Myth of Arrival

Sarah Hillman, as you might have noted from earlier blog posts, not only is a cracker jack¹ Certified Nurse Aide and painter, but also a damn fine translator of Afrikaans. I don't know how many Afrikaans readers I get to this blog on a daily basis, but in the event that someone with gobs and gobs of money reads this and wants to sponser me on a Great White shark dive to Dyer Island, honestly, I won't say no.

You see, I discovered in my Shark Watcher's Handbook,

One of the best places in the world to encounter Great White sharks is a narrow channel between Dyer Island and Geyser Rock, near where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean off the southern tip of Africa. Dubbed Shark Alley, or Dyer Straits, the channel is roughly 150 m/ 500 feet wide and 600 m/ 1970 feet long. Considerable numbers of Great Whites patrol the channel while hunting Cape Fur seals (there are estimated to be 30-60,000 fur seals on Geyser Rock — the exact number depends on the season). This is where, in 1991, cage diving first started in South Africa. During a half-day or full-day trip the boat anchors in the channel (or nearby, depending on sea conditions) and the crew chums the waters with finely minced sardines, tuna or a mixture of shark liver and fish oil. When the sharks appear, the divers can enter a small galvanized metal cage (two people at a time) to view them underwater. The cage is circular, about 3 m/ 10 feet and 1.5 m/ 5 ft wide, and hangs at the surface with the help of flotation tanks. It is attached to the boat by ropes. Divers take turns in the cage and, depending on the shark activity, typically have one, two or three dives per trip … Non-divers can enjoy the tour as well, because the 3-5 m/ 10-16 ft sharks spend a lot of time at the surface, sometimes even leaping clear of the water, and frequently swim alongside the boat. Although the cage is floating, and several operators prefer to divers to snorkel rather than scuba, local regulations require everyone to have a minimum scuba-diving qualification. As many as 18 different sharks have been observed in a single day, many coming very close and even test-biting the cages, but the turnout and behaviour are highly variable …

I think this would be great fun, don't you? When Sarah e-mailed me this translation of Tiburón's Wave, she added this, Nota: "Tiberón" is die Spaans se word vir haai. In hierdie gedig. Die digter gebruik die woord asof dit 'n eienaam was. You rock, Sarah!

TIBERÓN SE GOLWE

1.
Tiberón se
golwe , opgang,
ondergang. Jou
lyf die enigste
warmte
in myle van
ocean water

2.
Hierdie moet ‘n
rolprent wees, dan
kan ons die deure
van haar gesig
oopmaak, ‘n
besagtigte blom.
Vir drie dae, die
mis het die
strand toegemaak,
die wind vergroot
word windvlaag.
Golwe, nie Tiberón sin nie,
stand hoog tussen
die water, ‘n pols
binner in die seë.
Hierdie is die virbind
sintaksis gebruik
om dit te sê:

3.
Ek wens haar pens
Nie hang nie. ‘n
Stillewe: eiergeel sak
Met nietig haai.
Ek wens sy nie
Skaam was nie, ‘n
Skim gemaklik
Met haarself,
Spook-beendere van honger,
Die swanger haai
Swem daar onder
En ‘n seun, een
Wat gaan die strand
En sy vriende
Verlof, agteraan.
Daar gaan ‘n baai wees,
En hy sal daar oorkruis.
Dit gaan soos ‘n rivier wees,
Wat van die tyd uitvloei,
Die see word ingedruk,
Die strandmeer word beswaar.

Vir ses maande
Het ek van hierdie
Seun en pens-swaai
Haai gedink. Dit
Is ‘n lang tyd om
‘n obsessie te he met:

4.
‘n swanger haai
Wat vir ;n ……
Seun aan kom,
Somtyds sy swem
Voor aan hom, sometyds
Agteraan, sometyds
Swem sy rondom
Die seun, en
uiteindelik, swem sy
Onder. Jy moet
Nie versot op haar
wees, vissers
sal haar vang,
sal haar pens
oop slit.
Hulle is net
Met die gebuigte vinne
Van haar geskiedenis
Besorg, met die
Arsenaal van
Haar glimlag.
Hulle stand daar op
Die dek, kleurryk
En skitterend.
Een gaan 'n
beroemde heelmeester
wees, 'n ander,
'n digter wat gaan
droefheid uitskot.
Die derde, 'n afneemer
met 'n klein kamera:
vogtigheid het dit
verduister.
Absoluut, voortreflik.

5.
Die storie sal deur
Die dorpie versprei.
Almal gaan hier aan
Die kaai kom,
Om aan die seun te kyk,
soos 'n visioen gesien,
en van die storie
te vra. Julle sal na hom
luister, en vra dat
hy alles repeteer.
Die volgende dag, ons
Gaan almal daar op die
Strand sit, en na
Die see kyk. Miskien
sal daar alweer
Iets soos dit wees.
Enigiets.

1. that's Yankee slang, Sarah, for "marvelous in a sort of fab-oo sort of way." [back]

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 16th, 2005 at 10:56 am and is filed under Afrikaans Translations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.