Love Theme from 'Gabriela'

Love Theme from 'Gabriela' [Tema de amor de Gabriela (Antonio Carlos Jobim)]

Won't you come nearer, beautiful lover [Chega mas perto...]
Won't you come nearer, my ray of sun
The house where I live is a desert of darkness
But when you're here it fills up with sun

My lips are thirsty, but they will be patient [Molha tua boca...]
Your lips to me are nourishing spring
But you are the centre of each celebration
And I'm just a clown who waits in the wings

House of shadow, life of seclusion [Casa de sombra...]
And only you can help put out this fire
Of pain and of sorrow, of bitter illusion
And so I long for you, filled with desire

Here's Ney Matogrosso singing it. I can't decide if this is frighteningly good or just plain frightening...

Innokentij Annenskij (and Cladistics!)

Here's a poem that I love. Probably the best poem about a guilty conscience that I know.

Copying out this poem, I noticed I was making some mistakes, mostly in punctuation, but also in words. I corrected the word mistakes - since I don't really want to misrepresent Annensky's poem. But on the other hand, this problem that appears when copying by hand is also very interesting in itself. I went to a talk Mark Collard gave about using cladistics in culture. Although he made some claims that I (as a non-expert, obviously) think were pretty dubious (e.g. that use of cladistic methods in linguistics is a new phenomenon - when Morris Swadesh's word lists were made in the 1940's). But perhaps we can talk about cladistics and the talk later. What I want to point out is that as almost an aside, he mentioned the use of cladistic methods (comparing for similarity by using a list of traits, comparing to an outgroup, defining derived and primitive traits) for ascertaining the treelike relationship between different copied versions of the same text, say a holy book copied and re-copied by monks. That way, you not only can hope to learn what the original text was like, but the variegated relationships between the copiers.

Can you do that, o copy and paste? (Actually, if you can look at which sites I visited, you can, but ignore that).

Anyway, enough of this crap. Here's the poem.

Старые эстонки

Если ночи тюремны и глухи,
Если сны паутинны и тонки,
Так и знай, что уж близко старухи
Из-под Ревеля близко эстонки.

Вот вошли, - приседают так строго,
Не уйти мне от долгого плена.
Их одежда темна и убога,
И в котомке у каждой полено.

Знаю, завтра от тягостной жути
Буду сам на себя непохожим...
Сколько раз я просил их: "Забудьте!..."
И читал их немое: "Не можем".

Как земля, эти лица не скажут
Что в сердцах похоронено веры.
Не глядят на меня - только вяжут
Свой чулок бесконечный и серый.

Но учтивы - столпились в сторонке...
Да не бойся: присядь на кровати...
Только тут не ошибка ль, эстонки?
Есть куда же меня виноватей.

Но пришли, так давайте калякать,
Не часы ж, не умеем мы тикать.
Может быть, вы хотели б поплакать?
Так, тихонько, неслышно, похныкать?

Иль от ветру глаза ваши пухлы,
Точно почки берез на могилах?
Вы молчите, печальные куклы,
Сыновей ваших... я ж не казнил их

Я напротив, я очень жалел их,
Прочитав в сердобольных газетах,
Про себя я молился за смелых,
И священник был в ярких глазетах.

Затрясли головами эстонки:
"Ты жалел их... На что ж твоя жалость,
Если пальцы руки твоей тонки,
И ни разу она не сжималась?

Спите крепко, палач с палачихой!
Улыбайтесь друг другу любовней!
Ты ж, ты нежный, ты кроткий, ты тихий,
В целом мире тебя нет виновней!

Добродетель... твою добродетель
Мы ослепли вязавши, а вяжем...
Ничего, вот накопится петель,
Мы словечко придумаем, скажем..."

Сон всегда откупался мне скупо,
И мои паутины так тонки...
Но как это печально и глупо
Неотвязные эти эстонки

(1906)

In My Life

Fall of 2004. That was the time where I used to stay evenings in cafes reading Nabokov. Actually, I only stayed in a cafe in the evening reading Nabokov once. I was reading Pnin, and was eating one of those deliciously cold lemon squares. I'm sure it wasn't something I did just on a whim either, I probably had to wait at the place for some reason. I'd say the dentist, but that's only cause my teeth hurt now. And besides that would cast an incurably unromantic pall over the whole thing. What I want to say is, isn't it wonderful? I only did the thing once, but now a whole era of my life is associated with being "the time where I'd do" such a thing. This little manoeuvre of extrapolation just saved me hundreds of dollars in melting lemon squares that I'd all remember as variations on the one lemon square. Hours spent in cafes, thinking of what to do next, feeling slightly awkward. And there's only so many times you can re-read Pnin.

It Had to Be You

It Had to Be You [Só tinha de ser com você (Antonio Carlos Jobim/Aloysio de Oliveira)]

And so you say [E só eu sei]
You feel loved
You feel saved
Don't you know
This is my
Love for you

And, darling it had to be you [E só tinha de ser...]
Or else it just wouldn't be true
Or else it would be more heartache
Or else it would be a mistake

And here's what nobody can see: [aquele que o gente...]
Love that has given to you
What you never could have before
Love that has given to you
What you never could have...

And, your love is as blue as the sea [E, você que e...]
Without you I'm blue as can be
But with you here I can feel
A joy and a peace so unreal

If only you could understand [Se ao menos podesse...]
I'm always alone without you
You're always alone without me
I'm always alone...

And here's Elis Regina singing it over a video of umm... something 70's ish going on, I guess. Well, Elis Regina is in the video, too.

Furry Alphabet H-P

More of translations of Zakhoder's Furry Alphabet

If you meet a HEDGEHOG, it is nice to say
"My my, isn't someone sharply dressed today!"
-
"It's hotter here than in a sauna!"
The walrus told the IGUANA
"Why it's so cold I thought I'd freeze!"
Said the iguana with a sneeze
-
The brains of a hare
The tact of a bear
A hyena's good looks
(including the hair)
The JACKAL's an animal beyond compare
The greatest that's ever been seen anywhere
-
Every KANGAROO will vouch
Nothing's better than a pouch
"Its advantage is apparent!"
Says the proud kanga-parent
"It's a lovely hiding spot!"
Says the happy kanga-tot.
-
The LION, as you are aware,
was once the king of beasts.
But these day monarchies are rare
and lion's reign has ceased

The lion wasn't a good king
and he abused his power
so I don't have much sympathy
if now he's feeling sour.
-
Us MONKEYS and you humans share
Ancestors (were you aware?)
Now we're in zoos and people stare
Dear kids: do you think this is fair?
-
In deepest night
It's quite a fright
To meet a great big OWL
But when it's light
They're just about
As scary as ... a towel??
-
The PEACOCK is pretty - I wont pretend
That I can't see what sets him apart
But all of his beauty begins at the end
And that's not the best place to staart