Leo nimetafsiri shairi fupi la Robert Frost, "A Time to Talk." Hili ni shairi nililolisoma kwa mara ya kwanza miaka mitatu iliyopita, baada ya binti yangu Zawadi kuninunulia kitabu cha mashairi ya Frost, Robert Frost: Selected Poems. Kama nilivyoelezea katika blogu hii, nilikuwa nimelazwa hospitalini mjini Minneapolis, na binti yangu, kwa kujua ninavyopenda vitabu, alininunulia hiki kitabu kinisaidie kukabili hali niliyokuwemo.Shairi hili la "A Time to Talk" lina mawaidha mazito kuhusu maisha. Linatukumbusha umuhimu wa uungwana na ukarimu katika mahusiano yetu binadamu. Tuache fikra ya kwamba hatuna muda wa kujumuika na wenzetu, kujuliana hali, na kadhalika. Robert Frost anavyoelezea mambo katika shairi hili ananikumbusha maisha ya vijijini, ambayo niliishi tangu utotoni. Kusalimiana ni wajibu, na watu hutumia muda kujuliana hali.
Bila shaka, Frost anaukosoa utamaduni wa ubinafsi, na utamaduni wa kila mtu na maisha yake. Anaikosoa hali ambayo wanafalsafa kama Karl Marx na wafuasi wake wameiongelea vizuri kwa kutumia dhana ya "alienation." Anavyoongelea kuhusu kuwa na muda wa kuongea na wenzetu, ninaona kuwa Frost anaikejeli jamii ambayo imejiaminisha kuwa muda ni hela ("time is money"). Ninavyosema hayo mambo yanayohusu utamaduni, kama yalivyoelezwa katika shairi hili, ninakumbuka nilivyoyaelezea katika kitabu changu, Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences.
Kwa kumalizia, napenda nirudie jambo ambalo ninalitamka daima. Kutafsiri kazi ya fasihi ni shughuli ngumu yenye mitego na vipingamizi vingi. Nilivyojaribu kulitafsiri shairi la Frost, simaanishi kuwa tafsiri yangu ndio kilele cha ufanisi. Msomaji makini anayezifahamu vizuri sana lugha za ki-Ingereza na ki-Swahili, na sio lugha tu, bali lugha ya kifasihi, bila shaka ataona vipengele ambayo vingeweza kuboreshwa. Kwa mfano, katika mstari wa pili, utatafsirije "a meaning walk," ili uziwasilishe kwa ki-Swahili dhana zilizomo katika huo usemi wa ki-Ingereza?
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A TIME TO TALK (Robert Frost, 1874-1963)
When a friend calls to me from the road
And slows his horse to a meaning walk,
I don't stand still and look around
On all the hills I haven't hoed,
And shout from where I am, What is it?
No, not as there is a time to talk.
I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,
Blade-end up and five feet tall,
And plod: I go up to the stone wall
For a friendly visit.
MUDA WA MAONGEZI
Rafiki anaponiita kutoka barabarani
Huku akipunguza kwa makusudi mwendo wa farasi wake,
Sisimami tu na kuangalia huko na huko
Kubaini idadi ya vilima ambavyo bado sijalima
Na kisha kupaaza sauti pale nilipo, Vipi?
Hapana, hapana kwani kuna muda wa kuongea.
Nasimika jembe langu katika ardhi tepetepe,
Ubapa wa jembe ukiwa juu futi tano toka ardhini,
Na ninatembea taratibu: ninaelekea kwenye ukuta wa mawe
Kukutana na rafiki.
2 comments:
I love Robert Frost and in my studies have not come upon this poem "A Time To Talk" and i really have enjoyed it so much. We do not talk to one another at all most of us, and taking time to talk , is almost unheard of anymore. If you hit up THE VERMONT COUNTRY STORE...their dad who started that store in Vermont, was best friends with Robert Frost. There is a good story about how Frost would com to the Ortman farm and write poetry after watching them all work there. Once again, your awareness of the good and close value of loving communication helps the world to heal. All cultures can do this together..we can listen for our neighbor , and really hear them in the harmony of creation and share LIFE!! more effectively. Thank you Professor Mbele for all you do to help us become more aware of how important it is to pause....lieten and then respond as part of Loving our neighbor as ourself.--Merri
Thank you, Merri, for your generous, insightful, and valuable comments. It is truly delightful to hear about Robert Frost's habits. The information you have shared helps me to understand in a new light the rural sensibility and closeness to nature that I have found to be a prominent feature of Frost's work.
Back in my high school days in Tanzania, we read Frost's famous poem, "The Road Not Taken." As I say in my blog post above, I encountered "A Time to Talk" for the first time when my daughter bought me a book of Frost's poetry. I like this poem in a special way, for the reasons you and I have stated. I am most moved by Frost's reflections on the erosion of human values.
Indeed, Frost moves us with his down-to-earth affirmation of the nobility and profound significance of such seemingly simple things as making time for genuine conversation. How sad that we now find ourselves in a world ruled by notions such as "time is money."
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