HILARY ELFICK

First car

 

In the end, by 1992, his driving was
impeccable. That first afternoon in ’45,
HOB 418 weaved wildly, nudged back
into the road by soft verges. Later,
when he let us sing ‘Dark brown is the
river’ and ‘There’ll always be an
England’ our songs stopped in mid-line
when the smell of his skin switched. In
Paris, this small square Ford, black of
course, faced down six lanes of traffic
in the Place d’Etoile. ‘Va t’en!’ they
screamed through open windows.
‘Merde! Va t’en, M’sieur! Va t’en!’
My mother closed her eyes.

Roxana-Monica Mîndrican

Hilary Elfick
 

Prima Masina

In cele din urma, in 1992 ajunsese sa conduca ireprosabil.
In acea prima dupa-amiaza din ’45
HOB 418 gonea nebuneste, s-a napustit pe sosea
lasand dare fine. Mai tarziu,
cand ne-a lasat sa fredonam “ involburat e raul”
si « Anglia va dainui »*
cantecele noastre s-au oprit la jumatate cand mirosul pielii sale s-a schimbat.
In Paris, acest Ford mic lat si desigur negru,
trebuia sa infrunte sase benzi
in Place d’Etoile. « Du-te ! »
toti ii strigau de la ferestre.
« La naiba ! Du-te domnule ! Du-te »
Mama a inchis ochii.

*In the original text:“there will always be an England”- a literal translation wouldn’t have any resonance in Romanian. Therefore I chose the verb “a dainui” ( to last/to live) wich in the target language suggests the idea of permanence and continuity. ( if we chose “a dainui” we don’t need to translate the adverb “always” from the source text, because the verbs encloses somehow the meaning of the adverb).