Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None — Page 14
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The first part of "Zarathustra" was written in about ten days—that is to say, from the beginning to about the middle of February 1883.
La prima parte di «Zarathustra» fu scritta in circa dieci giorni—vale a dire, dall'inizio fino a circa la metà di febbraio del 1883.
"The last lines were written precisely in the hallowed hour when Richard Wagner gave up the ghost in Venice."
«Le ultime righe furono scritte precisamente nell'ora sacra in cui Richard Wagner rese l'anima a Venezia.»
With the exception of the ten days occupied in composing the first part of this book, my brother often referred to this winter as the hardest and sickliest he had ever experienced.
Ad eccezione dei dieci giorni impiegati nella composizione della prima parte di questo libro, mio fratello si riferiva spesso a quell'inverno come al più duro e al più tormentato dalla malattia che avesse mai vissuto.
He did not, however, mean thereby that his former disorders were troubling him, but that he was suffering from a severe attack of influenza which he had caught in Santa Margherita, and which tormented him for several weeks after his arrival in Genoa.
Non intendeva tuttavia dire con ciò che i suoi vecchi malanni lo tormentassero, bensì che stava soffrendo di un grave attacco d'influenza che aveva contratto a Santa Margherita, e che lo tormentò per diverse settimane dopo il suo arrivo a Genova.
As a matter of fact, however, what he complained of most was his spiritual condition—that indescribable forsakenness—to which he gives such heartrending expression in "Zarathustra".
In realtà, però, ciò di cui si lamentava maggiormente era la sua condizione spirituale—quell'indescrivibile senso di abbandono—al quale dà un'espressione così straziante in «Zarathustra».
Even the reception which the first part met with at the hands of friends and acquaintances was extremely disheartening: for almost all those to whom he presented copies of the work misunderstood it.
Anche l'accoglienza che la prima parte ricevette da amici e conoscenti fu estremamente scoraggiante: quasi tutti coloro ai quali egli presentò delle copie dell'opera la fraintesero.
"I found no one ripe for many of my thoughts; the case of 'Zarathustra' proves that one can speak with the utmost clearness, and yet not be heard by any one.
«Non ho trovato nessuno maturo per molti dei miei pensieri; il caso di 'Zarathustra' dimostra che si può parlare con la massima chiarezza, eppure non essere ascoltati da nessuno.
Vocabulary
- prima
- First; earliest in order or time
- parte
- Part, portion, or section of something
- fu
- Past tense of 'essere': 'was'
- scritta
- Written; past participle of 'scrivere'
- circa
- Approximately, about a given number or time
- dieci
- The number ten
- giorni
- Days; plural of 'giorno'
- vale
- Is worth; third person singular of 'valere'
- dire
- To say or to tell
- inizio
- Beginning, start of something
- fino
- Until, up to a point in time or space
- metà
- Half; the middle point of something
- febbraio
- February, the second month of the year
- ultime
- Last, final; feminine plural of 'ultimo'
- righe
- Lines of text; plural of 'riga'
- furono
- Were; third person plural past of 'essere'
- scritte
- Written; feminine plural past participle of 'scrivere'
- precisamente
- Precisely, exactly at a specific moment
- ora
- Hour; a specific moment in time
- sacra
- Sacred, holy; feminine form of 'sacro'
- cui
- Relative pronoun meaning 'in which' or 'when'
- rese
- Rendered, gave back; past tense of 'rendere'
- anima
- Soul, spirit of a person
- eccezione
- Exception, something excluded from a general rule
- impiegati
- Employed, used; or employees (noun)
- composizione
- Composition, creation of a written or musical work
- questo
- This; demonstrative adjective or pronoun
- libro
- Book, a written or printed publication
- mio
- My; first person singular possessive adjective
- fratello
- Brother, a male sibling
- riferiva
- Referred to; imperfect tense of 'riferirsi'
- spesso
- Often, frequently occurring
- quell'
- That; demonstrative adjective before a vowel
- inverno
- Winter, the coldest season of the year
- come
- As, like; used for comparisons
- più
- More; used for comparisons and superlatives
- duro
- Hard, difficult, tough in nature
- tormentato
- Tormented, troubled by pain or suffering
- malattia
- Illness, disease affecting one's health
- avesse
- Had; subjunctive imperfect of 'avere'
- mai
- Ever, never; used in temporal expressions
- vissuto
- Lived; past participle of 'vivere'
- intendeva
- Intended, meant; imperfect of 'intendere'
- tuttavia
- Nevertheless, however, yet despite that
- ciò
- This, that; demonstrative pronoun for things
- suoi
- His, her, its; plural possessive adjective
- vecchi
- Old, aged; plural of 'vecchio'
- malanni
- Ailments, minor illnesses or misfortunes
- tormentassero
- Tormented; subjunctive imperfect of 'tormentare'
- bensì
- But rather, on the contrary; corrective conjunction
- stava
- Was; imperfect tense of 'stare' indicating ongoing action
- soffrendo
- Suffering; gerund of 'soffrire'
- grave
- Serious, severe; describing a critical condition
- attacco
- Attack, a sudden onset of illness or action
- influenza
- Influenza, the flu; a common viral illness
- aveva
- Had; third person singular imperfect of 'avere'
- contratto
- Contracted, caught; past participle of 'contrarre'
- tormentò
- Tormented; third person singular past of 'tormentare'
- diverse
- Several, various; plural adjective meaning multiple
- settimane
- Weeks; plural of 'settimana'
- dopo
- After, following a point in time
- suo
- His, her, its; singular possessive adjective
- arrivo
- Arrival, the act of reaching a destination
- realtà
- Reality, the actual state of things
- però
- However, but; indicating a contrast
- lamentava
- Complained about; imperfect of 'lamentarsi'
- maggiormente
- Most of all, especially; to a greater degree
- era
- Was; third person singular imperfect of 'essere'
- sua
- His, her; feminine singular possessive adjective
- condizione
- Condition, state of a person or thing
- spirituale
- Spiritual, relating to the spirit or soul
- indescrivibile
- Indescribable, impossible to express in words
- senso
- Sense, feeling or meaning of something
- abbandono
- Abandonment, feeling of being deserted or forsaken
- quale
- Which, that; relative pronoun
- dà
- Gives; third person singular present of 'dare'
- espressione
- Expression, a way of conveying feelings or ideas
- così
- So, thus; indicating manner or degree
- straziante
- Heartbreaking, deeply painful and distressing
- Anche
- Also, too; indicating addition or inclusion
- accoglienza
- Reception, welcome given to a person or work
- ricevette
- Received; third person singular past of 'ricevere'
- amici
- Friends; plural of 'amico'
- conoscenti
- Acquaintances, people one knows casually
- estremamente
- Extremely, to a very high degree
- scoraggiante
- Discouraging, causing loss of hope or confidence
- quasi
- Almost, nearly but not completely
- tutti
- All, everyone; masculine plural of 'tutto'
- coloro
- Those who; third person plural demonstrative pronoun
- quali
- Whom, which; plural relative pronoun
- egli
- He; formal third person singular subject pronoun
- presentò
- Presented, gave; past tense of 'presentare'
- copie
- Copies, duplicate versions of a book or document
- opera
- Work, a literary, artistic, or musical creation
- fraintesero
- Misunderstood; third person plural past of 'fraintendere'
- trovato
- Found; past participle of 'trovare'
- nessuno
- Nobody, no one; indefinite negative pronoun
- maturo
- Mature, ripe; ready or fully developed
- molti
- Many; masculine plural of 'molto'
- miei
- My; masculine plural possessive adjective
- pensieri
- Thoughts, ideas in one's mind
- caso
- Case, chance; a particular situation or instance
- dimostra
- Demonstrates, shows; third person singular of 'dimostrare'
- può
- Can, is able to; third person singular of 'potere'
- parlare
- To speak, to talk
- massima
- Maximum, greatest; feminine of 'massimo'
- chiarezza
- Clarity, the quality of being clear and understandable
- eppure
- Yet, and yet; expressing unexpected contrast
- essere
- To be; the fundamental verb of existence
- ascoltati
- Heard, listened to; plural past participle of 'ascoltare'
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