Sunday, January 24, 2010

Translation: Un Oso y un Amor


Un Oso y un Amor (A Bear and a Love) escritó por (written by) Sabine R. Ulibarrí de Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico

The Mountain Range

It was the end of June. The lambs had already been born earlier that spring and the sheep were sheared. The cattle was making its way up the mountain. Abrán was directing them. I followed alongside the donkeys, which were loaded with supplies. From now on life would be slow and tranquil.
I found a fitting spot. I unloaded the donkeys and pitched the tent. I cut branches for the beds. I began to prepare a meal for when Abrán would return. Already the first flock of sheep was arriving. Sometimes I would get up to stop them, to redirect them, so they could get to know their first campsite.
The grass was tall, fresh, and lush. The aspens, black and white, with shaking leaves, sang a trembling song of life and happiness. The fragrances and the flowers. The icy, crystalline water of the stream. Everything was in peace and harmony. This is why the Gods themselves chose to live in the mountains. The range is an eternal celebration.

The Banquet
Soon I heard familiar laughter and voices. I gave a shout. These were my friends from Tierra Amarilla, the Yellow Land. Abelito Sanchez, accompanied by Clorinda Chávez and Shirley Cantel. The four of us were in ninth grade. We were fifeen years old.
We unsaddled and staked out our horses. Momentarily, we began enjoying ourselves. There was so much to say. Questions. Jokes. So much laughter to resume. Now I shudder to remember it. How beautiful was that moment! We were young. We knew how to love and how to sing. Without alcohol, without drugs, without uncouth vulgarities.
When Abr
án arrived, we ate. I had a tasty, delicious-smelling side of lamb, roasted on the coals. They had brought delicasies that we were not accustomed to in the range. The joy and good food, the joy of friendship and the idealic location transformed this experience into a feast to remember forever.

Shirley
Shirley Cantel and I had grown up together. We went to school together since we were children. I carried her books. Later we could bring the cows in together in the afternoons. We played in the stables or in the haystacks. We had horse races. In the school plays she and I always had the important roles. We would always compete for the best grades. It never occured to us that we were in love. This past year, we discovered our affection, I don't know how. Now things were getting serious. I see it now like an illusion of glory.
Shirley had a white dove which attracted a lot of attention. She always took it along while horseriding. The dove perched on her shoulder or positioned itself in the mane or on the rump of the horse. It grew to know me and love me as well. Sometimes the dove would come with me. It would fly away and come back. The dove was another bridge of sentimentality between us two. Today it recognized me. Right away it positioned itself on my shoulder. Its sensual 'crucru' in my ear was a message of love from its owner.
Shirley was a gringa but she spoke spanish as well as I did. This was normal in Tierra Amarilla. Almost all of the gringos from here spoke spanish. We were one single society. We got along very well.

The Bear
Jokes and annecdotes. Laughter and more laughter. Fleeting flirtations. Loaded questions. Unexpected replies. The celebration in its height.
Suddenly, the cattle is frightened. It whips from one side to the other. It comes towards us, as if in waves. Bleats of terror. Something has frightened the cattle.
I grab the rifle. I say to Shirley: "Come with me." We hold hands. Coming around the bush, we find a bear. He has drowned a sheep and ripped open the entrails. He has a bloody snout. We are very near him.
Ordinarily, a bear would flee upon meeting a human. There are exceptions: when there are cubs, when it is hurt, when it has tasted blood. Then it becomes fierce. Even a dog beccomes fierce when eating.
This was a young bear, maybe two or three years old. These are the most daring and dangerous. We interrupted him while he was eating. He was enfuriated. He came at us.
The others had approached and were nearby. They were watching the action. The bear circled us slowly. He stopped, shook his head and growled. We backed up slowly until we bumped against a fallen tree. There was no espace. We had to confront the animal.
Nobody did anything to help me. Nobody said anything. The girls were silent. There was no hysteria. I was dying of fear. But my girlfriend was at my side. Her life depended on me. The others were watching me.
I had never felt as much a master as I did now. Never so much a man, never so capable. My first instinct was to protect my woman. She and every other girl had confidence in me.
I raised the rifle. I aimed, firmly. I fired. The shot entered through the bear's open mouth and came out at the back of the neck. The shot echoed through the mountain range. The bear fell dead at our feet. Shirley hugged me. I wanted to die of happiness.
I skinned the animal myself. I felt the hot blood on my hands and my elbows. I felt like a conqueror.
Once I had given Shirley a ring that my mother had given me. Another time, I gave her a box of candies. This time I gave her the skin of the bear. She recognized it immediately. When she left, she took the skin with her, tied to the straps of her saddle.

Memories
Years passed. I went to one university, she went to another. This seperated us. Then I left for the war and this seperated us even more. When a river divides in two, nothing can join those two rivers back together.
I did not go to see her in those days. Sometimes somebody would tell me something about her. She had married, and her family lived very far from here. I remember with affection the childhood that I shared with her.
Recently, an old friend told me that he had seen when she lives and that he knows her family. He said that in front of the fireplace, she has the skin of a bear. She still remembers.


178 comments:

  1. I should have checked your blog before the final....

    -Cris

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    Replies
    1. how about you "stfu"

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    2. How about EVERYONE STFU

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    3. especially you.

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    4. hey jameson. STFU all of yaoll

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    5. no sirree bob i aint no salt. So, what are ur veiws on abortion

      -- Anon1234

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    6. Hey guys, have you played soccer physics? Its so fun to play during spanish and spanish test.

      http://ottoojala.com/soccerphysics/

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    7. tru, i play that all the time

      -- Anon1234

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    8. @Anon1234 tu eres no bueuno a Soccer Physics

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    9. blah blah blah!!!!

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    10. grow up Y'all. get a LIFE too.

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    11. pinches gringos

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    12. this chat has been going on for 4 years thats impressive

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    13. This is incredible

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    14. honestly this is fucking gey

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    15. not gonna lie i would have taken that skin back, unlike that beta male cuck that let his girl go away

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    16. oh my god no one cares how long its been going on dirty girth cocker :3

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    17. hey thats not very cool man

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    18. this chat has been going on for a full decade wtf

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    19. we gotta keep it going boys

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    20. cmon keep it alive

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    21. this chat will survive till the end of the time

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    22. Here because of Corona Virus

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    23. i would be failing Spanish if not for corona...

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    24. Same, I be using google translate for my tests.

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    25. September 2020 now ;)

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    26. whats good out here

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    27. that dude is a huge beta male who tf gives up their bear pelt

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    28. Nigger nigger nigger nigger

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    29. This more of a story of a simp
      Evidence: "Once I had given Shirley a ring that my mother had given me. Another time, I gave her a box of candies. This time I gave her the skin of the bear."

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    30. keep this chat alive for generations

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    31. Good story, but the chat is definitely the best part <3

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    32. lets fucking gooooo

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    33. bruh LOL someone summarize and tell me the main idea for my final

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    34. it was funny until it got racist

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    35. aye, we gotta keep going, lets go boys, can't stop now

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    36. keep this going

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    37. Eggs, bacon, grits, sausage

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    38. come on guys keep the chat goin

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    39. y'all did not keep the chat going

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  2. this is a pretty good translation
    thanks!

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  3. thank you very much! i needed this for spanish hmwk :)

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  4. Thanks this helps spo much for my spanish test tomorrow!

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  5. you forgot a small section at the end of the "La sierra" section. It is only 3 sentences.

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    Replies
    1. I don't have that section in my textbook, and maybe the original translator doesn't either

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  6. yayy for spanish hw translations!

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  7. Really helped! Much Appreciated!

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  8. insanely helpful! without it.. definitely not ready for ap spanish :(

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    Replies
    1. you have ap spanish!? i bearly started spanish this year >:(

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  9. like all the other comments, thank you sooo much for your translations!!! its definitely saved me a considerable amount of time :)

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  10. You are a life saver! Thanks!

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  11. Thank you thank you thank you!

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  12. thank you very much (:

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  13. YOU ROCK THIS SAVES MI VIDA!

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  14. Thank you! This saved me for my test tomorrow! :)

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  15. muchas MUCHAS gracias chica!

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  16. thanks for the great translation

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  17. good but i need in kinda in spanish u 8=D

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  18. Thanks!!! I searched hours for translations!!!

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  19. Comment if you are Mrs. Demera's student at AK.

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  20. mrs. demera's student first block b dayyyyyys??!

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  21. i use this all the time... your the best. Thanks

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  22. Dios Mio GRACIAS!!!!

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  23. this was so helpful!!

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  24. your account saved my life for my spanish four honors class :) thank you so much! <3

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  25. very beautiful and accurate translation!

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  26. thank you sooo much

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  27. More than anything, I'm just happy I was able to understand the story. It was definitely a good read and the interest would have been lost if I had to spend an hour or more translating it line by line.

    Thank you so much for the translation

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  28. omg thank you so much. i peed when i read this becasue it was so awesome

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    Replies
    1. takin a shit is better but okay buddy whatever floats your dick

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  29. i farted this was goood

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  30. This helped a ton! thanks a lot! Hopefully i can get an A on my test now

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  31. gracias it helped a lot. awesome translation, hope i get an A on the test

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  32. Thanks a bunch! We're supposed to write a summary for our Spanish test tomorrow, and I could hardly understand any of the words in the language. This helped so much!

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  33. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TTTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKKKKKKK YYYYYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!! I NEED THIS FOR MY SPANISH HOMEWORK AND I DO NOT SPEAK SPANISH AT ALL. THANK YOU :D

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  34. Thank you soooo much!! spanish test tomorrow, and this is going to save me!!

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  35. I appreciate this. Thanks for posting the translation; it's pretty accurate

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  36. Very good, your a lifesaver.! :)

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  37. You are seriously my favorite person right now. Thank you sooo much!!!!

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  38. you're welcome everybody!! cw

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  39. thanks you so much!!!!!!

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  40. thank you! this makes things so much easier. pretty accurate translation as well!

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  41. What is the story about

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  42. thank you so much for this! I would've been so screwed

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  43. Thank you for this! :)

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  44. I JUST WANTED TO SAY OMG THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOO MUCH, JK I HAVE SWAG

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  45. f@ck yesh i finally get to put a comment here
    TOTAL BOSS

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  46. I love you for this��

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  47. Looking at the past comments over the years, and I can still see that things never change. People still use things like this to help for Spanish homework. Thank you, this saves me and everybody else who reads this from the trouble of racking our minds to translate ourselves.

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  48. I THINK I LOVE YOU.

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  49. You just saved my grade!! thanks c:

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  50. you guys are all faggots

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  51. THANK YOU, FOUR YEARS of a bad teacher and I don't know CRAP. I feel like I should be in Spanish 2 not Spanish 4 AP how did I end up here!!!!

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  52. Thank you so much for this. This helped me get an easy A. :)
    -Avery

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  53. thank you so much! this was such a helpful translation!

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  54. Thanks ya very good

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  55. Good god the first coment I saw, wow, you guys are all overreacting!

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  56. yass this finna help me for my spanish final tomorrow

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  57. I like the fact that you've taken the time to do this. Thanks! However, my I would enjoy seeing the Spanish version as well...But I like that you've done this. Thanks!

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  58. you can't touch me

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  59. I will touch you all I like.

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    Replies
    1. I,too, would also like to touch you.

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  60. Thank you so much we're having a test on this next period and I was resigning myself to failure.
    -Alice

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  61. Great translation! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! I do have one question for you, though: Is there one small paragraph missing in your translation, right at the beginning of "The Banquet"? My textbook (Expresate!) has one more paragraph there...

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  62. Awesome! Thanks (:

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  63. Ill have 2 mcdoubles and a large pepperoni pizza

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  64. what don't you STFU you stupid cunt

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  65. Suck my tits mother fuckers while I fuck this dog

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  66. fuck all
    you bitches

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  67. suck my cock cock suckers

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  68. sorry people this chat is wack

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  69. god fucking damn i sure hate niggers

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    Replies
    1. no one cares. you're not special

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    2. Woah there! i going to have to see your N word pass sir

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  70. am i the only one here in 2021

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  71. damn bruh this shit hella gey

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  72. bro thiw has been going for to long do pinche gringos

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  73. Chat still strong in 2022

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  74. ¿¿PUES QUIÉN ESTUVO EN PARIS????

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