Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience — Page 5
The portionless, who struggle with no such unnecessary inherited encumbrances, find it labor enough to subdue and cultivate a few cubic feet of flesh.
Coloro che non hanno patrimonio, che lottano senza tali inutili gravami ereditati, trovano già fatica sufficiente nel domare e coltivare pochi piedi cubi di carne.
But men labor under a mistake.
Ma gli uomini faticano sotto un errore.
The better part of the man is soon plowed into the soil for compost.
La parte migliore dell'uomo viene presto arata nel suolo come concime.
By a seeming fate, commonly called necessity, they are employed, as it says in an old book, laying up treasures which moth and rust will corrupt and thieves break through and steal.
Per un destino apparente, comunemente chiamato necessità, essi sono impegnati, come dice un vecchio libro, ad accumulare tesori che la tarma e la ruggine corroderanno e i ladri scasseranno e ruberanno.
It is a fool's life, as they will find when they get to the end of it, if not before.
È la vita di uno sciocco, come scopriranno quando arriveranno alla fine di essa, se non prima.
It is said that Deucalion and Pyrrha created men by throwing stones over their heads behind them:—
Si dice che Deucalione e Pirra crearono gli uomini lanciando pietre sopra le loro teste dietro di loro:—
Inde genus durum sumus, experiensque laborum, Et documenta damus quâ simus origine nati.
Inde genus durum sumus, experiensque laborum, Et documenta damus quâ simus origine nati.
Or, as Raleigh rhymes it in his sonorous way,—
O, come lo rima Raleigh a modo suo sonoro,—
"From thence our kind hard-hearted is, enduring pain and care, Approving that our bodies of a stony nature are."
«Da là la nostra stirpe è dura di cuore, sopportando dolore e affanno, dimostrando che i nostri corpi sono di natura pietrosa.»
So much for a blind obedience to a blundering oracle, throwing the stones over their heads behind them, and not seeing where they fell.
Tanto vale per una cieca obbedienza a un oracolo maldestro, che lancia le pietre sopra le loro teste dietro di loro, senza vedere dove cadevano.
Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them.
La maggior parte degli uomini, anche in questo paese relativamente libero, per mera ignoranza ed errore, sono così occupati dalle cure artificiose e dalle fatiche soverchiamente grossolane della vita che i suoi frutti più fini non possono essere colti da loro.
Their fingers, from excessive toil, are too clumsy and tremble too much for that.
Le loro dita, per l'eccessiva fatica, sono troppo maldestre e tremano troppo per questo.
Vocabulary
- Coloro
- Those persons; refers to a group of people
- che
- Who, that, which; common relative/conjunction word
- non
- Not; basic negation word
- hanno
- They have; third person plural of avere
- patrimonio
- Patrimony, inherited wealth, or personal estate
- lottano
- They struggle or fight; from lottare
- senza
- Without; preposition indicating absence of something
- tali
- Such, those kinds of; demonstrative adjective
- inutili
- Useless, pointless; plural adjective describing something unnecessary
- gravami
- Burdens, encumbrances, or financial obligations
- ereditati
- Inherited; past participle of ereditare
- trovano
- They find; third person plural of trovare
- già
- Already, yet; common adverb of time
- fatica
- Fatigue, toil, hard effort or labor
- sufficiente
- Sufficient, enough; adjective describing adequacy
- nel
- In the; contraction of in + il
- domare
- To tame, subdue, or bring under control
- coltivare
- To cultivate, grow, or tend to plants
- pochi
- Few, a small number of something
- piedi
- Feet; plural of piede, unit or body part
- cubi
- Cubic; plural adjective referring to three-dimensional measurement
- carne
- Flesh, meat; the physical body or tissue
- Ma
- But; conjunction introducing contrast or opposition
- gli
- The (masculine plural); definite article
- uomini
- Men; plural of uomo, adult male humans
- faticano
- They toil, labor hard; from faticare
- sotto
- Under, beneath; preposition of position
- un
- A, an; indefinite article masculine singular
- errore
- Error, mistake; something incorrectly believed or done
- La
- The; feminine singular definite article
- parte
- Part, portion, or section of something
- migliore
- Better, best; comparative/superlative adjective
- dell'
- Of the; elided contraction of di + l'
- uomo
- Man, human being; singular masculine noun
- viene
- Comes, becomes; third person singular of venire
- presto
- Soon, quickly; common adverb of time or speed
- arata
- Plowed; past participle of arare, to plow
- suolo
- Soil, ground; the earth's surface layer
- come
- As, like, how; conjunction or adverb of manner
- concime
- Fertilizer, manure; substance enriching the soil
- Per
- For, by, through; versatile Italian preposition
- destino
- Destiny, fate; one's predetermined life course
- apparente
- Apparent, seeming; that which appears to be true
- comunemente
- Commonly, generally; adverb meaning in a usual way
- chiamato
- Called, named; past participle of chiamare
- necessità
- Necessity, need; something unavoidably required
- essi
- They; third person plural masculine pronoun
- sono
- They are; third person plural of essere
- impegnati
- Engaged, committed, busy; past participle of impegnare
- dice
- Says, tells; third person singular of dire
- vecchio
- Old, ancient; adjective describing age
- libro
- Book; a written or printed literary work
- ad
- To, at; preposition used before vowels
- accumulare
- To accumulate, amass, or gather in quantity
- tesori
- Treasures; plural of tesoro, precious valuables
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article
- tarma
- Moth; insect that damages fabrics and stored goods
- ruggine
- Rust; reddish corrosion forming on iron or metal
- corroderanno
- They will corrode; future tense of corrodere
- i
- The; masculine plural definite article
- ladri
- Thieves; plural of ladro, one who steals
- ruberanno
- They will steal; future tense of rubare
- È
- It is; third person singular of essere
- vita
- Life; existence or the living experience
- uno
- A, one; indefinite article or numeral
- sciocco
- Fool, foolish; silly or unwise person
- scopriranno
- They will discover; future tense of scoprire
- quando
- When; conjunction or adverb of time
- arriveranno
- They will arrive; future tense of arrivare
- alla
- To the; contraction of a + la
- fine
- End, finish; the conclusion of something
- essa
- She, it; third person singular feminine pronoun
- se
- If, oneself; conditional conjunction or reflexive pronoun
- prima
- Before, first; adverb or adjective of priority/time
- Si
- Oneself, one; reflexive pronoun or impersonal particle
- crearono
- They created; past tense of creare
- lanciando
- Throwing, launching; gerund of lanciare
- pietre
- Stones, rocks; plural of pietra
- sopra
- Above, over, on top of something
- le
- The; feminine plural definite article
- loro
- Their, them; third person plural possessive or pronoun
- teste
- Heads; plural of testa, the head
- dietro
- Behind, back; preposition of position
- lo
- Him, it; masculine singular direct object pronoun
- rima
- Rhyme; correspondence of sound in verse endings
- a
- To, at; basic Italian preposition of direction
- modo
- Way, manner, mode; how something is done
- suo
- His, her, its; third person singular possessive adjective
- sonoro
- Sonorous, resonant; producing a rich full sound
- Da
- From, by, since; versatile Italian preposition
- là
- There; adverb indicating a distant place
- nostra
- Our; first person plural feminine possessive adjective
- stirpe
- Lineage, stock, race; ancestral family descent
- è
- Is; third person singular present of essere
- dura
- Hard, tough; feminine singular adjective
- cuore
- Heart; the organ or seat of emotion
- sopportando
- Enduring, bearing; gerund of sopportare
- dolore
- Pain, sorrow, grief; physical or emotional suffering
- affanno
- Anxiety, breathlessness, distress; troubled feeling
- dimostrando
- Demonstrating, showing; gerund of dimostrare
- nostri
- Our; first person plural masculine plural possessive
- corpi
- Bodies; plural of corpo, the physical body
- natura
- Nature; natural world or inherent character of something
- pietrosa
- Stony, rocky; adjective meaning stone-like in nature
- Tanto
- So much, as much; adverb or pronoun of quantity
- vale
- It is worth, it counts; from valere
- per
- For, through, by; common Italian preposition
- una
- A, one; feminine indefinite article
- cieca
- Blind; feminine adjective, lacking sight or awareness
- obbedienza
- Obedience; compliance with commands or authority
- oracolo
- Oracle; prophetic source or ambiguous divine message
- maldestro
- Clumsy, inept; lacking skill or dexterity
- lancia
- Lance, spear; or he/she throws (from lanciare)
- vedere
- To see; infinitive of basic visual perception verb
- dove
- Where; adverb of place
- cadevano
- They were falling; imperfect tense of cadere
- maggior
- Greater, major; shortened form of maggiore
- degli
- Of the; masculine plural contraction of di + gli
- anche
- Also, even, too; common additive adverb
- in
- In, into; basic preposition of location
- questo
- This; masculine singular demonstrative adjective/pronoun
- paese
- Country, village; a nation or small town
- relativamente
- Relatively, comparatively; adverb expressing relation
- libero
- Free, unrestrained; not subject to control
- mera
- Mere, pure, sheer; feminine adjective emphasizing simplicity
- ignoranza
- Ignorance; lack of knowledge or awareness
- ed
- And; conjunction used before vowels
- così
- So, thus, in this way; common adverb
- occupati
- Occupied, busy; past participle of occupare
- dalle
- By the, from the; contraction of da + le
- cure
- Cares, worries, concerns; plural of cura
- artificiose
- Artificial, contrived; unnecessarily complicated matters
- fatiche
- Toils, hardships; plural of fatica
- grossolane
- Coarse, crude, rough; lacking refinement or subtlety
- della
- Of the; feminine singular contraction of di + la
- suoi
- His, her, its; third person plural possessive adjective
- frutti
- Fruits; plural of frutto, products or results
- più
- More, most; adverb of comparison
- fini
- Fine, refined; plural adjective meaning delicate or subtle
- possono
- They can; third person plural of potere
- essere
- To be; fundamental Italian infinitive verb
- colti
- Gathered, harvested; past participle of cogliere
- da
- From, by; preposition of origin or agent
- Le
- The; feminine plural definite article
- dita
- Fingers; plural of dito, the digits of hand
- l'
- The; elided form of definite article before vowel
- eccessiva
- Excessive, too much; feminine adjective of excess
- troppo
- Too much, too; adverb or adjective of excess
- maldestre
- Clumsy, awkward; feminine plural adjective
- tremano
- They tremble, shake; third person plural of tremare
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