Friday, September 16, 2005

Don't cry, my little son

I wish I could write stories in English, Spanish or Italian, but I can't. Expressing myself in another language than my mother tongue is difficult when I wander in the wonderful world of emotions. How would a translation machine translate these lines into Italian? And into Spanish?

Here comes the Spanish translation: Deseo que podría escribir historias en inglés, español o italiano, pero no puedo. Expresarme en otra lengua que mi lengua materna es difícil cuando vago en el mundo maravilloso de emociones. ¿Cómo una máquina de la traducción traduciría estas líneas a italiano? ¿Y en español?

And here the Italian: Desidero che potrei scrivere le storia in inglese, spagnolo o italiano, ma non posso. Esprimendosi in altra lingua che la mia lingua materna è difficile quando vago nel mondo meraviglioso delle emozioni. Come una macchina di traduzione tradurrebbe queste linee in italiano? E nello Spagnolo?

This is not too bad, for a translation machine. Ciò non è troppo difettosa, per una macchina di traduzione. But translating stories is another question.

But I could try how it goes with a little, very little story I once wrote in English, and even though the English is not perfect, it is understandable. Here is the little story:

Don't cry, my little son

When my father died I was young, only seven, and he was young too, only forty-one. But when I lost him I did not think in terms of age. My father was dead, and I cried for hours in that room of my grandfather's house where I had been sent by my mother just a couple of days before his death. How could I accept that he wasn't there anymore?
Now I am the father of my little son who is only three years old. Yesterday he demonstrated how fast he was on his little bike, and he fell down. Blood appeared on his lips and hands, he cried, he was very much alife. When we walked through the hall of our house he looked in the mirror to see what had happened to his lips. During half an hour we sat on the couch and he did not say a word. He asked me to read stories from the book with fairy tales.
Sometimes, when I long for reading a story which completely absorbs my mind, I think about my father, and about my son whose father I am, and about why reading fiction stories is so important for me. Does it help me to face reality? Or does it stimulate me to think and write about my own life?
Don't cry, my little son, I'll tell you a story.

Now I don't feel anymore like putting this little story into a translation machine, because it feels like locking it into a small space, and it needs lots of space, it needs to fly in the air, like one of those messages on a small piece of paper which I, when I was a boy, put on the wire of my kite. And there it went up, right into the air...

Maybe I will put it into a translation machine next time, or someone else will do so now. I hope you will enjoy reading it.

9 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Your story is lovely, thank you for sharing it. I have two sons who are now 2 and 5 years old. I just sang them asleep and here them breathing.

12:22 PM  
Blogger giovanni said...

Thank you, Anonymous, for your nice reaction. You seem to enjoy the same things I enjoyed with my kids... and now with my granddaughter of 5 months. That you hear the breathing of your sons tells me something about your sensivity. Is English your mother tongue?

11:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congratulations and very best wishes to you and your family!
Time flies. Being a grandfather must (also) be a very special experience. I imagine, having (more) peace of mind makes it easier enjoying and just being with her, but maybe I am wrong.
(My mother tongue and writing ;) is indeed not English, but you will understand any case :)

12:51 PM  
Blogger giovanni said...

Thank you. Indeed, the experince of being together with my granddaughter is slightly different from being with my daughter when she was a little kid, but I am as playful as before, and curious to what she feels, thinks and wants. She likes to hear and see me playing guitar and I automatically begin to sing improvised small songs again.
Your English is perfect, I just wondered what your mother tongue was.

1:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That must be wonderful! It is nice "talking" with you, Giovanni, thank you for that! Just a few more words. I mostly sing some old songs. In a certain way, it feels as if the singing reconnects my father, my self, my children. This always moves me.

4:02 PM  
Blogger giovanni said...

I think that my improvised songs are echos of old songs. About 30 years ago I once recorded my improvised songs: https://youtu.be/qUj3yG6HQMc I recognise the reconnecting.

9:08 PM  
Blogger giovanni said...

Anonymous, I also think that my improvised guitar music is an echo of "old" music. Most of what I play is simple. An example is this video: https://youtu.be/jwNMrlbjsHU

11:36 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That is beautiful, timeless, as well as the snow, the home, the girl.

3:02 PM  
Blogger giovanni said...

Anonymous, I like timeless, and spaceless. In my youth I had that feeling when I climbed a high tree.

9:25 PM  

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