LITTLE ITALY NEWS MARCH 2014

www.littleitalytroy.org

troylittleitaly@gmail.com

WORK TO START SOON

National Grid, The City of Troy, The State, and DEC will be starting the
Remediation in 2014 and when they are finished they will resurface the
Pavement and we will be able to resume our activities.

How Do You Say Roots in Italian?

Part eight of a personal search from Troy to Frosolone.
By Frank LaPosta Visco
On the walls of the bar area of the Colombina were a couple of Italian proverbs, which provided Rich with a challenge he enjoyed understanding Italian. It can be fairly easy to literally translate words, but proverbs in another
language are often untranslatable and obscure idioms. That seemed to be the case here. On one wall, in varicolored
letters that seemed to dance, was written: Non ceuomo che non erri, n e cavallo che non Ferri. Literally it says
There isnt a man who hasnt erred, nor a horse that hasnt thrown a shoe. But that has none of the poetry,
rhythm and, I suspect, the typical Italian world-wise sense of humor. And a horse isnt exactly our major means of
transportation. So, I offer my own modern transliteration: Every man sometimes lies, and every car eventually
dies.
The other quote was more difficult to figure out. It was a short conversation that read: La vite disse all'ulivo:
"Insegnami l'eternite." L'ulivo rispose: "Sala quando mi insegnerai l'ebbrezza. Rich and I tried to translate it, but
our results didnt make a lot of sense. A friend of Richs, who has actually published translations from Italian
works, kindly supplied this literal translation: "The vine said to the olive: teach me eternity. The olive answered,
It'll happen when you teach me intoxication."
Again, I feel theres a lot missing from the original, so I did some research before I attempted to transliterate it.
First of all, for thousands of years, the olive tree has been the symbol of eternity in Judges, in the Koran and in
fables from countries where olive trees are common. In many of these writings, its called the Tree of Eternity,
because olive trees actually live and produce fruit for thousands of years; and then, when theyre no longer fruitful,
they send out shoots that replace the original growth.
Learning that, plus realizing that the phrase is on the wall of a restaurant, I reasoned that there might be a life lesson in those words. Is it a rivalry between the grape and the olive, both of which are fermented before offering
their liquid pleasures? Or is it folk wisdom telling us that long life and joy are equally important? Or just a restaurateur urging us to eat and drink? My interpretation attempts to encompass all of the above: The vine said to the
olive tree, I wish I could live forever, like you. The olive tree replied, And I wish I could live for today, like
you.
After a very satisfying dinner, we realized that we were now facing the reverse of our easy downhill amble to La
Colombina. But we clambered back up to the main part of town by a different route, but its difficult to get lost in
Frosolone and made it back to the hotel, where I, at least, got a good nights sleep. I think Rich used his ear plugs
and got some rest.
Returning to Pompei the next morning was easier, although not without its moments there were detours and sudden lapses of road signs enough to cause some anxiety, and again, some inaccurate navigational advice but unlike
most men who wont ask for directions, Rich saw each opportunity to stop and ask directions as a way to exercise
his command of Italian.
For our last couple of miles back to the hotel, we actually drove on the surface roads, as Rich calls city streets in
Los Angeles, and he managed to maneuver through the crowded streets with a skill he learned as a Scuba instructor, called dead reckoning. It worked. We pulled into the garage of the Amleto Hotel, the rental agent came, took
us back to the office where they ran my credit card through, then returned us to the hotel, where we said our arrivedercis and grazies and headed for the train station.

The annual benefit Spaghetti Dinner will be held at Christ

Church United Methodist on Friday, March 28 from 5 to 8
pm. Homemade sauce and desserts, salad , garlic bread and
of course, meatballs. Vegetarian options. Adults $12, Children under 6 $6. Takeouts available. If you want to order
takeouts for six or more people, phone 272-8392 on Thursday.
Please specify individual dinners or family style and please
leave a message if you get the voice mail.

Spring is on the way

UPDATE
Michael Esposito is home and
doing well.
We miss him , the newsletter
misses him and we cant wait until
he can start sending us articles
again.
Get well soon Mike!!!!

Spaghetti Supper Benefit

March Meeting
3/19
Neighborhood Watch
6 p.m.
Troy Little Italy
6:30 p.m.
233 Fourth Street Corner of Washington and
Fourth

May Procession for St. Marys School

The Market Date Unknown

Flood at Washington & 3rd circa 1913

Josie and Tony Defazio

Good Memories
Stroll Brewery Float