JM: I tried to read the automatic translation, but it was a torture. One word stood out, at first, related to chess.  “Rook”. I had just asked the list about “raven” (apparently, a translation from the Czech ”kafka”). Ravens and rooks are both “corvus” Can anyone inform me if “kafka” indicates the raven or the rook in czech? ( still trusting novelist Murakami’s information). A second question ( related to the original in Russian in the translation provided by Google/Norquist): what does “elephant” mean in the poem?
Jerome Katsell: I don't believe "kafka" means raven in Czech. The usual for raven is "hravan," and "vrána" is used for crow. There's also "hravan polní," which means rook, the bird. The other rook, the chess rook/castle is "vĕž".