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Janík, Pavol: Molto adagio (Molto adagio in English)

Portre of Janík, Pavol
Portre of Sutherland-Smith, James

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Molto adagio (Slovak)

Starí ľudia sa sťahujú.
Pomaly a nemotorne,
nie z vlastnej vôle
a bez cudzej pomoci.
Ťažkopádne sťahujú svoj staromódny nábytok,
predpotopné názory
a neodbytné bolesti v kĺboch.

Trasľavými údmi
márne hľadajú vypínače
na neznámych stenách
nového príbytku.
Nevládzu zažať svetlo
v šere samoty a nevedomia.

Zbytočne vyslovujú všetky slová,
na ktoré si ešte s ťažkosťami spomenú.
Už im nič nehovoria
ich vlastné slová.
Nerozumejú im.
Zabudli, na čo slúžili.
Nič im nepripomínajú.

Im. Cteným a váženým osobám,
ktorým patrí úcta a vďaka.

Starí ľudia sa sťahujú.
Zdĺhavo a neobratne,
neúmyselne
a celkom sami.
Ťarbavo sťahujú svoj starodávny nábytok,
prežité názory
a dotieravé bolesti v kĺboch.

Vytrvalo a nepríjemne
sa nás dotýkajú
rozochvenými končatinami.
Tiesnivo nám siahajú na hrdlo.

Starí ľudia sa sťahujú
do nás.
Po troške a nešikovne,
chtiac-nechtiac
a vlastnými silami.
Namáhavo sťahujeme svoj zastaraný nábytok,
opotrebované názory
a boľavé kĺby.
A ostatné veci,
ktoré už doslúžili.

Nenápadne a neodvratne
sa stávame ctenými a váženými osobami,
ktorým patrí úcta a vďaka.

Húževnato a skľučujúco
pokračujeme v trvaní dejov,
plynule sa posúvame v následnosti príbehov,
samozrejme ako hodinové ručičky.

Hlavou smerujeme
kolmo dolu,
prichystaní odbiť presný čas.

A nad nami
nechápavo zíva
modrá obloha,
na ktorej vietor preskupuje jagavé zrkadlá pamäti.



Uploaded byRépás Norbert
PublisherSlovenský spisovateľ, Bratislava / Edícia Nová poézia
Source of the quotationDo videnia v množnom čísle, ISBN 80-85543-00-1
Bookpage (from–to)40-42
Publication date

Molto adagio (English)

The old move in.
Slowly and clumsily,
not of their own volition
and without somebody else’s help.
Tiresomely they move their old-fashioned furniture,
their antediluvian opinions
and dogged pains in their joints.

With shaking limbs
they look in vain for switches
on the unfamiliar walls
of their new living space.
They can’t manage to switch on the light
in a twilight of loneliness and unknowing.

Pointlessly they utter all the words,
which they now remember with difficulty.
Their own words
no longer mean anything to them.
They don’t understand them.
They’ve forgotten what they were for.
They remind them of nothing.

For them. For honoured and precious persons,
to whom respect and gratitude are due.

The old move in.
Tediously and maladroitly,
unintentionally
and completely alone.
Sluggishly they move their old-fashioned furniture,
out-of-date opinions
and importunate pains in their joints.

Persistently and unpleasantly
they touch us
with their trembling extremities.
Dejectedly they catch us by the throat.

The old move in
on us.
Little by little and inexpertly,
willy-nilly
and under their own steam.
Strenuously we move our obsolete furniture,
used-up opinions
and painful joints.
And other things
which have already served their purpose.

Inconspicuously and unavoidably
we become honoured and precious persons
to whom respect and gratitude are due.

Tenaciously and depressingly
we continue in the persistence of our actions,
fluently sliding into the punch lines of stories
of course like the hands of a clock.

With our head we direct
all the way down
ready to strike the precise time.

And above us
a blue sky
yawns incomprehensibly
into which the wind flings the glittering mirrors of memory.



Uploaded byRépás Norbert
PublisherThe Penniless Press, United Kingdom 2014
Source of the quotationA Dictionary of Foreign Dreams
Publication date

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