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


Source text in English

Translation by davdand (#22351)

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.
Sinjal ta’ żmienna, għallinqas fid-dinja żviluppata, huwa li n-nies tixxennaq għas-skiet u ma tistax issibu. L-istorbju tat-traffiku, il-ħsejjes bla waqfien tal-mowbajls, avviżi diġitali mxandra fuq tal-linja u l-ferrovija, settijiet tat-televiżjoni jagħtu anke f’uffiċini vojta, jiffurmaw assalt u aljenazzjoni bla tmiem. L-umanità qed tinfena bl-istorbju u ħerqana għall-kuntrarju – forsi fil-kampanja, fuq il-baħar wiesa’ jew f’xi rtir dedikat għas-silenzju u l-meditazzjoni. Alain Corbin, professur tal-istorja, ifassal kitbietu mir-rifuġju tiegħu fis-Sorbonne, waqt li Erling Kagge, esploratur Norveġiż, mit-tifkiriet tiegħu fil-wesgħat tal-Antarktika, il-postijiet fejn dawn it-tnejn ippruvaw jaħarbu.

Iżda madankollu, kif Corbin jgħidilna fil-ktieb “A History of Silence”, x’aktarx li m’hemmx aktar storbju illum milli kien ikun hemm fil-passat. Qabel daħlu t-tajers tal-lastiku, it-triqat tal-ibliet kienu jkunu mimlijin bit-tisbit li jtarrax tar-roti miksijin bil-metall u tan-nagħal fuq il-ġebla. Qabel ma iżolajna ruħna bl-użu tal-mowbajls, il-karozzi tal-linja u t-trens kienu mimlijin bit-tpaċpiċ. Il-bejjiegħa tal-gazzetti ma kinux ihalluhom fil-kwiet fuq xulxin imma kienu jxandruhom b’vuċi għolja, kif kienu jagħmlu dawk li jbiegħu iċ-ċirasa, il-vjoli jew il-kavalli friski. It-teatru u l-opra kienu geġwiġija ta’ għajjat u tgħajjir. Anke fil-kampanja l-bdiewa kienu jkantaw waqt ix-xogħol monotonu tagħhom. M’għadhomx ikantaw issa.

Dak li nbidel mhux daqshekk il-livell tal-istorbju, li kienu jgergru minnu anke fis-sekli ta’ qabel, imma il-livell tal-aljenazzjoni li jgħammar fi spazju fejn is-skiet jista’ jinvadi. Hawn jitfaċċa paradoss ieħor, għax meta tidħol il-ħemda – fin-nofs ta’ xi bosk tal-prinjol, f’xi deżert għeri jew f’xi kamra li għada kif tbattlet – x’aktarx li aktar niddejqu milli nieħdu gost biha. Tibda dieħla l-biża’; il-widna bla ma trid tiffoka fuq kwalunkwe ħoss – it-tfaqqiegħ tan-nar, xi għajta ta’ għasfur jew it-tħaxwix tal-weraq – li jista’ jsalvha minn dan il-vojt misterjuż. In-nies tridu s-skiet, imma mhux daqshekk.


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