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Translation: Bokononist Calypso from The Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Cover of The Cat's Cradle Dell Publishing edition, 1963 

In Kurt Vonnegut's short novel The Cat's Cradle, the Book of Bokonon, which expounds on the made-up religion of the Caribbean island of San Lorenzo, is written in cynical and humorous verses of child-like simplicity, called calypsos, which reflect timeless truths about the quest for life's meaning. This was one of my favorites and I decided to translate it from English into all the languages I know. This is Bora Mici's original translation from English into French, Italian and Albanian of Bokonon's calypso on what distinguishes humans from animals. The translation into Romance languages was much easier and closer to the original because these languages have regular verb endings, while I had to get a bit more creative for the translation into Albanian to preserve the rhymes. I would say the translation into Albanian better represents an accurate divulgation of what Bokonon really meant by this calypso, as the greater context of the novel might suggest.   

Original English version

Tiger got to hunt
Bird got to fly
Man got to wonder, Why? Why? Why?
Tiger got to sleep
Bird got to land
Man got to tell himself he understand.

Translation into French

Le tigre a pu chasser
L’oiseau a pu voler
Pourquoi? Pourquoi? Pourquoi, l’homme a pu se demander.
Le tigre a pu dormir
L’oiseau a pu atterrir
Je comprends, l’homme a pu se dire.

Translation into Italian

La tigre ha potuto cacciare
L’uccello ha potuto volare
Perché? Perché, Perché, l’uomo si è potuto domandare.
La tigre ha potuto dormire
L’uccello ha potuto atterrire
L’uomo ha potuto dirsi, sì riesco a capire.

Translation into Albanian

Tigri mundi të gjuante
Zogu mundi të fluturonte
Duke pyetur Pse? Pse? Pse? njeriu veten mundi të torturonte.
Tigri mundi të flinte
Zogu mundi të zbriste
Kuptoj, mundi të thotë njeriu që mend të shiste.