The Prince — Page 15
Machiavelli was undoubtedly a man of great observation, acuteness, and industry; noting with appreciative eye whatever passed before him, and with his supreme literary gift turning it to account in his enforced retirement from affairs.
Machiavelli era indubbiamente un uomo di grande capacità di osservazione, acutezza e operosità; annotava con occhio apprezzativo tutto ciò che gli passava dinanzi, e con il suo supremo talento letterario ne traeva profitto nel suo forzato ritiro dagli affari.
He does not present himself, nor is he depicted by his contemporaries, as a type of that rare combination, the successful statesman and author, for he appears to have been only moderately prosperous in his several embassies and political employments.
Egli non si presenta, né viene ritratto dai suoi contemporanei, come un esempio di quella rara combinazione, lo statista e autore di successo, poiché sembra essere stato solo moderatamente fortunato nelle sue varie ambascerie e nei suoi incarichi politici.
He was misled by Catherina Sforza, ignored by Louis XII, overawed by Cesare Borgia; several of his embassies were quite barren of results; his attempts to fortify Florence failed, and the soldiery that he raised astonished everybody by their cowardice.
Fu ingannato da Caterina Sforza, ignorato da Luigi XII, soggiogato da Cesare Borgia; molte delle sue ambascerie furono del tutto prive di risultati; i suoi tentativi di fortificare Firenze fallirono, e la soldataglia che egli aveva reclutato stupì tutti per la propria viltà.
In the conduct of his own affairs he was timid and time-serving; he dared not appear by the side of Soderini, to whom he owed so much, for fear of compromising himself; his connection with the Medici was open to suspicion, and Giuliano appears to have recognized his real forte when he set him to write the "History of Florence," rather than employ him in the state.
Nella condotta dei propri affari era timido e opportunista; non osava apparire al fianco di Soderini, al quale doveva tanto, per paura di compromettersi; il suo legame con i Medici era aperto al sospetto, e Giuliano sembra aver riconosciuto il suo vero punto di forza quando lo incaricò di scrivere le "Storie fiorentine", piuttosto che impiegarlo nel governo dello stato.
And it is on the literary side of his character, and there alone, that we find no weakness and no failure.
Ed è sul versante letterario del suo carattere, e lì soltanto, che non troviamo alcuna debolezza e alcun fallimento.
Although the light of almost four centuries has been focused on _The Prince_, its problems are still debatable and interesting, because they are the eternal problems between the ruled and their rulers.
Sebbene la luce di quasi quattro secoli si sia concentrata sul _Principe_, i suoi problemi sono ancora dibattuti e interessanti, poiché sono gli eterni problemi tra i governati e i loro governanti.
Vocabulary
- era
- Was; third person singular imperfect of essere
- indubbiamente
- Undoubtedly; without any doubt
- un
- A, an; masculine indefinite article
- uomo
- Man; adult male human being
- di
- Of, from; common Italian preposition
- grande
- Great, large; of considerable size or importance
- capacità
- Capacity, ability; skill or aptitude for something
- osservazione
- Observation; act of carefully watching or noting things
- acutezza
- Sharpness, acuteness; keenness of intellect or perception
- e
- And; basic coordinating conjunction
- operosità
- Industriousness; quality of being hardworking and productive
- annotava
- Was noting down; imperfect of annotare, to annotate
- con
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or manner
- occhio
- Eye; organ of sight; also figurative perspective
- apprezzativo
- Appreciative; showing appreciation or favorable judgment
- tutto
- Everything, all; totality without exception
- ciò
- That, this; demonstrative pronoun referring to things
- che
- That, which, who; versatile conjunction and pronoun
- gli
- To him; indirect object pronoun, also masculine plural article
- passava
- Was passing; imperfect of passare, to pass
- dinanzi
- Before, in front of; indicating position ahead or facing
- il
- The; masculine singular definite article
- suo
- His, her, its; third person singular possessive adjective
- supremo
- Supreme, highest; of the greatest degree or quality
- talento
- Talent; natural aptitude or exceptional skill
- letterario
- Literary; relating to literature or written works
- ne
- Of it, from it; pronoun replacing a prepositional phrase
- traeva
- Was drawing, deriving; imperfect of trarre
- profitto
- Profit, benefit; advantage gained from something
- nel
- In the; contraction of in + il
- forzato
- Forced, compelled; done under constraint or obligation
- ritiro
- Retreat, withdrawal; act of retiring from activity
- dagli
- From the; contraction of da + gli
- affari
- Affairs, business; matters of public or private concern
- Egli
- He; formal third person masculine subject pronoun
- non
- Not; basic negation word in Italian
- si
- Himself, itself; reflexive pronoun third person
- presenta
- Presents himself; third person of presentarsi
- né
- Nor, neither; negative correlative conjunction
- viene
- Comes, is; third person singular of venire
- ritratto
- Portrayed, depicted; past participle of ritrarre
- dai
- By the; contraction of da + i
- suoi
- His, her; plural form of suo possessive adjective
- contemporanei
- Contemporaries; people living in the same era
- come
- As, like, how; conjunction or adverb of comparison
- esempio
- Example; something serving as a model or illustration
- quella
- That; feminine singular demonstrative adjective
- rara
- Rare; uncommon, not frequently encountered
- combinazione
- Combination; union of different elements together
- lo
- The, him; masculine singular article or object pronoun
- statista
- Statesman; skilled and experienced political leader
- autore
- Author; person who writes literary or other works
- successo
- Success; favorable outcome or achievement
- poiché
- Since, because; causal conjunction introducing a reason
- sembra
- Seems, appears; third person singular of sembrare
- essere
- To be; fundamental Italian auxiliary and linking verb
- stato
- Been; past participle of essere; also state or nation
- solo
- Only, alone; indicating singularity or restriction
- moderatamente
- Moderately; in a moderate, not extreme degree
- fortunato
- Fortunate, lucky; favored by good fortune
- nelle
- In the; contraction of in + le
- sue
- His, her; feminine plural of suo possessive adjective
- varie
- Various, several; of different kinds or many
- ambascerie
- Embassies, diplomatic missions; formal diplomatic assignments
- nei
- In the; contraction of in + i
- incarichi
- Assignments, tasks; official duties or responsibilities
- politici
- Political; relating to politics or government affairs
- Fu
- Was; third person singular passato remoto of essere
- ingannato
- Deceived, tricked; past participle of ingannare
- da
- By, from; preposition of origin or agent
- ignorato
- Ignored; past participle of ignorare, to disregard
- soggiogato
- Subjugated, dominated; past participle of soggiogare
- molte
- Many; feminine plural of molto, a large number
- delle
- Of the; contraction of di + le
- furono
- Were; third person plural passato remoto of essere
- del
- Of the; contraction of di + il
- prive
- Lacking, devoid of; feminine plural of privo
- risultati
- Results, outcomes; plural of risultato
- i
- The; masculine plural definite article
- tentativi
- Attempts, tries; plural of tentativo
- fortificare
- To fortify; to strengthen defenses of a place
- fallirono
- Failed; third person plural passato remoto of fallire
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article
- soldataglia
- Rabble of soldiers; disorderly, undisciplined troops
- egli
- He; formal masculine third person subject pronoun
- aveva
- Had; third person singular imperfect of avere
- reclutato
- Recruited; past participle of reclutare, to enlist
- stupì
- Astonished, amazed; passato remoto of stupire
- tutti
- Everyone, all; masculine plural of tutto
- per
- For, through, by; versatile Italian preposition
- propria
- Own; feminine singular of proprio, one's own
- viltà
- Cowardice; base lack of courage or moral strength
- Nella
- In the; contraction of in + la
- condotta
- Conduct, behavior; way of acting or managing affairs
- dei
- Of the; contraction of di + i
- propri
- Own; masculine plural of proprio, one's own
- timido
- Timid, shy; lacking confidence or boldness
- opportunista
- Opportunist; person who exploits circumstances for advantage
- osava
- Dared; imperfect of osare, to dare or venture
- apparire
- To appear; to become visible or seem to be
- al
- At the, to the; contraction of a + il
- fianco
- Side, flank; lateral part of body or position
- quale
- Which, who; relative or interrogative pronoun
- doveva
- Had to, owed; imperfect of dovere, to must or owe
- tanto
- So much, so many; indicating a great degree or quantity
- paura
- Fear; feeling of anxiety about danger or threat
- compromettersi
- To compromise oneself; to risk one's reputation
- legame
- Bond, tie; connection linking people or things
- aperto
- Open; not closed; also frank or evident
- sospetto
- Suspicion; feeling that something is wrong or doubtful
- aver
- Having; infinitive of avere used in compound forms
- riconosciuto
- Recognized; past participle of riconoscere
- vero
- True, real; conforming to fact or reality
- punto
- Point; specific location, moment, or argument
- forza
- Strength, force; physical or moral power
- quando
- When; temporal conjunction or interrogative adverb
- incaricò
- Commissioned, assigned; passato remoto of incaricare
- scrivere
- To write; to compose or produce written text
- le
- The; feminine plural definite article; also to her
- Storie
- Histories, stories; plural of storia, narrative accounts
- fiorentine
- Florentine; feminine plural adjective relating to Florence
- piuttosto
- Rather, instead; indicating preference or alternative
- impiegarlo
- To employ him; infinitive of impiegare with pronoun
- governo
- Government; system or act of governing a state
- dello
- Of the; contraction of di + lo
- Ed
- And; variant of e used before vowels
- è
- Is; third person singular present of essere
- sul
- On the; contraction of su + il
- versante
- Side, slope; aspect or dimension of something
- carattere
- Character; personality traits or distinctive qualities
- lì
- There; adverb indicating a specific place
- soltanto
- Only, merely; no more than what is stated
- troviamo
- We find; first person plural present of trovare
- alcuna
- Any, some; feminine singular indefinite adjective
- debolezza
- Weakness; lack of strength or a particular failing
- alcun
- Any; masculine singular indefinite adjective before consonant
- fallimento
- Failure; lack of success; also bankruptcy
- Sebbene
- Although, even though; concessive subordinating conjunction
- luce
- Light; also attention or public scrutiny
- quasi
- Almost, nearly; not quite reaching a full amount
- quattro
- Four; the cardinal number 4
- secoli
- Centuries; periods of one hundred years each
- sia
- Is, be; third person singular present subjunctive of essere
- concentrata
- Concentrated, focused; past participle of concentrare
- Principe
- Prince; also title of Machiavelli's famous political treatise
- problemi
- Problems, issues; difficulties requiring a solution
- sono
- Are; third person plural present of essere
- ancora
- Still, yet; continuing up to the present time
- dibattuti
- Debated; past participle of dibattere, to argue or discuss
- interessanti
- Interesting; arousing curiosity or holding attention
- eterni
- Eternal; lasting forever, without end or time limit
- tra
- Between, among; preposition indicating a middle position
- governati
- Governed; those who are ruled or led by others
- loro
- Their, them; third person plural pronoun or adjective
- governanti
- Rulers, governors; those who govern or hold power
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