Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None — Page 12
His friends caused him many disappointments, which were the more bitter to him, inasmuch as he regarded friendship as such a sacred institution; and for the first time in his life he realised the whole horror of that loneliness to which, perhaps, all greatness is condemned.
I suoi amici gli causarono molte delusioni, che furono per lui tanto più amare in quanto considerava l'amicizia come una istituzione così sacra; e per la prima volta nella sua vita realizzò tutto l'orrore di quella solitudine alla quale, forse, tutta la grandezza è condannata.
But to be forsaken is something very different from deliberately choosing blessed loneliness.
Ma essere abbandonati è qualcosa di molto diverso dal scegliere deliberatamente la beata solitudine.
How he longed, in those days, for the ideal friend who would thoroughly understand him, to whom he would be able to say all, and whom he imagined he had found at various periods in his life from his earliest youth onwards.
Come desiderava ardentemente, in quei giorni, l'amico ideale che lo capisse a fondo, al quale potesse dire tutto, e che credeva di aver trovato in vari momenti della sua vita fin dalla prima giovinezza.
Now, however, that the way he had chosen grew ever more perilous and steep, he found nobody who could follow him: he therefore created a perfect friend for himself in the ideal form of a majestic philosopher, and made this creation the preacher of his gospel to the world.
Ora, tuttavia, poiché la strada che aveva scelto diventava sempre più pericolosa e ripida, non trovò nessuno che potesse seguirlo: perciò creò per sé un amico perfetto nella forma ideale di un maestoso filosofo, e fece di questa creazione il predicatore del suo vangelo al mondo.
Whether my brother would ever have written "Thus Spake Zarathustra" according to the first plan sketched in the summer of 1881, if he had not had the disappointments already referred to, is now an idle question; but perhaps where "Zarathustra" is concerned, we may also say with Master Eckhardt: "The fleetest beast to bear you to perfection is suffering."
Se mio fratello avrebbe mai scritto «Così parlò Zarathustra» secondo il primo piano abbozzato nell'estate del 1881, se non avesse avuto le delusioni già menzionate, è ormai una questione oziosa; ma forse riguardo a «Zarathustra» possiamo anche dire con il Maestro Eckhardt: «La bestia più veloce per condurvi alla perfezione è la sofferenza».
My brother writes as follows about the origin of the first part of "Zarathustra":—"In the winter of 1882–83, I was living on the charming little Gulf of Rapallo, not far from Genoa, and between Chiavari and Cape Porto Fino.
Mio fratello scrive quanto segue sull'origine della prima parte di «Zarathustra»: «Nell'inverno del 1882-83, vivevo sul grazioso piccolo Golfo di Rapallo, non lontano da Genova, e tra Chiavari e Capo Portofino.
Vocabulary
- suoi
- his, her, their (possessive pronoun)
- amici
- friends (plural of amico)
- gli
- to him, to them (indirect object pronoun)
- causarono
- caused, provoked (past tense of causare)
- molte
- many (feminine plural of molto)
- delusioni
- disappointments, disillusions (plural of delusione)
- che
- that, which (relative pronoun)
- furono
- were (past tense of essere)
- per
- for, in order to (preposition)
- lui
- him (disjunctive pronoun)
- tanto
- so much, so many (adjective/adverb)
- più
- more (comparative adverb)
- amare
- to love, to hurt (verb)
- in
- in, into (preposition)
- quanto
- as, in that (conjunction)
- considerava
- considered, regarded (past tense of considerare)
- amicizia
- friendship (noun)
- come
- like, as, how (conjunction/adverb)
- una
- a, an (feminine article)
- istituzione
- institution, establishment (noun)
- così
- so, thus, like this (adverb)
- sacra
- sacred, holy (adjective)
- la
- the (feminine singular article)
- prima
- first, before (adjective/adverb)
- volta
- time, turn, occasion (noun)
- nella
- in the (preposition + article)
- sua
- his, her (possessive pronoun)
- vita
- life (noun)
- realizzò
- realized, understood (past tense of realizzare)
- tutto
- all, everything (pronoun/adjective)
- orrore
- horror, dread (noun)
- di
- of, from (preposition)
- quella
- that (demonstrative pronoun)
- solitudine
- solitude, loneliness (noun)
- alla
- to the, at the (preposition + article)
- quale
- which, what (relative pronoun)
- forse
- perhaps, maybe (adverb)
- tutta
- all, entire (feminine singular adjective)
- grandezza
- greatness, grandeur (noun)
- condannata
- condemned, doomed (adjective)
- Ma
- but (conjunction)
- essere
- to be (verb)
- abbandonati
- abandoned, forsaken (adjective)
- qualcosa
- something, anything (pronoun)
- molto
- very, much (adverb/adjective)
- diverso
- different, various (adjective)
- dal
- from the (preposition + article)
- scegliere
- to choose, to select (verb)
- deliberatamente
- deliberately, intentionally (adverb)
- beata
- blessed, blissful (adjective)
- Come
- how (adverb/conjunction)
- desiderava
- desired, wished (past tense of desiderare)
- ardentemente
- ardently, passionately (adverb)
- quei
- those (demonstrative adjective, masculine)
- giorni
- days (plural of giorno)
- amico
- friend (noun)
- ideale
- ideal (noun/adjective)
- lo
- him, it (direct object pronoun)
- capisse
- understood (past subjunctive of capire)
- fondo
- bottom, deeply (noun/adverb)
- al
- to the, at the (preposition + article)
- potesse
- could, was able (past subjunctive of potere)
- dire
- to say, to tell (verb)
- credeva
- believed, thought (past tense of credere)
- aver
- to have (auxiliary verb)
- trovato
- found, discovered (past participle)
- vari
- various, several (adjective)
- momenti
- moments (plural of momento)
- fin
- until, even (preposition)
- dalla
- from the (preposition + article)
- giovinezza
- youth, youthfulness (noun)
- Ora
- now, at present (adverb)
- tuttavia
- however, nevertheless (adverb)
- poiché
- since, because (conjunction)
- strada
- road, path, way (noun)
- aveva
- had (past tense of avere)
- scelto
- chosen, selected (past participle)
- diventava
- became, was becoming (past tense of diventare)
- sempre
- always, still (adverb)
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