Mehdi Axavaan-e Sales (1928, Mashhad, Iran — 1990, Tehran, Iran) was a prominent contemporary Persian poet. He is one of the pioneers of Free Verse (New Style Poetry) in Persian language. Below is one of his best-known poems, Qaasedak. Let’s see if we could translate this delicate and sad - but not all sad - masterpiece into English in a way that not only captures the spirit and beauty of the original work, but also allows the English-speaking readers to connect with it.
قاصدک! هان، چه خبر آوردی؟
از کجا وز که خبر آوردی؟
خوش خبر باشی، اما، اما
گرد بام و در من
بی ثمر می گردی
انتظار خبری نیست مرا
نه ز یاری نه ز دیار و دیاری باری
برو آنجا که بود چشمی و گوشی با کس
برو آنجا که تو را منتظرند
قاصدک
در دل من همه کورند و کرند
دست بردار از این در وطن خویش غریب
قاصد تجربه های همه تلخ
با دلم می گوید
که دروغی تو، دروغ
که فریبی تو، فریب
قاصدک! هان، ولی… آخر… ای وای
راستی آیا رفتی با باد؟
با توام، آی! کجا رفتی؟ آی
راستی آیا جایی خبری هست هنوز؟
مانده خاکستر گرمی، جایی؟
در اجاقی طمع شعله نمی بندم خردک شرری هست هنوز؟
قاصدک
ابرهای همه عالم شب و روز
در دلم می گریند
مهدی اخوان ثالث
Here is another one-liner to translate.
- Where do you find a dog with no legs?
- Right where you left him.
Here is another text to translate, an excerpt from Wikipedia’s page on Anton Chekhov, depicting the last days of the literary giant:
By May 1904, Chekhov was terminally ill. “Everyone who saw him secretly thought the end was not far off,” Mihail Chekhov recalled, “but the nearer Chekhov was to the end, the less he seemed to realize it.”On 3 June he set off with Olga for the German spa town of Badenweiler in the Black Forest, from where he wrote outwardly jovial letters to his sister Masha describing the food and surroundings and assuring her and his mother that he was getting better.
Here is a one-liner, i.e. a one-line joke, a very short one. (Yes, I know, this one is actually two lines!) Now let’s see if we can translate it into a nice little Persian joke.
Question: What did one magnet say to the other?
Answer: I find you very attractive.
Here is a quote from Woody Allen, the US actor and director, to be translated into Persian:
For a while we pondered whether to take a vacation or get a divorce. We decided that a trip to Bermuda is over in two weeks, but a divorce is something you always have.
Here’s a short dialogue to be translated into Persian.
- I can’t figure out why Peter left the company. Something eating away at him, surely.
- I guess what hurt him most was being ignored by others.
- You mean…
Here is a problem. I am presently translating a book for children and have difficulty deciding on a Persian equivalent for "emergency kit". Should I translate it as "جعبه کمکهای اولیه" just like "first-aid kit", or should I find some other equivalent? What do you think?
Many of you may already be familiar with and enjoy listening to Faramarz Aslani’s best known song, Age Ye Rooz… Yes, that is what we are going to do this time. We are going to translate the first stanza of this beautiful song from Persian into English. It may not be easy but I tend to think it will be well worth the effort. So… here we go!
اگه يه روز بري سفر
بري ز پيشم بيخبر
اسير روياها ميشم
دوباره باز تنها ميشم
به شب ميگم پبشم بمونه
به باد ميگم تا صبح بخونه
بخونه از ديار ياري
چرا ميري تنهام ميزاري …
Here is a very short quote from Mahatma Gandhi. Let’s see if we can create the same succinct effect in Persian.
Hate the sin, love the sinner.
Mahatma Gandhi
This time, let’s try to translate a simple song from English to Persian. The text doesn’t seem to present any difficulties; the range of vocabulary is limited and the structure is quite simple. Yet, let’s see if we can achieve the same serene fluid simplicity in Persian.
(You can listen to the song by clicking here)
The world goes spinning round and round, it’s true.
We’ve had our time and now we’re through.
But you and I forever will be friends.
We’ll try to touch the sky where clouds never end…
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