| Kaj al ili Namezo respondis nenion. Li sciis ke li estis doninta grandan parton de sia vivo por eksperimenti kaj estis produktinta belkreskan arbon, dum la lertuloj nun estis vidantaj arbon je la unua fojo, kaj tute malsciis la malfacilecojn kiujn oni devas venki, kaj eĉ ne komprenis la demandon kiun ili entreprenis solvi. Sed li sciis ankaŭ ke tiela konsidero estas por lertuloj malpli ol nenio. Estis malutile argumenti kun ili, ĉar ili ne sciis ke ili ne scias, kaj tio ĉi estas plej malfacila lerni. Tial li lasis ilin paroladi, kaj flegis sian arbon kiel antaŭe. "Ĉar," li diris al si mem, "kiam la arbo estos disvastiĝinta kaj multobliĝinta laŭspece tra la lando, per la grada sperto de multaj homoj fariĝos arba scienco, kaj tial ni fine ellernos la plej bonan flegmanieron." Ankaŭ li pensis, "la diablo estis prava: la diablo estas lertulo." | And to these Namezo answered nothing. He knew that he had given a great part of his life to making experiment and had produced a well-grown tree, while the clever men were now seeing a tree for the first time, and were wholly ignorant of the difficulties that had to be overcome, and did not even understand the question they were undertaking to solve. But he also knew that to clever men such a consideration is less than nothing. It was no good to argue with them, for they did not know that they did not know, and this is the hardest thing to learn. So he let them keep on talking, and tended his tree as before. "For," said he to himself, "when the tree has spread and multiplied after its kind throughout the land, from many men's gradual experience there will arise a science of trees, and thus we shall in the end find out the best way of tending them." Also he thought, "The devil was right: the devil is a clever man." |
| Iom poste alvenis en la vilaĝon homoj el aliaj lokoj, kunportantaj diversajn semojn. Ĉiu el ili laŭdis sian propran semon, dirante ke li estas kreskiginta belan arbon el tia semo, kaj postulante ke la vilaĝanoj plantu nur liajn semojn. Tiam iuj diris, "Ni metu ĉiujn la diversajn semojn kunen, kaj ni kreskigu el ili unu bonan arbon." Kaj tiuj ĉi petis Namezon ke li neniigu sian arbon kaj pistu ĝiajn semojn kaj almiksu ilin en la kunmetatan semaĵon, por ke unu bona arbo elkresku. | Now, some time after there arrived in the village men from other places, bringing with them various seeds. Each of them praised his own seed, telling how he had grown a fine tree from such seed, and urging the villagers to plant his seeds only. Then certain of them said, "Let us put all the divers seeds together, and let us grow from them one good tree." And these begged Namezo to destroy1 his own tree and pound its seeds and stir them into the compound seedstuff, that one good tree might grow out of it. |
| Tiel ili babiladis kaj bataladis inter si; kaj ili ĉirkaŭ iradis en la vilaĝo, montrante modelojn de siaj arboj kaj pruvante, ĉiu ke la sia estas la plej bona. Kaj fine la vilaĝanoj enuiĝis kaj denove volis dehaki ĉiun kaj ĉies arbon. | Thus they babbled and kept quarrelling among themselves; and they went round about in the village showing models of their trees and proving each that his own was the best. And at last the villagers grew weary of it, and wanted again to hew down every tree, no matter to whom it belonged.2 |
1Destroy. Nothing = neni‑o; suf. -ig denotes causation. 2No matter to whom it belonged. Lit. every one's.
| Sed Namezo kaj liaj amikoj havis jam du aŭ tri grandajn arbojn, kaj ĝis nun prosperis al ili defendi ilin kontraŭ la atakoj de la vilaĝanoj. Kaj ĉiam, kiam la vetero estas varmega, ili sidas sub la arboj vespere kaj ĝuas la freŝecon. Tamen ili havas nur duonan profiton el ili, ĉar la vilaĝanoj malpermesas planti ian arbon en la vilaĝo, kaj tial la arbanoj devas ĉiufoje marŝi malproksimen kaj aparte viziti siajn arbojn, anstataŭ havi ilin apud siaj pordoj. | But Namezo and his friends had by this time two or three big trees, and up to this day they have succeeded in defending them against the villagers' attacks. And always, when the weather is very hot, they sit under their trees in the evening and enjoy the coolness. Yet have they only half profit by them, for the villagers forbid them to plant any tree in the village, and so the tree people have to walk a long way each time and have to make special visits to their trees, instead of having them at their doors. |
| Kaj la plej granda parto de la vilaĝanoj, malgraŭ ke oni povas facile piediri al la arboj, diras ankoraŭ, "Arbo estas neebla." | And the greater part of the villagers, though the trees are within a walk, still say, "Trees are impossible." |
| Kaj la diablo ridas. | And the devil laughs. |
1. There is one definite article, la, invariable. There is no indefinite article.
2. Nouns always end in -o. Ex. patro = father.
3. Adjectives always end in -a. Ex. patra = paternal.
4. The plural of nouns, adjectives, participles, and pronouns (except only the personal pronouns) ends in j. Ex. patroj = fathers; bonaj patroj = good fathers.
5. The accusative (objective) case always ends in -n. Ex. Mi amas mian bonan patron = I love my good father. Ni amas niajn bonajn patrojn = we love our good fathers.
6. Adverbs always end in -e. Ex. bone = well; patre = paternally. (There are a few non-derived adverbs without the ending -e, as jam, ankaŭ, tiel, kiel).
7. The personal pronouns are:
| mi = I | ŝi = she | ni = we |
| vi = you | ĝi = it | vi = you |
| li = he | oni = one | ili = they |
Also a reflexive pronoun, si, which always refers to the subject of its own clause.
All these pronouns form the accusative case by adding -n.
8. The verb has no separate ending for person or number.
The present ends in -as. Ex. mi amas = I love.
The past ends in -is. Ex. vi amis = you loved.
The future ends in -os. Ex. li amos = he will love.
The conditional ends in -us. Ex. ni amus = we should love.
The imperative ends in -u. Ex. amu = love! ni amu = let us love. This form also serves for subjunctive. Ex. Dio ordonas ke ni amu unu la alian = God commands us to love one another.
The infinitive ends in -i. Ex. ami = to love.
There are three active participles.
The present participle active is formed by -ant. Ex. amanta = loving; amanto = a lover.
The past participle active is formed by -int. Ex. aminta = having loved; la skribinto = the author (lit. the man who has written).
The future participle active is formed by -ont. Ex. amonta = being about to love.
There are three passive participles.
The present participle passive is formed by -at. Ex. amata = being loved.
The past participle passive is formed by -it. Ex. amita = having been loved.
The future participle passive is formed by -ot. Ex. amota = being about to be loved.
All compound tenses, as well as the passive voice, are formed by the verb esti (to be) with a participle. Compound tenses are employed only when the simple forms are inadequate. Ex. mi estas aminta = I have loved (lit. I am having loved); vi estis aminta = you had loved (lit. you were having loved); ili estas amataj = they are loved; ŝi estas amita = she has been loved; ni estis amitaj = we had been loved; ili estos amintaj = they will have loved; ŝi estus aminta = she would have loved; mi estus amita = I should have been loved.
I. Prefixes
bo- denotes relation by marriage: bopatro = father-in-law.
dis- denotes dissemination, division: dismeti = to put apart, about, in pieces.
ek- denotes sudden action or beginning: ekdormi = to fall asleep; ekiri = to start.
ge- denotes both sexes: gepatroj = parents; geviroj = men and women.
mal- denotes the opposite: bona = good; malbona = bad.
re- denotes back, again: repagi = to repay; rekomenci = to begin again.
II. Suffixes
-ad denotes continuation: penadi = to keep striving, to make continued effort.
-aĵ denotes something concrete, made of the material, or possessing the qualities of the root to which it is attached: bovo = ox; bovaĵo = beef; okazi = to happen; okazaĵoj = happenings, events. (For English speakers a good rule is to add "thing" or "stuff" to the English word; propra = one's own, propraĵo = own-thing, property; vidindaĵoj = see-worthy-things, notable sights. N.B.: -aĵ added to transitive verbal stems generally has a passive sense: tondi = to clip, tondaĵo = clipped-thing, clippings; whereas tondilo = clipping-thing, shears.) See Zamenhof's explanation of -aĵ, La Revuo, Vol. I., No. 8 (April), pp. 374–5.
-an denotes an inhabitant, member, or partisan: urbano = a town-dweller; Kristano = a Christian.
-ar denotes a collection: vortaro = a dictionary; arbaro = a forest; homaro = mankind.
-ĉj denotes masculine affectionate diminutives: paĉjo = daddy; Arĉjo = Archie.
-ebl denotes possibility: kredebla = credible.
-ec denotes abstract quality: boneco = goodness.
-eg denotes great size or intensity: grandega = enormous; varmega = intensely hot.
-ej denotes place: lernejo = a learn-place, a school.
-em denotes propensity to: lernema = studious; kredema = credulous.
-er denotes one out of many, or a unit of a mass: sablero = a grain of sand; fajrero = a spark.
-estr denotes a chief or leader: lernejestro = a head master.
-et denotes diminution: infaneto = a little child; varmeta = warmish.
-id denotes the young of, descendant of: bovido = a calf.
-ig denotes causation: bonigi, plibonigi = to make good, to improve; mortigi = to kill; venigi = to cause to come, to send for.
-iĝ denotes becoming, and has a passive signification: saniĝi, resaniĝi = to get well (again); paliĝi = to grow pale; troviĝi = to be found, occur.
-il denotes an instrument: razilo = a razor.
-in denotes feminine: patrino = mother; bovino = cow.
-ind denotes worthiness: laŭdinda = laudable, praiseworthy.
-ing denotes a holder: kandelingo = a candlestick; glavingo = scabbard.
-ist denotes profession or occupation; maristo = a sailor; bonfaristo = a benefactor.
-nj denotes feminine affectionate diminutives: Manjo = Polly; patrinjo (or panjo) = mamma.
-uj denotes containing or producing: inkujo = inkpot; Anglujo = England.
-ul denotes characteristic: timulo = a coward: avarulo = a miser.
[The suffix -aĉ (not in the Fundamento) is coming into use as a pejorative (= Italian -accio): ridi = to laugh; ridaĉi = to grin, sneer.]
| Demonstrative. | Relative and Interrogative. |
Negative. | Universal. | Indefinite. | |
| Person* | tiu that |
kiu who, which |
neniu no one |
ĉiu every, all, every one |
iu some, some one |
| Thing* | tio that (thing) |
kio what, which |
nenio nothing |
ĉio everything |
io something |
| Quality | tia that kind of a |
kia what kind of a |
nenia no, no kind of |
ĉia each, every kind of |
ia any, some kind of |
| Time | tiam then |
kiam when |
neniam never |
ĉiam always |
iam ever, at some time |
| Place | tie there |
kie where |
nenie nowhere |
ĉie everywhere |
ie somewhere |
| Manner | tiel thus, so |
kiel how |
neniel in no way |
ĉiel in every way |
iel in some way, somehow |
| Motive | tial therefore |
kial why |
nenial for no reason |
ĉial for all reasons |
ial for some reason |
| Quantity | tiom so/as much so/as many |
kiom how much how many |
neniom none |
ĉiom the whole amount |
iom somewhat, a certain amount |
| Possession | ties of that |
kies whose, of which |
nenies nobody's |
ĉies everybody's |
ies somebody's |
In the demonstrative column, to express "this" instead of "that," add ĉi.
*N.B.—Tiu, kiu, etc., are used in agreement with a noun expressed, even when it does not represent a person.
Ex. Tiu libro, kiun mi legis = that book which I read. Tiuj ĉi floroj = these flowers.
Tio, kio, etc., are used when there is no noun, so that they stand alone.
Ex. Tio estas vera = that is true; kion vi diris? = what did you say? Tio ĉi estas pli granda ol tio = this is bigger than that.
N.B.—In memorizing the above, it is well to remember that t = demonstrative, k = relative-interrogative, ĉ = distributive, i = indefinite, nen = negative.
A
B
C
Ĉ
D
E
F