Re: TRANS: a lament under the rain

On Wed, 4 Aug 1999, FFlores wrote:

I had more-or-less vowed not to do translations until at least
my description of the nominal morphology of Denden was finished,
but this is far too beautiful to let pass... It could almost
have been written in Charya, and the author of the poem could
have counted on a lucrative sinecure at the Imperial Court, overseer
of the Imperial Sugar Procuring, or something like that.

> 1. Tam=FCes   i =E1kibv=FCr      eilis,
>    rice.GEN * terraces.LOC subtle.3s
>=20
> 2. suek ar    frar=E1r    telim bais.
>    over be.3s NEG.be.3s sad   sun
>=20
> 'Over there above the rice terraces
>  the sad sun is and is not, subtle, distant.'
>=20
> (_eilis_ 'subtle, distant, difficult to grasp, insinuating'
> is a borrowing from Teonaht:
>=20
>         _elyihs_, /'eljIS/; adj. SLIPPERY, SMOOTH, WELL-GREASED,=20
>         SEXUALLY EASY, ELOQUENT
>=20
> with kind permission. :)
>=20
Mirilir         tan raygin.gin      tayr=20
goddess_of_rice TAN wheat_field.DUP TEG

Wiha cenar chari kal     tau.cenar tau.chari tau.kal,    tayir.nuno
sun  dark  clear distant NEG.dark  NEG.clear NEG.distant sad.DUR

Over the fields of Mirilir,
The dark, clear, distant, not dark, unclear, not distant sun is always sad,=
=20

   The tegimentive locative case particle _tayr_ TEG indicates that
   the sun is all above, but not necessarily touching, the fields,
   covering them with his rays. The elaborate serial adjective (or stative
   verb?) construction is typical Southern Colloquial.  The word for sun,
   _wiha_, is archaic, and therefore indicates that the sun is seen as a
   deity. Mirilir is the goddess of rice, so _mirilir tan raygin_ is the
   poetic way of saying rice-fields. The plain version would be _razgin_
   or _razlyer_, _raz_ being one of the 'false friends' Denden has so
   many of - it really means rice, and is a Barushlan loan. The durative
   aspect <-za> DUR indicates that the sun is always sad. I couldn't get
   the sexual ease in, though, even though the sun a fairly hot subject.

>=20
> 3. Bram    imil,   abl=E1kt arek  halth
>    fall.3s drizzle soaked be.3p birds
>=20
> 4. suek mi=E9nvelqusamp rrenm=FCndh.
>    over mercury-made  squares
>=20
> 'A drizzle falls, the birds are there, soaked
>  over the squares of mercury.'
> _mien-velq(u)-sam(p)_ 'water-silver-made'
> _rren-m=FCnd_ 'four-corner, a square'
>=20
Laush.laush laush.nuno, andain.ain zelash
rain.DUP    rain.DUR     bird.DUP   wet-through

lauy=E9 helai widab  laush hye  wau
dhara gray  silver water with ADESS

It drizzles and rains continuously, the birds are soaked
Near the gray fountains, silver with water.

   Impersonal expressions like 'it rains' are formed in Denden by just
   using the verb on itself. The duplication of the verb indicated the
   delimitative aspect, it rains a bit, it drizzles. Denden does not
   allow more than one aspect suffix in the aspectual suffixal slot of
   a verb, and therefore there's a second verb _laush_ 'rain', with the
   durative aspect. 'A continual dropping in a very rainy day...'
   The lauy=E9 is a central place in both the Charyan villages and the
   cities. It's function is comparable to the Nepali _dhara_, it is
   the central place or square, where there's a fountain or a well. It=20
   is the seat of many local deities, and therefore holy. The reference
   of lauy=E9 extends beyond the well or fountain itself, to include the
   square, and this line means that the rain has overflowed the well,
   which is gray from reflecting the sky, covering the square with water,=
=20
   reflecting the silver clouds. _laush_ means both 'rain' and 'water'.=20
 =20
>=20
> 5. Be farf=FCl=FCl     men         al=F3st flihn,
>    if NEG.stopping continue.3s cold  rain
>=20
> 6. eh=E1v  farn=E1iaqeik   rrimth!
>    light NEG.see.3pFUT sprouts
>=20
> 'If the unstopping cold rain goes on,
>  the sprouts will not see the light!'
>=20
>=20
Laush per  tau.wonir ilor     ilor
rain  cold NEG.stop  continue continue

Raht  tau.wana.ju        Mirilir aday.yaday              tan.
earth NEG.give_birth.CRT Mirilir male_child.female_child TAN

If the unstopping cold rain continues and continues
the earth won't give birth to Mirilir's children.

   The reduplication of _ilor_ continue is not a case of delimitative
   aspect, since the whole verb is reduplicated, not only the last
   syllable. The meaning is therefore more like 'continues and continues'.
   There is a partice _daha_ 'if', but it's use is not necessary in this
   context, and would have unbalanced the line. The children of Mirilir
   are of course the rice-plants. I don't know whether the poet knows
   much about agriculture, but that doesn't matter - no Charyan poet
   is knowledgeable in that area.=20

   The choice of words, the word-order (especially of the genitive
   constructions with _tan_) makes it clear that the poet lived in the
   south of Charya, probably even in Broi. In that area there's rain
   season and a dry season, and the rainy season is very, very wet.

Boudewijn Rempt  | http://www.xs4all.nl/~bsarempt