 |
 |
| Personalize your own free ecard |
And here is La Ninina's Christmas tale: first in the original Spanish; and second in the best "metaphorically-correct" English translation I could muster:
LA LOQUITA DEL ZIG-ZAG: LA CAMA DE PIEDRA
POR NININA MAMEYEZ
Thum thum thum thum. QUE
es eso, pienso. Entrando en la
biblioteca, encuentro a papi tocando su tocadiscos. Él tiene muchos discos de nuestro país y de
Nuestros Otros Países. Le encanta la
guitarra. El thum thum viene de las
guitarras.
AY,
papi, estas tocando a tus guitarras. Si,
nene. Escucha al Señor Mariachi. Esta cantando: “Guitarras, lloren guitar-ras.” QUE?
Las guitarras no pueden llorar, papi!
Sí, hijita. Las guitarras lloran. Mira, escucha a esta otra canción: “De piedra ha de ser la cama/ de piedra las
cabeceras...” Empiezo a mecerme: me gusta.
Pero pienso, digo, QUE? Una cama
de piedra? Y guitarras que lloran?
Tiene que ver,
Ninina, con como te quiero a ti y a mami.
OH. Y yo te quiero a ti y a
mami. Y yo quiero tener una cama de
piedra. Papi lo piensa, suspira. Que piensas de una guitarra llorona, en vez?
NO, papi, yo
quiero a La Cama De Piedra! Pues,
pídeselo a Santi Clos, ok? OK. Santi Clos llega; me trae una muñeca
lindísima. Ay, que muñequita mas linda,
dice La Linda. Umm... Umm...
¿Dónde ‘sta La Cama De Piedra?
¿DÓNDE ‘STA LA CAMA DE PIEDRA?
Corriendo a mi cuarto, me encaramo bocabajo
sobre mi cama. Empiezo a sollozar, a
llorar y llorar. Lloro como El Señor
Mariachi. Lloro hasta mas que las
guitarras. El único que me puede
consolar es mi pollo rosado.
El primer día del
Ano Nuevo, todos en la casa corren pa’qui y pa’lla. Que’sta pasando, papi? Don Bastón se fue de su palacio ayer por la
noche, nene. Y ahora tenemos al Colonel
Barbabudo en el poder. El amigo del
Teniente Llantes De Saber? Papi suspira,
sí. Pero – sonriéndose un poco – en
varios días llegaran Los Reyes Magos, verdad?
OK, papi,
ok. Dándole un besito, salgo a jugar en
mi columpio. El próximo día, papi sale
solo en su Olsmobil, sin El Chino.
Vuelve a la casa, sonriéndose mas y más.
El Día De Los
Reyes Magos, entro en la biblioteca. Veo
a un paquete ENORME, con un lazo lindísimo.
Ábrelo, nene. Es para ti.
Desbaratando al papel y al mono, me
encuentro con un tocadiscos chiquito. Y
encima del tocadiscos esta... LA CAMA DE
PIEDRA! Corriendo a papi, lo aprieto y
le doy un beso y un abrazo enorme.
GRACIAS, papi, GRACIAS!
Thum thum thum
thum. “De piedra ha de ser la cama...”
canta El Señor Mariachi. “De piedra LAS
cabeceras...” canto yo. Empiezo a
mecerme: me gusta. Pero todavía no sé por que la cama es de
piedra. Ni por que las guitarras lloran.
FELIZ
NAVIDAD Y UN PROSPERO ANO NUEVO A TODOS MIS AMIGOS!
LA LOQUITA DEL ZIG-ZAG: THE STONE BED (ENGLISH TRANSLATION)
BY NININA MAMEYEZ
Thum, thum,
thum, thum. “What’s that?” I’m thinking
to myself. Entering the library, I find
Papi playing his record player. He has
many records from Our Country and from Our Other Countries. He loves the guitar. The thum, thum is coming from the guitars.
“AY, Papi,
you’re playing your guitars!”
“Yes,
little one. Listen to Mister
Mariachi. He’s singing: ‘Guitars, o please cry, guitars.’”
“WHAT? Guitars can’t cry, Papi!”
“Yes,
little daughter. Guitars cry. Listen to this other song: ‘The bed is made out of stone/and so is the
headboard…’”
I begin to
rock back and forth: I like it. But I think; I say, “WHAT? A Stone Bed?
And guitars that cry?”
“It has to
do, Ninina, with how much I love you and your Mami.”
“OH. And I love you and Mami. And I want to have a Stone Bed.”
Papi thinks
about it; sighs. “How about a crying
guitar, instead?”
“NO, Papi,
I want a Stone Bed!”
“Well, ask
Santa Claus for one, all right?”
“All
right.”
Santa Claus
arrives; he brings me a beautiful doll.
“AY, what a beautiful doll,” says The Pretty One.
Umm…Umm…Umm... “Where is the Stone Bed? WHERE IS THE STONE BED?” Running to my room, I throw myself face down on
my bed. I begin to sob; to cry and
cry. I cry like Mister Mariachi. I cry even more than the guitars. The only one who can make me feel better is
my Pink Chicken.
The first
day of the New Year, everyone in the house is running here and there.
“What’s
happening, Papi?”
“Mister
Whip left his palace last night, little one.
And now Colonel Beardful is in power.”
“The friend
of Lieutenant Cries Before He Knows?”
Papi sighs,
“Yes. But—smiling a little bit—The Three
Kings will be here in several days, right?”
“All right,
Papi. All right.” Giving him a little kiss, I go out to play on
my slide.
The next
day, Papi goes out alone in his Oldsmobile, without The Man Who Drives Him
Around. He returns home, smiling more
and more.
The day of
The Three Kings, I enter the library. I
see a HUGE present, with a beautiful bow.
“Open it,
little one. It’s for you.”
Tearing
apart the paper and the bow, I find a small record player. And on top of the record player is…THE STONE
BED! Running to Papi, I hug him hard and
give him a huge kiss. “THANK YOU,
Papi. THANK YOU!”
Thum, thum,
thum, thum. “The bed is made out of
stone…” sings Mister Mariachi.
“And so is
the headboard…” I sing. I begin to rock
back and forth: I like it. I still don’t know why it’s a Stone Bed. And I still don’t know why the guitars cry.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
50 years after Colonel Beardful (Castro) took over from
Mister Whip (Batista).
68 years since Efrain and Ana Marrero married in Lyon , France
Very hard to translate, but I think I got the message
across. Senor Mariachi, by the way, is
the incomparable Cuco Sanchez. According
to both my parents, “La Cama de Piedra” (The Stone Bed) was my favorite
childhood song.
For Papi, Mami, and Jesus (Chuchu) Yanez Pelletier.
May President Obama's decision bring peace to Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits.
No comments:
Post a Comment