The Souls of Black Folk — Page 12
For the first time he sought to analyze the burden he bore upon his back, that dead-weight of social degradation partially masked behind a half-named Negro problem.
Per la prima volta egli cercò di analizzare il fardello che portava sulle spalle, quel peso morto di degradazione sociale parzialmente celato dietro un problema negro appena nominato.
He felt his poverty; without a cent, without a home, without land, tools, or savings, he had entered into competition with rich, landed, skilled neighbors.
Sentiva il peso della sua povertà; senza un centesimo, senza una casa, senza terra, strumenti o risparmi, era entrato in competizione con vicini ricchi, proprietari terrieri e abili.
To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships.
Essere un uomo povero è difficile, ma essere una razza povera in una terra di dollari è il fondo stesso delle miserie.
He felt the weight of his ignorance,—not simply of letters, but of life, of business, of the humanities; the accumulated sloth and shirking and awkwardness of decades and centuries shackled his hands and feet.
Sentiva il peso della sua ignoranza—non semplicemente delle lettere, ma della vita, degli affari, delle discipline umanistiche; l'accomulatasi pigrizia, l'elusione e la goffaggine di decenni e secoli incatenavano le sue mani e i suoi piedi.
Nor was his burden all poverty and ignorance.
Né il suo fardello era fatto solo di povertà e ignoranza.
The red stain of bastardy, which two centuries of systematic legal defilement of Negro women had stamped upon his race, meant not only the loss of ancient African chastity, but also the hereditary weight of a mass of corruption from white adulterers, threatening almost the obliteration of the Negro home.
Il marchio rosso della bastardìa, che due secoli di sistematica violazione legale delle donne nere avevano impresso sulla sua razza, significava non solo la perdita dell'antica castità africana, ma anche il peso ereditario di una massa di corruzione proveniente da adulteri bianchi, che minacciava quasi l'annientamento del focolare negro.
A people thus handicapped ought not to be asked to race with the world, but rather allowed to give all its time and thought to its own social problems.
A un popolo così svantaggiato non si dovrebbe chiedere di gareggiare con il mondo, ma piuttosto gli si dovrebbe permettere di dedicare tutto il suo tempo e il suo pensiero ai propri problemi sociali.
But alas! while sociologists gleefully count his bastards and his prostitutes, the very soul of the toiling, sweating black man is darkened by the shadow of a vast despair.
Ma ahimè! mentre i sociologi contano allegramente i suoi bastardi e le sue prostitute, la stessa anima dell'uomo nero che fatica e suda è oscurata dall'ombra di una vasta disperazione.
Vocabulary
- Per
- For; in order to; by means of
- la
- The (feminine singular definite article)
- prima
- First; before; previously in time
- volta
- Time; occasion; turn; instance of occurrence
- egli
- He (formal or literary third person pronoun)
- cercò
- He/she sought; tried; attempted (past tense)
- di
- Of; from; about; preposition marking infinitive
- analizzare
- To analyze; to examine carefully and systematically
- il
- The (masculine singular definite article)
- che
- That; which; who; relative pronoun
- portava
- He/she carried; wore; bore (past continuous)
- sulle
- On the (feminine plural contraction su+le)
- spalle
- Shoulders; back part from neck to arms
- quel
- That; those (demonstrative adjective masculine)
- peso
- Weight; heaviness; burden; load or mass
- morto
- Dead; deceased; lifeless; no longer living
- sociale
- Social; relating to society or community
- dietro
- Behind; after; in back of position
- un
- A; an (masculine singular indefinite article)
- problema
- Problem; difficulty; issue requiring solution
- negro
- Black; dark; relating to African descent
- appena
- Barely; scarcely; just; hardly or only just
- Sentiva
- He/she felt; experienced emotion or sensation
- della
- Of the; from the (feminine singular contraction)
- sua
- His; her; its (feminine singular possessive)
- povertà
- Poverty; state of being poor or destitute
- senza
- Without; lacking; in absence of something
- una
- A; an (feminine singular indefinite article)
- casa
- House; home; building for residence
- terra
- Land; earth; ground; soil or territory
- strumenti
- Instruments; tools; devices for specific purpose
- risparmi
- Savings; money saved; accumulated financial reserves
- era
- Was; past tense of essere (to be)
- entrato
- Entered; came in; went into space
- in
- In; into; within; preposition of location
- competizione
- Competition; contest; rivalry between persons
- con
- With; in company of; accompanied by
- vicini
- Neighbors; nearby people; those living close
- ricchi
- Rich; wealthy; having abundance of money
- proprietari
- Owners; proprietors; those who possess property
- Essere
- To be; to exist; main Italian auxiliary verb
- uomo
- Man; male human adult person
- povero
- Poor; lacking money; in poverty condition
- difficile
- Difficult; hard; challenging; not easy undertaking
- ma
- But; however; yet; conjunction expressing contrast
- razza
- Race; breed; kind; ethnic or biological group
- dollari
- Dollars; currency unit of many countries
- fondo
- Bottom; foundation; depth; base of something
- stesso
- Same; identical; very; at the same time
- ignoranza
- Ignorance; lack of knowledge or education
- non
- Not; negative particle negating verbs or adjectives
- semplicemente
- Simply; merely; just; in simple manner
- lettere
- Letters; characters; literature; written correspondence
- vita
- Life; living existence; period from birth
- degli
- Of the; from the (masculine plural contraction)
- affari
- Business; affairs; commercial transactions and dealings
- discipline
- Disciplines; subjects of study; fields of knowledge
- decenni
- Decades; periods of ten years each
- secoli
- Centuries; periods of one hundred years
- le
- The; her; them (feminine plural pronoun)
- sue
- His; her; its (feminine plural possessive)
- mani
- Hands; upper limbs from wrist to fingers
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