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17th Translation Contest: "The Sounds of Silence" » English to Maltese » Entry by Miriam Muscat


Source text in English

Translation by Miriam Muscat (#22826)

A theme of the age, at least in the developed world, is that people crave silence and can find none. The roar of traffic, the ceaseless beep of phones, digital announcements in buses and trains, TV sets blaring even in empty offices, are an endless battery and distraction. The human race is exhausting itself with noise and longs for its opposite—whether in the wilds, on the wide ocean or in some retreat dedicated to stillness and concentration. Alain Corbin, a history professor, writes from his refuge in the Sorbonne, and Erling Kagge, a Norwegian explorer, from his memories of the wastes of Antarctica, where both have tried to escape.

And yet, as Mr Corbin points out in "A History of Silence", there is probably no more noise than there used to be. Before pneumatic tyres, city streets were full of the deafening clang of metal-rimmed wheels and horseshoes on stone. Before voluntary isolation on mobile phones, buses and trains rang with conversation. Newspaper-sellers did not leave their wares in a mute pile, but advertised them at top volume, as did vendors of cherries, violets and fresh mackerel. The theatre and the opera were a chaos of huzzahs and barracking. Even in the countryside, peasants sang as they drudged. They don’t sing now.

What has changed is not so much the level of noise, which previous centuries also complained about, but the level of distraction, which occupies the space that silence might invade. There looms another paradox, because when it does invade—in the depths of a pine forest, in the naked desert, in a suddenly vacated room—it often proves unnerving rather than welcome. Dread creeps in; the ear instinctively fastens on anything, whether fire-hiss or bird call or susurrus of leaves, that will save it from this unknown emptiness. People want silence, but not that much.
Tema attwali, tal-inqas fid-dinja żviluppata, hija dik li n-nies huma mixtieqa mis-silenzju iżda ma jistgħux isibuh. Id-damdim tat-traffiku, il-ħsejjes tat-telefons idoqqu bla waqfien, vuċijiet elettroniċi fuq karozzi tal-linja u trejns, il-volum għoli tat-televixins anke ġewwa uffiċini vojta, huma bumbardament u distrazzjoni li ma jaqtgħu xejn. Ir-razza umana qed iċċedi lilha nnifisha bl-istorbju iżda qed tixxennaq għall-oppost - kemm jekk hu fil-ġungla, fil-beraħ tal-oċean jew ġo xi mkien għall-kwiet iddedikat għall-ħemda u l-konċentrazzjoni. Alain Corbin, professur tal-istorja, jikteb minn rifuġju li għandu fis-Sorbonne, u Erling Kagge, esploratur Norveġiż, mill-memorji li għandu tad-deżert Antartiku, fejn it-tnejn li huma ppruvaw jaħarbu.

Madankollu, kif jargumenta s-sur Corbin fil-ktieb "A History of Silence", huwa probabbli li llum ma hawnx aktar storbju milli qatt kien hawn qabel. Qabel ma ġew it-tajers pnewmatiċi, it-toroq tal-ibliet kienu mimlija bit-tisbit itarrax tar-roti miksija b'rimijiet tal-ħadid u n-ngħal taż-żwiemel fuq iċ-ċangatura. Qabel ma ġiet l-iżolazzjoni volontarja fuq it-telefons ċellulari, ix-xarabanks u t-trejns kienu jirbumbjaw bit-tlablib tan-nies. Dawk li kienu jbigħu l-gazzetti, ma kienux iħallu l-merkanzija tagħhom f'gozz mutu fl-art, iżda kienu jirreklamawha b'ħanxra daqshiex, bħal ma kienu jagħmlu l-bejjiegħa taċ-ċirasa, il-fjuri u l-kavalli friski. Ir-rappreżentazzjonijiet teatrali u operistiċi kienu agħa sħiħa ta' approvazzjoni u tmaqdir. Anke fil-kampanja, il-gabillotti kienu jkantaw waqt xogħolhom. Illum m'għadhomx ikantaw.

Dak li nbidel mhux daqstant marbut mal-livell tal-istorbju, li fis-sekli li għaddew kienu wkoll igergru minnu, imma l-livell ta' distrazzjoni, li jokkupa t-territorju li s-silenzju jista' jinvadi. Hawnhekk iqum paradoss ieħor, għax meta fil-fatt dan jinvadi - fil-qalba ta' xi foresta tas-siġar tal-arżnu, fid-deżert egħri, ġewwa kamra li f'daqqa waħda sfat vojta - ħafna drabi dan jinħass bħala ansjetà aktar milli jiġi milqugħ. Il-biża' tibda taħkem; il-widna istintivament tieqaf fuq kwalunkwè ħoss, kemm jekk it-tbaskit tan-nar jew xi tisfira ta' xi għasfur jew tħaxwix tal-weraq, li jista' jsalvaha minn dan il-baħħ stramb. In-nies iridu s-silenzju, imma mhux daqshekk.


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