|
opening of Il Tesoretto
Al valente segnore,
di cui non so migliore
sulla terra trovare:
ché non avete pare
né ’n pace né ’n guerra;
sì ch’a voi tutta terra
che ’l sole gira il giorno
e ’l mar batte d’intorno
san’ faglia si convene,
ponendo mente al bene
che fate per usaggio,
ed al l’alto legnaggio
donde voi sete nato;
e poi da l’altro lato
potén tanto vedere
in voi senno e savere
a ogne condizione,
un altro Salamone
pare in voi rivenuto;
e bene avén veduto
in duro convenente,
ove ogn’altro se mente,
che voi pur migliorate
e tuttora afinate;
il vostro cuor valente
poggia sì altamente
in ogne benananza
che tutta la sembianza
d’Alessandro tenete,
ché per neente avete
terra, oro ed argento;
sì alto intendimento
avete d’ogne canto,
che voi corona e manto
portate di franchezza
e di fina prodezza,
sì ch’Achilès lo prode,
ch’aquistò tante lode,
e ’l buono Ettòr troiano,
Lancelotto e Tristano
non valse me’ di voe,
quando bisogno fue;
e poi, quando venite
che voi parole dite
o ’n consiglio o ’n aringa,
par ch’aggiate la lingua
del buon Tulio romano
che fu in dir sovrano:
sì buon cominciamento
e mezzo e finimento
sapete ognora fare,
e parole acordare
secondo la matera,
ciascuna in sua manera;
apresso tutta fiata
avete acompagnata
l’adorna costumanza,
che ’n voi fa per usanza
sì ricco portamento
e sì bel reggimento
ch’avanzate a ragione
e Senica e Catone;
e posso dire insomma
che ’n voi, segnor, s’asomma
e compie ogne bontate,
e ’n voi solo asembiate
son sì compiutamente
che non falla neente,
se non com’ auro fino:
io Burnetto Latino,
che vostro in ogne guisa
mi son sanza divisa,
a voi mi racomando.
Poi vi presento e mando
questo ricco Tesoro,
che vale argento ed oro:
sì ch’io non ho trovato
omo di carne nato
che sia degno d’avere,
né quasi di vedere,
lo scritto ch’io vi mostro
i.llettere d’inchiostro.
Ad ogn’altro lo nego,
ed a voi faccio priego
che lo tegnate caro,
e che ne siate avaro:
ch’i’ ho visto sovente
viltenere a la gente
molto valente cose;
e pietre prezïose
son già cadute i.lloco
che son grandite poco.
Ben conosco che ’l bene
assai val men, chi ’l tene
del tutto in sé celato,
che quel ch’è palesato,
sì come la candela
luce men, chi la cela.
Ma i’ ho già trovato
in prosa ed in rimato
cose di grande assetto,
e poi per gran sagretto
l’ho date a caro amico:
poi, con dolor lo dico,
lu’ vidi in man d’i fanti,
e rasemprati tanti
che si ruppe la bolla
e rimase per nulla.
S’aven così di questo,
sì dico che sia pesto,
e di carta in quaderno
sia gittato in inferno.
Lo Tesoro conenza.
Al tempo che Fiorenza
froria, e fece frutto,
sì ch’ell’era del tutto
la donna di Toscana
(ancora che lontana
ne fosse l’una parte,
rimossa in altra parte,
quella d’i ghibellini,
per guerra d’i vicini),
esso Comune saggio
mi fece suo messaggio
all’alto re di Spagna,
ch’or è re de la Magna
e la corona atende,
se Dio no.llil contende:
ché già sotto la luna
non si truova persona
che, per altro barnaggio,
tanto degno ne fosse
com’ esto re Nanfosse.
E io presi campagna
e andai in Ispagna
e feci l’ambasciata
che mi fue ordinata;
e poi sanza soggiorno
ripresi mio ritorno,
tanto che nel paese
di terra navarrese,
venendo per la calle
del pian di Runcisvalle,
incontrai uno scolaio
su ’n un muletto vaio,
che venia da Bologna,
e sanza dir menzogna
molt’ era savio e prode:
ma lascio star le lode,
che sarebbono assai.
Io lo pur dimandai
novelle di Toscana
in dolce lingua e piana;
ed e’ cortesemente
mi disse immantenente
che guelfi di Firenza
per mala provedenza
e per forza di guerra
eran fuor de la terra,
e ’l dannaggio era forte
di pregioni e di morte.
Ed io, ponendo cura,
tornai a la natura
ch’audivi dir che tene
ogn’om ch’al mondo vene:
nasce prim[er]amente
al padre e a’ parenti,
e poi al suo Comuno;
ond’ io non so nessuno
ch’io volesse vedere
la mia cittade avere
del tutto a la sua guisa,
né che fosse in divisa;
ma tutti per comune
tirassero una fune
di pace e di benfare,
ché già non può scampare
terra rotta di parte.
Certo lo cor mi parte
di cotanto dolore,
pensando il grande onore
e la ricca potenza
che suole aver Fiorenza
quasi nel mundo tutto;
e io, in tal corrotto,
pensando a capo chino,
perdei il gran cammino,
e tenni a la traversa
d’una selva diversa....
|
opening of The Little Treasure
translated (very roughly) by G. Steinberg
To the worthy lord,
of whom I do not know how to find
a better on earth:
for you do not have a peer
either in peace or in war;
such that to you the entire earth
that the sun circles by day
and the sea strikes all around
belongs, without a doubt,
thinking of the good
that you do by custom,
and of the high lineage
whence you were born;
and then on the other side
we can see so much
wisdom and knowledge in you
with respect to every condition,
another Solomon
seems in you returned;
and we have well seen
in difficult circumstances,
where every other person tells lies,
that you alone improve
and ever become more fine;
your worthy heart
rises so high
in every goodness
that all the seeming
of Alexander [the Great] you have,
who, because of nothing, have
land, gold and silver;
so high understanding
you have of every angle
that the crown and mantle
of frankness you bear
and of fine accomplishment,
such that Achilles the brave,
who gained such praise,
and the good Trojan Hector,
Lancelot and Tristan
were not worth more than you,
when need was;
and then, when you come
where you speak words
either in council or in assembly,
it seems that you have the tongue
of the good Roman Cicero
who was sovereign in speaking:
such good beginning
and middle and ending
you always know how to make,
and how to harmonize words
to the matter,
each in its manner;
nearly every instant
you have followed
fine customs,
which in you makes by habit
so rich behavior
and so beautiful order
that you surpass in reason
both Seneca and Cato;
and I can say in sum
that in you, lord, is summed up
and completed every good,
which is assembled in you alone
so completely
that nothing is lacking,
unless like fine gold:
I, Brunetto Latini,
since yours in every way
I am without pretense,
recommend myself to you.
Now I present and send to you
this rich Treasure,
which is worth silver and gold:
such that I have not found
man of flesh born
who is worthy of having –
nor almost of seeing –
the writing that I show you
in the letters within.
To every other person I deny it,
and to you I make a plea
that you keep it dear,
and that you be stingy with it:
for I have often seen
debased for the people
many worthy things;
and precious stones
are already fallen in place
that are appreciated little.
I well know that the good
is worth much less, which keeps it
from all in itself hidden,
than that which is manifested,
as the candle
shines less, when it is hidden.
But I have already written
in prose and in rhyme
things of great concord,
and then through great secrecy
I have given it to a dear friend:
then, with pain I say it,
I saw it in the hands of children
and reduplicated so much
that the bubble broke
and remained with nothing.
If this happens,
I say, yea, that it may be crushed,
and from paper to binding
be thrown in hell.
The Treasure begins.
In the time when Florence
flowered, and made fruit,
such that she was of all
the mistress of Tuscany
(even if distant
was from there the one party,
removed in another place,
that of the Ghibellines,
through the neighbors’ war)
that wise City-State
made me its messenger
to the high king of Spain,
who is now king of the Great Land
and awaits the crown,
if God does not oppose it:
for indeed under the moon
no person can be found
who, through other title of nobility,
so worthy would be
as this king Nanfosse.
And I took to the country
and went to Spain
and completed the embassy
that was ordained to me;
and then without pause
I took my way back,
so that in the country
of the Navarrese land,
coming by the road
of the plain of Roncesvalles,
I met a scholar
upon a dark gray mule,
who came from Bologne,
and without saying a lie
he was very learned and brave:
but I won’t linger over his praises,
which would be many.
I asked him only
for news of Tuscany
in sweet language and plain;
and he courteously
told me immediately
that the Guelphs of Florence
by evil luck
and by force of war
were out of the land,
and the damage was serious
of prisons and of death.
And I, taking care,
turned to nature
which I heard tell holds
every man that comes into the world:
he is born first
to father and to family,
and then to his City-State;
whence I know no one
that I would wish to see
my city to have
to his way in everything,
nor that it would be divided;
but all commonly
would pull a rope
of peace and of welfare,
which now cannot rescue
a land shattered in pieces.
Certainly my heart is breaking
with so much pain,
thinking of the great honor
and the rich power
that Florence used to have
almost in the whole world;
and I, in that lament,
pondering with head bowed,
lost the main road,
and passed the wrong way
to a different forest....
|