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Second ProZ.com Translation Contest 2007

Spanish to English


Finalists:6

Source text:

        TÚ sobrevivirás: volverás a rozar las sábanas y sabrás que has sobrevivido, a pesar del tiempo y el movimiento que a cada instante acortan tu fortuna: entre la parálisis y el desenfreno está la línea de la vida: la aventura: imaginarás la seguridad mayor, jamás moverte: te imaginarás inmóvil, el resguardo del peligro, del azar, de la incertidumbre: tu quietud no detendrá al tiempo que corre sin ti, aunque tú lo inventes y midas, al tiempo que niega tu inmovilidad y te somete a su propio peligro de extinción: aventurero, medirás tu velocidad con la del tiempo:
        el tiempo que inventarás para sobrevivir, para fingir la ilusión de una permanencia mayor sobre la tierra: el tiempo que tu cerebro creará a fuerza de percibir esa alternación de luz y tinieblas en el cuadrante del sueño; a fuerza de retener esas imágenes de la placidez amenazada por los cúmulos concentrados y negros de las nubes, el anuncio del trueno, la posteridad del rayo, la descarga turbonada de la lluvia, la aparición segura del arco iris; a fuerza de escuchar las llamadas cíclicas de los animales en el monte; a fuerza de gritar los signos del tiempo: aullido del tiempo de la guerra, aullido del tiempo del luto, aullido del tiempo de la fiesta; a fuerza, en fin , de decir el tiempo, de hablar el tiempo, de pensar el tiempo inexistente de un universo que no lo conoce porque nunca empezó y jamás terminará: no tuvo principio, no tendrá fin y no sabe que tú inventarás una medida del infinito, una reserva de razón:
        tú inventarás y medirás un tiempo que no existe, tú sabrás, tu discernirás, enjuiciarás, calcularás, imaginarás, prevendrás, acabarás por pensar lo que no tendrá otra realidad que la creada en tu cerebro, aprenderás a dominar tu violencia para dominar la de tus enemigos.


Entry #620 - Points: 24 - WINNER!
Marian Vieyra
You will survive.  You will again feel the sheets brush your skin and will know you have survived, despite time and movement curtailing your destiny at every turn.  Between paralysis and wild abandon lies life’s line.  Adventure.   You will imagine the greatest security, never moving.  You will imagine yourself motionless.  The guardian of danger, chance and uncertainty.  Your stillness will not stop time passing without you, Show full text

Nicholas Ferreira
This translation has life, excitement, expectation, dynamism! Truly beautiful.
Mónica Algazi
I just loved your translation, Marian. Congratulations!
Michael torhan (X)
Congratulations Marian!! I too enjoyed reading it. Well done!
Marian Vieyra
Thank you all for your generous comments. Did anyone recognise the original piece?
Entry #518 - Points: 16
Michael torhan (X)
The sheets will again kiss your body and you will know you have survived.  Yes, you will survive, despite the clock's movement that at each instant shortens your fate.  Somewhere between paralysis and lack of restraint is where the line of life lays, the adventure.  You will imagine greater security, never moving, imagining yourself immobile, protected from danger, from misfortune, from uncertainty.  Your stillness cannot stop Time, which runs relentless although Show full text

Nicholas Ferreira
Nicely done, very poetic. Beautiful writing! You have my vote.
Entry #626 - Points: 13
Anonymous
        You will survive: you will graze the sheets and know you have survived, in spite of the time and movement that shorten your fortune at every instant: between paralysis and frenzy lies the line of life: adventure: you will imagine the greatest security, never to move: motionless, you will imagine yourself still, safe from danger, from chance, from uncertainty: your stillness will not stop the time that runs without you, even if you invent and measure Show full text

Entry #624 - Points: 10
Patricia Fierro, M. Sc.
You will survive. Once again, you will graze the sheets and know that you have survived, in spite of the time and the movement that shorten your fortune.  Between paralysis and wild abandon, there is the line of life. The adventure.  You will imagine that it is safer to never move. You will imagine yourself motionless, safe and away from danger, from fate, and from uncertainty.  Your stillness will not stop time, as it flows without you, even if you invent it and measure Show full text

Entry #598 - Points: 9
Nicholas Ferreira
       You shall live on: once more you will brush the sheets, and you shall know that you have survived, in spite of the time and the motion that hem in your fate at every moment; between paralysis and indulgence lies the line of life: adventure; you will think of an increased certainty, never to move: you will dream of yourself motionless, immune to danger, fate or uncertainty: your stillness will not hold back the time that continues forward without you, even had Show full text

Mónica Algazi
Dear "Anonymous": What a beautiful translation! Mónica Algazi Bayley (Uruguay)
Entry #648 - Points: 6
Anonymous
YOU will survive:  you will touch the sheets and you will know you have survived, in spite of time and motion which shorten your fortune with each passing moment:  the line of life lies between paralysis and recklessness:  adventure:  you may imagine greater safety, to never move:  you may picture yourself motionless, sheltered from danger, from randomness, from uncertainty:  your stillness will not stop time, which runs without you, even Show full text

Feedback - Second ProZ.com Translation Contest 2007
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