Translated by Peter Ngila Njeri, Meg Matich and the author
Cover art: Compressed reality (detail) by Kim Ng.
The Translation Process
Translating these poems written originally in the Icelandic language by Hlín Leifsdóttir has been a fulfilling exercise. As a writer who primarily writes in English and doesn’t speak the cleanest of Kiswahili, I look at translating Hlín’s poems as a way of getting out of my comfort zone; while at the same time adding to global literature through translation. Above everything, as a lover of languages, translating Hlín’s work further opened my world to the intricacies of language and linguistic context. That the poems were originally written in the Icelandic language and then translated to English, I was in constant communication with Hlín during the translation process. My desire was to try and stay true to the English version, while trying not to lose the original Icelandic context. Linguistically speaking, one of the most fascinating challenges I encountered was putting the English pronouns (he/she) in place and in line with age. Because the Kiswahili language is less gendered, I had to present certain characters as men or women or children of the most fitting age. It felt fascinating to work across languages. More power to translation! – Peter Ngila Njeri
Mtiririko Mweupe
Na Hlín Leifsdóttir
(Hili shahiri limetafsriwa kutoka kwenye lugha ya Kizungu hadi Kiswahili na Peter Ngila Njeri, na kutoka kwenye Kiaislandi hadi Kizungu na Meg Matich)
Anga linapoangukia miti yenye haina majani
usiku unaning’inia kwenye matawi
kwenye mabega ya mwanadada mdogo
anapoelekea nyumbani
akiwa na mfuko wa plastiki, usiokuwa na chochote
kwa sasa hivi, hatutamtaja yule kiumbe wa kiume
kijana mdogo mwenye tiara iliyoraruka
anapofagia anga na mpigo wa mabawa
kwa sasa hivi, hatutasema hata neno moja kumhusu
Wakati yule mwanadada anapouinua uso wake
na kuona ya kuwa miti imefagia anga hadi damu
na kijana anautazama kwa mshangao
mti usiokuwa na majani, na kwa sasa hivi unaorefusha matawi yake
kuelekea kwenye marudio
ya majani mekundu yaliyopotea
hatutaweza
hasa kwa sasa
kusema lolote kuhusu yule kijana
Na baadaye,
baada ya tushazurura kichakani
na ndege wametawanyika
na badala yake kuacha weupe kwenye kimya cha hayo matawi
sauti za miguu, zilizo chini
alama za miguu zetu, zilizofichwa
njia ya nyuma hatimaye kapotea
wakati anga linapopinduka rangi ya waridi.
kwa hivyo hatutawahi kuongea tena
hata neno moja
kumhusu yule kijana
Badala yake, tutakumbuka
kwenye kimya cheupe
kuhusu chembechembe za theluji zilizosahau kuyeyuka kwenye mvua
katika kibaridi joto kuelekea ardhini
Na si inafaa
ya kuwa tunapozipoteza sauti zetu
tukumbuke hawatawahi kuwa na sauti?
Hata kupiga kwenye mabati
na madirisha
ya kile chumba kidogo
wanapombembeleza mtoto alale
Hapana, si mbele ya sisi
wenye hatuwezi konong’oneza
tunapewa nguvu ya kuimba
Tunawakumbuka
kama kinjia kipoteacho
na mwatawi yanayoinama kwa minajili ya kimya
Na tunatumai yule kijana amelala unono
Tunatumai anaota vitamu
Hatutawahi kumtaja tena.
***
Whiteweight
By Hlín Leifsdóttir
(This poem was translated from the Icelandic by Meg Matich)
When the sky strains bare trees
night dangles from their branches
onto the shoulders of a slight woman
on the walk home
with a plastic bag, overfull with its own emptiness
now, we won’t bring him up
When a little boy with a torn kite
Sweeps the sky with the beating of frayed wings ´
now, we won’t say one word about him
When the woman looks up
and sees the treetops have scraped the sky to blood
and the boy gapes in wonder
at the leafless trees, now stretching their branches
toward a return
of the red leaves they‘ve lost
we will not
least of all now
speak of him
And later
when we’ve long wandered into the woods
and the birds have flown off
leaving in their stead white quiet on the branches
the sound of footsteps, muffled
our footprints, covered
the path back finally lost
as the sky pinkens
Then we will never again speak
not a single word
of him
Instead, we‘ll remember
in the midst of the white silence
of grains of snow that forgot to melt into rain
in the warming air on the way to earth
And isn’t it fitting
that just as we lose our voices
we remember they‘ll never have a voice?
Much less beat against the iron roof
and the window panes
of the little attic room
lulling the child to sleep
No, no more than we
who can no longer whisper
are made able to sing
We remember them
as the path back vanishes
and branches bend under the heft of silence
And we hope he’s sound asleep
We hope he’s dreaming sweetly
We will never mention him again.
Bahari na Bandari
Na Hlín Leifsdóttir
(Limetafsriwa na Peter Ngila Njeri)
Walizidi kusema ya kuwa kulikuwa na samaki wengi baharini
Hawakuelewa
Ya kuwa yule mwanadada hakutaka kuvua samaki
Alitamani kuivua bahari yenyewe
Walisema hakuna aliyeweza kulifanya
Lakini siku moja yule mwanadada mwishowe alimpata
Ilitokea ya kuwa hakuwa samaki kamwe
Alikuwa mnyama wa baharani anayeitwa kombe
Ndiyo maana pumzi yake ilitokea kama bahari
“Naweza pia!” yule mwanada alisema
“Eeh, naweza kuvua bahari!”
***
Hakuwa kama wanaume wengine
Kwa sababu kamwe hakuwahi kuwa nchi ya kigeni
Ama ladha ya kigeni
Yule mwanadada alipomkumbatia yule mwanaume
Alijihisi kama samaki
Aliyeachiliwa baharini
Baada ya kupigania maisha kwa muda mrefu
Kwenye yule mchanga mweusi
Alihisi ni kama amesahau
Inavyohisi kuwa nyumbani
Na yule mwanadada alipogundua
Ya kwamba yule samaki hakupaswa kumvua
Lakini kuwa bahari kwa yule mwanadada
Alizidiwa na faraja
Yenye kina kikubwa kushinda furaha
***
Yule mwanadada amekilaza kichwa kifuani mwa yule samaki
Harakati kama mawimbi
“Hii ni kama tu kuwa kwa dau,” yule mwanadada anasema
“Eeh, mpenzi wangu,” yule samaki anajibu
“Nitakusafirisha kwa meli kwenye bandari salama.”
Na mpigo wa moyo wa yule samaki ukiwa kwenye masikio ya mpenzi wake
Anajua ya kuwa kwa sasa hivi bahari na bandari
Zimekuwa kitu kimoja
***
The Seas and the Harbour
(Translated into English by Hlín Leifsdóttir)
They kept saying that there were many fish in the sea
not understanding
that she didn’t want to catch fishes
She longed to catch the ocean itself
They said no one could do it
But one day she finally found him
and it turned out that he wasn’t a fish at all
He was a conch
That’s why his breath sounded like the sea.
“Can too!” she said
“Yes, I could catch the ocean!”
***
He was not like other men
For he was never a foreign country
or an exotic taste
When she hugged him
she felt like a fish
being released into the ocean
after having fought so long for its life
in the black sand
that it has forgotten
what it means to be home
And when she realized
that he never meant to catch her
but to be the ocean to her
she was overcome with relief
deeper than joy
***
She is lying with her head on his chest
the movement like waves
“This is just like being out on a boat,” she says
“Yes, my love,” he replies
“I will sail you to a safe harbour.”
And with his heartbeat in her ears
she knows that now the seas and the harbor
have become one
Mwanzoni palikuwa na maneno
Na Hlín Leifsdóttir
(Limetafsriwa na Peter Ngila Njeri)
Uso wako ni barakoa yangu
Naubeba badala ya yangu barakoa
Ulinibusu
Na uso wako ukazama kwenye wangu
Na nimekuwa mtu hajulikani
Kama maji
Yenye yametiwa rangi na mvinyo
Natembea kama nimelewa na wewe
Kama nimejitoa kutoka kwangu mwenyewe
Wakati mwingine natafuta uso wangu viooni
Lakini umepotea
Busu zako zimeufanya uyeyuke
Kama busu za wachamungu
Karne hadi karne
Zilivyofanya nyuso za picha takatifu kwenye makanisa mzee ziyeyuke
Hadi Mtakatifu Maria, Yusufu, Nicholas, George na Irene
Walivyozipoteza nyuso zao
Kama Mungu
Usikose kunielewa
Ila tu wakati mwingine huwa naukosa
Uso wangu umekuwa barakoa yako
Unaibeba badala ya yako
Na ninapokutazama
Naupata tena uso wangu uliopotea
Lakini sisherehekei kurudi kwake
Kwa sababu nakutamani
Uko wapi?
Uko wapi kwa saa hivi?
Ulienda wapi?
Nyuso zetu zinatazamana
Zinaunda ukungu katikati
Ni kama ni upande wa juu wa glasi linaloona
Zinayeyuka
Zinashikana kwa pamoja
Zinaunda uso tofauti
Kama mtazamo mbaya wa mtoto wetu
Uso wangu wanifanana kushinda nilipokuwa mchanga
Kabla uliponibusu
Na nikapakwa rangi na wewe kama maji kwa mvinyo
Unakufanana zaidi ya chochote
Kabla uliponipenda
Ni upendo
Wenye utaendelea kuishi baada ya sisi wawili kufariki
Haijalishi ya kuwa utawahi kuwa mtoto
Kama huu huzuni utakuwa mtoto wetu wa kipekee
Nitaupa chakula
Nitaulea
Nitauvalisha kwa maneno
Sitawahi tupa mtoto wetu wa kike nje
Sitawahi mkataa
Sitawahi mwacha peke yake afe uwanjani
Badala yako nayaacha haya maneno nyuma
Lakini unafaa kuzaliwa
Mtoto wangu
Tafadhali yasome haya maneno
Maneno yaliyozaliwa kabla yako
Na uelewe ya kuwa
Mwanzoni palikuwa na neno
Wakati ulikuwa umesonga
Na baadhi ya watu wakasema ya kuwa wakati ulikuwa umesonga
Kwa wewe kuja
Mwanzoni palikuwa na maneno fulani
Maneno yatima yaliyochoma
Yaliyojaa tamaa
Mwanzoni palikuwa na maneno fulani
Maneno yaliyoguguma, yaliyosita
Yasiyojua bado
Kama ulikuwa uje kuzaliwa
Mwanzoni palikuwa na neno fulani
Kelele zilizonyamazishwa
Yenye yalikuwa na maneno yote
Mwanzoni palikuwa na kimya
Lakini ndani yako neno liliishi
Yenye mwishowe ilitoa mpasuko mkubwa
Na ikawa nyota, jua
Na wewe mtoto wangu
Kwa sababu ulikuwa kila kitu kwangu
Anga yote lililojaa nyota
Na mengine mengi mno
Nyuso zetu zimeja pamoja
Na kuunda uso wa mtoto wetu
Uso wangu wanifanana kushinda ninavyojifanana
Na kushinda zaidi ya unavyojifanana
Nakutazama wewe, mtoto wangu,
Najiona mimi mwenyewe na kipenzi changu
Na sina tamaa yetu tena
Hii safari yanakaribia mwisho
Mimi na baba yako tunaenda safarini
Lakini upendo wetu umeandikwa nyotani
Kwa kuwa nyota zitaendelea kung’aa machoni mwako
Kwa muda mrefu baada tumeenda
Na utakuwa na macho ya baba yako
Lakini nyusi zangu
Nauosha uso wako kwenye busu
Nauosha kwa machozi
Kama wachamungu wanavyoziosha picha zao takatifu makanisani
Lakini ni uso wangu unaopotea
Sio wako
Hivyo ndivyo yafaa
______
In the beginning were the words
(English translation by Hlín Leifsdóttir)
Your face is my mask
I carry it instead of my own
You kissed me
and your face sank into mine
and I have become unrecognizable
like water
that has been colored by wine
I walk around drunk by you
estranged from myself
Sometimes I search for my face in mirrors
but it has disappeared
Your kisses made it fade away
like the kisses of the pious
century after century
made the faces of the icons in the old churches fade
until St. Mary, Joseph, Nicholas, George and Irene
became faceless
like God
Don’t misunderstand me
but sometimes I miss it
My face has become your mask
You carry it instead of your own
And when I look at you
I find my lost face again
But I do not celebrate its return
For I miss you
Where are you?
Where are you now?
Where did you go?
Our faces reflect each other
They form a mist between them
as though on the surface of a looking glass
They dissolve
melt into one another
merge into a different face
like a premonition of our child
It looks more like myself than I did when I was a child
before you kissed me
and I became coloured by you like water by wine
It looks more like you
before you loved me
It is the love
that will continue to live after both of us are gone
whether or not it will ever become a child
If this sorrow becomes our only child
I will still feed it
nurture it
dress it in words
I will never disown her
never deny her
never abandon her and leave her to die in the field
Instead I leave behind these words
But should you be born anyway
my child
please read these words
the words that came before you
and understand that
In the beginning there was the word
It was late
And some said that it was too late
for you to ever come
In the beginning there were the words
the piercing lonely words
full of longing
In the beginning there were the words
the stammering, hesitant words
That didn’t yet know
whether you would ever really come to be
In the beginning there was the word
a muffled scream
that contained all the words
In the beginning there was silencing
but within it dwelled the word
which finally broke forth in a big bang
and it became stars, suns
and you my child
For you were everything to me
the entire starry sky
and so much more
Our faces have merged together
into the face of our child
It looks more like me than I do
and more like you than you do
I look at you, my child,
see myself and my beloved one
and I miss us no more
This journey is about to end
Your father and I are going away from here
but our love is written in the stars
For they will continue to shine in your eyes
long after we are gone
And you will have his eyes
but my brows
I bathe your face in kisses
water it with tears
like the pious their icons in the churches
But it is my face that disappears
not yours
That’s how it’s supposed to be
______
Here is an example of the collaboration of Hlín Leifsdóttir and Morton and the author reciting her own poem “Vinur” (Friend) in Icelandic.
Hlín Leifsdóttir is an international soprano and writer from Iceland. She has received several awards and recognitions for her poetry and short stories. Hlin is also a member of the spoken-poetry duet “Hlín Leifsdóttir & Morton”, together with award-winning Greek composer “Morton” (Vasilis Chountas, also known as Whodoes). All three poems featured here can be listened to in their original language, Icelandic, together with Morton’s music on the album Andrými, published by the Institute for Experimental Arts. https://hlinleifsdottir-morton.bandcamp.com/album/andr-mi
Peter Ngila Njeri, the translator of Hlín Leifsdóttir’s poems from English to Kiswahili, is an award-winning Kenyan writer based in Nairobi.
Meg Matich is the translator of Hlín Leifsdóttir’s poem “Whiteweight”, which received a first prize in the Student Paper’s poetry competition in 2019. She is a poet and literary translator from Icelandic, Danish and German. “Oprah Daily” named her one of the best translators of the year in 2021.
