(Part One of my translation of a children’s story, “El Hombre de Plata,” by Isabel Allende.)
Joey and his dog, Butterfly, made the three kilometer trip to school twice a day. If it rained or snowed, was cold or sunny, the small figure of Joey appeared in the road followed by Butterfly. Joey had given her this name because she had large, flapping ears which, against the light, made her look like a huge, clumsy, brown butterfly. And also because of the dog’s habit of running around smelling flowers, like some kind of insect.
Butterfly accompanied her master to school and sat to wait in the door until the bell rang. When class ended and the door opened, Butterfly shook off her drowsiness and began looking for her boy. Smelling the shoes and legs of students, she finally arrived at her Joey and then, wagging her tail like a jet propulsion fan, she began the trip back home.
The winter days become nights very early. When clouds gather on the coast and the sea turns black, it is almost dark already by five o’clock at night. This was one of those days: cloudy, half grey and half cold, with rain on the way and the waves foaming at their peaks.
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I visited the Cleveland Public Library recently to pick out Spanish books for some friends who are learning the language. The library has an entire floor dedicated to foreign languages. I found a vocabulary book with pictures, a bilingual cook book, and a book of poetry for myself.
I realize the book looks like it was published for children,but the poems are not nursery rhymes. The book is a collection of poetry by some of the best writers in the Americas (thats North, Central, and South) and Spain.
I recognize a lot of the names, including Cuban essayist Jose Marti and Ruben Dario, a poet from Nicaragua who lived at the same time as Edgar Allen Poe. I purchased Dario’s collection from a book store in San Jose, Costa Rica after learning about him in a Latin American literature course.
There is also a poem by Shel Silverstein, translated into Spanish. (Really cool sidebar: Silverstein’s poem is the only one to have an accompanying drawing by the author rather than something done by the book’s illustrator.)
As an exercise in translating and studying poetry, I will be posting a few of my favorite poems from this collection with my own translations. I’ll always include a link on where you can buy this book, and where to get a collection of the author’s other works. Hopefully Boy With the Boot and others who are interested in Spanish or poetry will stop by.
Finally, here is the best poem I wrote recently: Phoenix
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