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

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

XXVI	XXVII	XXVIII	XXIX	XXX

XXVI
E quelli puntuali! Appena giorno,
Che ce se cominciava appena a vede,
Se n'agnedero, e come che sbarcorno
Nun sapeveno dove mette er piede.

Defatti, appena scenti se trovorno
Davanti a 'na foresta da nun crede,
Dove che malappena che c'entrorno,
Che vòi vedé, percristo, lo stravede!

Te basta a dì che lì in quella foresta,
Capischi? Le piantine de cicoria
Je 'rivaveno qui, sopra la testa.

Eh, quelli, già, se sa, sò siti barberi:
Ma tu, invece de ride, pïa la storia
E poi tu viemme a dì si che sò l'arberi.

XXVI
And punctually! As soon as morning broke,
And light was barely enough to see,
They set off, but when they landed
They just didn't know where to proceed.

In fact, once there, they found themselves
Facing an unbelievable forest,
Where, as soon as they entered,
By Christ! they saw such incredible things! [1]

It's enough to say that in this forest,
You know? Chicory plants [2]
Grew this big [3] , up to their heads.

Ah, of course, those are wild places:
But, instead of laughing, open the history book [4]
And check out yourself what those trees are like.

[1] · The new version of this verse (see also sonnet XVII, note 1) is:
They found themselves amidst incredible things!.

[2] · Wild chicory is a very common edible plant, about
five inches tall, easily found in the country all around Rome.

[3] · In saying this, who speaks lifts his arm to show
how tall the plants grew.

[4] · The same history textbook mentioned in sonnet no.IV, note 2.

XXVII
Ché lì l'arberi, amico, o callo o gelo,
Be', quelli da li secoli passati,
Da che Domineddio ce l'ha piantati
Sò rimasti così, quest'è vangelo.

E lì, cammini sempre in mezzo a un velo
D'un ciafrujo de rami, intorcinati
Co' l'antri rami, che te sò 'rivati
Che le punte, perdio, sfonneno er cèlo.

E l'erba? Sta intrecciata così stretta
Che 'na persona, lì, si vò annà avanti,
Bisogna che la rompe co' l'accetta.

E poi che rompi? Si!... Ne rompi un metro;
Ma all'urtimo bisogna che la pianti,
Ché lì fai un passo avanti e cento addietro.

XXVII
Because those trees, my friend, cold or hot it may be,
Since the earliest centuries,
When God planted them there himself,
Have always remained as they are, this is the truth.

There you always walk amidst a layer
Of branches and wigs tangled together
With other branches, to the point that
Their tips reach the sky.

And grass? It is so tightly woven
That if somebody wants to walk through it
He needs to break it with a hatchet.

But then!... You may be able to break it for one yard;
And then you have to quit,
You make one step forward, and a hundred backwards. [1]

[1] · Meaning: 'the more you proceed, the more you realize
how far from anywhere you still are'.

XXVIII
Ma poi nun serve a dille tutte quante!
La gran difficortà de quella sérva
È che tu, framezzo a quelle piante,
Tu 'gni passo che fai, trovi 'na berva.

E li, capischi, ce ne trovi tante
Come stassero drento a 'na riserva;
E ce bazzica puro l'eliofante,
Che sarebbe er Purcin de la Minerva.

Eh, p'annà lì bisogna èssece pratico,
Perché poi, quanno meno te l'aspetti,
C'è er caso d'incontrà l'omo servatico.

E quello è peggio assai de li leoni;
E quello te se magna a cinichetti,
Te se magna co' tutti li carzoni.

XXVIII
And there's no need to mention everything!
The big problem with that forest
Is that, amidst the plants,
Every step you make, you meet a wild animal.

And, you see, there are so many of them
As if they were in a preserve;
And there you can even find the elephant,
That is to say Minerva's Chick. [1]

Ah, you need to be confident to go there,
Because, all of a sudden,
You might have chance to meet the wild man.

And he is much worse than lions;
He will eat you up in small pieces,
He will eat you with your trousers still on.

[2] · Minerva's Chick is the popular name of a statue featuring
a small elephant supporting an obelisk, in piazza della Minerva,
in Rome.
(For further details, see Minerva's Chick).

XXIX
- E quelli? - Quelli? Je successe questa:
Che mentre, lì, framezzo ar villutello
Cusì arto, p'entrà ne la foresta
Rompeveno li rami cor cortello,

Veddero un fregno buffo, co' la testa
Dipinta come fosse un giocarello,
Vestito mezzo ignudo, co' 'na cresta
Tutta formata de penne d'ucello.

Se fermorno. Se fecero coraggio...
- A quell'omo! je fecero, chi séte?
- E, fece, chi ho da esse? Sò un servaggio.

E voi antri quaggiù chi ve ce manna?
- Ah, je fecero, voi lo saperete
Quando vedremo er re che ve commanna.

XXIX
- And what about them? - Them? This happened:
Among weeds so tall,
While they were cutting branches with knives
To enter the forest,

They saw a funny creature, with a painted head
As if it had been a toy,
Dressed up half naked [1] , with a cap
All made up of bird feathers.

They stopped. They gathered their courage....
- Hey you! they said, who are you?
He answered - Who should I be? I'm a savage. [2]

And who on earth sent you so far?
- Ah, they answered, you will know
When we will meet the king who rules over you.

[1] · Almost as if being half naked was the wild man's
own clothing.

[2] · This is one of the poem's most famous passages.
Almost as in a cartoon, the native replies to the explorers:
"I'm a savage, who were you expecting to find in the
middle of a forest?"

XXX
E quello, allora, je fece er piacere
De portalli dar re, ch'era un surtano,
Vestito tutto d'oro: co' 'n cimiere
De penne che pareva un musurmano.

E quelli allora, co' bone maniere,
Dice: - Sa? Noi venimo da lontano,
Per cui, dice, voressimo sapere
Si lei siete o nun siete americano.

- Che dite? fece lui, de dove semo?
Semo de qui, ma come sò chiamati
'Sti posti, fece, noi nu' lo sapemo. -

Ma vedi si in che modo procedeveno!
Te basta a dì che lì c'ereno nati
Ne l'America, e manco lo sapeveno.

XXX
So he made them the favour
Of leading them to the king, who was a sultan,
All dressed in gold: with a crest
Of feathers, looking like a muslim. [1]

So, in a polite manner, they started saying:
- You know? We come from afar,
Therefore we would like to know
If you are American or not.

- What? he replied, where are we from?
We are from here, but how this place
Is called, we do not know. -

Just imagine how they lived!
It's enough to say that they were born there
In America, and they did not even know.

[1] · Up to the late 19th century, Rome never had real
contacts with different civilizations, except with the Turks.
So, to the common people, anybody looking somewhat
unusual might have been compared to a Turk or a Muslim.