vineri, 5 martie 2021

The Leopard of Kilimanjaro

Citesc cu mult interes și plăcere un adevărat roman compus din povestiri despre vânătoare scris ca explicații ale tablourilor pictorului John Seerey-Lester.
Tabloul ”One dog night” povestește despre un leopard de pe muntele Kilimanjaro și asta mi-a adus în minte un cântec drag inimii mele, ”The Leopard of the Kilimanjaro” (킬리만자로의 표범) By 조용필

Iată descrierea tabloului:



As light turns to dark, a male leopard cautiously follows a well-worn path in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro. The cat has been here before, perhaps as recent as last night. As it slinks in and out of the long grass at the side of the trail, it passes the familiar dimly glowing lights of a nearby village. The cat continues on its seemingly purposeful mission. It frequently stops to sniff tracks and check out its surroundings. Native voices, possibly herdsmen, fade away as the cat continues on its way, but now walking closer to the ground. It stops and crouches low, it peers through the grass and watches the comings and goings of an unfamiliar tented camp. Patiently it waits. The fires still blaze all around the camp, but the strange voices are silent. The bright cold moon illuminates the scene as the leopard with characteristic stealth slinks towards the camp. It approaches one tent and silently circles it once before its attention is drawn to another. Still creeping low to the ground undeterred by the flickering light of the fires, it picks up its pace and, with the feline audacity, common only to leopards, it rushes through the open flap of the tent and in a flash, steals away with its chosen prey and disappears into the night. The year is 1903; the place is German East Africa (later Tanganyika, now Tanzara). The camp is that of two hunters, a young Austro-Hungarian sporting gentleman and an old African military man. The men had pitched their tents about one hundred yards apart and were there to hunt elephant in the area that was soon to be a protected reserve. The old African owned a bulldog, named Simba. He loved his dog and it went everywhere with him. It would sleep under the bed in his tent. This night however, his massive loyal companion was snatched from beneath him with unbelievable speed by the marauding leopard. Although the leopard was forced to eventually drop its quarry by the pursuing hunters, the poor dog was killed
Versurile cântecului, traducerea în engleză de pe You Tube
[narration]
Have you ever seen a hyena which roams around the foot of the Mountain, searching for something to eat.
It always seeks the putrid flesh of dead animals.
I don't want to be a hyena, but a leopard.
I want to be the leopard which climbs to the top of the snow-covered Kilimanjaro, starves, and then freezes to death.
[narration]
Sometimes I become great when I awake, and sometimes I become shabby when I awake.
Now I am resting for a while at a dark corner of the Earth.
My existence cannot be traced in any light of the city full of ambitions.
What does it matter even if I am thoroughly dumped alone in the center of this large city?
For there was a man called Gogh, who lived a more miserable life than me.
[song]
I can't come to this world like a wind and leave it like a droplet of dew.
I have to leave my trace behind.
Even though I may disappear totally like a strand of smoke,
I will burn like a brilliant flame.
[song]
Don't ask me.
Don't ask me why I struggle so hard to climb such a lofty place.
What if there is no one who understands the blazing soul of a solitary man?
[narration]
When you feel your life is empty and lacking,
there is nothing to solace you in this poor world.
But they say what makes such a poor world look rather beautiful is love.
They easily say that, because they don't understand that love makes one absolutely solitary.
They easily say that, because they don't realize that the deeper the love, the deeper the solitude.
[narration]
You said you loved crickets.
I also love crickets.
You said you loved lilacs.
I also love lilacs.
You said you loved nights.
I also love nights.
And I also love what is splendid in one aspect and desolate in another, and is filled in one aspect and void in another.
Cheers to my youth!
[song]
To love is to become lonely because you put your fate at stake.
Because everything is put at stake, you feel lonely.
Both love and ideal demand everything.
To put everything at stake is to be lonely.
[song]
Love is the heart-breaking passion which entails parting.
What is left at the end of the passion?
To love is not to regret even in the case that everything is lost.
Only after that, you can say you had a love.
[narration]
No matter how deep the night is,
I will stand as a streak of light.
No matter how barren and scorched the soil is,
I will stand as the pure sound of a stream of water.
Even though the intense storm sweeps away grass and trees,
I will stand as a tree which is not broken.
The reason why I live now in this world is
that the 21st century needs me desperately.
[song]
Is that cloud or snow, over there at the lofty peak of the Kilimanjaro?
Today also I will climb with a backpack on my back.
Shaking hands with the solitude encountered in the Mountain,
I will become the Mountain at the spot.
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The lyrics, written by Yang In-Ja (양인자), were inspired by the short story, "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," by Earnest Hemingway.
Cho Yong-Pil was awarded the Medal of Culture by the Minister of National Resources and Tourism of Tanzania Government, Zakia Meghji, on September 26, 2001, for promoting the Mount Kilimanjaro through this song in Korea.

Un comentariu:

Mara spunea...

Superb tabloul!