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.
Os doze trabalhos de Hércules eram insignificantes em comparação com aqueles que meus vizinhos empreenderam; pois eram apenas doze, e tinham um fim; mas eu nunca pude ver que esses homens mataram ou capturaram algum monstro ou terminaram algum trabalho.
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.
Eles não têm nenhum amigo Iolas para queimar com um ferro quente a raiz da cabeça da hidra, mas assim que uma cabeça é esmagada, duas brotam.
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.
Vejo jovens, meus concidadãos, cuja infelicidade é ter herdado fazendas, casas, celeiros, gado e ferramentas agrícolas; pois estas são mais facilmente adquiridas do que descartadas.
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.
Melhor teria sido se tivessem nascido no pasto aberto e amamentados por uma loba, para que pudessem ter visto com olhos mais claros em que campo eram chamados a trabalhar.
Who made them serfs of the soil?
Quem os fez servos da terra?
Why should they eat their sixty acres, when man is condemned to eat only his peck of dirt?
Por que deveriam devorar seus sessenta acres, quando o homem é condenado a engolir apenas seu quinhão de terra?
Why should they begin digging their graves as soon as they are born?
Por que deveriam começar a cavar suas sepulturas assim que nascem?
They have got to live a man's life, pushing all these things before them, and get on as well as they can.
Eles têm de viver a vida de um homem, empurrando todas essas coisas à sua frente, e se virar tão bem quanto podem.
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!
Quantas pobres almas imortais encontrei quase esmagadas e sufocadas sob seu fardo, rastejando pela estrada da vida, empurrando à sua frente um celeiro de setenta e cinco pés por quarenta, seus estábulos Augias jamais limpos, e cem acres de terra, lavoura, pastagem, prado e bosque!
Vocabulary
- doze
- The number twelve
- trabalhos
- Tasks, labors, or works performed
- eram
- Past tense of 'ser': 'they were'
- insignificantes
- Trivial, unimportant, or of little consequence
- comparação
- The act of comparing two or more things
- aqueles
- Demonstrative pronoun: 'those' (distant)
- vizinhos
- People living nearby; neighbors
- empreenderam
- They undertook or embarked upon a task
- pois
- Conjunction meaning 'because' or 'for'
- apenas
- Adverb meaning 'only' or 'just'
- tinham
- Past tense of 'ter': 'they had'
- fim
- An end, conclusion, or final point
- nunca
- Adverb meaning 'never'
- pude
- Past tense of 'poder': 'I was able to'
- ver
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to see'
- esses
- Demonstrative pronoun: 'those' (nearby)
- homens
- Adult male humans; men
- mataram
- They killed or slew something or someone
- capturaram
- They caught or captured a person or creature
- algum
- Indefinite adjective meaning 'some' or 'any'
- monstro
- A frightening, large, or unnatural creature
- terminaram
- They finished or completed a task
- trabalho
- Work, labor, or a specific task
- têm
- Present tense of 'ter': 'they have'
- nenhum
- Adjective meaning 'no' or 'not any'
- amigo
- A person one has a friendly relationship with
- queimar
- To set fire to or burn something
- ferro
- The metallic element iron
- quente
- Having a high temperature; hot
- raiz
- The underground part of a plant; root
- cabeça
- The uppermost part of the body; head
- assim
- Adverb meaning 'thus', 'so', or 'in this way'
- esmagada
- Crushed, flattened, or smashed by force
- brotam
- They sprout, grow, or emerge anew
- Vejo
- First-person singular present of 'ver': 'I see'
- jovens
- Young people; persons of a young age
- concidadãos
- Fellow citizens of the same city or country
- cuja
- Relative pronoun meaning 'whose' (feminine)
- infelicidade
- The state of being unhappy; misfortune
- ter
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to have'
- herdado
- Past participle of 'herdar': inherited from someone
- fazendas
- Large rural estates or farms
- casas
- Buildings used as human dwellings; houses
- celeiros
- Buildings for storing grain or hay; barns
- gado
- Domesticated livestock, especially cattle
- ferramentas
- Implements used to perform manual tasks; tools
- agrícolas
- Relating to farming or agricultural activities
- estas
- Demonstrative pronoun: 'these' (feminine)
- facilmente
- In an easy manner; without difficulty
- adquiridas
- Obtained or gained through effort or purchase
- descartadas
- Thrown away, discarded, or gotten rid of
- Melhor
- Adjective or adverb meaning 'better'
- teria
- Conditional of 'ter': 'would have'
- sido
- Past participle of 'ser': 'been'
- tivessem
- Subjunctive past of 'ter': 'they had' (hypothetical)
- nascido
- Past participle of 'nascer': born into the world
- pasto
- Open land where animals graze; pasture
- aberto
- Not closed or enclosed; open
- amamentados
- Nursed or suckled by an animal or mother
- loba
- A female wolf
- pudessem
- Subjunctive past of 'poder': 'they could' (hypothetical)
- visto
- Past participle of 'ver': seen with the eyes
- olhos
- Organs of sight; eyes
- claros
- Clear, bright, or unclouded
- campo
- Open rural land or countryside; field
- chamados
- Called or summoned to do something
- trabalhar
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to work'
- Quem
- Interrogative pronoun meaning 'who'
- fez
- Past tense of 'fazer': 'made' or 'did'
- servos
- People bound in service; serfs or servants
- terra
- The ground, soil, or land
- deveriam
- Conditional of 'dever': 'they should' or 'ought to'
- devorar
- To eat greedily or consume entirely
- sessenta
- The number sixty
- quando
- Conjunction or adverb meaning 'when'
- homem
- An adult male human being; man
- condenado
- Sentenced or doomed to a fate
- engolir
- To swallow food or liquid down the throat
- quinhão
- One's allotted share or portion of something
- começar
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to begin' or 'to start'
- davar
- To dig into the ground with a tool
- sepulturas
- Places where the dead are buried; graves
- nascem
- Third-person plural of 'nascer': 'they are born'
- viver
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to live'
- vida
- The state of being alive; life
- empurrando
- Pushing something forward with force
- essas
- Demonstrative pronoun: 'those' nearby (feminine plural)
- coisas
- Objects, matters, or items; things
- frente
- The forward-facing side; front
- virar
- To turn around or manage as best possible
- tão
- Adverb meaning 'so' or 'as' (intensifier)
- quanto
- Adverb meaning 'as much as' or 'how much'
- podem
- Third-person plural of 'poder': 'they can'
- Quantas
- Interrogative adjective: 'how many' (feminine)
- pobres
- Having little money or resources; poor
- almas
- The spiritual or immaterial part of beings; souls
- imortais
- Not subject to death; immortal
- encontrei
- Past tense of 'encontrar': 'I found' or 'I met'
- quase
- Adverb meaning 'almost' or 'nearly'
- esmagadas
- Crushed or overwhelmed by heavy weight or burden
- sufocadas
- Deprived of air; suffocated or smothered
- sob
- Preposition meaning 'under' or 'beneath'
- fardo
- A heavy load or burden carried with difficulty
- rastejando
- Moving slowly close to the ground; crawling
- estrada
- A road or path for travel
- celeiro
- A building for storing grain; barn
- setenta
- The number seventy
- pés
- Units of length measurement; feet
- quarenta
- The number forty
- estábulos
- Buildings where horses or cattle are kept
- jamais
- Adverb meaning 'never' or 'ever' (emphatic)
- limpos
- Free from dirt or impurity; clean
- cem
- The number one hundred
- lavoura
- Cultivated agricultural land; cropland or tillage
- pastagem
- Land covered with grass for grazing animals
- prado
- A grassy meadow or open green field
- bosque
- A small wooded area or grove of trees
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