Si Rio “sa Ingles” (pero ngayon sa orihinal na Filipino)

At ilang tala ukol sa pagsasalin /

And some notes on translation

Tulad ng ipanangako, nasa pahinang ito ang tunay, o orihinal, na titik (salita o texto) ng mga tula ni Rio Alma na itinampok ko, sa anyong nakasalin sa Ingles, sa kabilang pahina. Maganda sanang gawing kakambal na posting o ulat ang pahinang ito, na parang imahen sa salamin, ngunit hindi ko na uulitin ang pambungad. Itutuloy ko na sana sa mga tula mismo, nang makita kong ang mga ito ay nangangailangan ng sariling pambungad o pagpapakilala, at iyan ay isusulat ko sa Ingles (kaya hindi ito tunay na mirror-image ng kabila). Ang dahilan, gusto ko man at may kahalagahang pulitikal ang pagsulat ko nito sa Filipino, pakiramdam ko'y kailangan kong bumalik sa wika ng blog na ito—Ingles. English. The language of this blog. No other earth-shaking reason. (In fact that is not sacred. I'm not averse to Taglish.)

This gives me the chance to make a few notes about translation. Rio quipped after my reading that my translations were "better than the original." Surely he meant this good-naturedly, and as a compliment (I've been his "unofficial translator" for maybe 2 decades). I've also heard this from other people, even writer friends who I know simply meant it as a compliment not just for my translation but for the extra time I devote to translation. And I know they know different. If they were other people, I would say their words were symptomatic of the bias we have against our own language. But most of them are actually writers in Filipino or its base language Tagalog. Now we don't have to discuss that bias at length. That has been taken up in countless forums. The more fruitful way would be to write in the language, or in my case, since I can't write my poetry in it unless with lots of bloodletting, I translate. That doesn't erase the bias in my case, but at least it makes the poetry available to non-speakers.

Now about the translation being better than the original. I dare say that could only come from, again, non-speakers (the Tagalog speakers who said it, I took pains to explain, were saying it partly in jest). That would be like us modern readers saying Homer is great but never having read the Greek. English is the only language we know in order to appreciate, for example, the ekphrasis of the shield of Achilles, and unless we are some Oxford don or venerable classicist, we could never even savor the original nuances of Aschaelus or Euripedes, or even Omar Khayyam even if Robert Fitzgerald took the most liberties with Rubaiyat and was editing his "translation" (which he later called "transmogrification") almost sixteen years after the first edition. What I'm saying is that if we don't read the original, we can never gauge the quality of a translation.

But even if we know the original, we can never, for any reason, say that the translation is superior to it (maybe open for debate but not for this translator). This is only because, in my experience and perhaps in the practice of translation in any literature, the translation cannot be any good if the reader/translator did not have any idea of the quality of the original. To be facile about it, the translation can only be as good as the original. (Or maybe the translators' familiarity with the "target language"—the translating language, English in my case—can only "color" his translation.) Conversely, if we saw a translation of a bad novel or poem (again relative values) and enjoyed the translation without knowing the original, or without knowing just how bad the original poem or the novel was, we will simply never know. That is why we non-readers of the original of any translation, from the classics to the comics, can only take translation on faith. We have no choice.

Now I'm putting here the original poems of Rio Alma because I believe many of his poems are examples of why he was honored with the Order of National Artist in Literature (a difficult honor to achieve, if I may say so myself). These are short poems, good for reading in public as I thought they were, and arbitrarily chosen by myself to be read in public. They are not the whole basis for that honor. They are, as I said, examples of his work. Filipinos will be able to compare the poems with the translations in the preceding page, non-speakers will have to take the preceding translations by faith.

Alamat ng Ulan

Metapisikong halik ng butiki sa lupa; saka
Trumpeta ng mga palaka:
Itinigil ng gagamba ang imbentaryo ng sapot,
Pumasok sa huklubang butas, at nagkumot;

May gumapang ng talibang ginaw sa sahig,
Nagtikatik ang telegrapikong sitsit ng kuliglig;
Nangalisag ang nagtatanod na poste't alambre,
Nag-alumpihit ang duklay at kawayang matapobre;

At dumating ang ulang watawat na kristal,
Nilusob ang maburak na bilangguan ng kanal,
Rumaragasang tinalaktak ang yero't kamino,
Nilagom ang uniporme ng mga dominanteng anino.

Ngayon, ginagamot niya ang antak ng bukid,
Pinaliliguan ang malilibag na sanga't pawid.
Asahang bukas: Pinilakan ang paraiso ng palay
At hitik sa halakhak ang mga inosenteng gulay.

6-10-84


Ang Bangkay

Iniluwa ng dagat ang bangkay
Pagkaraan ng dalawang araw na unos.
Isang katawang pumutla sa asin
At namamaga sa nilagok na alon;
Nababalot ang leeg ng lantang baging-dagat,
May sihang na talukab ang bunganga
At halos lumuwa ang nakatirik na mga mata.
Nang matagpuan sa dalampisigan,
Sinusuot na ng mapagsaliksik na alupihan
At talangkang-bato ang butas ng ilong at tainga
Bagama't walang mabakas na kasaysayan
Sa katawan ang mga nagsiyasat na tagabaryo.
Marahil, inabot ng sigwa sa laot
O naaksidente habang namamasyal
At tinangay ng matuling agos
O biktima ng karahasan at itinapon sa dagat.
Natagpuan itong nakasampay sa tuod
Ng isang anak ng mangingisda
At hindi rin matapos ang kanyang pagtataka
Kung paanong inagnas ng alat
Pati pangalan ng bangkay.

1-16-93

Adoracion Nocturna

Ang gabi'y paghuhugas ng katawan
Pagkaahon sa maghapong kirot at alikabok;
Paglalanggas sa subyang ng talampakan
At maragsang tibok ng pusong nakihamok.

Ang gabi'y paghuhugas ng pandamang
Napuwing, nasikil, nalinlang, nagpawis;
Paghahanda sa daratal na umaga
At paghimas sa tibay ng pananalig.

Ang gabi'y paghuhugas ng salita
Sa batik at libag ng poot at pangarap;
Kailangang masamyo't marikit ang dila
Pagharap sa naghintay na init at sumbat.

At pagdulog sa dambana ng paglalamay
Ang gabi'y paghuhugas din ng kamay.

4-9-91

Mariquita

Dahil sa kanya
Hindi mo malilimot ang sangnunal na isla
Sa kandungan ng luntian, payapang dagat.
mmmmmmmmmmmMariquita,
Mapagpaubaya at kayumangging alindog,
Kumukurap na samyo ng latik at anis.
May kulam marahil ang kanyang halik --
Naghahasik ng gunitang
Ayaw na sana nating naaantig
Kapag nakayupyop sa dayuhang dibdib.
Ang sabi mo'y musmos ka pa nang bulagin
Ng kanyang mahalas na pag-ibig
At siya rin ang nagtulak
Sa iyong walang-hanggang paglalagalag.
Ano pang damo ang iyong nakain
Sa kanyang madilim, mapanglaw na puson?
Kaibigan, para kang bata kapag nangulila
At tinatawag mo siyang tinubuang lupa.

2-17-77

These are the originals. Nothing else said. Happy birthday and godspeed, Rio, may you write more and do more.

ILLUSTRATIONS: 1) Leaf on Water by Mark Schwab; Dreamfence and Sunspot by Australia-based artists Edd Aragon, from his Digitalla Prima blog.