Nóbbele int''a sempricità,
Manco nu marcangegno,
Bona pe sciacquà 'a verdumma,
Pe sculà 'a scarola e 'e fasule,
Ma ancora cchiù nóbbele
P'appreparà 'e maccarune.
Int''a ogne cucina 'e stu regno,
Int''a casarella 'e muntagna,
Int''o vascio ncittà,
Pure abbuordo 'a varca e 'o bastimento,
Assiste 'a' cena 'e meliune.
Scola 'e pácchere, ‘e fusille, e vermicielle
E 'e maccarune 'e zite,
Se ne jésceno a migliara
P'addeventà timballe 'a távula riale
E lágane fora 'o' pajese.
Damma d’’a casa,
Senza sfuorgio, senza pompa,
Re, piscature e cafune,
Viecchie e gióvene
Senza ‘e tte
Nun mágnano.
Scolamaccarune mia,
Ancora cchiù nóbbele tu,
Quanno sì antica,
Nu poco sgarrupata e acciaccata,
Tenuta mman'a ciento nonne
E cincuciento nepute.
The Pasta Strainer
Noble in simplicity,
Not even a fancy gadget,
Good to rinse vegetables,
To strain escarole and beans,
But even more noble yet
To prepare maccheroni.
In every kitchen in this realm,
In the little mountain house,
In the city flat,
Even aboard boats and great ships,
It assists the dinners of millions.
It drains paccheri, fusilli, and vermicelli
And the ziti,
Turn out by the thousands
To become timballi on royal tables
And fettuccine out in the countryside.
Lady of the house,
Without flashiness, without pomp,
Kings, fishermen and farmers,
Old and young
Without you
Don’t eat.
My pasta strainer,
Even more noble are you,
When you are ancient,
A bit warped and dented,
Held in the hands of a hundred grandmothers
And five hundred grandchildren.
* Pictured: Detail of The Vestal Virgin Tuccia Proving Her Innocence (1608) by Jacob Matham after Bartholomeus Spranger, Philadelphia Museum of Art. The priestesses of Vesta, the ancient Roman goddess of the hearth, were required to remain chaste. When the priestess Tuccia was accused of breaking this requirement, she proved her virginity by carrying water in a sieve without spilling a drop.
