Boris Gregorić 
Übersetzer:in

auf Lyrikline: 4 Gedichte übersetzt

aus: kroatisch nach: englisch

Original

Übersetzung

PITAJTE CIPELU

kroatisch | Miroslav Kirin

Što radi cipela u travi u parku? Odmah ju pitajte.
Dajte joj do znanja da je to nedopustivo. Pitajte ju
zašto je sama, gdje joj je lijeva ili desna, zašto ju ne traži.
Zašto je pristala na samoću. Poslije pljuska puna je
mutne vode. Noću se u nju uvlače kukci. No to ju ne grije.
Pitajte ju kako je tako daleko dospjela, da više ne zna gdje joj je druga.
Zar ne osjeća potrebu da ju sretne, da se jedna drugoj ispričaju
i potom budu spokojne? Pitajte ju i gdje joj je čarapa,
koju je netko morao skinuti, zbog vrućine, znoja. I nju mora
tražiti. Da se čarapa ne osjeća odbačenom. Zato brzo u potragu.
Negdje su i hlače, na njima džepovi, kad ih izvrneš, ispadnu
dokumenti, ili ispadne ništa. Opasač, ako postoji na tim hlačama,
drži li još tijelo, ili tijelo njega? Njemu je košulja lisnato stablo,
i cvijet, ponosi se njime. A najvrjednija je glava, ako je još gore,
koja zna gdje joj je lijeva, a gdje desna cipela. No ako nje nema,
nema ni cipele, ni lijeve ni desne, a ova cipela u travi u parku
samo je cipela bez svojega živoga tijela,
i to je ta žalost s kojom je natapa kiša.

© Miroslav Kirin
aus: Zbiljka
Zagreb: Vuković & Runjić, 2009
Audio production: Tomislav Krevzelj, Udruga radio mreza 2011

ABOUT THE SHOE

englisch

What is a shoe doing in the grass of the park? Ask her at once.
Let her know it is outrageous. Ask her why she’s alone,
where her left or right match is, why she’s not looking for it.
Why she has agreed to be alone. After the shower she’s full of
murky water. At night, insects crawl into her. But that does not
warm her up. Ask her how she got this far, so that she knows not
where her match is. Does she feel no need to meet the other, to apologize
and be at ease afterwards? Ask her also about her sock, someone must have taken her off, because of the heat and the sweat. She must look for her, too.
So that the sock will not feel abandoned. Therefore, search quickly.
The pants are someplace too, the pockets on them, when you turn them
inside out, the ID cards fall out, or nothing at all. The belt, if there is one
on these pants, does he still hold the body, or the body hold him?
The shirt is a leafy tree to him, and a flower, a source of its pride.
But most worthy is the head, if it is still above, knowing where
her left and where her right shoe is. But if the head is missing,
there’s no shoe, neither the left nor the right one,
and the shoe in the grass of the park is just a shoe without its living body,
and that is the sorrow the rain soaks her with.

Translated into English by Boris Gregorić

razgledavanje otoka

kroatisch | Branko Čegec

repertoar se neočekivano pokvario.
pjevača je počeo izdavati sluh i glas.
sparina je bila nesnosna, glavobolja neprolazna;
pivo mlako, kakofonija nepodnošljiva,
djevojke nervozne i nepristuipačne:
gospode, koji kaos u glavi!
a trebao sam se posve razbistriti
kružeći barkom oko otoka,
na kojem su bezbrižni nudisti
sunčali svoju cjelovitost,
lijepi, ružni, nezgrapni i elegantni:
čedo je čirio usamljene ljepotice na stijenama,
a onda važno uzimao dalekozor i
esejističkom pomnošću razmatrao detalje:
potom se naglo usidrio i bućnuo u more:
voda je jebeno topla! – rekao je smireno
čedo, kapetan duge plovidbe, s
matičnom lukom u hamburgu,
kojemu su danas brod poslali u rezalište
a on nije postio ni suzu,
nego je mirno pasao glatku kožu
mlade i nestašne njemice
koja je hladnokrvno zaplivala pored
usidrene barke i onda
plutajući na vrelom popodnevnom suncu,
naga i neponovljiva,
dozivala neodlučnog momka,
koji je još uvijek lijeno skidao
gaće na divljoj, šupljikavoj gromači  

2001–08–18

aus: Tamno mjesto
Audio production: Tomislav Krevzelj, Udruga radio mreza 2011

the island sight-seeing

englisch

the repertory unexpectedly worsened.
the singer began to loose his ear and his voice.
the heat was insufferable, the headache seemingly endless;
the tepid beer, the intolerable racket,
nervous and standoffish girls:
god, what chaos in my head!
I should have been clearheaded by now
going round in a little boat,
the island’s careless naturists
sun-bathed their wholesome selves,
their pretty, ugly, fumbling, elegant selves:
čedo ogled lone beauties basking on the rocks,
then, importantly picking the binoculars,
he’d examine the details with essayistic care:
then he anchored abruptly and plopped into the sea:
fucking balmy water! - he said calmly
čedo, a skipper based in hamburg,
today his ship was sent to a scrap yard
but he had not shed a tear,
instead he calmly soaked up the smooth skin
of a young and playful german girl
who unruffled swam past
the anchored boat
and bobbing in the hot afternoon sun,
so naked and unique,
called her undecided boyfriend
who was still lazily taking off
his underwear in a wild and porous rock outcrop

2001-08-12

Translated by Boris Gregorić

crna ruka

kroatisch | Branko Čegec

na desnoj ruci on je stalno nosio crnu rukavicu
bio je agent udbe, bio je partijski sekretar,
devedesete se učlanio u hdz i postao gradonačelnik
maloga grada negdje na jadranu

krenulo se u pohod na kasarnu jna
crna ruka bio je vođa akcije;
on je jedini znao sve puteve,
on je poznavao slabe točke i
očekivane smjerove napada

otišla su dvojica, mladi i neiskusni dečki,
koji su tek upoznali miris pičke,
ali su slabo svladali miris baruta
i dodir s nitima lake zelene žice
na obalama minske pučine, u mračnoj, mračnoj noći

crna ruka održao je posmrtni govor,
i naposljetku slavodobitno podigao
crnu i bijelu šaku visoko iznad glave:
za svetu hrvatsku zemlju!

zatim je sjeo u blindirani mercedes,
na autobusnom stajalištu skupio je ljubavnicu
i punom brzinom sletio u provaliju
na stjenovitom dijelu obale,
ni petsto metara od posljednjeg zaustavljanja

ljubavnica se činila vrckavom i neozlijeđenom,
crna rukavica bez tijela u blizini
grčevito je stiskala zgnječeni volan
kada su napokon stigli vatrogasci i policija
na teško dostupno mjesto nesreće

2001-08-13

aus: Tamno mjesto
Audio production: Tomislav Krevzelj, Udruga radio mreza 2011

black hand

englisch

on his right hand he constantly wore black glove
he was the police agent, the party secretary,
in 1990 he became member of the HDZ* and a mayor
of a small town some place on the Adriatic

the Yugoslav army’s military barracks were to be raided
black hand led the operation;
he alone knew all the paths,
he alone knew the weak points
and the expected lines of attack
 
two were lost, young and inexperienced lads,
who just learned the smell of a cunt,
but poorly mastered the smell of gun powder
and the touch of the threads of light, green wire
on the shores of the mined sea, in the dark, dark night


black hand gave a posthumous speech
and lastly he lifted triumphantly
his black and white fist high over his head:
for the holy Croatian land!

then he sat in the armoured Mercedes
at the bus stop he collected his mistress
he crashed into the abyss at full tilt
on the rocky part of the shore
not even five hundred meters from the spot of his last stopping

the mistress seemed lively and unhurt,
the black glove detached from the body, nearby
tightly gripping the crushed wheel
when at last the fire truck and police arrived
at the hardly accessible place of the accident

2001-08-13



*Acronym of the Croatian National Union political party that gained power in Croatia at the beginning of the 90’s

Translated By Boris Gregorić

boja bure, zanos kose

kroatisch | Branko Čegec

morris bi sprayem slikao piramide:
skinuo bi majicu, stavio masku i
raspalio bojom po nazubljenu kartonu:
uokolo se skupljala rulja i skandirala.
onda bi došli gutači vatre, bubnjari i nemirne djevojčice,
u predvečerje, kada se stuštila bura s druge strane zaljeva,
i kada su suncobrani poletjeli u nebo
zajedno s betonskim držačima i gostima na terasi:

yves i dabo sjedili su nasuprot,
kao i prethodne večeri:
onda se tanja premjestila jer nije mogla zauzdati kosu.
tako je zajebala moju, koja je drsko ulijetala u usta,
u pivsku pjenu,  koja je presijecala pogled prema rijetkim,
drhtavim šetaćicama na korzu

morris bi i dalje sprayem slikao piramide,
vjetar bi raznosio raznobojnu maglicu u lica promatrača
s prisilno usidrena broda,
jedan je gost na terasi preko puta naručio
ožujsko i četiri apaurina
jedna se žarulja naprasno ugasila.
tanja je rekla:  to sam bila ja;
uspijem svaki put kada to stvarno poželim.

2001-08-12

aus: Tamno mjesto
Audio production: Tomislav Krevzelj, Udruga radio mreza 2011

the color of the bora, the exuberance of hair

englisch

morris would spray paint the pyramids:
take off his shirt, put on a mask and
fire off with paint against the corrugated cardboard:
in twilight a mob would gather and shout
followed by the fire-eaters, the drummers and restless girls,
when the bura descended violently from the other side of the bay,
beach umbrellas would fly in to the air
together with their concrete posts and terrace guests:

yves and dabo were seated facing us,
like the previous night:
then tanja wanted to change place because she could not control her hair.
that way she fucked up mine, which brazenly flew in my mouth,
in beer froth, cutting off the view of the rare,
shivering female pedestrians on the promenade

morris still spray painted the pyramids,
the wind kept dispersing a multi-colored mist into the on-lookers faces
from the involuntarily anchored ship,
a guest on the terrace across from us ordered
a beer and four sedatives
and a light bulb went off abruptly.
tanja said: that was me;
I succeed each time I really want to succeed.

Translated by Boris Gregorić