Traducció de Josefina Caball |
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NOT MY BEST SIDE |
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I
Not my best side, I'm afraid.
The artist didn't give me a chance to
Pose properly, and as you can see,
Poor chap, he had this obsession with
Triangles, so he left off two of my
Feet. I didn't comment at the time
(What, after all, are two feet
To a monster?) but afterwards
I was sorry for the bad publicity.
Why, I said to myself, should my conqueror
Be so ostentatiously beardless, and ride
A horse with a deformed neck and square hoofs?
Why should my victim be so
Unattractive as to be inedible,
And why should she have me literally
On a string? I don't mind dying
Ritually, since I always rise again,
But I should have liked a little more blood
To show they were taking me seriously.
II
It's hard for a girl to be sure if
She wants to be rescued. I mean, I quite
Took to the dragon. It's nice to be
Liked, if you know what I mean. He was
So nicely physical, with his claws
And lovely green skin, and that sexy tail,
And the way he looked at me,
He made me feel he was all ready to
Eat me. And any girl enjoys that.
So when this boy turned up, wearing machinery,
On a really dangerous horse, to be honest
I didn't much fancy him. I mean,
What was he like underneath the hardware?
He might have acne, blackheads or even
Bad breath for all I could tell, but the dragon -
Well, you could see all his equipment
At a glance. Still, what could I do?
The dragon got himself beaten by the boy,
And a girl's got to think of her future.
III
I have diplomas in Dragon
Management and Virgin Reclamation.
My horse is the latest model, with
Automatic transmission and built-in
Obsolescence. My spear is custom-built,
And my prototype armour
Still on the secret list. You can't
Do better than me at the moment.
I'm qualified and equipped to the
Eyebrow. So why be difficult?
Don't you want to be killed and/or rescued
In the most contemporary way? Don't
You want to carry out the roles
That sociology and myth have designed for you?
Don't you realize that, by being choosy,
You are endangering job prospects
In the spear- and horse-building industries?
What, in any case, does it matter what
You want? You're in my way.
Not my best side, I'm afraid.
The artist didn't give me a chance to
Pose properly, and as you can see,
Poor chap, he had this obsession with
Triangles, so he left off two of my
Feet. I didn't comment at the time
(What, after all, are two feet
To a monster?) but afterwards
I was sorry for the bad publicity.
Why, I said to myself, should my conqueror
Be so ostentatiously beardless, and ride
A horse with a deformed neck and square hoofs?
Why should my victim be so
Unattractive as to be inedible,
And why should she have me literally
On a string? I don't mind dying
Ritually, since I always rise again,
But I should have liked a little more blood
To show they were taking me seriously.
II
It's hard for a girl to be sure if
She wants to be rescued. I mean, I quite
Took to the dragon. It's nice to be
Liked, if you know what I mean. He was
So nicely physical, with his claws
And lovely green skin, and that sexy tail,
And the way he looked at me,
He made me feel he was all ready to
Eat me. And any girl enjoys that.
So when this boy turned up, wearing machinery,
On a really dangerous horse, to be honest
I didn't much fancy him. I mean,
What was he like underneath the hardware?
He might have acne, blackheads or even
Bad breath for all I could tell, but the dragon -
Well, you could see all his equipment
At a glance. Still, what could I do?
The dragon got himself beaten by the boy,
And a girl's got to think of her future.
III
I have diplomas in Dragon
Management and Virgin Reclamation.
My horse is the latest model, with
Automatic transmission and built-in
Obsolescence. My spear is custom-built,
And my prototype armour
Still on the secret list. You can't
Do better than me at the moment.
I'm qualified and equipped to the
Eyebrow. So why be difficult?
Don't you want to be killed and/or rescued
In the most contemporary way? Don't
You want to carry out the roles
That sociology and myth have designed for you?
Don't you realize that, by being choosy,
You are endangering job prospects
In the spear- and horse-building industries?
What, in any case, does it matter what
You want? You're in my way.
5
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NO GAIRE AFAVORIT |
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I
No gaire afavorit, malauradament.
El pintor no em donà l'oportunitat
de posar com Déu mana, ja ho veieu,
el beneit, obsedit pels triangles,
només em dibuixà dues potes.
No vaig dir-hi res, llavors
(Al capdavall, a un monstre
no li ve de dues potes), però després
em sabé greu per la mala propaganda.
Per què, em vaig dir, el meu conqueridor
havia de ser tan ostensiblement barbamec
i muntar un cavall de coll deforme i peülles quadrades?
Per què la meva víctima havia de ser
tan lletja i poc apetitosa?
I per què m'havia de tenir literalment
lligat a una corda? No em fa res de morir
en un ritual, perquè sempre em torno a alçar,
però m'hauria agradat un xic més de sang
per demostrar que els feia respecte.
II
És ben difícil per a una noia saber
si vol que la salvin. Vull dir amb això
que em queia força bé el drac. És bonic
agradar a algú, ja m'enteneu.
Que n'era de ben plantat! Aquelles urpes,
aquella pell verda i bonica, la cua tan provocativa!
I com em mirava!
Em feia la sensació que se'm volia menjar.
I això agrada a qualsevol noia.
Per això, quan aparegué aquell noi carregat de quincalla,
muntat en un cavall ferotge, la veritat,
no em va agradar gens. Al capdavall,
com era per sota d'aquella ferralla?
Potser tenia grans i barbs a la cara,
o potser li pudia l'alè; en canvi, al drac
li veies tots els atributs
a primera vista. Però, què hi podia fer, jo?
El drac es va deixar vèncer pel xicot
i una noia ha de pensar en el seu futur.
III
Sóc llicenciat en Control de Dracs
i Rescat de Verges.
Duc un cavall últim model,
de transmissió automàtica i obsolescència
incorporada; la llança és feta a mida,
i l'armadura, un prototip
que encara és secret.
Ara per ara sóc el millor.
Vaig armat i equipat
fins a les dents. Per què sou tan difícils?
No voleu que us mati i/o us rescati
de la manera més contemporània?
No voleu fer els papers
que us han assignat la sociologia i el mite?
No us adoneu que si sou tan llepafils,
poseu en perill el futur
de la indústria del cavall i de la llança?
A més a més, tant me fa
el que vulgueu. Em feu nosa.
No gaire afavorit, malauradament.
El pintor no em donà l'oportunitat
de posar com Déu mana, ja ho veieu,
el beneit, obsedit pels triangles,
només em dibuixà dues potes.
No vaig dir-hi res, llavors
(Al capdavall, a un monstre
no li ve de dues potes), però després
em sabé greu per la mala propaganda.
Per què, em vaig dir, el meu conqueridor
havia de ser tan ostensiblement barbamec
i muntar un cavall de coll deforme i peülles quadrades?
Per què la meva víctima havia de ser
tan lletja i poc apetitosa?
I per què m'havia de tenir literalment
lligat a una corda? No em fa res de morir
en un ritual, perquè sempre em torno a alçar,
però m'hauria agradat un xic més de sang
per demostrar que els feia respecte.
II
És ben difícil per a una noia saber
si vol que la salvin. Vull dir amb això
que em queia força bé el drac. És bonic
agradar a algú, ja m'enteneu.
Que n'era de ben plantat! Aquelles urpes,
aquella pell verda i bonica, la cua tan provocativa!
I com em mirava!
Em feia la sensació que se'm volia menjar.
I això agrada a qualsevol noia.
Per això, quan aparegué aquell noi carregat de quincalla,
muntat en un cavall ferotge, la veritat,
no em va agradar gens. Al capdavall,
com era per sota d'aquella ferralla?
Potser tenia grans i barbs a la cara,
o potser li pudia l'alè; en canvi, al drac
li veies tots els atributs
a primera vista. Però, què hi podia fer, jo?
El drac es va deixar vèncer pel xicot
i una noia ha de pensar en el seu futur.
III
Sóc llicenciat en Control de Dracs
i Rescat de Verges.
Duc un cavall últim model,
de transmissió automàtica i obsolescència
incorporada; la llança és feta a mida,
i l'armadura, un prototip
que encara és secret.
Ara per ara sóc el millor.
Vaig armat i equipat
fins a les dents. Per què sou tan difícils?
No voleu que us mati i/o us rescati
de la manera més contemporània?
No voleu fer els papers
que us han assignat la sociologia i el mite?
No us adoneu que si sou tan llepafils,
poseu en perill el futur
de la indústria del cavall i de la llança?
A més a més, tant me fa
el que vulgueu. Em feu nosa.
5
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20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
Sant Jordi i el dragó, c. 1455-1460 Paolo di Dono, conegut com Paolo Uccello National Gallery, Londres |
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§ Polsi la imatge per a ampliar-la |
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(Or) U. A. FANTHORPE, Selected Poems, Londres: Penguin, 1989. |
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Nascuda a Londres l'any 1929, U. A. Fanthorpe va estudiar a la Universitat d'Oxford i fou professora i cap del departament d'anglès del Cheltenham Ladies' College, una escola d'ensenyament secundari. L'any 1972 abandonà l'ensenyament i començà a treballar de recepcionista en el Bristol Hospital, un canvi que li va permetre dedicar-se a la creació poètica. El seu primer llibre de poemes, Side Effects, no va aparèixer fins l'any 1978. Des d'aleshores s'ha convertit en una de les poetesses angleses més prolífiques i amb major difusió popular. Va deixar l'hospital l'any 1983 i fou nomenada Arts Council Writing Fellow del St. Anne's College (Lancaster), i Northern Arts Literary Fellow de les universitats de Durham i Newcastle l'any 1987. La seva obra inclou, entre altres títols, Four Dogs (1980), Standing To (1982), Voices Off (1984), A Watching Brief (1987), Neck-verse (1992), Safe as Houses (1995) i Consequences (2000). (S) |
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Three poems by U. A. Fanthorpe: «Postcard (for Christine Wells)» and «Post-op», Guardian Unlimited, The Saturday Poems, July 8, 2000; «Autumn Offer»,  Guardian Unlimited, The Saturday Poem, October 21, 2000. |
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