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17th Translation Contest: "The Sounds of Silence" » English to Maltese » Entry #23000


Source text in English

Translation #23000

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.
Tema taż-żminijiet, għall-inqas fid-dinja żviluppata, hija li n-nies huma mxennqa għas-silenzju iżda ma jsibuhx. Il-ħsejjes tat-traffiku, il-ħoss ma jaqta’ qatt tal-mobajls, avviżi diġitali fuq il-karozzi tal-linja u l-ferroviji, televixins mixgħulin anke f’uffiċċji vojta, huma baraxx u distrazzjoni kontinwa. Il-bnedmin qed jeżawru lilhom infushom bil-ħsejjes waqt li jixtiequ l-oppost—kemm jekk hu fis-selvaġġ, fuq il-baħar miftuħ jew f’xi rtir iddedikat għall-kwiet u l-konċentrazjoni. Alain Corbin, professur tal-istorja, jikteb dwar ir-refuġju tiegħu fis-Sorbonne, u Erling Kagge, esploratur Norveġiz, dwar il-memorji tiegħu fil-bux tal-Antarktika, lil fejn it-tnejn ippruvaw jaħarbu.

Minkejja dan, kif isemmi s-Sur Corbin f’"A History of Silence", m’hawnx aktar ħsejjes issa, milli kien hemm qabel. Qabel it-tajers pnewmatiċi, it-toroq tal-bliet kienu jkunu mimlija bil-ħsejjes ta’ roti bir-rimmijiet tal-metall u n-nagħal taż-żwiemel jaħbtu fuq il-ġebel. Qabel l-iżolament volontarju fuq il-mobajl, kont tisma’ konverżazzjonijiet jidwu fuq il-karozzi tal-linja u l-ferroviji. Il-bejjiegħa tal-gazzetti ma kenux iħallu l-biegħa tagħhom f’munzell sieket, iżda kienu jirreklamawhom b’vuċi għolja, kif kienu jagħmlu l-bejjiegħa taċ-ċirasa, tal-fjuri u tal-kavalli friski. It-teatru u l-opra kienu kaos ta' għajjat. Anke fil-kampanja, il-bdiewa kienu jkantjaw waqt ix-xogħol iebes tagħhom. Issa ma jkantawx.

Li nbidel mhuwiex daqstant il-livell tal-ħsejjes, li kienu jilmentaw minnhom anke fis-sekli preċedenti, iżda l-livell ta' distrazzjoni, li jokkupa l-ispazju li s-silenzju jista' jinvadi. Qed niffaċċjaw paradoss ieħor, għaliex meta jinvadi—fil-qalba ta' foresta tal-arżnu, fid-deżert għeri, f'kamra battala f'daqqa—ħafna drabi jaħsdek aktar milli jagħtik gost. Il-biża’ tidħol bil-mod; il-widna insintivament tisma’ l-iċken ħoss, kemm jekk huwa l-ħoss ta’ nar qed jaqbad jew sejħa ta’ għasfur jew it-tmellis tal-weraq, li jsalvak minn dan il-vojt mhux magħruf. In-nies iridu s-silenzju, imma mhux iżżejjed.


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