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Title: The idiots
Gli Idioti
Author: Joseph Conrad
Translator: Hilda Campioni
Release Date: December 05, 2020 [EBook #63893]
Language: English
Character set encoding: UTF-8
Produced by: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE IDIOTS ***
Transcriber’s Note:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
| Serie Bilingue | Bilingual Series | ||
| Direttore: J. E. MANSION | General Editor: J. E. MANSION | ||
| GLI IDIOTI | THE IDIOTS | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| DI | BY | ||
| JOSEPH CONRAD | JOSEPH CONRAD | ||
| TRADUZIONE DI | |||
| HILDA CAMPIONI | |||
| LONDRA | NUOVA-YORK | LONDON | NEW YORK |
| GEORGE G. HARRAP | BRENTANO’S | GEORGE G. HARRAP | BRENTANO’S |
| & COMPANY LTD. | PUBLISHERS: FIFTH AVENUE | & COMPANY LTD. | PUBLISHERS: FIFTH AVENUE |
| Portsmouth Street Kingsway | & 27TH STREET | Portsmouth Street Kingsway | & 27TH STREET |
| SYDNEY: THE AUSTRALASIAN PUBLISHING COMPANY LTD. | SYDNEY: THE AUSTRALASIAN PUBLISHING COMPANY LTD. | ||
| 4 | |
INTRODUZIONE |
INTRODUCTION |
| Nella Revue des Deux Mondes dell’ottobre 1919 L. Gillet, in suo apprezzamento su La Freccia d’Oro (The Arrow of Gold) di Joseph Conrad, scrive quanto segue: | In the Revue des Deux Mondes of October 1st, 1919, Mr L. Gillet, in the course of an appreciation of Mr Joseph Conrad’s Arrow of Gold, writes as follows: |
| “Ciò che è originale e caratteristico nell’autore di Anime Inquiete (Tales of Unrest), ciò che costituisce la base permanente della sua arte e a cui sempre ritorniamo, discutendo su lui, è il senso del mistero. | “What is original and characteristic in the author of the Tales of Unrest, what constitutes the permanent basis of his art, what we are always brought back to, when he is under discussion, is the sense of mystery. |
| “I suoi personaggi, sebbene vibranti di vita, noi abbiamo quasi sempre l’impressione di conoscerli solo a metà: ogni tanto essi ci sorprendono con gesti o sentimenti del tutto in disaccordo colla loro personalità a noi nota, come se un secondo carattere, a loro stessi sconosciuto, agisse improvvisamente in loro vece, come se nel bel mezzo d’un dramma il suggeritore fosse mosso improvvisamente a modificarne il testo e alterarne le parti. C’è sempre negli eroi di Conrad un segreto di cui la chiave non è a portata della nostra mano. Vanno e vengono, e a un tratto una forza diversa da loro prende il loro posto, e fa loro commettere azioni strane e impreviste. | “His characters, though quivering with life, nearly always give us the impression that they are only half known to us; now and again they surprise us by gestures, feelings, which do not agree with what we know of their personality: it is as though a second character, unknown to themselves, suddenly acted in their stead; as though in the middle of a play the prompter were suddenly moved to modify the text and to alter the parts. There is always, in Mr Conrad’s heroes, a secret, the key to which is withheld from us; they come and go, and suddenly a power different from themselves takes their place, and makes them commit strange and unlooked-for actions.... |
| 5“Questi esseri, quasi sempre ammirabili per la loro energia, rappresentano la lotta fra una volontà eroica e una forza oscura e indefinita, la quale è la forza della vita, forza che in un attimo, come un fiotto di mare, leva loro i piedi di sotto, li rovina e distrugge, li stracca vinti, come resti di un naufragio.” | “Those beings, nearly always admirable by their energy, represent the struggle of a heroic will against an obscure and undefinable power, which is that of life, and which in a moment, like a ground-swell, lifts them off their feet, ruins and destroys them, leaves them vanquished, like flotsam after a shipwreck.” |
| Sarebbe difficile dare di Anime inquiete, e più particolarmente della novella che Conrad cortesemente ci ha permesso estrarre da quel volume, più acconcio apprezzamento. | It would be difficult to give of the Tales of Unrest, and more particularly of the story which Mr Conrad has kindly allowed us to take from that volume, a more fitting appreciation. |
| La novella non è giocosa, ma Conrad non è scrittore giocoso; l’opera sua ha altre caratteristiche, che H. Taine si sarebbe compiaciuto di spiegarci come dovute “alla razza,[1] all’ambiente, al momento.” | The story is not a hilarious one, but Mr Conrad is not a hilarious writer; his work has other characteristics, which H. Taine would have delighted in explaining to us as due to “the race,[2] the environment, and the moment.” |
| Perchè Conrad è di origine polacca e passò a Varsavia la sua prima gioventù framezzo ai moti politici che culminarono nella ribellione del 1862, e che travolse fra i primi i suoi genitori. Questi, fisicamente affranti dalla prigionia e dall’esilio, furono senza dubbio i primi esempi pel futuro scrittore di quei tragici eroi, lottanti cupamente e pur coraggiosamente col Fato, ch’egli doveva così spesso dipingerci negli anni avvenire. | For Mr Conrad is of Polish extraction, and at Warsaw his early youth was spent amid political unrest which culminated in the rebellion of 1862, and of which the foremost victims were his parents. The latter, physically broken by imprisonment and exile, were no doubt the future writer’s first examples of those tragic heroes, struggling gloomily yet bravely against Fate, which he was to depict so often in later years. |
| 6Inoltre il padre di Conrad fu uomo dotto, traduttore di Shakespeare, di Victor Hugo, di Alfred de Vigny, con una propensione speciale per l’autore di Chatterton e della Morte del Lupo. Così le tendenze letterarie del figlio verrebbero notevolmente ad appoggiare la teoria dell’ereditarietà. | Mr Conrad’s father, moreover, was a gifted scholar, a translator of Shakespeare, of Victor Hugo, of Alfred de Vigny, with a special fondness for the author of Chatterton and of The Death of the Wolf. Thus the literary tendencies of the son would appear to afford a striking instance of heredity. |
| Perduti i genitori all’età di dodici anni, Conrad rimase sotto la tutela dello zio, ricco proprietario. Tre o quattr’anni dopo egli espresse la sua aspirazione di andare in mare, aspirazione di cui Taine sarebbe stato imbarazzato rintracciarne le origini, e che invero sgomentò tutta la famiglia, eccetto suo zio. Egli trovò prudente di non accordare subito il suo consenso, ma lo diede qualche mese dopo, quando si convinse che questo non era un capriccio di passaggio, ed il giovanetto partì per Marsiglia, dove degli amici erano disposti ad avviarlo nella marina mercantile. | Having lost his parents before the age of twelve, Mr Conrad came under the care of his uncle, a large estate-owner. Three or four years later he expressed a wish to go to sea, a wish which Taine would have been somewhat puzzled to account for, and which indeed shocked all the family, his uncle alone excepted. The latter thought it wise to withhold his consent for a few months, but granted it as soon as he was convinced that this was no passing fancy, and the young man departed for Marseilles, where some friends were ready to give him a start in the mercantile marine. |
| Ma Conrad ci racconta anche questo fatto, un po’ strano, ch’egli aveva già dapprima deciso di cercare la sua fortuna nella marina inglese. Infatti egli venne ben presto da Marsiglia a Londra, e, finito l’usato tirocinio, fece vela per l’Estremo Oriente, ove restò parecchi anni, visitò in lungo e in largo l’Arcipelago della Malesia, e prese il diploma di capitano nel 1884. | Mr Conrad has told us this other singular fact that he had already decided to seek his fortune in the British service. From Marseilles he soon came to London, then ‘served his time’ in the usual way, sailed for many years to the Far East, visited every nook of the Malay Archipelago, and took his captain’s certificate in 1884. |
| 7Fin’allora egli s’era dato poca cura, si direbbe almeno, della letteratura. Tuttavia sei anni dopo egli portava con sè in giro certo manoscritto, scritto nella lingua della sua patria adottiva, cominciato con difficoltà, continuato a fatica riga per riga, negletto spesso per mesi e mesi, trascicato a zonzo dai Mari della Cina all’Ucraina, le cui vicissitudini ci sono in parte rivelate dall’autore nei suoi Ricordi Autobiografici (A Personal Record). | Until that time he had, it would appear, little thought of literature. Yet six years later he was carrying about with him a certain manuscript, written in the tongue of his adopted country, begun with difficulty, continued “line by line,” often neglected for months at a time, lugged about from the China Seas to the Ukraine, and the vicissitudes of which have been partly disclosed to us by the author in A Personal Record. |
| Questo manoscritto, La Pazzia di Almayer (Almayer’s Folly), fu pubblicato nel 1895. Conrad s’era avviato per una nuova carriera: egli era ormai definitivamente scrittore. Da allora, in un tempo assai breve, col suo romanzo Il Negro del Narciso (The Nigger of the Narcissus) (1897) e con Anime Inquiete (Tales of Unrest) (1898), egli acquistò una fama che si sparse ben presto fuor dei confini della sua patria adottiva. | This MS., Almayer’s Folly, at last saw the light of day in 1895. Mr Conrad had entered upon a new career and given himself up definitely to writing. In a very short space of time, with his novel The Nigger of the Narcissus (1897) and the Tales of Unrest (1898), he achieved a fame which had soon spread beyond his adoptive country. |
| Fra le molte opere che seguirono possiamo nominare: Gioventù ed altri Racconti (Youth and Other Tales) in parte autobiografici; Tifone (Typhoon); Nostromo; Lo Specchio del Mare (The Mirror of the Sea); L’Agente Segreto (The Secret Agent); Fra Terra e Mare (’Twixt Land and Sea); Fortuna (Chance); e l’ultima novella, che già eccelle fra i suoi lavori: La Freccia d’Oro (The Arrow of Gold). | Among the numerous volumes which followed, we may mention: Youth, and other Tales, partly autobiographical; Typhoon; Nostromo; The Mirror of the Sea; The Secret Agent; ’Twixt Land and Sea; Chance; and the recent story, which will certainly stand conspicuous among his works: The Arrow of Gold. |
| 8Nel breve racconto che segue, le qualità dominanti dell’autore sono facilmente riconoscibili: esatta osservazione e scelta sicura delle linee essenziali nella presentazione di personaggi e di fatti, unitamente a una selezione rigorosa dell’ esatta parola: in breve la tecnica impeccabile di Flaubert e di Maupassant; poi, un profondo senso del mistero nel quale è avvolta l’anima umana, ed infine quel gran soffio tragico che ispirò Eschilo e Sofocle, e che, fino alla comparsa di Conrad, non era ancora apparso nella letteratura moderna. | In the short tale which follows the dominant qualities of the author are easily recognizable: exact observation and unerring choice of the essential feature in the presentation of characters and of facts, together with rigorous selection of the ‘right word’: in short, the faultless technique of Flaubert and of Maupassant; then, a deep sense of the mystery in which the human soul is wrapped; lastly, that great breath of tragedy which inspired Æschylus and Sophocles, and which, until the advent of Mr Conrad, had remained foreign to modern literature. |
| J. E. M. | |
| 9 | |
| GLI IDIOTI | THE IDIOTS |
|---|---|
| Percorrevamo in carrozza la strada che va da Tréguier a Kervanda. Passavamo ad un trotto serrato fra le siepi alzate sui ripari di terra che fiancheggiavano la strada, quando, al piede della ripida ascesa che precede Ploumar,[3] il cavallo si mise spontaneamente al passo, mentre il cocchiere saltava da cassetta pesantemente a terra. | We were driving along the road from Tréguier to Kervanda. We passed at a smart trot between the hedges topping an earth wall on each side of the road; then at the foot of the steep ascent before Ploumar[4] the horse dropped into a walk, and the driver jumped down heavily from the box. |
| Egli fece scoppiettare la frusta e s’inerpicò sul pendio, salendo grevemente il colle a fianco del veicolo, la mano sul predellino e l’occhio a terra. | He flicked his whip and climbed the incline, stepping clumsily uphill by the side of the carriage, one hand on the footboard, his eyes on the ground. |
| Dopo un certo tempo alzò la testa, indicò avanti a lui la strada colla punta della sua frusta e disse: | After a while he lifted his head, pointed up the road with the end of the whip, and said: |
| L’idiota! | “The idiot!” |
| 10Il sole abbruciava l’ondeggiante distesa della campagna. I rilievi del terreno erano coronati da ciuffi di alberi scarni, coi rami tesi così alti nel cielo come se ne stessero lì appollaiati su trampoli. I campicelli, tagliati da siepi e da muriccioli che serpeggiavano su pei pendii, si disponevano in chiazze rettangolari di verde vivido e di giallo, come in un imbratto d’inesperto tentativo pittorico. | The sun was shining violently upon the undulating surface of the land. The rises were topped by clumps of meagre trees, with their branches showing high on the sky as if they had been perched upon stilts. The small fields, cut up by hedges and stone walls that zigzagged over the slopes, lay in rectangular patches of vivid greens and yellows, resembling the unskilful daubs of a naïve picture. |
| E il paesaggio era diviso in due dalla striscia bianca di una strada, perdentesi in lunghe volute lontano, come un fiume di polvere strisciante giù dai colli verso il mare. | And the landscape was divided in two by the white streak of a road stretching in long loops far away, like a river of dust crawling out of the hills on its way to the sea. |
| Eccolo! disse il cocchiere di nuovo. | “Here he is,” said the driver, again. |
| Tra l’erba alta del ciglione, passò di sfuggita una faccia a fianco della carrozza all’altezza delle ruote, mentre noi in essa lentamente salivamo. La faccia scema era rossa, e la pallottola del capo, con brevi capelli smozzicati, sembrava sola giacere, col mento nella polvere. Il corpo era perduto tra i cespugli che crescevano fitti, giù nel profondo fossato. | In the long grass bordering the road a face glided past the carriage at the level of the wheels as we drove slowly by. The imbecile face was red, and the bullet head with close-cropped hair seemed to lie alone, its chin in the dust. The body was lost in the bushes growing thick along the bottom of the deep ditch. |
| Era una faccia di ragazzo. Avrebbe potuto avere sedici anni a giudicare dalla grandezza—forse meno, forse più. | It was a boy’s face. He might have been sixteen, judging from the size—perhaps less, perhaps more. |
| Tali creature vengono dimenticate dal tempo, e vivono non tocche dagli anni, finchè la morte li stringa al suo petto compassionevole: la morte fedele, che mai dimentica, nell’incalzare del suo lavoro, il più insignificante dei suoi figlioli. | Such creatures are forgotten by time, and live untouched by years till death gathers them up into its compassionate bosom; the faithful death that never forgets in the press of work the most insignificant of its children. |
| 11Ah! eccone un altro! disse l’uomo, con una certa soddisfazione nella voce, come avvistando qualche cosa di atteso. | “Ah! there’s another,” said the man, with a certain satisfaction in his tone, as if he had caught sight of something expected. |
| Ce n’era un altro. Questo stava quasi nel mezzo della strada nella vampa del sole, all’estremità della breve ombra ch’egli stesso proiettava. E stava con le mani conficcate nelle opposte maniche della sua lunga veste, la testa incassata nelle spalle, tutto raggomitolato in sè stesso in quel flusso di canicola. | There was another. That one stood nearly in the middle of the road in the blaze of sunshine at the end of his own short shadow. And he stood with hands pushed into the opposite sleeves of his long coat, his head sunk between the shoulders, all hunched up in the flood of heat. |
| Da lontano aveva l’aspetto di qualcuno intirizzito da un intenso freddo. | From a distance he had the aspect of one suffering from intense cold. |
| Questi due son gemelli, spiegò il cocchiere. | “Those are twins,” explained the driver. |
| L’idiota si trascicò due passi addietro e ci guardò per di sopra la spalla mentre passavamo strusciando da presso. Lo sguardo era vacuo e fisso, uno sguardo incantato; ma non si voltò a guardarci dietro. Probabilmente l’immagine passò davanti agli occhi, senza lasciar traccia nel deforme cervello della creatura. | The idiot shuffled two paces out of the way and looked at us over his shoulder when we brushed past him. The glance was unseeing and staring, a fascinated glance; but he did not turn to look after us. Probably the image passed before the eyes without leaving any trace on the misshapen brain of the creature. |
| Arrivati al sommo della salita, guardai al disopra del mantice. Egli era nella strada tal’ e quale dove l’avevamo lasciato. | When we had topped the ascent I looked over the hood. He stood in the road just where we had left him. |
| Il cocchiere s’aggrappò per riprendere il suo sedile, fece schioccare la lingua, e scendemmo il colle. Il freno strideva orribilmente di tanto in tanto. Al piede della collina egli allentò il rumoroso meccanismo, e disse, voltandosi a mezzo sul suo sedile: | The driver clambered into his seat, clicked his tongue, and we went down hill. The brake squeaked horribly from time to time. At the foot he eased off the noisy mechanism and said, turning half round on his box: |
| Ne vedremo degli altri fra poco. | “We shall see some more of them by and by.” |
| 12 | |
| Altri idioti? Quanti ce ne sono allora? domandai. | “More idiots? How many of them are there, then?” I asked. |
| Ce ne sono quattro, figli di un contadino qui vicino a Ploumar... | “There’s four of them—children of a farmer near Ploumar here.... |
| I genitori sono morti ora, egli aggiunse dopo alquanto tempo. La nonna vive alla masseria. Durante il giorno essi ciondolano per questa strada, e rincasano al crepuscolo, assieme al bestiame... È un ricco podere! | “The parents are dead now,” he added, after a while. “The grandmother lives on the farm. In the daytime they knock about on this road, and they come home at dusk along with the cattle.... It’s a good farm.” |
| Vedemmo gli altri due: un ragazzo e una ragazzetta, come disse il vetturino. Essi erano vestiti esattamente identici, in un informe abbigliamento con una specie di gonnella. | We saw the other two: a boy and a girl, as the driver said. They were dressed exactly alike, in shapeless garments with petticoat-like skirts. |
| Lo storpio essere che viveva dentro a loro mosse quelle creature a berciare dietro a noi dal sommo del cigliare dove essi giacevano, fra gli steli flessibili del ginestrone. | The imperfect thing that lived within them moved those beings to howl at us from the top of the bank, where they sprawled amongst the tough stalks of furze. |
| Le loro teste nere tosate sporgevano fuori dalla gialla parete smagliante fatta dagli innumeri fiorellini. Le faccie erano imporporate dallo sforzo degli strilli; le voci suonavano vuote e fesse, come di un congegno che imitasse una voce di vecchio; e cessarono subito quando noi svoltammo in un sentiero. | Their cropped black heads stuck out from the bright yellow wall of countless small blossoms. The faces were purple with the strain of yelling; the voices sounded blank and cracked like a mechanical imitation of old people’s voices; and suddenly ceased when we turned into a lane. |
| Li rividi molte volte nel mio vagabondare per la campagna. Essi vivevano su quella strada, accoccolandosi lunghessa, più in su o più in giù, secondo gli inesplicabili impulsi della loro tenebra mostruosa. | I saw them many times in my wandering about the country. They lived on that road, drifting along its length here and there, according to the inexplicable impulses of their monstrous darkness. |
| 13 | |
| Essi erano un’offesa alla luce del sole, un rimprovero alla vanità del cielo, un offuscamento al vigore denso e concentrato del paesaggio selvaggio. | They were an offence to the sunshine, a reproach to empty heaven, a blight on the concentrated and purposeful vigour of the wild landscape. |
| Col tempo la storia dei loro genitori prese contorno ai miei occhi, fuor dalle mozze risposte alle mie domande, fuor dalle indifferenti parole udite alle bettole che fiancheggiavano la via o sulla strada bazzicata da quegli idioti. | In time the story of their parents shaped itself before me out of the listless answers to my questions, out of the indifferent words heard in wayside inns or on the very road those idiots haunted. |
| Parte me ne fu detta da un vecchio, scettico ed emaciato, munito di una terribile frusta, mentre faticosamente procedevamo insieme sulle dune, a fianco di un carro a due ruote carico d’alghe gocciolanti.[5] | Some of it was told by an emaciated and sceptical old fellow with a tremendous whip, while we trudged together over the sands by the side of a two-wheeled cart loaded with dripping seaweed.[6] |
| Poi, altra volta, altra gente mi confermò e completò la storia: finchè alla fine me la vidi tutta dinanzi, formidabile e semplice a un tempo, come si palesano sempre queste rivelazioni di oscure prove, passate attraverso il cuore degli umili. | Then at other times other people confirmed and completed the story: till it stood at last before me, a tale formidable and simple, as they always are, those disclosures of obscure trials endured by ignorant hearts. |
| Quando tornò dal suo servizio militare, Jean-Pierre Bacadou trovò i suoi vecchi assai decadenti. Osservò con dolore che il lavoro della terra non era fatto a dovere: il padre non aveva l’energia dei tempi andati, le opre non sentivano sopra di sè l’occhio del padrone. | When he returned from his military service Jean-Pierre Bacadou found the old people very much aged. He remarked with pain that the work of the farm was not satisfactorily done. The father had not the energy of old days. The hands did not feel over them the eye of the master. |
| Jean-Pierre notò con pena che il mucchio del letame nel cortile, davanti all’unico ingresso di casa, non era colmo quanto avrebbe dovuto essere, le chiuse erano così malandate da abbisognare di riparazioni e il bestiame soffriva d’esser negletto. | Jean-Pierre noted with sorrow that the heap of manure in the courtyard before the only entrance to the house was not so large as it should have been. The fences were out of repair, and the cattle suffered from neglect. |
| A casa, la madre era quasi definitivamente allettata, e le donne facevano schiamazzo nella vasta cucina, senza che nessuno le riprendesse, dalla mattina alla sera. | At home the mother was practically bedridden and the girls chattered loudly in the big kitchen unrebuked, from morning to night. |
| Egli disse fra sè: | He said to himself: |
| Tutto ciò cambierà! | “We must change all this.” |
| Ne parlò al padre una sera, quando i raggi del sole al tramonto, entrando nel cortile fra le varie adiacenze, rigavano le grevi ombre di striscie luminose. Sul letamaio si moveva una nebbia leggera di colore opalino e carica di esalazioni, e le galline in giro a far sacco avevano sospeso di razzolare, per scrutare con un subito sguardo del loro occhio rotondo i due uomini, entrambi alti ed asciutti, discorrenti con intonazioni rauche. | He talked the matter over with his father one evening when the rays of the setting sun entering the yard between the outhouses ruled the heavy shadows with luminous streaks. Over the manure heap floated a mist, opal-tinted and odorous, and the marauding hens would stop in their scratching to examine with a sudden glance of their round eye the two men, both lean and tall, talking in hoarse tones. |
| 15Il vecchio, rattratto dal reumatismo e curvo dagli anni e dal lavoro, il giovane ossuto ed eretto, parlavano senza gesti, con quell’indifferenza propria dei contadini, ch’è lenta e grave ad un tempo. Ma prima che il sole fosse tramontato, il padre aveva ceduto agli argomenti ragionevoli del figliolo. | The old man, all twisted with rheumatism and bowed with years of work, the younger bony and straight, spoke without gestures in the indifferent manner of peasants, grave and slow. But before the sun had set the father had submitted to the sensible arguments of the son. |
| Non è per me che io parlo! insisteva Jean-Pierre. È per la nostra terra. È un peccato il trarne così poco vantaggio. Per me non ho fretta... | “It is not for me that I am speaking,” insisted Jean-Pierre. “It is for the land. It’s a pity to see it badly used. I am not impatient for myself.” |
| Il vecchio tentennò il capo chino sul suo bastone. | The old fellow nodded over his stick. |
| Forse; forse... egli borbottò. Puoi aver ragione. Fa come ti pare. È la mamma che sarà contenta! | “I dare say; I dare say,” he muttered. “You may be right. Do what you like. It’s the mother that will be pleased.” |
| La madre fu soddisfatta della nuora. Jean-Pierre fece entrare di volata il baroccio nel cortile. Il cavallo grigio galoppò pesantemente, e gli sposi, seduti l’uno a fianco dell’altro, sobbalzarono periodicamente e bruscamente avanti e indietro nel movimento alterno delle stanghe. | The mother was pleased with her daughter-in-law. Jean-Pierre brought the two-wheeled spring-cart with a rush into the yard. The grey horse galloped clumsily, and the bride and bridegroom, sitting side by side, were jerked backwards and forwards by the up and down motion of the shafts, in a manner regular and brusque. |
| Sulla strada il corteo nuziale, rimasto distanziato, procedeva sbandato, a coppie ed a gruppi. Gli uomini avanzavano a passi pesanti, ciondolando le loro braccia oziose. Erano abbigliati in vesti cittadine: giacche tagliate con rozza pretensione, cappelli neri duri, stivali enormi fatti lucidi come specchi. | On the road the distanced wedding guests straggled in pairs and groups. The men advanced with heavy steps, swinging their idle arms. They were clad in town clothes; jackets cut with clumsy smartness, hard black hats, immense boots, polished highly. |
| 16 | |
| Le loro donne, tutte semplicemente in nero, con cuffie bianche e scialli a tinte smorte piegati a triangolo sulle spalle, trotterellavano a passo leggero ai loro fianchi. | Their women all in simple black, with white caps and shawls of faded tints folded triangularly on the back, strolled lightly by their side. |
| In testa un violino gemeva un’aria stridente e una cornamusa[7] russava e rombava, mentre il suonatore avanzava danzando solennemente in cadenza, levando alti i suoi pesanti zoccoli. | In front the violin sang a strident tune, and the biniou[8] snored and hummed, while the player capered solemnly, lifting high his heavy clogs. |
| L’oscura processione si sospingeva dentro e fuori agli stretti viottoli, traverso il sole e traverso l’ombra, fra i campi e le siepi e i filari degli alberi, spaurendo gli uccellini, che si precipitavano via a stormi a destra e a sinistra. Nell’aia dei Bacadou il nastro nero si avvolse in un viluppo solo di uomini e di donne, accalcatisi alla porta con grida e felicitazioni. | The sombre procession drifted in and out of the narrow lanes, through sunshine and through shade, between fields and hedgerows, scaring the little birds that darted away in troops right and left. In the yard of Bacadou’s farm the dark ribbon wound itself up into a mass of men and women pushing at the door with cries and greetings. |
| Il pranzo di nozze si ricordò per mesi e mesi. Fu un festino coi fiocchi, nel frutteto. Contadini notoriamente facoltosi e d’ottima riputazione si continuarono a trovare addormentati per le fosse, tutto lungo la strada fino a Tréguier, ancora nel pomeriggio del giorno successivo. Tutto il contado partecipò alla felicità di Jean-Pierre. | The wedding dinner was remembered for months. It was a splendid feast in the orchard. Farmers of considerable means and excellent repute were to be found sleeping in ditches, all along the road to Tréguier, even as late as the afternoon of the next day. All the country-side participated in the happiness of Jean-Pierre. |
| 17Egli rimase sobrio, e, assieme alla sua quieta sposa, si tenne in disparte, lasciando padre e madre raccogliere le loro spettanze di onori e di ringraziamenti. | He remained sober, and, together with his quiet wife, kept out of the way, letting father and mother reap their due of honour and thanks. |
| Ma il giorno dopo egli prese fermamente le redini, e i vecchi sentirono un’ombra—annunciatrice della tomba—cadere definitivamente su loro. Il mondo è per la gioventù! | But the next day he took hold strongly, and the old folks felt a shadow—precursor of the grave—fall upon them finally. The world is to the young. |
| Quando nacquero i gemelli, lo spazio non fece difetto nella casa, perchè la madre di Jean-Pierre se ne era andata a riposare sotto una pesante pietra nel cimitero di Ploumar. | When the twins were born there was plenty of room in the house, for the mother of Jean-Pierre had gone away to dwell under a heavy stone in the cemetery of Ploumar. |
| Quel giorno, per la prima volta dal matrimonio del figlio, il vecchio Bacadou, trascurato dal gruppo crocchiante di donne forestiere che affollavano la cucina, lasciò al mattino il suo sedile sotto la cappa del camino, ed andò nella stalla vuota, scuotendo tristemente le sue bianche ciocche... | On that day, for the first time since his son’s marriage, the elder Bacadou, neglected by the cackling lot of strange women who thronged the kitchen, left in the morning his seat under the mantel of the fire-place, and went into the empty cow-house, shaking his white locks dismally. |
| Va bene i nepoti, ma lui voleva la sua minestra a mezzogiorno! | Grandsons were all very well, but he wanted his soup at midday. |
| Quando gli mostrarono i neonati, li guardò a lungo con uno sguardo fisso, e borbottò qualche cosa come: È troppo! | When shown the babies, he stared at them with a fixed gaze, and muttered something like: “It’s too much.” |
| 18Se egli intendesse troppa felicità, o semplicemente commentasse il numero della sua discendenza, è impossibile dire. Prese un’aria offesa, per quanto la sua vecchia faccia incartapecorita potesse esprimerlo; e fu visto per giorni e giorni, quasi a tutte le ore, seduto al cancello, col mento sulle ginocchia, una pipa fra le gengive, tutto rattratto in una specie di rabbiosa e concentrata musoneria. | Whether he meant too much happiness, or simply commented upon the number of his descendants, it is impossible to say. He looked offended—as far as his old wooden face could express anything; and for days afterwards could be seen, almost any time of the day, sitting at the gate, with his nose over his knees, a pipe between his gums, and gathered up into a kind of raging concentrated sulkiness. |
| Una volta si rivolse querulo al figlio, alludendo ai nuovi venuti: | Once he spoke to his son, alluding to the newcomers with a groan: |
| Liticheranno pel podere! | “They will quarrel over the land.” |
| Non preoccupatevi di ciò, babbo! rispose Jean-Pierre con aria stolida, e passò, piegato in due, rimorchiandosi per sopra la spalla una vacca recalcitrante. | “Don’t bother about that, father,” answered Jean-Pierre, stolidly, and passed, bent double, towing a recalcitrant cow over his shoulder. |
| Egli era felice, e così Susanna la sua sposa. Non era una gioia eterea accogliente delle anime nuove alla lotta, forse alla vittoria... Fra quattordici anni entrambi i ragazzi sarebbero d’aiuto; e, più tardi, Jean-Pierre si figurava due robusti figlioli misuranti col passo la terra da zolla a zolla, e strappando al suolo beneamato e fertile il suo tributo. | He was happy, and so was Susan, his wife. It was not an ethereal joy welcoming new souls to struggle, perchance to victory. In fourteen years both boys would be a help; and, later on, Jean-Pierre pictured two big sons striding over the land from patch to patch, wringing tribute from the earth beloved and fruitful. |
| Anche Susanna era felice, perchè non desiderava che si parlasse di lei come della donna non benedetta, ed ora che aveva dei figli, nessuno avrebbe potuto darle tal nome. | Susan was happy too, for she did not want to be spoken of as the unfortunate woman, and now she had children no one could call her that. |
| Tanto lei che suo marito avevano conosciuto un più vasto mondo—lui al tempo del suo servizio militare, mentre lei aveva passato circa un anno a Parigi in una famiglia bretone; ma aveva troppo sofferto di nostalgia per stare più a lungo lontana dai suoi verdi colli, incastonati in una chiostra di rupi e di dune, dov’era nata. | Both herself and her husband had seen something of the larger world—he during the time of his service; while she had spent a year or so in Paris with a Breton family; but had been too home-sick to remain longer away from the hilly and green country, set in a barren circle of rocks and sands, where she had been born. |
| 19 | |
| Pensava che uno dei bimbi forse avrebbe potuto esser prete, ma non diceva nulla al marito, che era repubblicano e odiava i “corvi,” com’egli chiamava i ministri della religione. | She thought that one of the boys ought perhaps to be a priest, but said nothing to her husband, who was a republican, and hated the “crows,” as he called the ministers of religion. |
| Il battesimo fu un affare grandioso. Tutto il comune fu invitato, perchè i Bacadou erano ricchi e influenti e, di tanto in tanto, non badavano a spese. L’avolo ebbe una giubba nuova. | The christening was a splendid affair. All the commune came to it, for the Bacadous were rich and influential, and, now and then, did not mind the expense. The grandfather had a new coat. |
| Qualche mese dopo, una sera, dopo che la cucina fu scopata e fu data una mandata alla porta, Jean-Pierre, guardando verso il letticello, domandò a sua moglie: | Some months afterwards, one evening when the kitchen had been swept, and the door locked, Jean-Pierre, looking at the cot, asked his wife: |
| Che hanno quei ragazzi? | “What’s the matter with those children?” |
| E come se quelle parole pronunciate con calma fossero state presagio di male, ella rispose con sì alto gemito, ch’esso eccheggiò al di là dall’aia fino al porcile; perchè i maiali (quelli dei Bacadou erano i più belli del paese) s’agitarono e grugnirono lamentosamente nella notte. | And, as if these words, spoken calmly, had been the portent of misfortune, she answered with a loud wail that must have been heard across the yard in the pigsty; for the pigs (the Bacadous had the finest pigs in the country) stirred and grunted complainingly in the night. |
| Il marito continuò a maciullare lentamente il suo pane e burro, fissando il muro, mentre la scodella della minestra continuava a fumargli sotto il mento. | The husband went on grinding his bread and butter slowly, gazing at the wall, the soup-plate smoking under his chin. |
| Era ritornato tardi dal mercato, dove aveva afferrato alle sue spalle (e non per la prima volta) un bisbiglio. | He had returned late from the market, where he had overheard (not for the first time) whispers behind his back. |
| 20 | |
| Egli rimuginò in mente le parole ritornando col cavallo. | He revolved the words in his mind as he drove back. |
| Scemi! Tutt’e due... Due disutili per sempre!... Ebbene! Può anche darsi. Si vedrà. Si chiederà alla sposa... | “Simple! Both of them.... Never any use!... Well! May be, may be. One must see. Would ask his wife.” |
| Questa era la risposta. | This was her answer. |
| Sentì come una mazzata alla nuca, ma disse solamente: | He felt like a blow on his chest, but said only: |
| Va a spillare del sidro. Ho sete! | “Go, draw me some cider. I am thirsty!” |
| Ella uscì piagnucolando, con un boccale vuoto in mano. Allora egli si alzò, prese il lume, e mosse lentamente verso la culla. Essi dormivano. Li guardò di sbircio, finì lì il suo boccone, se ne ritornò grevemente, e sedette davanti alla sua scodella. | She went out moaning, an empty jug in her hand. Then he arose, took up the light, and moved slowly toward the cradle. They slept. He looked at them sideways, finished his mouthful there, went back heavily, and sat down before his plate. |
| Quando sua moglie tornò egli non alzò lo sguardo, ma ingoiò rumorosamente un paio di cucchiate e osservò in modo ottuso: | When his wife returned he never looked up, but swallowed a couple of spoonfuls noisily, and remarked, in a dull manner— |
| Quando dormono, essi sono come i figlioli degli altri. | “When they sleep they are like other people’s children.” |
| Essa si lasciò andare su uno sgabello lì accanto, scossa da una tempesta di singulti senza parola, incapace a parlare. | She sat down suddenly on a stool near by, and shook with a silent tempest of sobs, unable to speak. |
| Egli finì il suo pasto, e rimase buttato all’ indietro sulla sua sedia, l’occhio perduto fra le travi nere del soffitto. | He finished his meal, and remained idly thrown back in his chair, his eyes lost amongst the black rafters of the ceiling. |
| 21Davanti a lui la candela di sevo fiammeggiava rossa e diritta, mandando in alto un filo sottile di fumo. La luce batteva sulla pelle ruvida e abbronzata della sua gola; le guancie infossate erano come zone d’ombra, ed il suo aspetto era pietosamente stolido, come se ruminasse con difficoltà tutto un groviglio d’idee. | Before him the tallow candle flared red and straight, sending up a slender thread of smoke. The light lay on the rough, sunburnt skin of his throat; the sunk cheeks were like patches of darkness, and his aspect was mournfully stolid, as if he had ruminated with difficulty endless ideas. |
| Poi disse deliberatamente: | Then he said, deliberately: |
| Dobbiamo vedere... consultare qualcuno. Non piangere... Non saranno tutti così... certamente!... Ora si va a dormire. | “We must see ... consult people. Don’t cry.... They won’t be all like that ... surely! We must sleep now.” |
| Dopo che il terzo figliolo, un bambino pure, fu nato, Jean-Pierre si mise d’intorno al suo lavoro con intensa speranza. Le sue labbra sembravano più sottili, più strettamente serrate di prima, come per paura di lasciare udire alla terra che arava la voce della speranza, che sussurrava dentro al suo petto. | After the third child, also a boy, was born, Jean-Pierre went about his work with tense hopefulness. His lips seemed more narrow, more tightly compressed than before; as if for fear of letting the earth he tilled hear the voice of hope that murmured within his breast. |
| Egli guatava il bambino, dirigendosi verso il suo letticiolo con un pesante risonare di zoccoli sul pavimento di pietra, e vi buttava dentro un’occhiata sopra la spalla, con quella indifferenza che è come un’insita deformità dell’anima campagnola. | He watched the child, stepping up to the cot with a heavy clang of sabots on the stone floor, and glanced in, along his shoulder, with that indifference which is like a deformity of peasant humanity. |
| 22Come la terra ch’essi dominano e servono a un tempo, questi uomini, d’occhi e di parole tardi, non mostrano l’interno fuoco, cosicchè, in fondo, noi finiamo per domandarci, in quanto a loro come in quanto alla terra, cos’hanno nel loro nocciolo: ardore, violenza, una forza misteriosa e terribile—o nient’altro che un pugno di terra, massa fertile e inerte, fredda e insensibile, da cui nascerà la pianta che sosterrà la vita oppure quella che arrecherà la morte. | Like the earth they master and serve, those men, slow of eye and speech, do not show the inner fire; so that, at last, it becomes a question with them as with the earth, what there is in the core: heat, violence, a force mysterious and terrible—or nothing but a clod, a mass fertile and inert, cold and unfeeling, ready to bear a crop of plants that sustain life or give death. |
| La madre vegliava con altri occhi; ascoltava con altre orecchie, altrimenti ansiose. | The mother watched with other eyes; listened with otherwise expectant ears. |
| Sotto gli alti scaffali sospesi, sorreggenti in alto grandi pezze di carne secca, materialmente ella s’affacendava d’attorno al focolare, attenta alla pentola dondolante ai ganci di ferro, fregando la lunga tavola dove le opre si sarebbero assise in breve al loro pasto della sera. | Under the high hanging shelves supporting great sides of bacon overhead, her body was busy by the great fire-place, attentive to the pot swinging on iron gallows, scrubbing the long table where the field hands would sit down directly to their evening meal. |
| Ma la sua mente rimaneva presso alla culla, notte e giorno vegliando, nella speranza e nel dolore. | Her mind remained by the cradle, night and day on the watch, to hope and suffer. |
| Quel bimbo, come gli altri due, non sorrideva mai, non le porgeva mai le piccole braccia, non parlava mai; mai uno sguardo accennava a riconoscerla, uno sguardo dei suoi grandi occhi neri, che si sbarravano solo davanti ad uno scintillio, ma che, ahimè, non sapevano neppure seguire la radiosità di un raggio di sole che s’adagiasse lento sul pavimento. | That child, like the other two, never smiled, never stretched its hands to her, never spoke; never had a glance of recognition for her in its big black eyes, which could only stare fixedly at any glitter, but failed hopelessly to follow the brilliance of a sun-ray slipping slowly along the floor. |
| Quando gli uomini erano al lavoro, ella passava giornate interminabili fra i suoi tre figlioli idioti ed il loro nonno rimbambito, che sedeva arcigno, angoloso e immobile, coi piedi presso le ceneri calde del focolare. | When the men were at work she spent long days between her three idiot children and the childish grandfather, who sat grim, angular, and immovable, with his feet near the warm ashes of the fire. |
| Il debole vecchio sembrava sospettare che ci fosse qualcosa di strano nei suoi nepoti. | The feeble old fellow seemed to suspect that there was something wrong with his grandsons. |
| 23 | |
| Una volta sola, mosso forse dall’affetto o forse per un vago senso dei suoi doveri di nonno, egli si mise d’attorno al piccino. Alzò il bimbo da terra, schioccò la lingua per divertirlo, e arrischiò una galoppata tutta a scosse sulle sue ginocchia aguzze. Poi, col suo sguardo intorbidato, guardò da presso la faccia del bimbo: e adagino lo riposò giù di nuovo sul pavimento. | Only once, moved either by affection or by the sense of proprieties, he attempted to nurse the youngest. He took the boy up from the floor, clicked his tongue at him, and essayed a shaky gallop of his bony knees. Then he looked closely with his misty eyes at the child’s face and deposited him down gently on the floor again. |
| E sedette ancora, coi suoi magri stinchi incrociati, crollando il capo al vapore sfuggente dalla pentola al bollore, con sguardo senile e crucciato. | And he sat, his lean shanks crossed, nodding at the steam escaping from the cooking-pot with a gaze senile and worried. |
| A poco a poco un’afflizione muta s’insediò alla masseria dei Bacadou, condividendo il respiro ed il pane dei suoi famigliari; ed il curato della parrocchia di Ploumar ebbe alta cagione di compiacimento. | Then mute affliction dwelt in Bacadou’s farmhouse, sharing the breath and the bread of its inhabitants; and the priest of the Ploumar parish had great cause for congratulation. |
| Egli fece visita al ricco feudatario, il marchese di Chavannes, allo scopo di esalare con gioconda unzione le sue solenni insipienze sulle vie imperscrutabili della Provvidenza. | He called upon the rich landowner, the Marquis de Chavanes, on purpose to deliver himself with joyful unction of solemn platitudes about the inscrutable ways of Providence. |
| Nella vasta penombra del salotto a gran cortinaggi, l’ometto, simile a un capezzale nero a rullo, si chinava verso un divano, col cappello sulle ginocchia, e gesticolava con una mano grassoccia alle linee allungate e graziosamente drappeggiate della chiara toilette parigina, da dentro alla quale la marchesa, fra divertita e seccata, ascoltava con vezzoso languore. | In the vast dimness of the curtained drawing-room, the little man, resembling a black bolster, leaned toward a couch, his hat on his knees, and gesticulated with a fat hand at the elongated, gracefully-flowing lines of the clear Parisian toilette from within which the half-amused, half-bored marquise listened with gracious languor. |
| 24 | |
| Egli era esultante ed umile, altero e pavido. L’incredibile s’era avverato! Jean-Pierre Bacadou, quell’arrabbiato contadino repubblicano, la scorsa domenica era stato alla messa—s’era impegnato a convitare i preti venenti alla prossima festa di Ploumar!... | He was exulting and humble, proud and awed. The impossible had come to pass. Jean-Pierre Bacadou, the enraged republican farmer, had been to Mass last Sunday—had proposed to entertain the visiting priests at the next festival of Ploumar! |
| Era un trionfo per la Chiesa e per la Santa Causa! | It was a triumph for the Church and for the good cause. |
| Pensai di venir subito a raccontarlo al Signor Marchese. So quant’egli è ansioso del bene del nostro paese! dichiarò il prete asciugandosi il volto. | “I thought I would come at once to tell Monsieur le Marquis. I know how anxious he is for the welfare of our country,” declared the priest, wiping his face. |
| Fu subito invitato a desinare. | He was asked to stay to dinner. |
| I Chavanes, tornando quella sera dall’aver accompagnato il loro ospite al gran cancello del parco, discussero la cosa, errando al chiaro di luna e trascinando le loro lunghe ombre pel diritto viale dei castagni. | The Chavanes returning that evening, after seeing their guest to the main gate of the park, discussed the matter while they strolled in the moonlight, trailing their long shadows up the straight avenue of chestnuts. |
| Il marchese, realista[9] naturalmente, era stato sindaco del comune che include Ploumar, gli sparsi borghetti lungo la costa, e le isole rocciose che orlano la gialla spianata delle dune. Egli aveva sentito la sua posizione malsicura, perchè c’era una forte corrente repubblicana in quella parte della campagna; ma ora la conversione di Jean-Pierre lo metteva al salvo. Egli se ne compiaceva grandemente. | The marquis, a royalist[10] of course, had been mayor of the commune which includes Ploumar, the scattered hamlets of the coast, and the stony islands that fringe the yellow flatness of the sands. He had felt his position insecure, for there was a strong republican element in that part of the country; but now the conversion of Jean-Pierre made him safe. He was very pleased. |
| 25 | |
| Non hai un’idea come quella gente sia influente! spiegava alla moglie. Ora non ne dubito punto, la prossima elezione andrà a vele gonfie. Io sarò rieletto. | “You have no idea how influential those people are,” he explained to his wife. “Now, I am sure, the next communal election will go all right. I shall be re-elected.” |
| La tua ambizione è addirittura insaziabile, Carlo! esclamò la marchesa gaiamente. | “Your ambition is perfectly insatiable, Charles,” exclaimed the marquise, gaily. |
| Ma, ma chère amie, ribattè il marito seriamente, ha una grande importanza che quest’anno il sindaco sia la vera persona atta alla carica, a causa delle elezioni alla Camera. Se credi che ciò mi diverta... | “But, ma chère amie,” argued the husband, seriously, “it’s most important that the right man should be mayor this year, because of the elections to the Chamber. If you think it amuses me....” |
| Jean-Pierre s’era arreso alla madre di sua moglie. Madame Levaille era una donna d’affari, conosciuta e rispettata per un raggio di almeno quindici miglia all’intorno. Solida e robusta, la si vedeva per la campagna a piedi o nel baroccio di un conoscente, sempre in moto, a dispetto dei suoi cinquantott’anni, sempre dietro ai suoi affari. | Jean-Pierre had surrendered to his wife’s mother. Madame Levaille was a woman of business, known and respected within a radius of at least fifteen miles. Thick-set and stout, she was seen about the country, on foot or in an acquaintance’s cart, perpetually moving, in spite of her fifty-eight years, in steady pursuit of business. |
| Ella aveva case in tutti i borghetti, gestiva cave di granito, caricava navi costiere di pietra, trafficava perfino colle isole Normanne. Ella aveva mascelle sviluppate, occhi grandi, parola persuasiva; sostenendo il suo punto colla placida e invincibile ostinatezza di una vecchia che sa ciò che vuole. | She had houses in all the hamlets, she worked quarries of granite, she freighted coasters with stone—even traded with the Channel Islands. She was broad-cheeked, wide-eyed, persuasive in speech; carrying her point with the placid and invincible obstinacy of an old woman who knows her own mind. |
| 26Raramente ella dormiva due notti di seguito nella stessa casa; e le bettole delle via maestra erano i luoghi più indicati per prendere informazioni in quanto alle sue eventuali stanze: o era passata, o sarebbe passata alle sei; oppure qualcuno, entrando, l’aveva vista al mattino, o aspettava d’incontrarla quella sera. | She very seldom slept for two nights together in the same house; and the wayside inns were the best places to inquire in as to her whereabouts. She had either passed, or was expected to pass there at six; or somebody, coming in, had seen her in the morning, or expected to meet her that evening. |
| Dopo le osterie prospicenti la strada, le chiese erano gli edifici ch’ella più frequentava. Gli uomini dalle opinioni liberali solevano indurre i ragazzetti a fare una corsa nei sacri luoghi per vedere se Madame Levaille c’era, e per dirle che il tale dei tali era sulla via in attesa di parlarle—circa alle patate, alla farina, ai sassi, o alle case; ed ella soleva troncare le sue devozioni e uscire, sbattendo gli occhi abbagliati e segnandosi nel sole; pronta a discutere d’affari, calma e posata, sul piano di una tavola, nella cucina dell’osteria dirimpetto. | After the inns that command the roads, the churches were the buildings she frequented most. Men of liberal opinions would induce small children to run into sacred edifices to see whether Madame Levaille was there, and to tell her that so-and-so was in the road waiting to speak to her—about potatoes, or flour, or stones, or houses; and she would curtail her devotions, come out blinking and crossing herself into the sunshine; ready to discuss business matters in a calm, sensible way across a table in the kitchen of the inn opposite. |
| Recentemente s’era fermata più volte per parecchi giorni di seguito dal genero, tirando fuori i suoi argomenti contro i dispiaceri e l’avversa fortuna, con faccia composta e tono benevolo. | Latterly she had stayed for a few days several times with her son-in-law, arguing against sorrow and misfortune with composed face and gentle tones. |
| Jean-Pierre sentì le convinzioni assorbite al reggimento sradicarsi dal suo petto—non per forza d’argomenti, ma di fatti. Misurando col passo i suoi campi ci ripensò. | Jean-Pierre felt the convictions imbibed in the regiment torn out of his breast—not by arguments, but by facts. Striding over his fields he thought it over. |
| 27Tre ce n’erano. Tre! Tutti eguali! Perchè?... Tali cose non succedevano a tutti, anzi a nessuno, ch’egli avesse udito! Uno ancora... poteva passare. Ma tre! Tutti e tre! Disutili per sempre, da doverseli campare finch’egli fosse in vita e... Cosa ne sarebbe divenuto della terra dopo la sua morte? | There were three of them. Three! All alike! Why? Such things did not happen to everybody—to nobody he ever heard of. One yet—it might pass. But three! All three. For ever useless, to be fed while he lived and ... What would become of the land when he died? |
| Bisognava pensarci bene... Egli sacrificherebbe le sue convinzioni! | This must be seen to. He would sacrifice his convictions. |
| Un giorno egli disse alla moglie: | One day he told his wife: |
| Guarda un po’ ciò che il tuo Dio possa fare per noi. Fa dire qualche messa. | “See what your God will do for us. Pay for some masses.” |
| Susanna abbracciò il suo uomo. Egli si tenne rigido, poi girò sui talloni e uscì. | Susan embraced her man. He stood unbending, then turned on his heels and went out. |
| Ma più tardi, quando una nera sottana oscurò la sua soglia, egli non fece obbiezione; anzi offerse egli stesso del sidro al prete. | But afterwards, when a black soutane darkened his doorway, he did not object; even offered some cider himself to the priest. |
| Egli ascoltò i ragionamenti con sottomissione; andò alla messa fra le due donne; adempì ciò che il prete chiamava “i suoi doveri religiosi,” a Pasqua. | He listened to the talk meekly; went to Mass between the two women; accomplished what the priest called “his religious duties” at Easter. |
| Ma quella mattina si sentì come un uomo che abbia venduto l’anima. Nel pomeriggio egli ebbe una zuffa feroce con un vecchio amico e vicino che aveva rimarcato che quello era stato una vera bazza per i pastori della chiesa, e che l’accanito mangia-preti stavano proprio pappandoselo loro. | That morning he felt like a man who had sold his soul. In the afternoon he fought ferociously with an old friend and neighbour who had remarked that the priests had the best of it and were now going to eat the priest-eater. |
| Venne a casa sanguinante e scarmigliato, e capitandogli l’occhio sopra i suoi figlioli (che generalmente erano tenuti fuori mano), maledì e bestemmiò incoerentemente, pestando i pugni sulla tavola. | He came home dishevelled and bleeding, and happening to catch sight of his children (they were kept generally out of the way), cursed and swore incoherently, banging the table. |
| 28 | |
| Susanna pianse. Madame Levaille rimase seduta serenamente, senza commuoversi. Ella rassicurò la figliola che “Passerà,” e, prendendo su il suo ombrellone, se ne andò in fretta a vedere di uno schooner che stava per caricare di granito della sua cava. | Susan wept. Madame Levaille sat serenely unmoved. She assured her daughter that “It will pass”; and taking up her thick umbrella, departed in haste to see after a schooner she was going to load with granite from her quarry. |
| Circa un anno dopo era nata la bimba. | A year or so afterwards the girl was born. |
| Una femmina. Jean-Pierre lo venne a sapere mentre stava nei campi, e fu così sconvolto dalla notizia, che si lasciò andare sul muricciolo di confine e vi rimase fino a sera, invece di andare a casa come n’era sollecitato. | A girl. Jean-Pierre heard of it in the fields, and was so upset by the news that he sat down on the boundary wall and remained there till the evening, instead of going home as he was urged to do. |
| Una femmina! Si sentì a mezzo truffato. | A girl! He felt half cheated. |
| Però, quando giunse a casa, era in parte riconciliato col suo destino. La si poteva maritare a un bravo giovane—non a un fannullone, ma a un ragazzo con un po’ di sale in zucca e un buon paio di braccia. | However, when he got home he was partly reconciled to his fate. One could marry her to a good fellow—not to a good for nothing, but to a fellow with some understanding and a good pair of arms. |
| Inoltre, il prossimo avrebbe potuto essere un maschio, pensava. | Besides, the next may be a boy, he thought. |
| Naturalmente su quelli non ci sarebbero state tare. La sua nuova credenza non conosceva dubbi. La mala sorte era infranta! | Of course they would be all right. His new credulity knew of no doubt. The ill luck was broken. |
| Egli parlò con buonumore a sua moglie. Anch’essa era piena di speranza. Tre preti vennero a quel battesimo, e Madame Levaille fu la comare. | He spoke cheerily to his wife. She was also hopeful. Three priests came to that christening, and Madame Levaille was godmother. |
| Ma il tempo diede a vedere che anche questa sua bimba era stupida... | The child turned out an idiot too. |
| 29Da allora, nei giorni di mercato, Jean-Pierre fu visto contrattare con acrimonia, rissoso e vorace; poi ubriacarsi con taciturna veemenza; poi ritornare al crepuscolo nel suo biroccio a gran carriera come se andasse a nozze, ma con una faccia buia da funerale. | Then on market days Jean-Pierre was seen bargaining bitterly, quarrelsome and greedy; then getting drunk with taciturn earnestness; then driving home in the dusk at a rate fit for a wedding, but with a face gloomy enough for a funeral. |
| Qualche volta insisteva perchè sua moglie l’accompagnasse, e, al mattino presto, il biroccio li sobbalzava da un canto all’altro dello stretto sedile, sopra il porcello che, impotente, colle sue zampe legate, grugniva un suo malinconico sospiro ad ogni sussulto sulle carreggiate. | Sometimes he would insist for his wife to come with him; and they would drive in the early morning, shaking side by side on the narrow seat above the helpless pig that, with tied legs, grunted a melancholy sigh at every rut. |
| Le trottate della mattina erano silenziose; ma alla sera venendo a casa Jean-Pierre, ubriaco, borbottava senza ritegno e imprecava contro la malaugurata donna che non poteva mettere al mondo figlioli che fossero come quelli di tutta l’altra gente. | The morning drives were silent; but in the evening, coming home, Jean-Pierre, tipsy, was viciously muttering, and growled at the confounded woman who could not rear children that were like anybody else’s. |
| Susanna, aggrappandosi per i sobbalzi del carro, dava a credere di non udire. | Susan, holding on against the erratic swayings of the cart, pretended not to hear. |
| Una volta, attraversando Ploumar, un istinto oscuro e briaco gli suggerì di arrestare di botto fin dirimpetto alla chiesa. | Once, as they were driving through Ploumar, some obscure and drunken impulse caused him to pull up sharply opposite the church. |
| La luna navigava fra bianche nuvole leggere. Le pietre dei sepolcri biancheggiavano sotto le ombre chiazzate degli alberi del cimitero. Perfino i cani del villaggio dormivano. Solo gli usignoli, svegli, filavano i trilli della loro canzone sovra il silenzio delle tombe. | The moon swam amongst light white clouds. The tombstones gleamed pale under the fretted shadows of the trees in the churchyard. Even the village dogs slept. Only the nightingales, awake, spun out the thrill of their song above the silence of graves. |
| Jean-Pierre disse a lingua grossa a sua moglie: | Jean-Pierre said thickly to his wife: |
| 30 | |
| Cosa credi che ci sia là? | “What do you think is there?” |
| Egli indicò il campanile colla frusta—sul quale il gran quadrante dell’orologio appariva alto nel chiarore lunare come una pallida faccia senz’occhi—e dopo esser sceso con prudenza, cadde ad un tratto presso la ruota. Si tirò su e salì a fatica uno ad uno i pochi gradini, fino al cancello di ferro del cimitero. | He pointed his whip at the tower—in which the big dial of the clock appeared high in the moonlight like a pallid face without eyes—and getting out carefully, fell down at once by the wheel. He picked himself up and climbed one by one the few steps to the iron gate of the churchyard. |
| Mise la faccia alle sbarre e chiamò indistintamente: | He put his face to the bars and called out indistinctly: |
| Ohè là! Venite fuori! | “Hey there! Come out!” |
| Jean! Torna! Torna! supplicò sua moglie dominando la voce. | “Jean! Return! Return!” entreated his wife in low tones. |
| Egli non se ne addiede, e sembrò attender lì. | He took no notice, and seemed to wait there. |
| Il canto dell’usignolo percoteva da ogni lato contro gli alti muri della chiesa, e fluiva di ritorno fra le croci di pietra e le grigie lapidi piane, incise di parole di speranza e di dolore. | The song of nightingales beat on all sides against the high walls of the church, and flowed back between stone crosses and flat grey slabs, engraved with words of hope and sorrow. |
| Ohe! Venite fuori!—urlò forte Jean-Pierre. | “Hey! Come out!” shouted Jean-Pierre loudly. |
| Gli usignoli cessarono di cantare. | The nightingales ceased to sing. |
| Nessuno? continuò Jean-Pierre. Non c’è nessuno! Una mistificazione dei corvi. Ecco cos’è. Nessuno in alcun luogo. Pouah! Allez! Houp! | “Nobody?” went on Jean-Pierre. “Nobody there. A swindle of the crows. That’s what this is. Nobody anywhere. I despise it. Allez! Houp!” |
| Egli scosse il cancello con tutta la sua forza, e le sbarre di ferro cigolarono con pauroso strepito, come una catena strascicata su dei gradini di pietra. | He shook the gate with all his strength, and the iron bars rattled with a frightful clanging, like a chain dragged over stone steps. |
| Un cane lì presso abbaiò insistentemente. | A dog near-by barked hurriedly. |
| 31 | |
| Jean-Pierre tornò indietro barcollando, e dopo tre colpi a vuoto riuscì ad entrare nel carro. | Jean-Pierre staggered back, and after three successive dashes got into his cart. |
| Susanna era lì quieta ed immobile. Egli le disse con burbanza da ubriaco: | Susan sat very quiet and still. He said to her with drunken severity: |
| Hai visto? Nessuno. Si sono presi gioco di me. Malheur! Ma qualcheduno la pagherà. Il primo che vedo vicino a casa, lascio andar la frusta su... sul suo groppone nero... lascio... | “See? Nobody. I’ve been made a fool! Malheur! Somebody will pay for it. The next one I see near the house I will lay my whip on ... on the black spine.... I will. |
| Non ce lo voglio... egli ajuta solo i corvi mangia-carogne a spolpare la povera gente! | “I don’t want him in there ... he only helps the carrion crows to rob poor folk. |
| Io sono un uomo... Vogliamo vedere se io non posso aver figlioli come tutti gli altri... Stavvi attenta!... Non saranno tutti... tutti... Vedremo... | “I am a man.... We will see if I can’t have children like anybody else ... now you mind.... They won’t be all ... all ... we see....” |
| Ella ebbe uno scoppio di fra le sue dita che le nascondevano la faccia: | She burst out through the fingers that hid her face: |
| Non dir questo, Jean; non dir questo, marito mio. | “Don’t say that, Jean; don’t say that, my man!” |
| Egli le lasciò andare un forte picchio col dorso della mano, e la mandò a sbattere in fondo alla carretta, dov’ella si accovacciò, malmenata in modo pietoso ad ogni scotimento del veicolo. | He struck her a swinging blow on the head with the back of his hand and knocked her into the bottom of the cart, where she crouched, thrown about lamentably by every jolt. |
| Egli guidò con furore, in piedi, brandendo la frusta, scuotendo le redini sul cavallo grigio, che si mise a galoppare pesantemente, facendo saltare la greve bardatura sui suoi larghi quarti. | He drove furiously, standing up, brandishing his whip, shaking the reins over the grey horse that galloped ponderously, making the heavy harness leap upon his broad quarters. |
| 32La campagna risonava clamorosamente nella notte del latrato irritato dei cani da pastori, il quale seguì lo strepito delle ruote durante tutta la strada. Un paio di viandanti, sorpresi dalla notte, ebbero appena tempo di cacciarsi nel fosso. | The country rang clamorous in the night with the irritated barking of farm dogs, that followed the rattle of wheels all along the road. A couple of belated wayfarers had only just time to step into the ditch. |
| Al cancello di casa diede di cozzo nel palo e fu balzato fuor del carro a capofitto. Il cavallo continuò lentamente fino alla porta. | At his own gate he caught the post and was shot out of the cart head first. The horse went on slowly to the door. |
| Agli acuti strilli di Susanna, le opre della masseria si precipitarono fuori. Ella lo credette morto, ma egli si era invece addormentato là dov’era caduto, e imprecò ai suoi uomini corsi a lui, che avevano disturbato i suoi sonni. | At Susan’s piercing cries the farm hands rushed out. She thought him dead, but he was only sleeping where he fell, and cursed his men, who hastened to him, for disturbing his slumbers. |
| Venne l’autunno. Il cielo annuvolato scendeva basso fino ai neri contorni dei colli, e le foglie morte danzavano in turbini a spirali sotto gli alberi spogli, finchè il vento, con profondo sospiro, le portava a riposo nelle cavità delle valli ignude. | Autumn came. The clouded sky descended low upon the black contours of the hills; and the dead leaves danced in spiral whirls under naked trees, till the wind, sighing profoundly, laid them to rest in the hollows of bare valleys. |
| E da mattina a sera non si vedeva sopra tutta la terra che neri rami spogli, rami nodosi e attorti, come se attorcigliati dal dolore, ondeggianti tristemente fra le nubi pregne di pioggia e la terra molle. I chiari e dolci ruscelli dei giorni d’estate si precipitavano torbidi e furiosi sui sassi che sbarravano loro la via al mare, colla furia della demenza risoluta al suicidio. | And from morning till night one could see all over the land black denuded boughs, the boughs gnarled and twisted, as if contorted with pain, swaying sadly between the wet clouds and the soaked earth. The clear and gentle streams of summer days rushed discoloured and raging at the stones that barred the way to the sea, with the fury of madness bent upon suicide. |
| Da orizzonte a orizzonte la gran via che conduceva alle dune giaceva fra i colli in un triste biancheggiare di vane curve, come un’impraticabile riviera di melma. | From horizon to horizon the great road to the sands lay between the hills in a dull glitter of empty curves, resembling an unnavigable river of mud. |
| 33 | |
| Jean-Pierre camminava da un campo all’altro, figura alta e quasi sfumata nella pioggerella nebbiosa, o percorreva a gran passi la cresta delle alture solitarie ed alte contro la grigia cortina di nubi accumulate, come se egli misurasse col piede il limitare dell’universo. | Jean-Pierre went from field to field, moving blurred and tall in the drizzle, or striding on the crests of rises, lonely and high upon the grey curtain of drifting clouds, as if he had been pacing along the very edge of the universe. |
| Egli guardava la terra nera, la terra muta e carica di promesse, la terra misteriosa generatrice di vita in apparente immobilità di morte, sotto il corruccio velato del cielo. | He looked at the black earth, at the earth mute and promising, at the mysterious earth doing its work of life in death-like stillness under the veiled sorrow of the sky. |
| E gli parve che per un uomo peggio che privato di figli non ci fosse promessa nella fertilità dei campi; che la terra da lui rifuggisse, lo sfidasse, gli si mostrasse accigliata, come le nuvole che si rincorrevano cupe sovra la sua testa. | And it seemed to him that to a man worse than childless there was no promise in the fertility of fields, that from him the earth escaped, defied him, frowned at him like the clouds, sombre and hurried above his head. |
| Cosciente d’esser solo ad affrontar la sua terra, sentì tutta l’inferiorità dell’uomo il quale passa, davanti alla zolla che rimane. Doveva egli rinunciare alla speranza d’aver per sè un figliolo che sorvegliasse la zolla rivelta con occhio di padrone? Un uomo che pensasse com’egli pensava, che sentisse com’egli sentiva; un uomo che fosse parte di sè stesso e rimanesse tuttavia a calcare da dominatore quella terra, quand’egli non ci fosse più? | Having to face alone his own fields, he felt the inferiority of man who passes away before the clod that remains. Must he give up the hope of having by his side a son who would look at the turned-up sods with a master’s eye? A man that would think as he thought, that would feel as he felt; a man who would be part of himself, and yet remain to trample masterfully on that earth when he was gone! |
| Pensò a dei lontani parenti, e un’astiosità lo strinse da farlo imprecare a loro ad alta voce. Essi? Mai! | He thought of some distant relations, and felt savage enough to curse them aloud. They! Never! |
| 34Volse verso casa, puntando diritto al tetto della sua abitazione, visibile fra gli scheletri allacciati degli alberi. Mentre egli buttava le gambe sovra lo steccato, uno stormo crocidante di uccelli calò con lento volo sul campo; scese dietro a lui, in silenzioso ondeggiamento, come batuffoli di fuliggine. | He turned homewards, going straight at the roof of his dwelling visible between the enlaced skeletons of trees. As he swung his legs over the stile a cawing flock of birds settled slowly on the field; dropped down behind his back, noiseless and fluttering, like flakes of soot. |
| Madame Levaille sedeva a ciglio asciutto sull’erba breve del pendio, colle sue gambe massiccie protese, e i suoi vecchi piedi volti all’insù, nelle loro scarpe di panno nero. Le sue sopra scarpe di legno le stavano vicine, e più lontano l’ombrello giaceva sull’erba secca, come un’arma caduta dal pugno di un guerriero vinto. | Madame Levaille sat, dry-eyed, on the short grass of the hill side, with her thick legs stretched out, and her old feet turned up in their black cloth shoes. Her clogs stood near by, and further off the umbrella lay on the withered sward like a weapon dropped from the grasp of a vanquished warrior. |
| Il marchese di Chavannes, a cavallo, una mano inguantata sul fianco, abassò gli occhi su lei mentr’ella si alzava a fatica, gemendo. | The Marquis of Chavanes, on horseback, one gloved hand on thigh, looked down at her as she got up laboriously, with groans. |
| Sulla stretta carreggiata dei carri dell’alghe quattro uomini portavano a terra il corpo di Susanna su una barella, mentre molti altri seguivano alla rinfusa. Madame Levaille seguiva coll’occhio la processione. | On the narrow track of the seaweed-carts four men were carrying inland Susan’s body on a hand-barrow, while several others straggled listlessly behind. Madame Levaille looked after the procession. |
| 55Sì, Signor Marchese, ella disse pacatamente, nel suo tono calmo di vecchia donna ragionevole. C’è della gente disgraziata su questa terra. Io non ebbi che una figlia. Soltanto una! E quell’una non sarà sepolta in terra consacrata! | “Yes, Monsieur le Marquis,” she said dispassionately, in her usual calm tone of a reasonable old woman. “There are unfortunate people on this earth. I had only one child. Only one! And they won’t bury her in consecrated ground!” |
| I suoi occhi si empirono immediatamente, e un breve scroscio di lacrime rotolò giù per le sue grasse guancie. Ella si strinse tutta nel suo scialle. Il marchese si chinò leggermente sulla sella e disse: | Her eyes filled suddenly, and a short shower of tears rolled down the broad cheeks. She pulled the shawl close about her. The Marquis leaned slightly over in his saddle, and said: |
| È molto triste. Capisco il vostro dolore. Parlerò al curato. Ella era indubbiamente pazza, e la caduta fu accidentale. Millot lo dice chiaramente. Buongiorno, Signora. | “It is very sad. You have all my sympathy. I shall speak to the Curé. She was unquestionably insane, and the fall was accidental. Millot says so distinctly. Good-day, Madame.” |
| E andò via al trotto, pensando tra sè: Designerò questa vecchia tutrice di quegli idioti e amministratrice del podere. Sarà sempre meglio che non aver qui uno di quegli altri Bacadou, rosso repubblicano magari, a portarmi la sovversione nel comune! | And he trotted off, thinking to himself: I must get this old woman appointed guardian of those idiots, and administrator of the farm. It would be much better than having here one of those other Bacadous, probably a red republican, corrupting my commune. |
1. Ma Conrad scrive: “Io credo che in via generale si dia troppa importanza alle mie qualità ereditarie. Quanto a temperamento io sono molto più somigliante alla famiglia di mia madre.”
2. But Mr Conrad writes: “I think too much is made of my heredity generally. Temperamentally I am much more like my mother’s family.”
3. Ploumar è nome inventato. Il paesaggio che serve di sfondo alla novella è quello della costa settentrionale della Bretagna, nella vicinanza di Lannion (Côtes-du-Nord) dirimpetto a Ile Grande.
Tréguier, paese natale di Renan, è una cittadina vicina al mare, circa dodici miglia da Lannion.
4. Ploumar is an invented name. The scenery of the tale is that of the northern coast of Brittany, in the neighbourhood of Lannion (Côtes-du-Nord), opposite Ile Grande.
Tréguier, the birthplace of Renan, is a small town near the sea, some twelve miles from Lannion.
5. L’alga è largamente usata in Bretagna come concime. Essa, molto ricca di potassa, calce e acido fosforico, ha rimarchevoli qualità fertilizzanti alle quali è dovuta la lussureggiante “cintura dorata” che circonda per un dodici miglia la penisola. L’alga consiste di nastri lunghi da uno a due metri, che aderiscono alle roccie, dalle quali vengono strappate con rastrelli, a bassa marea. Viene usata dopo esser stata esposta all’aperto per qualche tempo, per lasciar modo alla pioggia di detergerne il sale da cui è impregnata. In alcuni distretti l’alga è dapprima usata come combustibile, le cui ceneri si usano poi come concime.
6. Seaweed is largely used in Brittany as a manure. This seaweed, which is very rich in potash, in lime, and in phosphoric acid, has remarkable fertilizing qualities, to which is due the luxuriance of the ‘golden belt,’ about twelve miles broad, which surrounds the peninsula. The seaweed consists of ribbons from one to two yards long, clinging to the rocks, from which they are stripped with rakes at low tide. It is used after it has been exposed to the air for some time, to allow the rain to carry away the salt with which it is impregnated. In certain districts the seaweed is first used as fuel, the ashes being used as a fertilizer.
7. La cornamusa bretone (biniou) è molto simile alla piva scozzese (bagpipes). Come questa, il biniou possiede parecchi ‘bordoni,’ che suonano la tonica e la dominante, ed anche una canna che dà la gamma imperfetta, caratteristica della musica celtica.
8. The biniou of Brittany is very similar to the Scotch bagpipes. Like the latter it has several drones, sounding the tonic and the dominant, and a pipe or ‘chanter’, which gives the incomplete scale characteristic of Celtic music.
9. La vecchia aristocrazia e la Chiesa non hanno ancora rinunciato alla speranza di una restaurazione della monarchia in Francia, nella persona di Luigi Filippo, duca d’Orleans (n. 1869), figlio del fu conte di Parigi.
10. The old aristocracy and the Church have not given up all hope of a restoration of the monarchy in France, in the person of Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orleans (b. 1869), son of the late Count of Paris.
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