activities, occupations, or pastimes
- mit
- Preposition meaning 'with' indicating accompaniment
- seiner
- Possessive pronoun, dative masculine/neuter singular 'his'
- Familie
- A group of related people living together, family
- seinen
- Possessive pronoun, dative plural masculine 'his'
- Nachbarn
- Plural of Nachbar; people living next door, neighbors
- geschildert
- Past participle of schildern; described or depicted vividly
- schreibt
- Third person singular of schreiben; writes or is writing
- Wenn
- Subordinating conjunction meaning 'when' or 'if'
- der
- Definite article masculine nominative singular meaning 'the'
- Abend
- The evening, the later part of the day
- gekommen
- Past participle of kommen; arrived or come to a place
- ist
- Third person singular of sein; meaning 'is'
- kehre
- First person singular of kehren; to return or turn back
- ich
- First person singular pronoun meaning 'I'
- nach
- Preposition meaning 'to', 'after', or 'according to'
- Hause
- Dative form of Haus; used in 'nach Hause' meaning home
- zurück
- Adverb meaning 'back' indicating return to a place
- begebe
- First person singular of begeben (reflexive); to go or proceed
- mich
- First person singular accusative reflexive pronoun 'me/myself'
- mein
- Possessive pronoun meaning 'my' (masculine nominative)
- Arbeitszimmer
- A room designated for work or study, a study
- am
- Contraction of 'an dem', meaning 'at the'
- Eingang
- The entrance or entryway of a building or room
- lege
- First person singular of legen; to put or lay down
- meine
- Possessive pronoun meaning 'my' (feminine/plural nominative)
- Bauernkleidung
- Peasant clothing, rough garments worn by rural workers
- ab
- Separable verb prefix meaning 'off'; part of ablegen
- bedeckt
- Past participle of bedecken; covered with something
- Staub
- Fine dry particles settling on surfaces; dust
- Schmutz
- Dirt or filth accumulated on a surface or object
- ziehe
- First person singular of ziehen; to pull on or put on clothing
- edles
- Adjective meaning noble or distinguished in quality
- Hofgewand
- Court garment, formal clothing worn at a royal court
- so
- Adverb meaning 'so', 'thus', or 'in this way'
- angemessen
- Adjective meaning appropriate, suitable, or fitting
- neu
- Adjective meaning new or freshly done
- gekleidet
- Past participle of kleiden; dressed or clothed in something
- trete
- First person singular of treten; to step or enter
- ein
- Separable prefix meaning 'in'; part of eintreten (to enter)
- alten
- Adjective, dative plural of alt; meaning 'old' or 'ancient'
- Höfe
- Plural of Hof; royal or noble courts of historical rulers
- Männer
- Plural of Mann; adult male human beings, men
- Vorzeit
- Ancient or prehistoric times, the distant past
- wo
- Relative adverb meaning 'where' indicating a location
- ihnen
- Dative pronoun meaning 'them' or formal 'you'
- liebevoll
- Adjective/adverb meaning lovingly or with warm affection
- empfangen
- To receive or welcome someone upon their arrival
- werde
- First person singular of werden; auxiliary for future/passive
- jener
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'that' or 'that one'
- Speise
- Food or a dish prepared and served for eating
- gespeist
- Past participle of speisen; fed or dined on food
- mir
- Dative first person pronoun meaning 'to me' or 'for me'
- allein
- Adverb or adjective meaning alone or solely
- gehört
- Third person singular of gehören; to belong to someone
- nicht
- Negation adverb meaning 'not'
- zögere
- First person singular of zögern; to hesitate or delay
- zu
- Preposition or infinitive particle meaning 'to'
- sprechen
- To speak or talk, to communicate verbally
- dem
- Dative definite article masculine/neuter singular 'the'
- Grund
- The underlying reason or basis for something
- ihrer
- Possessive/genitive pronoun meaning 'their' or 'of them'
- Handlungen
- Plural of Handlung; actions or acts carried out by someone
- fragen
- To ask a question or inquire about something
- sie
- Third person pronoun meaning 'they', 'she', or formal 'you'
- Güte
- Kindness or goodness shown toward others
- antworten
- To respond or give an answer to a question
- für
- Preposition meaning 'for' indicating purpose or duration
- vier
- The number four
- Stunden
- Plural of Stunde; units of sixty minutes, hours
- spüre
- First person singular of spüren; to feel or sense something
- keine
- Negative article meaning 'no' or 'none' (feminine/plural)
- Müdigkeit
- The state of feeling tired or fatigued
- vergesse
- First person singular of vergessen; to forget something completely
- jeden
- Accusative masculine of jeder; meaning 'every' or 'each'
- Kummer
- Grief, sorrow, or distress felt by a person
- Armut
- The state of being poor; poverty or destitution
- schreckt
- Third person singular of schrecken; to frighten or alarm
- Tod
- The end of life; death
- erschreckt
- Third person singular of erschrecken; to startle or frighten
- bin
- First person singular of sein; meaning 'I am'
- ganz
- Adverb or adjective meaning 'completely' or 'whole'
- gar
- Intensifying adverb meaning 'entirely' or 'at all'
- diesen
- Dative/accusative plural of dieser; meaning 'these' or 'those'
- großen
- Inflected form of groß; great or large, of high importance
- Männern
- Dative plural of Mann; referring to men or great figures
- Besitz
- Ownership or possession of something belonging to someone
- genommen
- Past participle of nehmen; taken or seized by someone
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