詩人たちの島

Dear Mizushima-sensei,

I am mourning the death of Mr. Vonnegut too. Since yesterday, his official website is showing an empty bird cage with an open door. The bird has flown, and we miss the gentle sad soul that has escaped from us.

I believe the poem, “Requiem” that was quoted in the New York Times is from his last book “A Man without a Country.” I am not sure (since I don't have the book with me), but I think the poem goes like this:

The crucified planet Earth.
Should it find a voice
and the sense of irony,
might now well say
of our abuse of it,
“Forgive them, Father,
They know not what they do.”

The irony would be
that we know what we are doing.

When the last living thing
has died on account of us,
how poetical it would be,
if Earth could say,
in a voice floating up
perhaps
from the floor
of the Grand Canyon,
“It is done.”
People did not like it here.

As you know, “Forgive them, Father, They know not what they do” is Jesus' words from the cross, asking forgiveness for those who put him to death and for all humanity. (Luke 23:34). I think “It is done” is also a quote from the Bible. I believe this phrase is used in four places in the King James version. I think one of the two in the Book of Revelation might fits here the best. (See Rev. 16:17 and Rev. 21:6). I don’t know how those “It is done” are translated into Japanese, but it might give you a hint.

I think your translation of "poetical" may be slightly simplistic. I think it is possible that an idiom "poetic justice" was in the back of Mr. Vonnegut's mind when he wrote it. According to Merriam-Webster, "poetic justice" means "an outcome in which vice is punished and virtue rewarded usually in a manner peculiarly or ironically appropriate." Of course, I might be reading too much in.

Your translation of “People did not like it here” is inaccurate. The word “it” in the sentence does not referred to the “voice”; “I don’t like it here” has the same meaning, generally, as “I don’t like here.”

I am writing this without research and without much thought. This is basically my impression and not my studied opinion. The quotes (the poem and the bible) may be slightly inaccurate too. (When I can check the poem, and if I am wrong, I will let you know).

Hope you are well.

Mashiho

ましほさんから、ボネガットに関して昨晩書いたblogに対する、以上のような懇切な私信をいただいた。Thank you Mashiho!

彼女の教示に基づいて、Vonnegutの詩”Requiem”の全文（省略部もふくめて）を試訳してみる。ましほさん、読んで、訂正してくださると幸いです。

Requiem　　　　　Kurt Vonnegut

The crucified planet Earth.
Should it find a voice
and the sense of irony,
might now well say
of our abuse of it,
“Forgive them, Father,
They know not what they do.”

The irony would be
that we know what we are doing.

When the last living thing
has died on account of us,
how poetical it would be,
if Earth could say,
in a voice floating up
perhaps
from the floor
of the Grand Canyon,
“It is done.”
People did not like it here.

十字架にかけられた惑星、地球。
もしも彼が一つの声とアイロニーのセンスを見出したとしたら、
今や次のように言うだろう
われわれ人間たちの彼―地球への虐待にもかかわらず、
「父よ、人間たちを許してください。
彼らはなにをしているのか、わからずにいるのです」

アイロニーというのはわれわれは
われわれがしていることをよく知っているからである

地球上の最後の生物がやがて消え果てるとき
われわれ自身のせいで消え果てるのだが、そのときこそ
自業自得というべきだろう
そのとき地球は声を出すにちがいない
浮上する一つの声
おそらくグランド・キャニオンの深い谷底から
浮上する一つの声
「事はすべて成った」と
人間たちは、この世界が嫌いだったのだから


ドレスデン再訪時のVonnegut(この写真はnyt.comから。たぶん掲載するのはまずいと思うが、私はしかしこの記事を金を払って購入しているから少しの間は許されるのではないか。ニ・三日したら消しておきます。多分、撮影者は写真家であるVonnegutの奥さんだろう。）