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There was a man who was very stingy.
Since his boyhood he had began to work in the fields, and he even worked as a day laborer when they called him.
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C'era un uomo che era molto avaro.
Già da ragazzo aveva cominciato a lavorare in campagna ed andava pure a giornata quando lo chiamavano.
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He began to save his money, and sometimes, to economize, he didn't even buy a slice of bread for his evening meal. |
Iniziò così a mettere da parte i soldi e, qualche volta, per risparmiare, non comperava neanche una fetta di pane per mangiarla la sera. |
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Little by little, he bought a goat, then a sheep, and little by little he became the owner of many parcels of land and many animals. |
Piano piano, comperò una capra, poi una pecora e, un po' alla volta, divenne il proprietario di tanti terreni e di molti animali. |
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| Since he was a miser, before he did anything, he always asked: - Does it cost any money? - And if the answer was yes, he didn't do it. |
Siccome era avaro, prima di fare qualunque cosa domandava sempre: - Si paga? - e se gli rispondevano di sì, non la faceva. |
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If he asked someone to help him in the fields, he always paid the helper less than he owed him, or with some excuse (for instance, that the work had not been done well) refused to pay.
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Se si faceva aiutare da qualcuno in campagna, gli dava sempre meno di quello che gli spettava oppure metteva una scusa (ad esempio che il lavoro non era stato fatto bene) e non lo pagava per niente.
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| When he decided to get married, he went to speak to a priest, and the first thing he asked was: - Does it cost to get married? - And since the priest answered yes, he began to barter about the money he had to pay, and he only got married when the priest agreed to accept the price he was willing to pay. After a while, however, he kicked his wife out of the house because, according to him, she spent too much money, and so he lived alone. |
Quando decise di sposarsi, andò a parlare con il prete e la prima cosa che gli domandò fu: - Si paga per sposarsi? - E siccome quest'ultimo gli rispose di sì, cominciò a tirare sui soldi che gli doveva dare e si sposò solamente quando il prete gli fece il prezzo che diceva lui. Dopo un po', però, cacciò via la moglie da casa perché, secondo lui, gli spendeva troppi soldi e così rimase solo. |
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| When he became old, he only had left two nephews who would come to visit him, but since he was afraid that they would steal from him, sometimes he didn't even let them into the house. |
Nel momento in cui diventò vecchio, gli erano rimasti soltanto i nipoti che lo andavano a trovare, ma siccome aveva paura che gli si prendessero la roba, alcune volte non li faceva neanche entrare in casa. |
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As he was dying, the nephews sent for the priest to give him the last rites. When he saw him enter, he quickly asked:
- What are you doing here? -
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In punto di morte, i nipoti mandarono a chiamare il prete per fargli dare l'Olio Santo. Come lo vide entrare, subito l'uomo gli domandò:
- Cosa ci fai tu qui? -
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- I came to give you confession and the Holy Oil. - Answered the priest. |
- Sono venuto a confessarti ed a darti l'Olio Santo. - Gli rispose il prete. |
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At that point the old man opened his eyes wide and asked:
- How much does the Holy Oil cost? -
- Nothing! - Answered the priest.
The old man then rested his head on the pillow, and happily said to the priest:
- Then you can pour all of it! - |
A quel punto il vecchio spalancò tanto d'occhi e domandò:
- E si paga l'Olio Santo? -
- No! - Rispose il prete.
Il vecchio allora appoggiò la testa sul cuscino e, tutto contento, disse al prete:
- Allora metticelo tutto! -
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| The anecdote, which vaguely reminds of a short story of Giovanni Verga, was usually told to those who, with a parsimonious behavior toward others, approached avarice. Moreover, the sentence "Must one pay for the Holy Oil? " is still used today when one is about to conclude a deal which is not totally advantageous. |
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