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_.
En una carta a Francesco Vettori, fechada el 13 de diciembre de 1513, dejó una descripción muy interesante de su vida en ese período, que esclarece sus métodos y sus motivos al escribir _El Príncipe_.
After describing his daily occupations with his family and neighbours, he writes: "The evening being come, I return home and go to my study;
Tras describir sus ocupaciones cotidianas con su familia y sus vecinos, escribe: «Al llegar la noche, regreso a casa y me dirijo a mi estudio;
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,
en la entrada me quito mis ropas de campesino, cubiertas de polvo y suciedad, y me pongo mi noble vestimenta de corte, y así, convenientemente revestido, paso a las antiguas cortes de los hombres de antaño,
where, being lovingly received by them, I am fed with that food which is mine alone;
donde, siendo amorosamente recibido por ellos, me nutro de aquel alimento que es solo mío;
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;
donde no vacilo en hablar con ellos, y en preguntar por la razón de sus acciones, y ellos en su benignidad me responden;
and for four hours I feel no weariness, I forget every trouble, poverty does not dismay, death does not terrify me;
y durante cuatro horas no siento cansancio alguno, olvido todo problema, la pobreza no me abate, la muerte no me aterra;
I am possessed entirely by those great men.
estoy poseído por entero por esos grandes hombres.
Vocabulary
- carta
- A written letter sent to someone
- fechada
- Marked or stamped with a specific date
- diciembre
- The twelfth month of the year: December
- dejó
- Past tense of dejar: left behind, bequeathed something
- descripción
- A detailed account or portrayal of something
- interesante
- Holding attention or curiosity; interesting, engaging
- vida
- The state of being alive; one's life or lifestyle
- período
- A defined span or stretch of time; period
- esclarece
- Makes clear or clarifies something previously obscure
- métodos
- Systematic procedures or ways of doing things; methods
- motivos
- Reasons or purposes driving a person's actions; motives
- escribir
- To compose text; the act of writing
- Príncipe_
- Title meaning The Prince, Machiavelli's political treatise
- Tras
- Preposition meaning after or following something
- describir
- To give a detailed account of something; to describe
- ocupaciones
- Activities or tasks that fill one's time; occupations
- cotidianas
- Occurring every day; daily, routine, ordinary
- familia
- A group of related people living together; family
- vecinos
- People living nearby; neighbors, fellow residents
- llegar
- To arrive at or reach a destination
- noche
- The period of darkness after sunset; night
- regreso
- First-person singular present: I return, go back
- casa
- A building where people live; house, home
- dirijo
- First-person singular present of dirigirse: I head toward
- estudio
- A private room dedicated to reading and writing; study
- entrada
- The act of entering; entrance or entryway
- quito
- First-person singular present of quitar: I remove, take off
- ropas
- Garments or clothing worn on the body; clothes
- campesino
- Relating to or typical of rural peasants; peasant
- cubiertas
- Covered or coated with something; covered, cloaked
- polvo
- Fine dry particles of earth or matter; dust
- suciedad
- The state of being dirty; filth, grime, dirtiness
- pongo
- First-person singular present of poner: I put on, place
- noble
- Belonging to the aristocracy; noble, dignified, refined
- vestimenta
- Clothing or attire worn for a specific occasion
- corte
- The royal or noble court and its surroundings
- así
- Adverb indicating manner: thus, in this way, so
- convenientemente
- In a suitable or proper manner; appropriately, fittingly
- revestido
- Dressed or adorned in a particular manner; attired, clad
- paso
- First-person singular present of pasar: I pass, enter into
- antiguas
- Existing from long ago; ancient, old, former
- cortes
- Royal or noble courts; plural of corte
- hombres
- Adult male human beings; men, people
- antaño
- Referring to times long past; in days of old
- amorosamente
- In a loving or affectionate manner; lovingly, warmly
- recibido
- Past participle of recibir: received, welcomed by others
- nutro
- First-person singular present of nutrir: I nourish, feed myself
- aquel
- Demonstrative adjective or pronoun, masculine: that (distant)
- alimento
- Substance consumed to sustain life; food, nourishment
- solo
- Without others; alone, only, solely
- mío
- Possessive pronoun, masculine singular: mine, my own
- vacilo
- First-person singular present of vacilar: I hesitate, waver
- hablar
- To communicate verbally; to speak, talk
- preguntar
- To pose a question to someone; to ask
- razón
- The underlying cause or justification for something; reason
- acciones
- Things done or performed; actions, deeds, acts
- benignidad
- Gentle kindness or graciousness toward others; benignity
- responden
- Third-person plural present of responder: they respond, answer
- durante
- Preposition indicating duration of time: during, for
- cuatro
- The cardinal number four
- horas
- Units of time equal to sixty minutes; hours
- siento
- First-person singular present of sentir: I feel, experience
- cansancio
- Physical or mental tiredness from exertion; fatigue, weariness
- alguno
- Indefinite adjective or pronoun: some, any, none (negative)
- olvido
- First-person singular present of olvidar: I forget everything
- problema
- A difficult matter requiring a solution; problem, issue
- pobreza
- The state of lacking material resources; poverty
- abate
- Third-person singular present of abatir: it depresses, afflicts
- muerte
- The end of biological life; death
- aterra
- Third-person singular present of aterrar: it terrifies, frightens
- poseído
- Past participle of poseer: possessed, wholly consumed by something
- entero
- Complete or whole without anything missing; entire, whole
- esos
- Demonstrative adjective, masculine plural: those
- grandes
- Of impressive size, importance, or greatness; great, grand
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