Postby księżycowy » 2017-07-26, 21:43
Alright!
I have finished my translation of Geasa by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill! Let's see how well I did, shall we:
(The Irish text is copyright Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill; the English translation and notes are of my own creation)
I apologize in advance for the lack of line numbers, as I will be referencing lines below.
Geasa
Má chuirim aon lámh ar an dtearmann beannaithe,
má thógaim droichead thar an abhainn,
gach a mbíonn tógtha isló ages na ceardaithe
bíonn sé leagtha ar maidin romham.
Tagann aníos an abhainn istoíche bád
is bean ina seasamh inti.
Tá coinneal ar lasadh ina súil is ina lámha.
Tá dhá mhaide rámha aici.
Tairrigíonn sí amach paca cártaí,
'An imréofá breith?' a deireann sí.
Imrímid is buann sí orm de shíor
is cuireann sí de cheist, de bhreith is de mhórualach orm.
Gan an tarna béile a ithe in aon tigh,
ná an tarna oíche a chaitheamh faoi aon díon,
gan dhá shraic chodlata a dhéanamh ar aon leaba
go bhfaighead í. Nuair a fhiafraím di cá mbíonn sí,
'Dá mba siar é soir,' a deireann sí, 'dá mba soir é siar.'
Imíonn sí léi agus splancacha tintrí léi
is fágtar ansan mé ar an bport.
Tá an dá choinneal fós ar lasadh le mo thaobh.
D'fhág sí na maidí rámha agam.
Translation:
If I use [the] hand
protected [by] holiness,
if I raise a bridge beyond
the water, everything will be
risen on the day of the craftsmen
lowering the the morning before me
Coming up the river by night
is a woman standing in a boat.
Two candles in her hands lights her eye.
She has two oar.
She pulls out a pack of cards,
'Would you like to play Forfits?' she asks.
We play, and she wins constantly
and she puts forth a question, a forfit
and a great burden to me.
Without eating two meals in
one house, nor passing two nights
under one roof, without sleeping
upon one bed, I will find it then.
When I ask he where she lives,
'If it was west, east', she says,
'If it was east, west.'
She leaves with a flash of lighting
Leaving me there on the port.
Two candles still still light
my side.
She left the oars with me.
Notes:
line 1: ar an dtearmann - "under the protection (of)"
line 3: isló - sa lá "on the day"
line 4: leagtha - verbal adjective of leagaim "I lift/raise/take (up)"
line 7: coinneal - "(a) candle", as best as I can tell this is a singular noun, which is interesting. It could be translated as a plural because of it's use with dá "two". This is probably the intent, as dá can have a singular or plural noun after it grammatically.
line 8: dhá mhaide rámha - Literally "two beam/stick oars." Rámh itself means oar, maide rámha means "oar" as well.
line 10: a deireann sí - literally "she says", but I translated it as "she asks", as what she says is a question.
line 11: de shíor - "constantly"
line 18: splancacha tintrí - "flash of lightning"