The Prince — Page 12
Machiavelli concludes his letter to Vettori thus: "And as to this little thing [his book], when it has been read it will be seen that during the fifteen years I have given to the study of statecraft I have neither slept nor idled; and men ought ever to desire to be served by one who has reaped experience at the expense of others.
Machiavelli schließt seinen Brief an Vettori folgendermaßen: „Was diese kleine Sache [sein Buch] betrifft, so wird man, wenn sie gelesen worden ist, erkennen, dass ich in den fünfzehn Jahren, die ich dem Studium der Staatskunst gewidmet habe, weder geschlafen noch gefaulenzt habe; und die Menschen sollten stets den Wunsch hegen, von jemandem bedient zu werden, der Erfahrung auf Kosten anderer gesammelt hat.
These and several minor works occupied him until the year 1518, when he accepted a small commission to look after the affairs of some Florentine merchants at Genoa.
Diese und mehrere kleinere Werke beschäftigten ihn bis zum Jahr 1518, als er einen kleinen Auftrag annahm, um die Angelegenheiten einiger florentinischer Kaufleute in Genua zu betreuen.
In 1519 the Medicean rulers of Florence granted a few political concessions to her citizens, and Machiavelli with others was consulted upon a new constitution under which the Great Council was to be restored; but on one pretext or another it was not promulgated.
Im Jahr 1519 gewährten die mediceischen Herrscher von Florenz ihren Bürgern einige politische Zugeständnisse, und Machiavelli wurde zusammen mit anderen zu einer neuen Verfassung befragt, unter der der Große Rat wiederhergestellt werden sollte; doch unter dem einen oder anderen Vorwand wurde sie nicht verkündet.
Vocabulary
- schließt
- closes, concludes, or ends something
- seinen
- his (accusative masculine possessive pronoun)
- Brief
- a written letter sent to someone
- an
- to, at, or on (preposition/prefix)
- folgendermaßen
- in the following way, as follows
- Was
- what (interrogative or relative pronoun)
- diese
- this or these (demonstrative pronoun/adjective)
- kleine
- small or little (adjective, inflected form)
- Sache
- a thing, matter, or affair
- sein
- to be; also his (possessive adjective)
- Buch
- a book or written publication
- betrifft
- concerns, relates to, or affects something
- so
- so, thus, or in this way
- wird
- will or becomes (future/passive auxiliary verb)
- man
- one, you, or people in general
- wenn
- when or if (subordinating conjunction)
- sie
- she, they, or it (personal pronoun)
- gelesen
- read (past participle of lesen)
- worden
- been (past participle used in passive constructions)
- ist
- is (third person singular of sein)
- erkennen
- to recognize, realize, or perceive something
- dass
- that (subordinating conjunction introducing clause)
- ich
- I (first person singular pronoun)
- in
- in, into, or inside (preposition)
- den
- the (definite article, dative/accusative plural)
- fünfzehn
- fifteen (the cardinal number 15)
- Jahren
- years (dative plural of Jahr)
- die
- the; who/which (relative pronoun, feminine/plural)
- dem
- the (dative singular definite article)
- Studium
- study or academic study of a subject
- der
- the (definite article, genitive/dative feminine)
- Staatskunst
- the art of statecraft or political governance
- gewidmet
- dedicated or devoted to something or someone
- habe
- have (first person singular of haben)
- weder
- neither (used in neither…nor constructions)
- geschlafen
- slept (past participle of schlafen)
- noch
- nor; still; yet (conjunction or adverb)
- gefaulenzt
- loafed or been lazy (past participle of faulenzen)
- und
- and (coordinating conjunction)
- Menschen
- people or human beings (plural of Mensch)
- sollten
- should (past subjunctive/conditional of sollen)
- stets
- always, constantly, or at all times
- Wunsch
- a wish, desire, or hope for something
- hegen
- to harbor, cherish, or nurture a feeling
- von
- from, of, or by (preposition)
- jemandem
- by someone (dative form of jemand)
- bedient
- served or attended to (past participle of bedienen)
- zu
- to, too, or at (preposition or particle)
- werden
- to become; auxiliary for future/passive
- Erfahrung
- experience gained through practice or observation
- auf
- on, upon, or at (preposition)
- Kosten
- costs, expenses; also at the expense of
- anderer
- of others (genitive plural of andere)
- gesammelt
- collected or gathered (past participle of sammeln)
- hat
- has (third person singular of haben)
- Diese
- these or this (demonstrative pronoun/adjective)
- mehrere
- several or a number of things
- kleinere
- smaller (comparative adjective of klein)
- Werke
- works, writings, or artistic creations
- beschäftigten
- occupied or kept busy (past tense of beschäftigen)
- ihn
- him (accusative personal pronoun)
- bis
- until, up to, or by (preposition)
- zum
- to the (contraction of zu + dem)
- Jahr
- a year (unit of time)
- als
- when, as, or than (conjunction/preposition)
- er
- he (third person singular masculine pronoun)
- einen
- a, an (indefinite article, accusative masculine)
- kleinen
- small (adjective, inflected accusative masculine)
- Auftrag
- a commission, assignment, or task given
- annahm
- accepted or took on (past tense of annehmen)
- um
- in order to; around; at (preposition/conjunction)
- Angelegenheiten
- affairs, matters, or concerns (plural noun)
- einiger
- of some or a few (genitive plural)
- Kaufleute
- merchants or traders (plural of Kaufmann)
- betreuen
- to look after, manage, or take care of
- Im
- in the (contraction of in + dem)
- gewährten
- granted or conceded (past tense of gewähren)
- Herrscher
- ruler or sovereign governing a territory
- ihren
- their (dative/accusative possessive pronoun)
- Bürgern
- citizens or townspeople (dative plural of Bürger)
- einige
- some or a few (indefinite pronoun/adjective)
- politische
- political (adjective relating to politics)
- Zugeständnisse
- concessions or compromises made to someone
- wurde
- was or became (past tense of werden)
- zusammen
- together or jointly with others
- mit
- with or along with (preposition)
- anderen
- others or other people (dative/accusative plural)
- einer
- a, an (indefinite article, dative feminine)
- neuen
- new (adjective, inflected dative/genitive form)
- Verfassung
- a constitution or fundamental legal document
- befragt
- consulted or questioned (past participle of befragen)
- unter
- under, below, or among (preposition)
- Große
- great or large (adjective, inflected form)
- Rat
- council, advice, or adviser
- wiederhergestellt
- restored or re-established (past participle)
- sollte
- should or was supposed to (past of sollen)
- doch
- yet, still, or however (modal particle)
- oder
- or (coordinating conjunction)
- Vorwand
- a pretext or excuse used to justify action
- nicht
- not (negation adverb)
- verkündet
- proclaimed or announced (past participle of verkünden)
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