A Grafted Tongue |
Teanga Nódaithe |
| (Dumb, bloodied, the severed head now chokes to speak another tongue – |
(Balbh, fuliteach, tachtann anois an ceann scoite, teanga eile a labhairt |
| As in a long suppressed dream, some stuttering garb- led ordeal of my own) |
Mar i mbrionglóid fada celite oirdéal éigin snagaireacht leathbhreallach díom féin) |
| An lrish child weeps at school repeatng its English. After each mistake |
Goileann páiste Gaelach ar scoil ag rá arís a chuid Béarla. i ndiaidh gach botún |
| The master gouges another mark on the tally stick hung about its neck |
Gúistíonn An Máistir marc eile ar an mbata scóir snaidhmthe timpeall a mhuineál |
| Like a bell on a cow, a hobble on a straying goat, To slur and stumble |
Ar nós clog ar an mbó, nó laincis ar an bpoc bhradach. A sciorradh is a thuisleach |
| In shame the altered syllables Of your own name: to stray sadly home |
Gan céim na siollai aistrithe de d’ainm féin. A fhán go brónach abhaile |
| And find the turf-cured width of your parents’ hearth growing slowly alien: |
Agus fáil an leithead móinleasaithe de do thinteán féin ag éirí go mall eachtrann: |
| in cabin and field, they still speak the old tongue. You may greet no one. |
i mbothán is gort, labhraítear an sean-teanga fós Ní fhéadfaidh tú beannú d’éinne. |
| To grow a second tongue, as harsh a humiliaton as twice to be born. |
Ag fás dara teanga náire chomh garbh agus faoi dhó a bheith beirthe. |
| Decades later that child’s grandchild’s speech stumbles over lost syllables of an old order. |
Cianta ina dhiaidh tuislíonn teangacha chlann clainne an pháiste sin thar siollaí chaillte an shean-nós. |
| By John Montague | Le John Montague |
| (Aistriúchán le Tomás hÉadromáin) |
