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

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

XXI	XXII	XXIII	XXIV	XXV

XXI
E io ne la mia piccola ignoranza
Me c'investo. Fa tutto quer cammino:
Arrivà in arto mare: arrivà insino...
Insino... a quela straccio de distanza,

E védete la morte in lontananza;
Volé vive, e sentitte lì vicino,
Ne l'orecchie, la voce der destino
Che te dice: lassate 'gni speranza!

Ma pensa quer che deve avé sofferto
Quell'omo, immassimato in quer pensiero,
De dì: - La terra c'è... Si...! Ne sò certo...-

E lì, sur punto d'essece arrivato,
Esse certo, percristo, ch'era vero,
E dové dì: va be', me sò sbajato.

XXI
From my humble point of view
I try to picture myself there. To go that far:
To reach the high seas: to reach...
That... tremendous distance,

And see death from afar;
To cling to life, and to hear nearby,
In their ears, the voice of fate
Saying: leave all hope!

Just imagine how much that man
Must have suffered, convinced as he was of his idea,
To say: - There's land... Yes...! I'm sure...-

And then, on the very point of reaching it,
To be sure he was right, by Christ!
Though having to say: well, I was wrong.

XXII
Ma lui che, quanto sia, già c'era avvezzo
A parlà pe convince le persone,
Je fece, dice: - Annamo co' le bone,
Venite qua, spaccamo er male in mezzo.

È vero, si, se tribola da un pezzo;
Percui, per arisorve sta quistione
Non c'è antro che fà 'na convenzione
Che a me me pare sia l'unico mezzo;

Che noi p'antri du' giorni annamo avanti,
E poi si proprio proprio nun c'è gnente
Se ritrocede indietro tutti quanti.

Ve capacita? Quelli ce pensorno;
Be', dice, sò du' giorni solamente...
Be', je fecero: annamo! e seguitorno.

XXII
But he, who was already confident
In speaking to people for convincing them,
Told the men: - Let's see it in a friendly way,
Come here, let's share the evil.

It is true, we have been struggling quite a while,
So, to solve this problem,
There is nothing else we can do but a deal,
Which seems to me the only way out;

That is, we keep going for two more days,
And then, if we really don't find anything,
We all go back.

Does this convince you? They thought about it;
Well, they said, it's only for two days...
Well, they said: let's go! and they kept sailing.

XXIII
Ma lui, capischi, lui la pensò fina!
Lui s'era fatto già l'esperimenti,
E dar modo ch'agiveno li venti,
Lui capì che la terra era vicina;

Percui, lui fece: intanto se cammina,
Be', dunque, dice, fàmoli contenti,
Ché tanto qui se tratta de momenti...
Defatti, come venne la matina,

Terra... Terra...! Percristo!... E tutti quanti
Ridevano, piagneveno, zompaveno...
Terra... Terra...! Percristo!... Avanti... Avanti!

E lì, a li gran pericoli passati
Chi ce pensava più? S'abbraccicaveno,
Se baciaveno... E c'ereno arrivati!

XXIII
But, you see, he had a cunning idea!
He had already made his plans,
And by the way the winds blew,
He had understood that they were close to land;

Therefore, he thought: in the meanwhile we keep going,
Well, let's keep them happy,
Because it's just a question of moments...
In fact, on the very next morning,

Land... Land...! Christ!... And everybody
Laughed, cried, jumped...
Land... Land...! Christ!... Come on... Keep going!

And right there, whoever thought
Of the dangers they had faced? They hugged,
They kissed... And they had made it!

XXIV
- Oh! Mo' che grazziaddio semo 'rivati,
A Bracioletta! portece da beve...
...Dì un po', quanti n'avevi già portati?
- Sette... e tre... - fanno dieci. A Nino, beve!

Bevéte, sora Pia, questo è Frascati,
Come vié se ne va. Ch'è roba greve?
...Dunque... Dunque dov'erimo restati?
- Che gnente ce voressivo ribeve?

- Oh, mo' nun comincià che nun hai voja.
Domani?... Ma de che?! Daje stasera,
Te possin'ammazzatte, sei 'n gran boja!

Eh, già, si tu facevi l'avocato,
Sai quanti ne finiveno in galera!
Dunque, sbrighete, sù, fatte escì er fiato.

XXIV
- Oh! Now that, thanks God, we have made it, [1]
Hey, Bracioletta! [2] bring us something to drink...
...Tell me, how many had you already brought us?
- Seven... and three... - ...makes ten. Hey Nino, drink!

Drink, mrs.Pia, this is Frascati [3] ,
It's really light stuff. Do you find it stodgy?
... So, then... What were we saying?
- Would anybody have another drop?

Now don't start saying you won't tell us the rest.
Tomorrow?... What?! Come on, this evening;
The devil take you, you're a real rogue!

Yes, had you been a lawyer,
God knows how many would end up in prison!
So come on, be quick, and go ahead with the story.

[1] · Who speaks now is one of the people to whom
the story is being told, who wants a break for having a drink.

[2] · "Bracioletta", literally "Pork chop", is the inn-keeper's
nickname. It is usually given to a man who has a very stout build.

[3] · Frascati, after the village located a few miles south of Rome,
is the most well-known white wine of the area.

XXV
Dunque come finì? - Finì benone!
Finì che quanno tutto era finito,
Se cominciò a formà come un partito,
Che je voleva fà l'opposizione.

Je diceveno: Si, avete ragione,
Nun c'è gnente che dì, séte istruito,
È l'America, si, nun c'è quistione,
Ma poi, si invece fosse un antro sito? -

Ma lui li mésse co' le spalle ar muro:
Je fece, dice: Ah si? Ne dubitate?
Me dispiace, ma io ne sò sicuro.

Vor dì che poi, si voi nun ce credete,
Domani presto, ar primo che incontrate
Annàtejelo a dì, che sentirete.

XXV
So, how did it end? - It ended well!
When everything was over,
A kind of faction started to grow,
Who wanted to oppose him.

They told him: Yes, you are right,
Nothing to say, your are a taught man,
It's America, yes, there's no doubt,
But what if, instead, this was another land? -

So he fixed them right:
He told them: Well then, are you in doubt?
I'm sorry, but I'm absolutely sure.

In this case, if you don't believe me,
Tomorrow morning ask any first person
You will meet, he will tell you.