Non dare il mangime alla capra, a meno che la contadina non te lo chieda.

Because this is a negative informal command addressed to tu.

In Italian, the negative imperative for tu is usually:

non + infinitive

So:

• Dare! would not work here
• Non dare = Don’t give

With tu, this is normal:

• Mangia! = Eat!
• Non mangiare! = Don’t eat!

For dare, the affirmative tu command is usually da’ (or often dai in speech), but the negative becomes non dare.

Italian usually drops subject pronouns when they are already clear from the verb form or from the situation.

In a command, the subject is very often just understood:

• Non dare... = Don’t give...
• implied subject: you

So the full idea is Tu non dare..., but saying tu is usually unnecessary unless you want emphasis.

Mangime means animal feed or fodder, not ordinary human food.

So:

• cibo = food in general
• mangime = feed for animals

That is why il mangime fits well with la capra.

Because alla is the contraction of a + la:

• a = to
• la capra = the goat
• a la capra → alla capra

The verb dare works like to give something to someone:

• dare il mangime alla capra = give the feed to the goat

English might sometimes say feed the goat, but Italian here is literally phrased as give the feed to the goat.

A meno che means unless or except if.

It introduces an exception:

• Non dare il mangime alla capra...
• a meno che... = unless...

So the structure is:

Don’t do X, unless Y happens.

This is a very common question.

The non after a meno che is often not a real negative. It is a so-called expletive non: it appears because of the grammar of the expression, not because the meaning becomes negative.

So:

• a meno che la contadina non te lo chieda

still means:

• unless the peasant woman asks you for it

It does not mean:

• unless the peasant woman doesn’t ask you for it

That second non is part of a standard pattern after a meno che.

Because a meno che normally requires the subjunctive.

So the sentence uses:

• chieda = present subjunctive of chiedere

not:

• chiede = present indicative

This is one of those cases where Italian grammar automatically calls for the subjunctive after a certain expression.

They are pronouns:

• te = to you
• lo = it

Here lo refers to il mangime.

So:

• te lo chieda = asks you for it

Literally, it is something like:

• asks it of you

but in natural English we would say:

• asks you for it

When ti combines with another object pronoun such as lo, Italian changes it to te.

So:

• ti + lo becomes te lo

This is a standard pronoun combination pattern:

• mi + lo → me lo
• ti + lo → te lo
• ci + lo → ce lo
• vi + lo → ve lo

So te lo chieda is the correct form.

Here it means ask for.

That is because of the pattern:

chiedere qualcosa a qualcuno

= to ask someone for something

So:

• chiedere il mangime a te
• te lo chieda

means:

• ask you for the feed

In other contexts, chiedere can also mean simply to ask a question:

• chiedere un’informazione = to ask for information
• chiedere cosa è successo = to ask what happened

So the exact meaning depends on what follows it.

Because in Italian, a singular countable noun like this normally needs an article when it refers to a specific person.

So:

• la contadina = the peasant woman / the farm woman

Without the article, contadina by itself would usually not sound complete in this sentence.

The article helps identify her as a specific person in the situation.