MAN AND CAMEL
On
the eve of my fortieth birthday
I
sat on the porch having a smoke
when
out of the blue a man and a camel
happened
by. Neither uttered a sound
at
first, but as they drifted up the street
and
out of town the two of them began to sing.
Yet
what they sang is still a mystery to me—
the
words were indistinct and the tune
too
ornamental to recall. Into the desert
they
went and as they went their voices
rose
as one above the sifting sound
of
windblown sand. The wonder of their singing,
its
elusive blend of man and camel, seemed
an
ideal image for all uncommon couples.
Was
this the night that I had waited for
so
long? I wanted to believe it was,
but
just as they were vanishing, the man
and
camel ceased to sing, and galloped
back
to town. They stood before my porch,
staring
up at me with beady eyes, and said:
"You
ruined it. You ruined it forever."
|
HOME I CAMELL
El dia abans del meu quarantè aniversari
seia al meu porxo tot fumant un cigarret
quan de cop i volta un home i un camell
van passar-hi a la vora. Al principi
els dos caminaven en silenci, però
quan van ser al cap del carrer i sortiren
de la ciutat, tots dos van començar a cantar.
Ara, el que cantaven és encara un misteri
per mi --els mots sonaven tots iguals, i la tonada
era massa banal per recordar-la. Van seguir
fins al desert, i a mesura que s'hi endinsaven
les seves veus es van fer més agudes, com el xiulet
que fa la sorra quan és enduta pel vent.
La meravella del seu cant, la seva
barreja indestriable d'home i camell, semblaven
una representació ideal de totes les parelles estranyes.
Seria aquesta la nit que tant de temps havia esperat?
Així ho volia creure, però tot just
els havia perdut de vista que l'home i el camell
van deixar de cantar, i al galop
tornaren a ciutat. Es van plantar
davant del meu porxo, mirant-me amb ulls
envidriats, i em van dir:
"Ho has espatllat. Ho has espatllat per sempre".
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