Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience — Page 4
The twelve labors of Hercules were trifling in comparison with those which my neighbors have undertaken; for they were only twelve, and had an end; but I could never see that these men slew or captured any monster or finished any labor.
Los doce trabajos de Hércules eran insignificantes en comparación con los que mis vecinos han emprendido; pues solo eran doce, y tenían un fin; pero nunca pude ver que estos hombres mataran o capturaran ningún monstruo ni terminaran ningún trabajo.
They have no friend Iolas to burn with a hot iron the root of the hydra's head, but as soon as one head is crushed, two spring up.
No tienen ningún amigo Iolas que queme con un hierro candente la raíz de la cabeza de la hidra, sino que en cuanto se aplasta una cabeza, brotan dos.
I see young men, my townsmen, whose misfortune it is to have inherited farms, houses, barns, cattle, and farming tools; for these are more easily acquired than got rid of.
Veo a jóvenes, mis conciudadanos, cuya desgracia es haber heredado granjas, casas, establos, ganado y herramientas de labranza; pues estas cosas se adquieren con más facilidad de la que cuesta deshacerse de ellas.
Better if they had been born in the open pasture and suckled by a wolf, that they might have seen with clearer eyes what field they were called to labor in.
Mejor hubiera sido que hubieran nacido en el prado abierto y amamantados por una loba, para que pudieran ver con ojos más claros en qué campo estaban llamados a trabajar.
Who made them serfs of the soil?
¿Quién los convirtió en siervos de la tierra?
Why should they eat their sixty acres, when man is condemned to eat only his peck of dirt?
¿Por qué habrían de comerse sus sesenta acres, cuando el hombre está condenado a comerse únicamente su puñado de tierra?
Why should they begin digging their graves as soon as they are born?
¿Por qué habrían de comenzar a cavar sus tumbas desde el momento en que nacen?
They have got to live a man's life, pushing all these things before them, and get on as well as they can.
Han de vivir la vida de un hombre, empujando todas estas cosas por delante, y salir adelante lo mejor que puedan.
How many a poor immortal soul have I met well nigh crushed and smothered under its load, creeping down the road of life, pushing before it a barn seventy-five feet by forty, its Augean stables never cleansed, and one hundred acres of land, tillage, mowing, pasture, and wood-lot!
¡Cuántas pobres almas inmortales he encontrado casi aplastadas y sofocadas bajo su carga, arrastrándose por el camino de la vida, empujando ante sí un granero de setenta y cinco pies por cuarenta, sus establos augeos jamás limpiados, y cien acres de tierra, labranza, prado, pastura y bosque!
Vocabulary
- doce
- The number twelve
- trabajos
- Tasks, labors, or works requiring effort
- Hércules
- Hercules, the mythological hero of great strength
- eran
- Past tense of 'ser': 'they were'
- insignificantes
- Insignificant, trivial, or of little importance
- comparación
- Comparison between two or more things
- vecinos
- Neighbors, people living nearby
- emprendido
- Undertaken or embarked upon a task or project
- pues
- Conjunction meaning 'because,' 'since,' or 'well'
- solo
- Alone, by oneself, without company
- tenían
- Imperfect past tense of 'tener': 'they had'
- fin
- End, goal, or purpose of something
- nunca
- Never, at no time
- pude
- First person singular preterite of 'poder': 'I could'
- ver
- To see or observe something
- hombres
- Men, adult male human beings
- mataran
- Imperfect subjunctive of 'matar': 'that they kill'
- capturaran
- Imperfect subjunctive of 'capturar': 'that they capture'
- ningún
- No, not any; negative adjective before masculine nouns
- monstruo
- Monster, a frightening or huge creature
- ni
- Conjunction meaning 'nor' or 'neither'
- terminaran
- Imperfect subjunctive of 'terminar': 'that they finish'
- trabajo
- Work, labor, or a specific job or task
- tienen
- Third person plural present of 'tener': 'they have'
- amigo
- Friend, a person one has a close bond with
- queme
- Present subjunctive of 'quemar': 'to burn'
- hierro
- Iron, a strong metal used in tools and construction
- candente
- Red-hot, glowing with intense heat
- raíz
- Root of a plant or origin of something
- cabeza
- Head, the upper part of the human body
- hidra
- Hydra, a mythological multi-headed serpent creature
- sino
- Conjunction meaning 'but rather,' indicating correction
- cuanto
- As much as; referring to quantity or degree
- aplasta
- To crush, flatten, or squash something completely
- brotan
- To sprout, emerge, or spring up suddenly
- dos
- The number two
- Veo
- First person singular present of 'ver': 'I see'
- jóvenes
- Young people, youths, or adolescents
- conciudadanos
- Fellow citizens sharing the same city or country
- cuya
- Relative possessive pronoun: 'whose,' feminine singular
- desgracia
- Misfortune, disgrace, or bad luck
- haber
- Auxiliary verb 'to have,' used in perfect tenses
- heredado
- Inherited, received property or traits from ancestors
- granjas
- Farms, agricultural properties for raising livestock or crops
- casas
- Houses, residential buildings where people live
- establos
- Stables, buildings housing horses or other livestock
- ganado
- Livestock, cattle or farm animals raised for use
- herramientas
- Tools, implements used for manual work or crafts
- labranza
- Farming, tillage, or the cultivation of land
- cosas
- Things, objects, or matters of any kind
- adquieren
- Third person plural of 'adquirir': 'they acquire'
- facilidad
- Ease, the quality of being done without difficulty
- cuesta
- It costs; also a slope or hill
- deshacerse
- To get rid of, dispose of, or undo something
- Mejor
- Better, of superior quality or more desirable outcome
- hubiera
- Imperfect subjunctive of 'haber': 'had' in conditionals
- sido
- Past participle of 'ser': 'been'
- hubieran
- Imperfect subjunctive of 'haber,' third person plural
- nacido
- Past participle of 'nacer': 'born'
- prado
- Meadow, an open grassy field or pasture
- abierto
- Open, not closed or enclosed; also past participle of 'abrir'
- amamantados
- Nursed or suckled, fed with milk from a mother
- loba
- She-wolf, a female wolf
- pudieran
- Imperfect subjunctive of 'poder': 'that they could'
- ojos
- Eyes, the organs of sight
- claros
- Clear, bright, or unclouded; free from obscurity
- campo
- Field, countryside, or rural open land
- estaban
- Imperfect of 'estar,' third person plural: 'they were'
- llamados
- Called, summoned, or destined for a purpose
- trabajar
- To work, to perform labor or a task
- Quién
- Interrogative pronoun: 'who'
- convirtió
- Preterite of 'convertir': 'converted' or 'turned into'
- siervos
- Serfs or servants bound to serve a lord
- tierra
- Land, earth, soil, or ground
- habrían
- Conditional of 'haber': 'they would have'
- comerse
- To eat up, consume entirely (reflexive form of 'comer')
- sesenta
- The number sixty
- acres
- Acres, units of land area measurement
- cuando
- Conjunction or adverb meaning 'when'
- hombre
- Man, an adult male human being
- condenado
- Condemned, sentenced, or doomed to a fate
- únicamente
- Only, solely, exclusively, without exception
- puñado
- Handful, a small amount graspable in one hand
- comenzar
- To begin, start, or commence an action
- cavar
- To dig, to excavate earth or soil
- tumbas
- Graves or tombs, burial places for the dead
- desde
- Preposition meaning 'from' or 'since' a point in time
- momento
- Moment, a brief or specific point in time
- nacen
- Third person plural present of 'nacer': 'they are born'
- vivir
- To live, to be alive or to reside somewhere
- vida
- Life, the state of being alive or one's existence
- empujando
- Pushing, applying force to move something forward
- delante
- Ahead, in front, before something in position
- salir
- To leave, go out, or exit a place
- adelante
- Forward, ahead, onward in direction or progress
- mejor
- Best or better, superlative or comparative of 'bueno'
- puedan
- Present subjunctive of 'poder': 'that they can'
- Cuántas
- Exclamatory or interrogative: 'how many,' feminine plural
- pobres
- Poor, lacking resources or deserving of sympathy
- almas
- Souls, the spiritual or immortal part of a person
- inmortales
- Immortal souls or beings that never die
- encontrado
- Past participle of 'encontrar': 'found' or 'encountered'
- casi
- Almost, nearly, not quite reaching a point
- aplastadas
- Crushed, flattened, or overwhelmed by a heavy burden
- sofocadas
- Suffocated, smothered, or overwhelmed to the point of breathlessness
- bajo
- Under, below, or beneath something; also short or low
- carga
- Load, burden, or cargo that is carried
- arrastrándose
- Dragging oneself, moving laboriously along the ground
- camino
- Road, path, or way leading somewhere
- ante
- Preposition meaning 'before' or 'in front of'
- sí
- Reflexive pronoun 'oneself'; also 'yes' with accent
- granero
- Barn or granary, a building for storing grain
- setenta
- The number seventy
- cinco
- The number five
- pies
- Feet, plural of 'pie'; unit of measurement or body part
- cuarenta
- The number forty
- jamás
- Never, not ever; stronger form of 'nunca'
- limpiados
- Cleaned, made free from dirt or impurity
- cien
- One hundred, the number 100
- pastura
- Pasture, land where animals graze on grass
- bosque
- Forest or woods, a large area covered with trees
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