← The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I.: Commonly Called the Arabian Nights' Entertainments

The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I.: Commonly Called the Arabian Nights' Entertainments — Page 11

English → It Preface Level 7/10

The manuscript from which it was printed was carefully collated and corrected by a very learned man, the sheykh 'Abd-Er-Raḥmán Eṣ-Ṣaftee Esh-Sharḳáwee, who also superintended the progress of the work through the press.

Il manoscritto da cui fu stampato fu accuratamente collazionato e corretto da un uomo molto erudito, lo sceicco 'Abd-Er-Raḥmán Eṣ-Ṣaftee Esh-Sharḳáwee, che sovrintese anche al progresso dell'opera attraverso la stampa.

But in addition to the value conferred upon it by the corrections of this sheykh, the copy from which the whole of my translation is made, except in a few instances, possesses an advantage which, I believe, renders it incomparably superior to any other now existing:

Ma oltre al valore conferitole dalle correzioni di questo sceicco, la copia dalla quale è tratta l'intera mia traduzione, salvo in pochi casi, possiede un vantaggio che, a mio avviso, la rende incomparabilmente superiore a qualsiasi altra attualmente esistente:

it has been again revised and corrected, and illustrated with numerous manuscript notes, by a person whom I think I may safely pronounce the first philologist of the first Arab college of the present day, the sheykh Moḥammad 'Eiyád Eṭ-Ṭanṭáwee, or, more properly, Eṭ-Ṭanditáee.

essa è stata nuovamente revisionata e corretta, e illustrata con numerose note manoscritte, da una persona che ritengo di poter tranquillamente definire il primo filologo del primo collegio arabo dei giorni nostri, lo sceicco Moḥammad 'Eiyád Eṭ-Ṭanṭáwee, o, più propriamente, Eṭ-Ṭanditáee.

His notes are chiefly philological, and explanatory of words which do not belong to the classical language; and many of them are of very great assistance to me; though most of them I find unnecessary, from the knowledge of the modern Arabic which I have acquired during my intercourse with the people who speak it.

Le sue note sono principalmente filologiche, e spiegano parole che non appartengono alla lingua classica; e molte di esse mi sono di grande aiuto; sebbene la maggior parte le trovi superflue, grazie alla conoscenza dell'arabo moderno che ho acquisito durante la mia frequentazione con le persone che lo parlano.

His corrections of the text are numerous; and as they would interest very few persons, I have mentioned but few of them in the notes to my translation, notwithstanding a strong temptation that I felt to do otherwise in order that Arabic scholars might be assisted to judge of the fidelity of my version by comparing it with the text of the Cairo edition.

Le sue correzioni al testo sono numerose; e poiché interesserebbero pochissime persone, ne ho menzionate solo alcune nelle note alla mia traduzione, nonostante la forte tentazione che ho sentito di fare altrimenti affinché gli studiosi di arabo potessero essere aiutati a giudicare la fedeltà della mia versione confrontandola con il testo dell'edizione del Cairo.

Vocabulary

manoscritto
A handwritten document or manuscript
cui
Relative pronoun meaning 'which', 'whom', or 'whose'
fu
Third person singular past tense of 'essere' (to be)
stampato
Printed or published, past participle of 'stampare'
accuratamente
Done carefully and precisely; accurately
collazionato
Compared and checked against another source; collated
corretto
Corrected, accurate, or proper
uomo
A male adult human being; a man
erudito
A highly learned or scholarly person; erudite
sceicco
An Arab or Muslim leader or elder; sheikh
sovrintese
Past tense of 'sovrintendere'; supervised or oversaw something
progresso
Forward movement or advancement; progress
dell'opera
Of the work; referring to a literary or artistic piece
attraverso
Preposition meaning 'through' or 'across'
stampa
The press or printing; act of printing something
oltre
Preposition or adverb meaning 'beyond' or 'besides'
valore
Worth, importance, or value of something
conferitole
Conferred or granted to it; given to something
correzioni
Corrections or amendments made to a text
copia
A reproduction or duplicate of an original document
quale
Relative pronoun meaning 'which' or 'who'
tratta
Derived or taken from a source; drawn from
l'intera
The entire or whole, feminine form with elision
traduzione
The rendering of text from one language to another
salvo
Preposition meaning 'except' or 'save for'
pochi
Adjective meaning 'few' or 'a small number of'
casi
Plural of 'caso'; situations, instances, or cases
possiede
Third person singular of 'possedere'; owns or possesses
vantaggio
A benefit or advantage over something else
avviso
Opinion or notice; 'a mio avviso' means 'in my opinion'
rende
Third person singular of 'rendere'; makes or renders something
incomparabilmente
In a way that surpasses all comparison; incomparably
superiore
Higher in quality, rank, or degree; superior
qualsiasi
Adjective meaning 'any' or 'whatever kind of'
attualmente
At the present time; currently or nowadays
esistente
Currently in existence; existing at this time
nuovamente
Once more; again or anew
revisionata
Reviewed or revised, past participle of 'revisionare'
corretta
Feminine past participle of 'correggere'; corrected or fixed
illustrata
Illustrated or explained in detail; adorned with notes
numerose
Feminine plural adjective meaning 'numerous' or 'many'
note
Annotations or notes added to a text
manoscritte
Handwritten notes or annotations; plural feminine
ritengo
First person singular of 'ritenere'; I consider or believe
tranquillamente
Calmly and confidently; without hesitation
definire
To define, describe, or characterize something clearly
primo
First in rank, order, or importance
filologo
A scholar specializing in the study of language and texts
collegio
A college, institution, or body of scholars
arabo
Relating to Arabs or the Arabic language
giorni
Plural of 'giorno'; days
propriamente
Precisely or strictly speaking; properly
principalmente
Above all else; mainly or chiefly
filologiche
Relating to philology or the study of language and texts
spiegano
Third person plural of 'spiegare'; they explain or clarify
parole
Plural of 'parola'; words or terms
appartengono
Third person plural of 'appartenere'; they belong to
lingua
A system of communication used by people; language
classica
Relating to the classical tradition or standard form
molte
Feminine plural adjective meaning 'many' or 'a lot of'
aiuto
Help, assistance, or aid given to someone
sebbene
Conjunction meaning 'although' or 'even though'
maggior
Shortened form of 'maggiore'; greater or larger in degree
parte
A portion, section, or part of a whole
trovi
First person singular subjunctive of 'trovare'; I find
superflue
Exceeding what is necessary; unnecessary or redundant
grazie
Thanks; also used as 'thanks to' with 'a'
conoscenza
Knowledge or familiarity acquired through experience
dell'arabo
Of the Arabic language; relating to Arabic
moderno
Relating to the present or recent times; modern
acquisito
Acquired or gained, past participle of 'acquisire'
durante
Preposition meaning 'during' or 'throughout a period'
frequentazione
Regular association or contact with people; frequenting
testo
A written or printed work; a text
poiché
Conjunction meaning 'since' or 'because'
interesserebbero
Conditional of 'interessare'; they would interest someone
pochissime
Superlative of 'poche'; very few, almost none
ne
Pronoun meaning 'of them', 'about it', or 'some of it'
menzionate
Mentioned or cited, past participle of 'menzionare'
alcune
Feminine indefinite pronoun meaning 'some' or 'a few'
nonostante
Preposition or conjunction meaning 'despite' or 'notwithstanding'
forte
Strong or intense; used to describe degree or strength
tentazione
A strong urge or desire to do something; temptation
sentito
Felt or heard, past participle of 'sentire'
altrimenti
Adverb meaning 'otherwise' or 'in a different way'
affinché
Conjunction meaning 'so that' or 'in order that'
studiosi
Scholars or learned individuals devoted to study
potessero
Past subjunctive of 'potere'; they could or might be able
aiutati
Helped or assisted, past participle plural of 'aiutare'
giudicare
To judge, evaluate, or assess something or someone
fedeltà
Faithfulness or fidelity, especially to an original source
versione
A particular form or translation of a text; version
confrontandola
Comparing it, gerund of 'confrontare' with object pronoun
dell'edizione
Of the edition; referring to a particular published version
Cairo
The capital city of Egypt; Cairo
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