Bernard Johnson
Translator
on Lyrikline: 4 poems translated
from: sérvio to: inglês
Original
Translation
Под земљoм
sérvio | Miodrag Pavlović
На дашчаном зиду
дугоноги паук
лови у мрежу
своjу сенку
Низ труле степенице
жута свећа
пљуjе у подрум
Подрум jе далеко
и тоне све дубље
под влажне зидове
Jедна врата
затворила су неког
у поноћ
И jедан мрав
у виду човека
на дну степеница
дигао jе руку
Његов крик
не допире
Audio production: 2005, M.Mechner / Literaturwerkstatt Berlin
UNDER THE GROUND
inglês
On a wooden wall
a long-legged spider
casts its web
around its own shadow
Down rotting steps
a yellow candle
spits into a cellar
The distant cellar
sinks further and further
under damp walls
At midnight
a door shuts
someone in
And a ant
in the guise of a man
at the foot of the steps
raises its arm
Its cry
cannot reach us
Питања
sérvio | Miodrag Pavlović
Да се буде странaц
или
да се не отпутуjе
Да се окрене глава
или
да се ослепи
Да се затворе уста
или
да се падне на леђа
Неће jош дуго куцати сатови
пружи руку
Умрети
или
не родити се
препородити се
Audio production: 2005, M.Mechner / Literaturwerkstatt Berlin
QUESTIONS
inglês
Should one become a stranger
or
not go away
Should one turn one's head
or
go blind
Should one shut one's lips
or
fall one's back
The clocks won't go on ticking much longer give me your hand
To die
or
not to be born
To be reborn
Dva sveta
sérvio | Matija Bećković
I uskoro ćemo, taj dan doći mora,
Uputiti molbe upravi zatvora –
Da nas liše straha, slobode i zime
I na robiju tešku da nas prime!
A kad nas u lance bace i povežu,
Nek svet izgubi sramnu ravnotežu!
I od dva sveta što svet ovaj čine,
Nek svet robijaša bude svet većine!
A čuvari nek nas, iz straha il' srama,
Jedne noći mole da budu sa nama!
from: Tako je govorio Matija
Beograd: Prosveta, 1964
Audio production: Radio Beograd / Radio Belgrade
Two worlds
inglês
And very soon the day must be near
we shall send a request to the prison governor
To preserve us from fear, freedom and cold
and accept us for penal servitude!
And when we are thrown into chains and servility
may the world at last lost its shameful stability!
And of those two worlds which this world embraces
may the world of prisoners become greatest.
And then may our guards out of shame or fright
ask to come over one night to our side.
Kad bih znao da bih se ponosno držao
sérvio | Matija Bećković
Kad bih znao da bih se ponosno držao
Na robijama i pred sudovima:
Žario bih, palio i sve izdržao
I svemu se odupro golim udovima!
Kad bih znao da bih sto ispod stopala
Sam ćušnuo i sam omču namakao:
Večnosti bi se moja duša dokopala
A moj dželat bi za mnom zaplakao!
Al bojim se da bih počeo da molim
Da plačem, klečim i sve da izdajem,
da bih sačuvao samo život goli,
Na sve da pljunem na sve da pristajem.
from: Tako je govorio Matija
Beograd: Prosveta, 1964
Audio production: Radio Beograd / Radio Belgrade
If I knew that I would hold myself proudly
inglês
If I knew that I would hold myself proudly
In prison and before courts:
I would roast and burn but still bear all
Resisting everything with my bare limbs!
If I knew that I would push away
The table with my feet, myself put on the noose
My soul would earn itself eternity
And my hangman weep after me.
But I fear that I would entreat
And weeping, kneel, betraying all.
So as to keep at least my naked life
And spit on everything, agree to anything.