la casada infiel :: español

texto original // original text

derechos de autor // copyright :: federico garcía lorca

Y que yo me la llevé al río
creyendo que era mozuela,
pero tenía marido.
Fue la noche de Santiago
                         y casi por compromiso.                      5
Se apagaron los faroles
y se encendieron los grillos.
En las últimas esquinas
toqué sus pechos dormidos,
                      y se me abrieron de pronto                   10
como ramos de jacintos.
El almidón de su enagua
me sonaba en el oído,
como una pieza de seda
                       rasgada por diez cuchillos.                  15
Sin luz de plata en sus copas
los árboles han crecido,
y un horizonte de perros
ladra muy lejos del río.

           

                          Pasadas las zarzamoras,                    20
los juncos y los espinos,
bajo su mata de pelo
hice un hoyo sobre el limo.
Yo me quité la corbata.
                            Ella se quitó el vestido.                    25
Yo el cinturón con revólver.
Ella sus cuatro corpiños.
Ni nardos ni caracolas
tienen el cutis tan fino,
                          ni los cristales con luna                     30
relumbran con ese brillo.
Sus muslos se me escapaban
como peces sorprendidos,
la mitad llenos de lumbre,
                         la mitad llenos de frío.                      35
Aquella noche corrí
el mejor de los caminos,
montado en potra de nácar
sin bridas y sin estribos.
                     No quiero decir, por hombre,               40
las cosas que ella me dijo.
La luz del entendimiento
me hace ser muy comedido.
Sucia de besos y arena
                         yo me la llevé del río.                      45
Con el aire se batían
las espadas de los lirios.
Me porté como quien soy.
Como un gitano legítimo.
                         Le regalé un costurero                    50
grande de raso pajizo,
y no quise enamorarme
porque teniendo marido
me dijo que era mozuela
                         cuando la llevaba al río.                 55
 

la casada infiel :: english

translated text  // texto traducido

copyright // derechos de autor :: b. a. lederle
_

Translator’s preface:  It’s pretty clear what La casada infiel is about, at least on the surface.  And simply put, it was an easy translation.  In fact, perhaps because the elements of passion and sex are very universal, this made it easier to translate words from their original Spanish to their English relatives.  In terms of style, I simply kept with the sexual tension and carefree tone felt from the source text as I translated.  No doubt that both the source text and the translated text leave much to the imagination.
_

And I took her toward the river,
believing that she was untouched,
but she had a husband.

It was the night of the Festival of Santiago
                                    and because they felt obligated,                                5
they put out the lanterns,
and the crickets ignited in the night.

In the farthest corners,
I touched her sleeping breasts
                            and they opened up to me immediately                      10
like bunches of hyacinth.

The starch of her skirt,
resounded in my ears,
like a piece of silk
                                     ripped up by ten knives.                                   15

Without the silver light in their branches
the trees had grown enormous
and a horizon of dogs
were barking far from the river
                                 Past the blackberry thistles,                               20
past the rushes and hawthorns,
under her mane of hair
I made an indent in the earth.

I took off my tie
                                             She her dress                                        25
Off went my holster
Off went her corset and bodice

Neither flowers nor shells
have skin so soft;
                               neither do crystals gleaming                             30
with brilliant moonlight.
Her muscles escaped me
like startled fish,
half full of fire,
                                   the other shivering cold.                             35

That night I ran
the best of the paths,
mounted without stirrups or saddle
on the best horse of them all.

                          And I don’t want to say to any man                   40
the things that she said to me.
Mutual understanding
makes me be very restrained.

Dirty from kisses and sand
                           I took her myself from the river.                     45
The blades of the irises
battled with the wind.

I behaved like who I really am.
Like a genuine gypsy.
                                I gave her a sewing kit,                             50
large, made from straw-colored satin
and I didn’t want to fall in love
because having a husband
she told me that she was untouched
                               when I took her to the river.                       55