Roy Kift 
Translator

on Lyrikline: 2 poems translated

from: البلغارية to: الانجليزية

Original

Translation

НАЙ-ПОСЛЕ

البلغارية | Mirela Ivanova

Открехнах вратата
и видях неоправеното легло
струпаните по пода книги
кръглата маса и себе си в гръб
зелената ваза червения термос
жълтата кръпка върху пердето
видях Богородица с Младенеца
копие от ХVІ век лоената свещичка
угасена наполовина креслото
отрупано с книги и вестници
фосфорециращия прах в тъмното
позлатените букви по гърбовете
на дебелите речници като лунички са
и пристъпих да ги погаля
и разбрах че се връщам и още
че свободата е стая под наем
в която най-после съм у дома

© Mirela Ivanova
from: ПАМЕТ ЗА ПОДРОБНОСТИ
Sofia: Pan, 1992
Audio production: 2005, M.Mechner / Literaturwerkstatt Berlin

AT LAST

الانجليزية

I opened the door just a slit
and saw the unmade bed
the pile of books on the floor
the round table myself from the back
the green vase and the red jug
the yellow stains on the curtain
I saw the Virgin Mary and her child
a copy from the 16th century the tallow candle
half burnt extinguished the armchair
full of clothes and newspapers
the phosphorescent dust in the dark
the gilded letters like freckles
on the spines of the wieldy dictionaries
I stepped inside to run my hand along them
and now I know I'm back again and know
that freedom is a sublet room
in which I am at last at home.

Translated by Roy Kift

ΠΑΡΑΒΟΛΗ

اليونانية | Kostas Koutsourelis

Υπήρχαν κάποτε -ποιος δεν το ξέρει;-
τόσοι άγγελοι ψηλά στον ουρανό
που άλλο πετούμενο εκεί πάνω να σταθεί
ήταν αδύνατο σχεδόν να καταφέρει

Γι` αυτό και κάποιοι ιθύνοντες
-κατόπιν ικανών συλλογισμών-
το χάος είπαν να ρυθμίσουν
και τάξη να επιβάλουν - τι αμνήμονες!

Μια κι όλως διόλου λησμονήσαν ασφαλώς
πως δεν σηκώνει τέτοιες διευθετήσεις
ο κόσμος των πνευμάτων,
ο κόσμων των ουράνιων ταγμάτων γενικώς

Έκτοτε οι άγγελοι εξέλιπαν οριστικώς
κι απόμεινε σε μας ο άδειος ουρανός

© KOSTAS KOUTSOURELIS
Audio production: 2001 M. Mechner, literaturWERKstatt berlin

Parable

الانجليزية

In olden times - but surely we all know? -
There were so many angels in the sky
That all the other celestial hosts
Found it nigh impossible to get by.

This is why the powers that be
After much protracted contemplation  
Ached to regulate the anarchy
Impose some order - oh the obfuscation!

It was far beyond their giddy wits
To conceive that such intrusions are most
Intolerable in the world of spirits
Especially in the realm of heavenly hosts.

Since then there are no angels left to fly
And what remains is naught but empty sky.

Translated by Roy Kift