An afternoon patio
Friday, October 12, 2018
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| Andrea |
Este cuento corto de Julio Cortázar, Patio de tarde, creo que con su final asombroso es imposible de traducir. Para los que no entiendan el castellano lo he traducido.
I have no idea how any competent translator (and I am not one) would translate this lovely Julio Cortázar story Patio de tarde in which you think a cat is watching a blonde woman pass by on a patio on a lazy siesta afternoon. The whole story hinges on the fact that cola means tail in Spanish but it is also glue and particularly if you use the expression cola de carpintero it is that old-fashioned carpenter’s glue that stank to high heaven and it was made from horses hooves. It is only in the last sentence that the Spanish reader will be shocked that there is no cat in the story. There is my translation below the beautiful story by Cortázar.
Patio de tarde - Minicuento - Julio Cortázar
A Toby le
gusta ver pasar a la muchacha rubia por el patio. Levanta la cabeza y remueve
un poco la cola, pero después se queda muy quieto, siguiendo con los ojos la
fina sombra que a su vez va siguiendo a la muchacha rubia por las baldosas del
patio. En la habitación hace fresco, y Toby detesta el sol de la siesta; ni
siquiera le gusta que la gente ande levantada a esa hora, y la única excepción
es la muchacha rubia. Para Toby la muchacha rubia puede hacer lo que se le
antoje. Remueve otra vez la cola, satisfecho de haberla visto, y suspira. Es
simplemente feliz, la muchacha rubia ha pasado por el patio, él la ha visto un
instante, ha seguido con sus grandes ojos avellana la sombra en las baldosas.
Tal vez la muchacha rubia vuelva a pasar. Toby suspira de nuevo, sacude un
momento la cabeza como para espantar una mosca, mete el pincel en el tarro, y
sigue aplicando la cola a la madera terciada.
Toby likes to watch the blonde woman pass by the patio.
He raises his head, moves his tail a tad but then he lies still, following with
his eyes the fine shadow which at the same time is following the blonde woman
by the patio tiles. It is cool in the room, Toby dislikes the heat of siesta,
and he does not even like for people to be awake at that time, the only exception
being the blonde woman. For Toby the blonde woman can do as she pleases. He
moves his tail again, satisfied that he has seen her and he sighs. He is happy,
the blonde woman has passed by the patio, he has observed her, with his large hazelnut
shaped eyes her shadow on the tiles. Perhaps the blonde woman will return. Toby
sighs again, he shakes his head as if to shoo away a fly, he plunks the brush
into the can, and he keeps applying the glue on the plywood. (My translation)
