ProZ.com translation contests »
17th Translation Contest: "The Sounds of Silence" » English to Nyanja » Entry #22879


Source text in English

Translation #22879

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.
Anthu ambiri masiku ano, makamaka omwe ali m’mayiko otukuka, amafunitsitsa kukhala malo opanda phokoso koma sizitheka. Anthu ambiri amasokonezeka ndi phokoso losatha la magalimoto, kulira kosalekeza kwa mafoni, phokoso la zipangizo zoulutsira mawu zimene zimapezeka m’mabasi komanso mu sitima. Amasokonezekanso ndi phokoso la ma TV omwe amakhala ali wowowowo ngakhalale m’maofesi opanda anthu. Anthu atopa kwambiri ndi phokoso moti akulakalaka malo a phee, opanda phokoso kaya ndi ku nkhalango, pa nyanja, kapenanso malo omwe amakonzedwa mwapadera kuti anthu azikapuma osasokonezedwa ndi chilichonse. Yemwe ananena zimenezi ndi ndi katswiri wa mbiri yakale dzina lake Alain Corbin ndipo anakakhalapo pa univesite ya Paris ku France yomwenso imatchedwa Sorbonne. Iye anakakhala kumeneko pofunafuna malo opanda phokoso. Munthu wina amene ananenanso mfundo yomweyi ndi Erling Kagge, katswiri wofufuza malo wa ku Norway, yemwenso panthawi ina anakakhala Antarctica pofunafuna malo a phee.


Komabe, monga mmene Corbin anafotokozera m’buku lake lakuti A History of Silence, masiku ano kulibe phokoso lodetsa nkhawa tikayerekezera ndi mmene zinalili kale. Mwachitsanzo kale kusanabwere matayala a labala, m’misewu munkamveka phokoso logonthetsa la mawilo azitsulo komanso nsapato zosokosera za mahatchi akuponda miyala. Masiku amenewo anthu sankadzipatula n’kumangokhala ndwi pafoni, koma ankacheza n’kumaseka ndi anzawo akakhala m’basi kapena musitima. Mavenda ogulitsa manyuzipepala sankangoziunjika m’milu nkumadikirira koma ankaitanira mokweza kwambiri ngati mmenenso ankachitira mavenda ogulitsa tsabola, maluwa komanso nsomba zaziwisi. M’maholo ochitiramo masewero komanso kumvetsera nyimbo zoimbidwa mwaluso munkamveka phokoso lolulutira, kuseka kapena kuwomba m’manja. Ngakhalenso m’madera akumidzi munkamveka alimi akuimba kwinaku akugwira ntchito zawo zolemetsa. Masiku ano sungamve phokoso ngati limenelo.


Chimene chasintha masiku ano sikuchuluka kwa phokoso, limenenso anthu ambiri kale ankadandaula nalo, koma kukula kwa chisokonezo chimene chimabwera chifukwa cha phokosolo. Chisokonezo chimenechi chimachititsa kuti zikhale zovuta kupeza malo opanda phokoso. Komabe palinso nkhawa ina imene imabwera ngati palibiretu phokoso lililonse. Mwachitsanzo munthu amachita mantha kwambiri akhakhala pa malo opandilatu phokoso ngati kunkhalango yamitengo yokhayokha, kuchipululu kopanda anthu kapena akakhala m’nyumba yopanda anthu. Khutu limachita kulakalaka kumva phokoso lililonse, kaya ndi la moto ukuyamba kuyaka, kulira kwa mbalame kapena la kugwa kwa masamba. N’zoona kuti anthu amafuna malo opanda phokoso koma palibe amene angakonde kukhala malo opandilatu phokoso lililonse ngati amenewa.


Discuss this entry