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Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Ade Ileke 44: Nets_____شباك





شبكات العنكبوت
...وشباك الصيادين
شبكات العنكبوت
...وشباك الصيادين
ما عقدن الذهب
من هؤلاء، للفلاحين

--
spider's webs
and fishermen's nets...
spider's webs
and fishermen's nets...
do not hold the gold
of the poor peasants.

I suppose one could view this as profound or incredibly trite... it was running through my head, however.

4 comments:

E.P. Rush said...

Beware of things running through your head. أحييكم على قيادتك واضح من اللغة العربية. لا ننسى هذا واحد: ماري لديها حمل صغير، وكنا نأكل منه.

Montag said...

That was bizarre. Is it a religious reference? Is it some sort of joke on the meanings of حمل ? I can only imagine it being used in Egypt with all the Coptic Christians around.

It does have a possible comic side. All translations are prone to prat falls. A friend is going to China - today, actually - so I wanted to wish him a "Bum Voyageee !" - which is a sentiment used by Popeye the Sailor, if you recall.

I only knew the word used for "tramp", which was more like "hobo" than "bum". So going to a dictionary, I got a likely candidate.
It turns out the word was for "bum" as in one's backside...

The result was stunning and embarrassing when you put them together.

Montag said...

Ah, it was a joke on the meanings of حمل

Montag said...

I was not familiar with that use, having always used خروف

I am sort of embarrassed by
how I read that, even more about the Copts.

The comic side of translations.....