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17th Translation Contest: "The Sounds of Silence" » English to Somali » Entry by Aden Aden


Source text in English

Translation by Aden Aden (#23896)

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.
Mawduuca da'da, ugu yaraan adduunka horumaray, waa dadku waxay aamminayaan aamusnaan mana helayaan. Guluubka gawaarida, duubista telefoonka, duubista digital-ka ee basaska iyo tareenada, telefishannada oo xitaa xafiisyo faaruq ah, waa batari aan dhamaad lahayn oo mashquul ah. Jinsiga bani-aadmigu wuxuu u daalan yahay qaylada iyo muddada dheer ee ka soo horjeeda - ha ahaado duurjoogta, badda baaxad weyn ama mararka qaarkood dib u noqoshada oo loo qoondeeyay xasiloonida iyo diiradda. Alain Corbin, oo ah borofisar taariikhi ah, wuxuu qoray wargeyska magalada Sorbonne, iyo Erling Kagge, oo ah raadiye Norwey ah, isaga oo xusuusinaya waxyaabihii laydhka ahaa ee Antarctica, oo labaduba isku dayeen inay baxsadaan.

Hase yeeshee, sida Mr. Corbin uu ku tilmaamay "taariikhda Silence", waxaa laga yaabaa inuusan jirin buuq badan marka loo eego halkaas. Ka hor inta aysan taayirada pneumatic, waddooyinka magaaladu waxay ka buuxsameeyeen qabiilka dhagoolaha ah ee taayirada birta ah iyo fardo dhagxaanta. Ka hor inta aan la goyn khadka telefoonnada gacanta, basaska iyo tareenadu waxay la kulmeen wada sheekeysi. Wargeysyada-iibiyeyaashu ma aysan ka tegin alaabtooda iyagoo ku dhexjiray waraaqo, laakiin waxay ku soo bandhigeen mugga sare, sida iibiyayaashii johannesöred, violets iyo mackerel cusub. Tiyaatarka iyo opera waxay ahaayeen fowdo of huzzah iyo barracking. Xitaa baadiyaha, dadka reer miyiga ah waxay ku heeseen sida ay u cabbeen. Hadda ma heesaan.

Waxa isbeddelay maaha wax aad u badan oo ah buuq, oo qarniyadii hore ay sidoo kale ka cabanayeen, laakiin heerkulku waa mashquul, oo leh meel bannaan oo laga aamusi karo. Waxaa jira qadar kale, sababtoo ah marka uu soo galo-qoto dheer ee kaynta geed, lamadegelka qaawan, qolka si lama filaan ah looga baxo-badanaa waxay caddaynaysaa nacas aan loo soo dhawayn. Cabsi dusha ku hayso,Dheguhu wuxuu ku faafaa wax kasta, ha ahaado dabka ama shimbiraha ama udubka caleemaha, kaas oo ka badbaadin doona fekerka aan la garanayn. Dadku waxay rabaan aamusnaan, laakiin taasi maahan.


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