Panayoti Kelaidis [ how can we know that Machado's
englished weasel is not a ferret or a marten] Comadreja is the Spanish
word for weasel, not ferret, mink or marten, nor stone marten. Moreover, weasels
are notorious for their curiosity ("Pop goes the weasel" is not just a nursery
song) [...[. I suspect "comadre' is a alluded to in "comadreja": more,
perhaps, to the friendliness of weasels ("little neighbor girl") that hang
around like a little pesky girl in the neighborhood one has trouble getting rid
of. Antonio Machado is arguably the greatest Spanish poet of the last
century.
JM: Thank you for ellucidating
the correctness of JF's choice for "weasel", instead of "mink". The original
posting didn't offer the word in Spanish but fortunately J.Friedman
next brought us Antonio Machado's original lines, his translation of
them and the one by Nims.
I also wonder about "estelas en la mar",
JF translated as "wake" ( JF's Portuguese option,
"esteira", indicates "trail", as a comet's). There is a Catholic
designation of the Virgin, "Stella Maris" (which may have unconsciously
influenced my choice because Stella often became Estela when as a girl's name),
but I don't imagine Machado had Mary in mind.
Anyway, even if a stars is not mentioned in
Machado's lovely poem, Mary and newborn Jesus, and a star are being
cellebrated today.
So, while joining Stan
K-B's good wishes for this special season (this year, once again,
troubled by economic and natural catastrophes), I would like to
thank you all for diligently pursuing our
literary links with past history, dreams and connections
to nature and environment, for studying our living and evolving
language and its inheritance since, nowadays, technical
vocabulary, increasing speed in transaction and investments
directed towards "future markets" have almost broken the vital
chain engendered by our emotional and perceptual interconnections with
the actual world and its inhabitants. Whenever I read VN I feel
"re-ligious" ( from re-ligare in Latin: re-connect ) towards our
shared human inheritance... Merry Christmas and a generous
creative New Year to you all.