Billy Collins: Two poems about what dogs think (probably)

Prevoditelj: Maja Covic Recezent: Senzos Osijek

I don't know if you've noticed,

Ne znam jeste primijetili

but there's been a spate of books

da brdo knjiga

that have come out lately

izdanih u zadnje vrijeme

contemplating or speculating

razmatra ili nagađa

on the cognition and emotional life of dogs.

o mentalnom i emocionalnom životu pasa.

Do they think, do they feel and, if so, how?

Razmišljaju li, osjećaju li, i ako da, kako?

So this afternoon, in my limited time,

Tako sam ovo poslijepodne, u kratkom vremenu,

I wanted to take the guesswork out of a lot of that

htio prestati o tome nagađati

by introducing you to two dogs,

predstavljajući vam dva psa,

both of whom have taken the command "speak"

koja su oba shvatila zapovijed "govori"

quite literally.

sasvim doslovno.

The first dog is the first to go,

Kreće prvi pas koji

and he is contemplating an aspect

razmišlja o aspektu

of his relationship to his owner,

svog odnosa sa svojim vlasnikom,

and the title is "A Dog on His Master."

a naslov je "Pas o Svom Gospodaru."

"As young as I look,

"Koliko god izgledao mlado,

I am growing older faster than he.

starim brže od njega.

Seven to one is the ratio, they tend to say.

Sedam naprama jedan je omjer, kažu.

Whatever the number, I will pass him one day

Koji god bio broj, preći ću ga jednog dana

and take the lead,

i stati na čelo,

the way I do on our walks in the woods,

kao što to činim tijekom naših šetnji kroz šumu,

and if this ever manages to cross his mind,

i ako mu to ikada uspije proći kroz glavu,

it would be the sweetest shadow

bila bi to najslađa sjenka

I have ever cast on snow or grass."

koju sam ikada bacio na snijeg ili travu."

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

Thank you.

Hvala.

And our next dog

Naš sljedeći pas

speaks in something called the revenant,

obraća se u obliku duha

which means a spirit that comes back

koji se vraća

to visit you.

posjetiti vas.

"I am the dog you put to sleep,

"Ja sam pas kojeg si uspavao,

as you like to call the needle of oblivion,

kako voliš nazivati iglu zaborava,

come back to tell you this simple thing:

vrativši se da ti samo kažem ovo:

I never liked you."

nikada mi se nisi sviđao."

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

"When I licked your face,

"Kada sam ti lizao lice,

I thought of biting off your nose.

razmišljao sam o tome da ti odgrizem nos.

When I watched you toweling yourself dry,

Dok sam te promatrao kako se brišeš ručnikom,

I wanted to leap and unman you with a snap.

želio sam skočiti i uškopiti te jednim ugrizom.

I resented the way you moved,

Zamjerao sam ti kako se krećeš,

your lack of animal grace,

tvoj nedostatak životinjske otmjenosti,

the way you would sit in a chair to eat,

način na koji bi sjeo na stolicu da objeduješ,

a napkin on your lap, a knife in your hand.

ubrus na tvom krilu, nož u ruci.

I would have run away

Bio bih pobjegao

but I was too weak,

no bio sam preslab,

a trick you taught me

trik koji si me naučio

while I was learning to sit and heel

dok sam učio sjesti i biti uz nogu

and, greatest of insults,

i, najveća od svih uvreda,

shake hands without a hand.

rukovati se bez ruke.

I admit the sight of the leash would excite me,

Priznajem da bi me prizor uzice ushitio,

but only because it meant I was about to smell things

ali samo zato što je to značilo da ću uskoro omirisati stvari

you had never touched.

koje ti nikada nisi dodirnuo.

You do not want to believe this,

Ne želiš to vjerovati,

but I have no reason to lie:

no nemam razloga lagati:

I hated the car, hated the rubber toys,

mrzio sam auto, mrzio gumene igračke,

disliked your friends, and worse, your relatives.

nisu mi se sviđali tvoji prijatelji, a još manje tvoji rođaci.

The jingling of my tags drove me mad.

Izluđivalo me zveckanje mojih privjesaka.

You always scratched me in the wrong place."

Uvijek si me češkao na pogrešnim mjestima."

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

"All I ever wanted from you was food and water

"Sve što sam ikada htio od tebe bila je hrana i voda

in my bowls.

u mojim zdjelicama.

While you slept, I watched you breathe

Dok si spavao, promatrao sam te kako dišeš

as the moon rose in the sky.

dok se mjesec dizao na nebu.

It took all of my strength

Trebala mi je sva snaga

not to raise my head and howl.

da ne podignem glavu i zatulim.

Now, I am free of the collar,

Sada sam slobodan od ogrlice,

free of the yellow raincoat,

slobodan od žute kabanice,

monogrammed sweater,

džempera s monogramom,

the absurdity of your lawn,

apsurda tvog travnjaka,

and that is all you need to know about this place,

i to je sve što trebaš znati o ovome mjestu,

except what you already supposed

osim onoga što si već pretpostavio

and are glad it did not happen sooner,

i što ti je drago da se nije ranije dogodilo,

that everyone here can read and write,

da svatko ovdje može čitati i pisati,

the dogs in poetry,

psi u poeziji,

the cats and all the others

mačke i svi ostali

in prose."

u prozi."

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)