a mula the mule

a mula

um silêncio amamentado com veneno
um silêncio imenso
– Paul Celan, tradução de Flávio R. Kothe
 
mede o valor de seu empenho
e afirmações tendo
como medida o peso que carrega
como boa mula não faz ideia
de quem a monta mas
está a seu serviço
 
como toda boa mula
empaca na beira do
abismo não morrer
é sua vingança
filomena sem língua
e mula
não pula por ódio
não por esperança
(e nisso há uma diferença
fundamental).
 
a mula-lavínia
também teve sua língua
arrancada de lucrécia
mula e adormecida
não arrancaram
nada mas a chantagem
é também uma mordaça
a mula-talia
dormia quando foi
violada
foi maury e mula
que conseguiu
abrir a boca
e ao virar asno
mudou o próprio
nome e o das coisas
a nova mula aprendeu
alemão e vergewaltigung
deixa de ser o que é
vira um som qualquer
dito com a mesma
entonação que cometa
fúria jacaré passarinho
fósforo procissão pedra
cacto
 
a mula empacada
quase muda ao menos
nunca foi surda
‘até das pedras lhes ouço a desventura’
cada um tem o que diz
a mula em zarathustra
a mula de hilst
mas o rouxinol que canta
é o rouxinol macho.
 

the mule

put a silence over it,

stilled with poison, great
– Paul Celan, translated by Michael Hamburgermeasures the worth of her effort
and affirms by having
as measure the weight she carries
like a good mule she has no idea
who is riding her but
she is at their service
 
like every good mule
she halts by the edge of
the cliff not dying
is her vengeance
tongueless philomela
and mule
does not jump for hatred
nor for hope
(and in it there is a fundamental
difference).
 
mule-lavínia
also had her tongue
pulled out from lucrécia
mule and sleeping
they didn’t pull anything
out but blackmail
is also a gag
mule-talia also
slept when she was
raped
it was maury and mule
who managed to
open their mouth
and by turning into a donkey
changed his own
name and of things
the new mule learned
german and vergewaltigung
ceases to be what it is
becomes some sound
said with the same
intonation as comet
fury alligator bird
match procession stone
cactus
 
the packed mule
almost mute at least
never been deaf
‘i can even hear the stones and their misfortune’
each one has what the mule says
in zarathustra
hilst’s mule
but the nightingale who sings
is the male nightingale.
 

the mula

measure the worth of her effort (1) 
and affirmations by having
as measure the weight she carries
like a good mule she has no idea
who is riding her but
she is at their service
 
like every good mule
she packs by the edge of
the cliff not dying
is her vengeance
tongueless philomela (2)
and mule
does not jump for hatred
nor for hope
(and in it there is a fundamental
difference).
 
mule-lavínia
also had her tongue
pulled out from lucrécia
mule and sleeping
they didn’t pull anything
out but blackmail
is also a gag
mule-talia also
slept when she was
raped
 
it was maury and mule
who managed to
open their mouth
and by turning into an ass
changed his own
name and of things
the new mule learned
german and vergewaltigung
ceases to be what it is
becomes some sound
said with the same
intonation that comet
fury alligator bird
match procession stone
cactus
 
the packed mule
almost mute at least
never has been deaf
‘i can even hear the stones and their misfortune.’ (3)     
each one has what says
the mule in zarathustra
hilst’s mule
but the nightingale who sings
is the male nightingale.
 
(1) Nouns are gendered in Portuguese and mule is a feminine noun. I think we should keep it that way.
 
(2) ‘Filomela’ is one meaning for ‘rouxinol’(‘nighthingale’), but it also implies a reference to the rape of Philomela. Philomela was an Athenian princess, sister to Procne who was married to Tereus, king of Thrace. Tereus cut off Philomela’s tongue and raped her. Afterwards, Philomela transformed into a nightingale and sang. Also, female nightingales are mute.
 
(3) This is a line from a poem by Hilda Hilst, ‘Mula de Deus’/’God’s Mule’
 

Original Poem by

Adelaide Ivánova

Translated by

Francisco Vilhena with Rachel Long Language

Portuguese

Country

Brazil