Wislawa Szymborska, "Cat in an Empty Apartment"

[the_wanlorn]

 
When my uncle died, one of his cats, his cat, sat in his chair for days. We think he was waiting for him to come back; now he won't even go near that chair.


Cat in an Empty Apartment
by Wislawa Szymborska

Dying--you can't do that to a cat.
For what is a cat to do
in an empty apartment?
Climb up the walls?
Brush up against the furniture?
Nothing here seems changed,
and yet something has changed.
Nothing has been moved,
and yet there's more room.
And in the evenings the lamp is not on.

One hears footsteps on the stairs,
but they're not the same.
Neither is the hand
that puts a fish on the plate.

Something here isn't starting
at its usual time.
Something here isn't happening
as it should.
Someone was always, always here,
and then has suddenly disappeared
and now is stubbornly absent.

Every closet has been examined.
Every shelf has been explored.
Excavations under the carpet turned up nothing.
A commandment was even broken,
papers scattered everywhere.
What remains to be done.
Just sleep and wait.

Just wait till he turns up,
just let him show his face..
Then he'll find out
that you don't do that to a cat.
Sidle toward him
as if unwilling
and ever so slow
on visibly offended paws,
And no jumping, purring at first.

Umrzeć - tego nie robi się kotu.
Bo co ma począć kot
w pustym mieszkaniu?
Wdrapywać się na ściany.
Ocierać między meblami?
Nic niby tu nie zmienione,
a jednak pozamieniane.
Niby nie przesunięte,
a jednak porozsuwane.
I wieczorami lampa już nie świeci.

Słychać kroki na schodach,
ale to nie te.
Ręka, co kładzie rybę na talerzyk,
także nie ta, co kładła.

Coś się tu nie zaczyna
w swojej zwykłej porze.
Coś się tu nie odbywa
jak powinno.
Ktoś tutaj był i był,
a potem nagle zniknął
i uporczywie go nie ma.

Do wszystkich szaf się zajrzało.
Przez półki przebiegło.
Wcisnęło się pod dywan i sprawdziło.
Nawet złamało zakaz
i rozrzuciło papiery.
Co więcej jest do zrobienia.
Spać i czekać.

Niech no on tylko wróci,
niech no się pokaże.
Już on się dowie,
że tak z kotem nie można.
Będzie się szło w jego stronę
jakby się wcale nie chciało,
pomalutku,
na bardzo obrażonych łapkach.
I żadnych skoków pisków na początek.

 

Comments

[princessdot.livejournal.com]

I'm convinced that animals just know.

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

See, even I'm not heartless enough to mock this poem. This is worthy.

[verrucaria.livejournal.com]

That's pretty damn sad. Poor pets...

On a different topic, it's so difficult to translate poetry. A given play on words simply won't work in many languages. I couldn't do it...

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

Ugh ugh yes. I actually went and found five different translations, and combined them into that one. It's so difficult to find a single translation that sounds right, as opposed to a group of different translations with a right pair of lines or stanzas here and there.

[verrucaria.livejournal.com]

Wow, you're quite dedicated. You did a pretty decent job, too.