The Owl and the Pussycat

Am ajuns la articolul care vorbea despre prietenia dintre cucuvea si pisica prin intermediul blogului lui Inah, dar subiectul nu-mi era strain, insa nu-mi mai amintesc pe unde am citit despre el, posibil intr-unul din multele emailuri pe care le primesc zilnic. M-am decis sa spun cateva cuvinte pt ca Daily Mail a publicat si poezia cu titlul The Owl and the Pussycat iar videoclipul cu aceasta tema are deja peste doua milioane de vizitatori, desi e cantat probabil in catalana (dar suna cam ca maghiara) si nu inteleg ce zice.

Acum mai bine de 8 ani, cand ai mei se aflau in State am fost intrebata ce cadou as dori sa-mi aduca Mos Craciun. Am dorit o carte de poezii, jocuri, cantecele si povesti vechi englezesti, "Read to me Granma" si mi-a parut tare bine cand am primit-o. Nepotica avea aproape 3 ani si ne-am distrat amandoua nu numai citind poeziile (eu) ci si dramatizandu-le (amandoua). Preferata noastra, careia ii compusesem si o melodie (desi sunt afona total, am fost singura fata din clasa care nu a fost primita la cor) era taman The Owl and the Pussycat.

Aveam o perna decorativa cu o fata verde, aceea era corabia (o sa copiez mai jos poezia si o sa incerc sa o traduc), ma faceam ca zdranganesc la o chitara, ca sunt ametita de eleganta cucuvelei, etc, iar nepotica spunea "inca o data!" si nu se mai satura sa ne jucam asa. Mai era o poezie pe care imi placea sa o dramatizam, "Shrew and the cangoroo" iar ginerelui ii placea una cu un urs de la circ care facea tumbe. Helas, de atunci ei s-au mutat de mai multe ori si dupa toate probabilitatile cartea s-a pierdut. Se gaseste de cumparat pe net, dar nu ma atrage ideea....

Deci poezia in engleza arata asa:

The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear

The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
    In a beautiful pea green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
    Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
    And sang to a small guitar,
'O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,
      What a beautiful Pussy you are,
         You are, You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!'

Pussy said to the Owl, 'You elegant fowl!
    How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
    But what shall we do for a ring?'
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
    To the land where the Bong-tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
    With a ring at the end of his nose,
          His nose, His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.

'Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
    Your ring?' Said the Piggy, 'I will.'
So they took it away, and were married next day
    By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
    Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
    They danced by the light of the moon,
          The moon, The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

Cucuveaua si pisica de Edward Lear

Cucuveaua si pisica au plecat pe mare

Intr-o frumoasa corabie verde de mazare  (pastaie)

Au luat ceva miere, o gramada de bani

Infasurati intr-o bancnota de cinci lire.

Cucuveaua se uita la stelele din cer

Si canta la o mica chitara

"O, frumoasa pisica, o, pisica, dragostea mea

Ce pisica frumoasa esti,

Esti, esti!

Ce pisica frumoasa esti!"

Pisica i-a spus cucuvelei "Frumoasa zburatoare!

Ce cantec minunat ai cantat!

Hai sa ne casatorim, prea mult am tot amanat

Dar de unde sa luam un inel?"

Si au tot plutit, ani si ani de zile

Pana la taramul  unde creste copacul Bong

Si acolo in padure statea Piggy-wig (purcelusa cu peruca)

Cu un inel in ratul sau,

Ratul sau, ratul sau,

Cu un inel in ratul sau.

"Draga purcel, ai vrea sa-mi vinzi pe un shiling 

Inelul tau?" "Desigur, a zis Piggy.

(aici e un joc de cuvinte, I Will se foloseste si ca raspuns la "vrei sa iei in casatorie...?")

Deci l-au luat si au plecat si i-a maritat (insurat)

Curcanul care locuia pe colina.

Au mancat carne tocata si felii de gutuie

Folosind o lingura de spuma (runcible nu exista in dictionar, asa ca am tradus cum m-a taiat capul, dand apoi un search pe Google am vazut ca m-a taiat bine, daca e sa credem ca desenul din Wikipedia care arata o runcible spoon in forma de lingura de luat spuma ii apartine lui Edward Lear). 

Si mana in mana, pe nisipul plajei,

Au dansat sub clarul de luna,

De luna, de luna,

Au dansat sub clarul de luna.

Eh, din pacate vremurile acelea minunate s-au dus fara intoarcere....

Am gasit si continuarea poeziei cu pisica si cucuveaua, e vorba in ea de copiii animalutelor, poezia e scrisa de Angus Davidson's Edward Lear, am s-o copiez dar n-o mai traduc.

The Children of the Owl and the Pussy-cat

Our mother was the Pussy-cat, our father was the Owl,
And so we're partly little beasts and partly little fowl,
The brothers of our family have feathers and they hoot,
While all the sisters dress in fur and have long tails to boot.
    We all believe that little mice,
    For food are singularly nice.
Our mother died long years ago. She was a lovely cat
Her tail was 5 feet long, and grey with stripes, but what of that?
In Sila forest on the East of fair Calabria's shore
She tumbled from a lofty tree -- none ever saw her more.
Our owly father long was ill from sorrow and surprise,
But with the feathers of his tail he wiped his weeping eyes.
And in the hollow of a tree in Sila's inmost maze
We made a happy home and there we pass our obvious days.

From Reggian Cosenza many owls about us flit
And bring us worldly news for which we do not care a bit.
We watch the sun each morning rise, beyond Tarento's strait;
We go out ------------------ before it gets too late;
And when the evening shades begin to lengthen from the trees
------------------ as sure as bees is bees.
We wander up and down the shore ------------------
Or tumble over head and heels, but never, never more
Can see the far Gromboolian plains ---------------------
Or weep as we could once have wept o'er many a vanished scene:
This is the way our father moans -- he is so very green.

Our father still preserves his voice, and when he sees a star
He often sings ------------ to that original guitar.
--------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------
The pot in which our parents took the honey in their boat,
But all the money has been spent, beside the £5 note.
The owls who come and bring us nows are often ------
Because we take no interest in poltix of the day.)

[from The Faber Book of Nonsense Verse, edited by
Geoffrey Grigson; first published in 1938 in
Davidson's Edward Lear.]