Virtual Rome - Language and Poetry - "The Discovery Of America" by C.Pascarella

	CESARE PASCARELLA LA SCOPERTA DE L'AMERICA (THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA) page 2	other pages: page 1 . . . I - V page 3 . . . XI - XV page 4 . . . XVI - XX page 5 . . . XXI - XXV page 6 . . . XXVI - XXX page 7 . . . XXXI - XXXV page 8 . . . XXXVI - XL page 9 . . . XLI - XLV page 10 . . XLVI - L

VI	VII	VIII	IX	X

VI
Basta, dunque, pe fà breve er discorso,
Va be', je fece er re, quer ch'ho promesso
Lo mantengo; ma, dice, ve confesso,
Che io nun ce vorrebbe avé rimorso;

Per cui, st'affare qui ha da fà er suo corso:
Perch'io, si governassi da me stesso,
Che c'entra? ve direbbe: annate adesso...
- Ma allora, fece lui, co' chi ho discorso?

Ma voi chi sete? er re o un particolare?
- Pe esse re so re, nun c'è quistione;
Ma mica posso fà quer che me pare.

Vor dì che voi portate li registri
De le spese, l'esatta relazione,
Che ve farò parlà co li ministri.

VI
So, to make it short,
All right, said the king, I'll keep my promise
But I must confess
That I wouldn't like to have any regret;

Therefore this matter should follow the usual procedure,
Because, had I ruled by myself,
Obviously I would tell you: go at once...
- So then, he said [1] , whom have I been talking to?

Who are you? The king or an ordinary subject?
- As for being the king, I certainly am, no doubt,
But I can't simply do what I want.

Let's say that if you bring the account books,
And the detailed list of expenses,
I will let the ministers talk to you.

[1] · i.e. Columbus said.

VII
E li ministri de qualunque Stato
So' stati sempre tutti de 'na setta!
Irre orre... te porteno in barchetta,
E te fanno contento e cojonato.

E così lui: ce se trovò incastrato
A doveje pe forza daje retta,
Je fecero la solita scoletta,
Da Erode lo mannaveno a Pilato.

E invece de venì a 'na decisione,
- Sa? je fecero, senza complimenti
Qui bisogna formà 'na commissione.

Lei j'annerà a spiegà de che se tratta,
E, dice, quanno loro so' contenti,
Ritorni pure che la cosa è fatta.

VII
Ministers of any state [1]
Have always been the same!
Blah blah... they beat about the bush,
And they fool you, letting you even feel satisfied.

The same happened to him; he was forced
To accept their ideas,
He had to undergo the usual procedure,
None of them would make up his mind.

And instead of reaching a final decision,
- You know? they told him abruptly,
We need to form a committee.

You will explain them what's it all about,
And when they are satisfied,
Come back, and everything will be solved.

[1] · This sonnet, together with number IX,
shows how the people of Rome have always mistrusted
their two main ruling classes: ministers and clergy.

VIII
Eh, giacchè ho fatto trenta, fece quello,
Be', dice, che vòi fà? famo trentuno.
Ci agnede, e se trovò in mezzo a un riduno
De gente che Dio sàrvete, fratello!

Lo teneveno lì come er zimbello!
L'interrogorno tutti, uno per uno,
E poi fecero, dice: - Sarv'ognuno,
Ma questo s'è svortato de cervello.

Lui parlava, ma manco lo sentiveno;
E più lui s'ammazzava pe scoprilla
E più quell'antri je la ricopriveno.

Ma lì, secondo me, ne li segreti
De quer complotto lì, ma manco a dilla,
C'era sotto la mano de li preti.

VIII
Ah, since I already reached this point,
Well, let's go ahead.
He went there, finding himself in the middle of a meeting
With such an awful kind of people!

They kept teasing him!
Each of them asked him questions, one by one,
And then they said: - Good Lord,
He's gone nuts.

He spoke, but they didn't even listen to him;
And the more he raised his voice
The more the others covered it.

But, according to me, among the secrets
Of that conspiracy, no need to say so,
There must have been the hand of priests.

IX
Ché mettetelo in testa ch'er pretaccio
È stato sempre lui, sempre lo stesso!
Er prete? È stato sempre quell'omaccio
Nimico de la patria e der progresso.

E in quelli tempi, poi, si un poveraccio
Se fosse, Dio ne scampi, compromesso,
Lo schiaffaveno sotto catenaccio,
E quer che'era successo era successo.

E si poi j'inventavi un'invenzione,
Te daveno, percristo, la tortura
Ner tribunale de l'inquisizione.

E 'na vorta lì dentro, sarv'ognuno,
La potevi tené più che sicura
Da fà la fine de Giordano Bruno.

IX
Because you ought to be aware that evil priests [1]
Have always been the same, at any time!
The priest? He has always been that wicked man
Who is against progress and the country.

And by those times, if a poor guy
Had got himself, say, into trouble,
They would have put him in chains,
And that's all.

And if you invented something new,
Christ! They tortured you
In the Inquisition tribunal.

And once in there, oh dear,
You could take it for sure
To end up burned [2] .

[1] · Still nowadays in Rome it is a common use to call
"priests" or "damn priests" egoistic people,
whose only aim, in any circumstance, is their own benefit.

[2] · Literally "to end up as Giordano Bruno", a philosopher
who was sentenced by the Inquisition to be burned, in year 1600.

X
Lui, defatti, se mésse in diffidenza;
E fece: dice, qui p'er vicinato
Se sente un po' de puzza d'abbruciato...
Ma fresca! dice, qui ce vo' prudenza.

Defatti tornò su da su' eccellenza,
Je fece: - Be', cos'hanno combinato?
- Eh, dice, sa? l'affare è un po' impicciato,
Ripassi un'antra vorta, abbia pazienza.

Ma lui pensò: ma qui giocamo a palla!
Ma qui me vonno mette ner canestro!
Ma sai che nova c'è? Mejo a piantalla!

La voleva piantà. Ma 'na matina,
Ma indovinece un po'? Nun je viè l'estro
De volè annà a parlà co' la regina?

X
In fact, he decided not to trust them;
And thought: here around
I can smell danger...
Damn! I need to be careful.

So he went back to His Majesty,
Asking him: - Well, what have they decided?
- Ah, you know, it's a rather complicated business,
Please be patient, come back again.

But he thought: are we playing games?
They want to screw me!
You know? It's better to dump everything.

He wanted to give up. But one morning,
Guess what! He had the idea
Of going to talk to the queen.