Translations — Tiburón’s Wave (Շնաձկան Ալիքը, cont.)
"It is very certain that the desire for life prolongs it." — Byron
Կյանքի տենչը անշուշտ երկարացնում է այն: — Բայրոն
Yesterday was Thanksgiving in Canada. Over the weekend I went to my first Tim Horton's. It's good to know one's own weaknesses, and one of mine is caffeine and industrial, refined sugar in all its myriad of forms. I do not want to provoke International relations1, so I will refrain from making any comparisons between Tim Horton's doughnuts and Krispy Kremes; let's just say if you are in Amherstburg, Ontario, and looking for a cup of coffee and a place to work a cross-word puzzle2 before heading across the Ambassador Bridge, don't go to the Tim Horton's on South Sandwhich Street.
Though winter is closing in on us fast and my thoughts begin to drift to warmer climates, like Çatal Hüyuk, Canada's Pacific Haida Gwaii/ Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, have their own shark mythology. Dogfish Woman; a powerful figure in the folklore of creatures of the sea. Dogfish Woman is related in a story of a woman who could transform herself into a shark, and in this form she could enter into other-realms of the world, her undersea world.
"K'aaxada awga," the dogfish (Squalus acanthias) in Haida vernacular, is a small variety of shark that inhabits the waters of the North Coast, including those of Queen Charlotte Islands. Various tribes have a system to identify important figures in their art, and the dogfish is recognized by its gill slits as crescents, crescent shaped mouth, depressed at corners and filled with saw-like teeth.
An old medicine man living near the end of Cape Flattery on the north coast recorded a song addressed to the goddess with these words: “Where are you, on whose back the waves break?”
While the "Tiburón" of this poem always appeared to me as a large creature, the particular type of shark seems a rather moot point. Dogfish Woman might just as easily make her appearance here as one of the more exotic Hawai'ian goddesses. When I began translating this poem into Eastern Armenian back in September, I expressed doubts about the usefulness of: "whether translating a poem concerning an animal that there isn't even a word for … made sense?"
The answer is yes; I am glad I continued with the work. The whole work, now in another language, takes on a life of its own.
| Tiburón’s Wave | «Շնաձկան Ալիքը» |
|---|---|
| I. Tiburón’s waves, rising, falling. Your body the only warmth in miles of ocean. |
I. Շնաձկան ալիքները, բարձրացող, իջնող: Քո մարմինը միակ ջերմությունն է օվկիանոսի մղոններում: |
| II. This should be a movie; then we could open the doors of her face, a beastly flower. For three days the fog shut down the coast, winds increased to a gale. Waves, not Tiburón’s, rose high among the waters, a pulse in the sea. This is the binding syntax used to say this: |
II. Սա պետք է կինոնկար լինի, զարշելի մի ծաղիկ: Արդեն երեք օր է մառախուղը պատել է ափը, քամիները հասել են փոթորիկի ուժգնության: Ծովային զարկերակը՝ ալիքները, բայց ոչ շնաձկան, բարձրանում են ջրերից: Սա պարտավորեցնող խոսքեր են, որ նշանակում են հետևյալը. |
| III. If only her belly did not hang. A still-life: Pup with yolk sac. If only she wasn’t For six |
III. Եթե միայն նրա որովայնը չկախվեր: Կյանքի մի կադր՝ Վեց ամիս շարունակ ես |
| IV. A pregnant shark that comes up to a drowning boy, sometimes swimming ahead of him, sometimes behind, sometimes swimming around, finally under the child. Do not get too attached to her, fishermen will hook her, slit her belly. They are only |
IV. Հղի շնաձուկ, որ մոտենում է խեղդվող տղային, երբեմն նրա դիմացից լողալով, երբեմն հետևում, երբեմն շրջաններ գծելով շուրջը, վերջապես երեխայի տակն անցնելով: Չափից մի տարվեք նրանով, ձկնորսները կորսան նրան, կբացեն փորը: Նրանք մտահոգված են |
| V. The story will spread through the town. Everyone will rush down to the quay to see the boy as if he were a vision, to ask him his story. You will listen to him, and make him repeat it. The next day we will all sit on the shore and watch the sea to see if there will be anything like it in the waves. Anything at all. |
V. Այս պատմությունը կտարածվի քաղաքով մեկ: Բոլորը նավամատույց կշտապեն, ռրպեսզի տեսնեն տղային, կարծես նա տեսիլք է, որպեսզի հարցնեն նրան իր պատմությունը: Դուք կլսեք նրան և կստիպեք, որ կրկնի: Հաջորդ օրը բոլորով կնստենք ծովափին և կդիտենք ծովը՝ փորձելով տեսնել նման մի բան ալիքների մեջ: Որևէ բան: |
- Who knows when I will be forced to flee to Canada to seek poetic asylum with the way the world is gyrating nowadays, eh? [back]
- Is it my imagination or has the New York Times cross-words gotten easier over the years? Is Will Shortz worried people will not be able to answer complicated questions concerning things other than Pop Culture? I know I can't. [back]