Totxanes, totxos i maons

Cada vegada estic més convençut de l’existència d’una secreta relació entre el color groc i les causes justes, les que defensa la gent de bé.

M’aturo aquí perquè –tot i ser un tema que pot donar molt de joc (que rima amb ‘groc’, per cert)– la meva intenció d’avui és parlar de la poeta americana Amanda Gorman que, abillada amb un abric d’aquest color, va recitar ‘The Hill We Climb’, un text que va escriure per dir-lo en la cerimònia de possessió del president nord-americà Joe Biden.

Començo, però, dient que la trajectòria d’aquesta jove escriptora no és un bolet que surt en un dia afortunat sinó que (vegeu aquí) ve de lluny.

Dona amb les idees clares sembla que el toc final que li faltava per arrodonir el seu text el va trobar mentre el 6 de gener contemplava les imatges de la irrupció dels seguidors de Donald Trump en el Capitoli de Washington. Tot un consol, doncs, pensar que l’actitud d’aquella llopada impresentable va servir almenys per provocar una reacció positiva que va acabar convertida en poema.

A casa nostra –que amb això del contacte amb els bàrbars tenim també força experiència– acaba de sorgir una polèmica a propòsit de la traducció al català que Víctor Obiols -persona de confiança absoluta- estava preparant per encàrrec del Grup Enciclopèdia que ja ha anunciat que, plogui o nevi, el llibre sortirà al carrer -traduït encara no se sap per qui- el proper 8 d’abril dintre del segell L’Univers (que, deixeu-m’ho dir de passada, cada llibre que publica és un dard en el centre de la diana).

Si voleu posar-vos al dia dels antecedents del cas us recomano que llegiu aquest article publicat el dissabte en el suplement de llibres del diari Ara i així us adonareu que en segons quines circumstàncies traduir pot ser, també, un esport de risc.

Us deixo aquí sota el vídeo de la intervenció d’Amanda Gorman i a continuació el text original anglès.

I com que em va una mica la marxa ja us anuncio que, si me’n surto, a la Totxana de demà trobareu la meva traducció al català. Una traducció que, ja us ho avanço perquè no vull semblar més savi del que soc, no faré directament de l’anglès (els meus rudimentaris coneixements d’aquesta llengua m’ho impedeixen) sinó que partiré de combinar el que puc entendre del text original amb un parell de versions que he trobat en la llengua que parlen a españa.

Si més no, em divertiré. I si la feina li serveix a algú, doncs ganga, tu.

The Hill We Climb

When day comes we ask ourselves,
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade
We’ve braved the belly of the beast
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace
And the norms and notions
of what just is
Isn’t always just-ice
And yet the dawn is ours
before we knew it
Somehow we do it
Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn’t broken
but simply unfinished
We the successors of a country and a time
Where a skinny Black girl
descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one

And yes we are far from polished
far from pristine
but that doesn’t mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect
We are striving to forge a union with purpose
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters
and conditions of man
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us
but what stands before us
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside
We lay down our arms
so we can reach out our arms
to one another
We seek harm to none and harmony for all
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew
That even as we hurt, we hoped
That even as we tired, we tried
That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious
Not because we will never again know defeat
but because we will never again sow division

Scripture tells us to envision
that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree
And no one shall make them afraid
If we’re to live up to our own time
Then victory won’t lie in the blade
But in all the bridges we’ve made
That is the promised glade
The hill we climb
If only we dare
It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it’s the past we step into
and how we repair it
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation
rather than share it
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy
And this effort very nearly succeeded

But while democracy can be periodically delayed
it can never be permanently defeated
In this truth
in this faith we trust
For while we have our eyes on the future
history has its eyes on us
This is the era of just redemption
We feared at its inception
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs
of such a terrifying hour
but within it we found the power
to author a new chapter
To offer hope and laughter to ourselves
So while once we asked,
how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?
Now we assert
How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

We will not march back to what was
but move to what shall be
A country that is bruised but whole,
benevolent but bold,
fierce and free
We will not be turned around
or interrupted by intimidation
because we know our inaction and inertia
will be the inheritance of the next generation
Our blunders become their burdens
But one thing is certain:
If we merge mercy with might,
and might with right,
then love becomes our legacy
and change our children’s birthright

So let us leave behind a country
better than the one we were left with
Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,
we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one
We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west,
we will rise from the windswept northeast
where our forefathers first realized revolution
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states,
we will rise from the sunbaked south
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover
In every known nook of our nation and
every corner called our country,
our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,
battered and beautiful

When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it
If only we’re brave enough to be it

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