Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None — Page 9
Another ideal runs on before us, a strange, tempting ideal full of danger, to which we should not like to persuade any one, because we do not so readily acknowledge any one's RIGHT THERETO: the ideal of a spirit who plays naively (that is to say involuntarily and from overflowing abundance and power) with everything that has hitherto been called holy, good, intangible, or divine; to whom the loftiest conception which the people have reasonably made their measure of value, would already practically imply danger, ruin, abasement, or at least relaxation, blindness, or temporary self-forgetfulness; the ideal of a humanly superhuman welfare and benevolence, which will often enough appear INHUMAN, for example, when put alongside of all past seriousness on earth, and alongside of all past solemnities in bearing, word, tone, look, morality, and pursuit, as their truest involuntary parody—and WITH which, nevertheless, perhaps THE GREAT SERIOUSNESS only commences, when the proper interrogative mark is set up, the fate of the soul changes, the hour-hand moves, and tragedy begins..."
Un altro ideale ci corre innanzi, uno strano e allettante ideale pieno di pericoli, al quale non vorremmo persuadere nessuno, perché non riconosciamo così facilmente il DIRITTO di alcuno ad esso: l'ideale di uno spirito che gioca ingenuamente (vale a dire involontariamente e per traboccante abbondanza e potenza) con tutto ciò che fino ad ora è stato chiamato santo, buono, intangibile o divino; al quale la concezione più elevata che il popolo ha ragionevolmente fatto propria come misura del valore, implicherebbe già praticamente pericolo, rovina, avvilimento, o almeno rilassamento, cecità, o temporanea dimenticanza di sé; l'ideale di un benessere e di una benevolenza umanamente sovrumani, che appariranno spesso abbastanza INUMANI, per esempio, se messi a confronto con tutta la serietà passata sulla terra, e con tutte le passate solennità nel portamento, nella parola, nel tono, nello sguardo, nella moralità e nel perseguimento, come loro più vera parodia involontaria—e CON il quale, tuttavia, forse LA GRANDE SERIETÀ ha soltanto inizio, quando viene posto il giusto punto interrogativo, il destino dell'anima cambia, la lancetta delle ore si muove, e la tragedia comincia..."
Although the figure of Zarathustra and a large number of the leading thoughts in this work had appeared much earlier in the dreams and writings of the author, "Thus Spake Zarathustra" did not actually come into being until the month of August 1881 in Sils Maria; and it was the idea of the Eternal Recurrence of all things which finally induced my brother to set forth his new views in poetic language.
Sebbene la figura di Zarathustra e un gran numero dei pensieri fondamentali di quest'opera fossero apparsi molto prima nei sogni e negli scritti dell'autore, "Così parlò Zarathustra" non venne effettivamente alla luce fino al mese di agosto 1881 a Sils Maria; e fu l'idea dell'Eterno Ritorno di tutte le cose che indusse infine mio fratello a esporre le sue nuove idee in linguaggio poetico.
Vocabulary
- altro
- Another; different; other person or thing
- ideale
- Ideal; a perfect standard or aspiration
- ci
- Us; to us; reflexive or locative pronoun
- corre
- Runs; moves quickly; third person singular present
- innanzi
- Before; ahead; in front of something
- strano
- Strange; unusual; odd or peculiar in character
- allettante
- Alluring; enticing; attractively tempting or appealing
- pieno
- Full; filled completely with something
- pericoli
- Dangers; plural of pericolo, threats or risks
- quale
- Which; that; relative or interrogative pronoun
- vorremmo
- We would like; first person plural conditional of volere
- persuadere
- To persuade; to convince someone of something
- nessuno
- Nobody; no one; not any person at all
- riconosciamo
- We recognize; we acknowledge something as true
- così
- So; thus; in this way or manner
- facilmente
- Easily; without difficulty or effort
- DIRITTO
- Right; entitlement; also means straight or upright
- alcuno
- Any; anyone; used in negative or indefinite contexts
- esso
- It; him; third person singular pronoun neutral form
- spirito
- Spirit; soul; mind or inner animating force
- gioca
- Plays; engages playfully; third person singular present
- ingenuamente
- Naively; innocently; in an artless or guileless manner
- vale
- Is worth; means; third person singular of valere
- dire
- To say; to tell; common Italian infinitive verb
- involontariamente
- Involuntarily; without intention; unintentionally and spontaneously
- traboccante
- Overflowing; brimming over with excess of something
- abbondanza
- Abundance; great plenty; richness of supply or quantity
- potenza
- Power; strength; might or capacity to act
- tutto
- All; everything; entire amount or totality
- ciò
- This; that; demonstrative pronoun referring to something
- fino
- Until; up to; as far as a point
- ora
- Now; at this moment; also means hour
- stato
- Been; past participle of essere; also means state
- chiamato
- Called; named; past participle of chiamare
- santo
- Holy; saint; sacred or morally pure person
- buono
- Good; kind; of positive quality or virtue
- intangibile
- Intangible; untouchable; cannot be physically grasped or altered
- divino
- Divine; of or relating to God or deity
- concezione
- Conception; idea; the way something is understood
- più
- More; most; comparative or superlative degree adverb
- elevata
- Elevated; lofty; high in rank or quality
- popolo
- People; folk; the common population of a nation
- ragionevolmente
- Reasonably; sensibly; in a rational and justified manner
- fatto
- Done; made; past participle of fare; also fact
- propria
- Own; one's own; belonging to oneself
- misura
- Measure; standard; extent or degree of something
- valore
- Value; worth; importance or merit of something
- implicherebbe
- Would imply; would involve; conditional of implicare
- già
- Already; now; previously or by this time
- praticamente
- Practically; in practice; almost or virtually speaking
- pericolo
- Danger; risk; a threatening or hazardous situation
- rovina
- Ruin; destruction; collapse of something once valuable
- avvilimento
- Degradation; debasement; humiliation or lowering of spirit
- almeno
- At least; if nothing else; a minimum concession
- rilassamento
- Relaxation; loosening; reduction of tension or strictness
- cecità
- Blindness; inability to see; also metaphorical unawareness
- temporanea
- Temporary; lasting only for a limited time
- dimenticanza
- Forgetfulness; an act or state of forgetting something
- sé
- Oneself; self; reflexive pronoun referring to the subject
- benessere
- Well-being; welfare; state of health and happiness
- benevolenza
- Benevolence; goodwill; kind and charitable disposition toward others
- umanamente
- Humanly; in a human manner; within human capacity
- sovrumani
- Superhuman; beyond ordinary human ability or nature
- appariranno
- Will appear; future tense of apparire, third plural
- spesso
- Often; frequently; also means thick as adjective
- abbastanza
- Enough; quite; sufficiently or rather in degree
- INUMANI
- Inhuman; cruel; lacking compassion or human feeling
- esempio
- Example; instance; a case illustrating a point
- se
- If; whether; conditional conjunction introducing hypothetical clause
- messi
- Put; placed; past participle plural of mettere
- confronto
- Comparison; contrast; placing things side by side
- tutta
- All; entire; feminine singular form of tutto
- serietà
- Seriousness; gravity; quality of being earnest and grave
- passata
- Past; gone by; feminine past participle of passare
- terra
- Earth; land; ground or the world we inhabit
- tutte
- All; every; feminine plural form of tutto
- passate
- Past; bygone; feminine plural adjective from passare
- solennità
- Solemnity; gravity; formal and serious ceremonial quality
- portamento
- Bearing; posture; way of carrying oneself physically
- parola
- Word; speech; a unit of spoken or written language
- tono
- Tone; manner of speaking; quality of voice or attitude
- sguardo
- Gaze; glance; a look directed at something or someone
- moralità
- Morality; ethical conduct; system of moral principles
- perseguimento
- Pursuit; prosecution; act of striving toward a goal
- loro
- Their; them; third person plural pronoun or adjective
- vera
- True; genuine; real; feminine form of vero
- parodia
- Parody; mockery; imitation that exaggerates for comic effect
- involontaria
- Involuntary; unintentional; done without conscious will
- tuttavia
- Nevertheless; however; yet; concessive conjunction in Italian
- forse
- Perhaps; maybe; expressing uncertainty or possibility
- GRANDE
- Great; grand; large or important in scale
- SERIETÀ
- Seriousness; earnestness; emphatic gravity of purpose or attitude
- soltanto
- Only; merely; just; restrictive adverb limiting quantity
- inizio
- Beginning; start; the initial point of something
- quando
- When; at the time that; temporal conjunction
- viene
- Comes; is; third person singular present of venire
- posto
- Placed; put; also means place or position
- giusto
- Right; correct; just; fair or appropriate
- punto
- Point; dot; moment or specific location
- interrogativo
- Question; interrogative; expressing or relating to inquiry
- destino
- Destiny; fate; predetermined course of events
- anima
- Soul; spirit; the inner essence of a person
- cambia
- Changes; turns; third person singular present of cambiare
- lancetta
- Hand; needle; pointer on a clock or instrument
- ore
- Hours; plural of ora; units of time
- muove
- Moves; stirs; third person singular present of muovere
- tragedia
- Tragedy; a disastrous event or dramatic literary genre
- comincia
- Begins; starts; third person singular present of cominciare
- Sebbene
- Although; even though; concessive subordinating conjunction
- figura
- Figure; character; shape or prominent person
- gran
- Great; large; abbreviated form of grande before nouns
- numero
- Number; quantity; a count or numerical value
- pensieri
- Thoughts; ideas; plural of pensiero, mental reflections
- fondamentali
- Fundamental; basic; essential or primary in importance
- opera
- Work; opus; a literary, musical, or artistic creation
- fossero
- Were; subjunctive imperfect plural third person of essere
- apparsi
- Appeared; past participle plural of apparire
- molto
- Very; much; a great degree or quantity
- prima
- Before; earlier; first in time or order
- sogni
- Dreams; plural of sogno; nocturnal mental visions
- scritti
- Writings; written works; plural past participle of scrivere
- autore
- Author; writer; creator of a literary work
- Così
- Thus; so; in this way; used in title here
- parlò
- Spoke; said; third person singular past of parlare
- venne
- Came; third person singular past of venire
- effettivamente
- Actually; effectively; in reality or in actual fact
- luce
- Light; illumination; also used in 'venire alla luce'
- mese
- Month; a unit of time comprising about four weeks
- agosto
- August; the eighth month of the calendar year
- fu
- Was; third person singular past of essere
- idea
- Idea; concept; a thought or mental conception
- Eterno
- Eternal; everlasting; existing without beginning or end
- Ritorno
- Return; recurrence; coming back to a prior state
- cose
- Things; objects; plural of cosa, matters or items
- indusse
- Induced; led; third person singular past of indurre
- infine
- Finally; in the end; ultimately after a process
- mio
- My; mine; first person singular possessive adjective
- fratello
- Brother; male sibling; a fellow male family member
- esporre
- To expose; to set forth; to present ideas clearly
- sue
- His; her; one's own; feminine plural possessive adjective
- nuove
- New; feminine plural adjective of nuovo, recently arisen
- idee
- Ideas; concepts; plural of idea, mental conceptions
- linguaggio
- Language; tongue; a system of expression or communication
- poetico
- Poetic; relating to poetry; having lyrical or artistic quality
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