Deirdré

Countries Beginning with I

Deirdré Straughan on Italy, India, the Internet, and the world

February 23rd, 2008

Aggiungi un Posto a Tavola: L’Amore Secondo Me

Love, According to Me

Toto, the former village idiot (apparently, the only thing wrong with him was that he didn’t understand sex), has just spent a wonderful night with Consolazione the travelling prostitute, which has changed the lives of both. He goes to discuss it with Don Silvestro, who is concerned that Toto may not fully understand the implications.

In the meantime, Clementina seeks advice from Consolazione as a woman of the world who can advise her on the mysteries of men. She does not say who is the object of her unrequited affection, merely stating that it is someone who cannot marry “because of his profession.” Consolazione assumes the mystery man to be a carabiniere (federal police officer – why such should not be able to marry is a mystery to me).

A quartet of confusion ensues.

SILVESTRO
Toto
CONSOLAZIONE
Clementina
SILVESTRO E CONSOLAZIONE Forse rischi di fare un grande errore Perhaps you risk making a big mistake
TOTO E CLEMENTINA Quale? Which?
SILVESTRO E CONSOLAZIONE Come fai a dire How can you say
SILVESTRO Mi piace quella donna “I like that woman”
CONSOLAZIONE Mi piace quell’uomo “I like that man”
SILVESTRO E CONSOLAZIONE Se non sai nemmeno se ci potrà essere tra voi un’intesa If you don’t even know if there can be between you an understanding…
SILVESTRO Come dire. Sentimentale How can I say, “sentimental” [emotional]
CONSOLAZIONE Sessuale Sexual
TOTO A me Consolazione me scunfinfera assai I [like] Consolazione a lot.
CLEMENTINA Io gli voglio bene tanto tanto bene I like him a lot, a really, really lot.
SILVESTRO Ma sarà proprio amore But is this really love
SILVESTRO Sicuro [are you] sure?
CONSOLAZIONE Sicura [are you] sure?
SILVESTRO

Sei sicuro che quando c’è lei, quando guardi negli occhi di lei

Senti dentro il tuo cuore suonare un violino di miele

Are you sure than when she’s there, when you look into her eyes, you feel inside your heart a violin of honey playing
TOTO Nu violino? A violin?
SILVESTRO Si, di miele Yes, of honey
TOTO Che suona per me That plays for me
SILVESTRO Si, un violino di miele

Che suona soltanto per te

Yes, a violin of honey that plays only you
TOTO E questo è l’amore secondo te, And this is love according to you.
SILVESTRO si questo è l’amore secondo me Yes, this is love according to me.
TOTO ah vabbè Oh, okay.
CONSOLAZIONE

sei sicura che quando c’è lui, quando guardi negli occhi di lui

senti qui come il mozzico di una cavalla selvaggia

Are you sure that when he’s there, when you look into his eyes, you feel here [indicating her abdomen] something like the nip of a wild mare
CLEMENTINA la cavalla? A mare?
CONSOLAZIONE

Si, selvaggia

Yes, wild
CLEMENTINA Che mozzica qui That nips here
CONSOLAZIONE

Si, come il mozzico di una cavalla che mozzica qui

Yes, like the nip of a mare that nips here
CLEMENTINA E questo è l’amore secondo te And this is love according to you.
CONSOLAZIONE

Siiii questo è l’amore secondo me

Yes, this is love according to me.
CLEMENTINA Ah vabbè Oh, okay.
SILVESTRO

L’amore secondo me è una limpida acqua che leva la sete del cuore

Love according to me is a limpid water that removes thirst from the heart.
TOTO L’amore Love
CONSOLAZIONE

Più lo fai, più ti viene la voglia di fare l’amore

The more you do it, the more you want to make love
CLEMENTINA L’amore Love
SILVESTRO E CONSOLAZIONE E allora sei tu proprio sicuro/a di avere capito cos’è

L’amore per te

And so are you really sure that you have understood what love is for you?
A CANONE [as a round]
CLEMENTINA

L’amore è un’elica dentro che frulla e che gira

io sono sicura che è proprio così

Love is a propeller inside that mixes and turns, I’m sure it’s really like this
TOTO

L’amore è un coniglio di miele che suona il violino

io sono sicuro che è proprio così

Love is a rabbit of honey that plays the violin, I’m sure it’s really like this
SILVESTRO E CONSOLAZIONE

Dunque sei proprio sicura/o al cento per cento

Che questo è l’amore secondo te

So are you really 100% sure that this is love according to you.
CLEMENTINA

Si questo è proprio l’amore lo sento lo sento

ne sono convinta al cento per cento

lo sento nel cuore

ne sono convinta

al mille per cento

che questo è l’amore

l’amore per me

Yes, this is really love, I feel it, I’m 100% convinced

I feel it in my heart,

I’m convinced,

One thousand percent

That this is love,

What love is for me.

TOTO Ora ne sono convinto al cento per cento

lo sento nel cuore

ne sono convinto

al mille per cento

Che questo è l’amore

l’amore per me

Now I’m convinced 100%

I feel it in my heart

I’m convinced

One thousand percent

That this is love,

What love is for me.

SILVESTRO

Ora mi sono convinta/o al cento per cento

Al mille per cento che questo è l’amore

L’amore per me

Now I’m convinced 100%

One thousand percent

That this is love,

What love is for me.

A QUATTRO

Questo è l’amore secondo me

Si questo è l’amore

Secondo meeeeeeeeeeeeee

[all four]

This is love, according to me

Yes, this is love,

According to me.

next: Una Formica e’ Solo Una Formica

Related Posts

February 21st, 2008

Aggiungi un Posto a Tavola: Notte Per Non Dormire

Continuing the story of Aggiungi un Posto a Tavola… God’s intention is that the inhabitants of the village will repopulate the earth after the imminent flood, and he wants them to get a headstart on it now, so he creates a magically seductive night in which love is in the air (along with a full moon and lots of stars), a…

Night for Not Sleeping

Don Silvestro must sing a seductive song to encourage the lovemaking in which he cannot participate. Clementina, too, spends the night alone.

Notte da non dormire Night for not sleeping
da fare giorno to turn into day
da stare in due to stay together [as two]
notte da innamorare night to fall in love
che dolce nido what a sweet nest
le braccia sue his/her arms
notte da far l’amore night to make love
come se fosse as if it was
la prima volta the first time
il primo si’ the first yes
e’ per voi… it’s for you
Notte da non dormire Night for not sleeping
da innamorare to fall in love
da far l’amore to make love
fatta per noi made for us
notte da ringraziare night to give thanks
stupenda notte stupendous night
e’ qui per voi it’s here for you
notte da naufragare night to shipwreck
nel mare caldo in the warm sea
degli occhi suoi of his/her eyes
magica e’ questa notte This night is magical
le stelle piovono the stars rain
su di noi upon us
tutto sussurra e grida everything whispers and cries
sussurra amore whispers love
e grida amore cries love
e a tanto amore and to so much love
non si puo’ dire you cannot say
di no no.

Note: The video shows both the first and second parts of Notte per Non Dormire. Go watch the next song Consolazione before you read on:

Night for Not Sleeping (Part 2)

Silvestro orders the men back to their wives. The only two people in the village not paired off are himself and Clementina.

SILVESTRO: Notte da non dormire Night for not sleeping
Nessuno dorme son tutti in due No one is sleeping, they’re all in pairs
Notte da innamorare Night to fall in love
Che dolce nido le braccia sue What a sweet nest her arms
Notte da far l’amore come se fosse la prima volta il primo si Night to make love as if it were the first time, the first yes
E’ per voi It’s for you
E’ per voi it’s for you
Non per me… not for me.
CLEMENTINA: Notte da malincuore, da rinunciare Night of heartsickness, to renounce
Da dire addio to say goodbye
SILVESTRO: Notte da malincuore, un malincuore che è solo mio Night of heartsickness, a heartsickness that is only mine.
INSIEME: Perfida è questa notte le stelle piovono su di noi This night is perfidious, the stars rain upon us
Tutto sussurra e grida, sussurra amore e grida amore All whispers and cries, whispers love and cries love
E a tanto amore io debbo dire di no And to so much love I must say no.
CORO: Notte da non dormire Night for not sleeping
Da innamorare to fall in love
Da far l’amore assieme a te To make love together with you.

next: L’amore Secondo Me

Related Posts

February 3rd, 2008

2007 in Review

another gorgeous winterline sunset, Mussoorie, December 2007

Feb 3, 2008

The past year was so busy that, in spite of the many articles, photos, and videos I published here, there are still travels and events that I haven’t even mentioned, video and photos you haven’t yet seen. 2008 is shaping up to be even busier so, in case I never get to those, I thought I’d do a quick gallop through 2007 and at least hint at some of the stuff you missed.

The first half of 2007 was mostly awful. But, somewhere around August, things changed drastically for the better, and I began to think of having a T-shirt made saying: “Life doesn’t suck.”

January

6: As a Christmas present from my dad, Ross and I, along with some of the British side of our family, saw Spamalot in London, the very last night that Tim Curry was in the cast. Fantastic! We also had our portraits taken.

14: Enrico and I took a day trip to Sormano and other points on the Lake Como peninsula above Bellagio

19-21: In Rome for my first (but not last) barCamp.

February

Ross and I were busy completing her application to Woodstock School, due March 1st. Much anxiety around this whole process, not least: wondering how I would pay for tuition.

14-19: I visited my dad in the UK again. I don’t remember now if this was because he had been in the hospital again or what.

^ Alpini in Lecco, March 2007

March

7: Attended the Cisco Expo in Milan.

20: Began working for Sun Microsystems, as a part-time contractor. First trip to Broomfield, Colorado, returning on the 28th, just in time for:

30: First Girl Geeks Dinner Italia

31: rItalia Camp

Infant apricots on the young tree in our garden. late March, 2007

April

Worked on my garden, held down two jobs, Ross got accepted to Woodstock (and now I knew that I could pay for it).

hothouse geraniums, Apr 15, 2007

22: Visited Milan Design Week with Ringae Nuek. (No, that’s not her in the picture.)

Milan Design Week 07 -

this was taken in the courtyard of Castello Sforzesco

28: Enrico and I went to the Castello di Vezio, near home on Lake Como.

Colorado sunset – Boulder, May 18, 2007

May

15: Flew to Colorado for Sun again. Visited my classmate Tin Tin in her fly genetics lab. Returned to Italy just in time for:

26: FemCamp

FemCamp Bologna, May 26 – Amanda interviews Mafe

June

Continued preparations for Ross to go to Woodstock, including getting her student visa for India.

17: Had lunch with Pamela, a Woodstock alumna, and her Swiss-Italian husband Tino at their holiday home on Lake Como.

21-25: Visited England while my dad was having knee surgery again.

Towards the end of the month, a doctor saw something she didn’t like on my mammogram, which began a period of torture and extreme anxiety. Around the same time, my mother was having an ovarian cyst the size of a grapefruit removed. Which, thankfully, turned out to be benign.

at the beach – July 6, 2007

July

5-8: We drove down to Roseto degli Abruzzi for my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday, stopping along the way at an excellent restaurant near Modena.

11: Finally got the word on my biopsy: no cancer. The next evening, to celebrate, we had expensive cocktails with friends before we all went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix together (in English) in Milan.

14: Had a visit from Peter and Peggy Jenks, former Woodstock staff.

21: I (and a bunch of other people) won a dinner at one of Italy’s finest restaurants, Symposium, in Le Marche, sponsored by San-Lorenzo.com. Spent the night in the nearby town of Cartoceto, which Susan and I toured the next day in intense heat.

28: Ross and I flew to London with her 46 kilos of luggage, to spend a few days with my dad and Ruth, and pre-celebrate Ross’ 18th birthday:

August

1: Ross flew out from Heathrow. Her departure did not go smoothly. But she got there safely and was happily launched on her great India adventure.

3: I flew to Colorado to spend my vacation (from TVBLOB) working for Sun, staying with Tin Tin again.

when geeks do urban planning – Broomfield, CO – Aug 2007

11: Ross turned 18 at Woodstock. By this time we were getting regular phone calls from her and knew that she was doing well and very happy. This was worth all the upheavals it had taken to get her there.

12: Tin Tin and I went hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Forest.

17: Flew to New Mexico to visit Woodstock friends Steve and Sharon.

18: Sharon and I visited Santa Fe, including the Crafts Museum.

31: College friend Steph came to visit from Tulsa; we drove down to Taos by way of the Garden of the Gods.

September

2: Back to Broomfield.

5: Flew to San Francisco and saw many old Bay Area friends, and a few Woodstockers, before going down to San Jose, where I filmed many Sun speakers at the Storage Networking Industry Association’s Software Developer Conference (SNIA SDC).

15: Participated in a fun fundraiser in San Francisco.

17: Flew back to the UK and spent a couple of days with Dad and Ruth.

20: Flew back to Milan. By this time, I had parted ways with TVBLOB, and only had one job to do, to my considerable relief.

We had house guests as soon as I arrived: my Woodstock classmate Sara Ahmed, and long-time family friends Leslie and Nathan. While they were all with us, we visited the beautiful old abbey at Piona, towards the northern end of Lake Como:

28: Enrico and I began to enjoy the advantages of the empty nest. On a sudden invitation, we took off and spent a weekend inVenice:

October

6: Wine-tasting in Valtellina.

19-21: Hosted Web Women Weekend at our home in Lecco.

27: Enrico and I took another day trip on the lake, eating at Beccaccino (justly famous for its fish) in Sorico.

November

3: Enrico and I went to Lugano for eTourCamp, on the way taking the ferry across the lake:

Lake Como, Nov 2007

10: My travel arrangements for India all set, we had our traditional fall dinner party a bit early.

14: Left Milan for Delhi. Arrived the same night, slept in a hotel for a few hours.

15: Took the Shatabdi Express to Dehra Dun and a taxi to Mussoorie. Wandered around the school looking for my kid til I finally met up with her on the ramp. She hugged me tight and whispered: “We’re so weird.”

16: Filmed Ross et al in a Bollywood version of “The Taming of the Shrew” – she played Bianca.

19: Pondered my past as a technical writer and my future ashttp://www.beginningwithi.com. what?

28: I turned 45.

Wrote, photographed, and filmed lots more stuff about Woodstock, spent intense times with many old and new friends, all the while working remotely for Sun.

December

14: Ross and I, alongside a school party of 200 kids plus chaperones, went down to Delhi at the start of our winter vacation.

16-18: In Delhi: shopping, eating, running around, seeing friends.

19: We flew to Mumbai, where we spent another intense period shopping for a sari, seeing many old friends (mine), and meeting movie stars. And I bought art:

^ a piece by artist Rashmi Dogra – a tin valise, with a Kathakali dancer’s face – this was my Christmas present for me!

29: Ross flew to Goa, I flew to Delhi.

30: More shopping in Delhi.

31: Arrived in Milan, Enrico picked me up at the airport. After a few hours at home to rest and unpack, we drove up to a place in the mountains where friends were staying, to celebrate New Year’s with them. I made it through dinner, but slept through the traditional midnight feast of lentils – and slept through 25 people partying in the room next door, and fireworks going off in the street outsidehttp://www.beginningwithi.com.

And I think that’s about enough for one year!

Related Posts

|