La vaca cega

Topant de cap en una i altra soca,

avançant d'esma pel camí de l'aigua,

se'n ve la vaca tota sola. És cega.

D'un cop de roc llançat amb massa traça,

el vailet va buidar-li un ull, i en l'altre

se li ha posat un tel: la vaca és cega.

Ve a abeurar-se a la font com ans solia,

mes no amb el ferm posat d'altres vegades

ni amb ses companyes, no: ve tota sola.

Ses companyes, pels cingles, per les comes,

pel silenci dels prats i en la ribera,

fan dringar l'esquellot mentre pasturen

l'herba fresca a l'atzar… Ella cauria.

Topa de morro en l'esmolada pica

i recula afrontada… Però torna,

i abaixa el cap a l'aigua, i beu calmosa.

Beu poc, sens gaire set. Després aixeca

al cel, enorme, l'embanyada testa

amb un gran gesto tràgic; parpelleja

damunt les mortes nines, i se'n torna

orfe de llum sota el sol que crema,

vacil·lant pels camins inoblidables,

brandant llànguidament la llarga cua.

The Blind Cow

Stumbling onto many a tree trunk,

By the river shore, there goes the cow

Errant and lonely. She is blind.

Great marksmanship, that of the cowherd,

The cow’s eye gouged out by a rock sent flying,

While the other eye is veiled over: she is blind.

In the fountain she quenches her thirst,

Like she did before, just not as resolutely as yore

And without her mates; yes, she is alone now.

Her mates in turn, in hillocks and dales,

Deep in the silence of pastures and river banks,

Sound their cowbells as they nonchalantly

Graze the fresh grass…She would fall.

Cow butts again with her head in the worn trough,

And recoils somewhat in affront…Only to return,

Head lowered, reaching for the water, drinking calmly.

Little does she drink, far from athirst.

She then raises her horns onto the wide sky,

With a great sense of tragedy; she blinks

Over the dead pupils, and moves back

Under the scalding sun, yet orphaned of light,

Hesitating in the unforgettable cattle tracks,

And tremulously flipping her long tail.