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Sample translations submitted: 1
Spanish to English: La Gallina Degollada/The Headless Hen General field: Art/Literary
Source text - Spanish Horacio Quiroga:
Todo el día, sentados en el patio en un banco, estaban los cuatro hijos idiotas del matrimonio Mazzini-Ferraz. Tenían la lengua entre los labios, los ojos estúpidos y volvían la cabeza con la boca abierta. El patio era de tierra, cerrado al oeste por un cerco de ladrillos. El banco quedaba paralelo a él, a cinco metros, y allí se mantenían inmóviles, fijos los ojos en los ladrillos. Como el sol se ocultaba tras el cerco, al declinar los idiotas tenían fiesta. La luz enceguecedora llamaba su atención al principio, poco a poco sus ojos se animaban; se reían al fin estrepitosamente, congestionados por la misma hilaridad ansiosa, mirando el sol con alegría bestial, como si fuera comida.
Otras veces, alineados en el banco, zumbaban horas enteras, imitando al tranvía eléctrico. Los ruidos fuertes sacudían asimismo su inercia, y corrían entonces, mordiéndose la lengua y mugiendo, alrededor del patio. Pero casi siempre estaban apagados en un sombrío letargo de idiotismo, y pasaban todo el día sentados en su banco, con las piernas colgantes y quietas, empapando de glutinosa saliva el pantalón.
El mayor tenía doce años, y el menor ocho. En todo su aspecto sucio y desvalido se notaba la falta absoluta de un poco de cuidado maternal.
Esos cuatro idiotas, sin embargo, habían sido un día el encanto de sus padres. A los tres meses de casados, Mazzini y Berta orientaron su estrecho amor de marido y mujer, y mujer y marido, hacia un porvenir mucho más vital: un hijo: ¿Qué mayor dicha para dos enamorados que esa honrada consagración de su cariño, libertado ya del vil egoísmo de un mutuo amor sin fin ninguno y, lo que es peor para el amor mismo, sin esperanzas posibles de renovación?
Así lo sintieron Mazzini y Berta, y cuando el hijo llegó, a los catorce meses de matrimonio, creyeron cumplida su felicidad. La criatura creció, bella y radiante, hasta que tuvo año y medio. Pero en el vigésimo mes sacudiéronlo una noche convulsiones terribles, y a la mañana siguiente no conocía más a sus padres. El médico lo examinó con esa atención profesional que está visiblemente buscando las causas del mal en las enfermedades de los padres.
Después de algunos días los miembros paralizados recobraron el movimiento; pero la inteligencia, el alma, aun el instinto, se habían ido del todo; había quedado profundamente idiota, baboso, colgante, muerto para siempre sobre las rodillas de su madre.
—¡Hijo, mi hijo querido! —sollozaba ésta, sobre aquella espantosa ruina de su primogénito.
El padre, desolado, acompañó al médico afuera.
—A usted se le puede decir; creo que es un caso perdido.
Podrá mejorar, educarse en todo lo que le permita su idiotismo, pero no más allá.
—¡Sí...! ¡sí...! —asentía Mazzini—. Pero dígame; ¿Usted cree que es herencia, que...?
—En cuanto a la herencia paterna, ya le dije lo que creía cuando vi a su hijo. Respecto a la madre, hay allí un pulmón que no sopla bien. No veo nada más, pero hay un soplo un poco rudo. Hágala examinar bien.
Translation - English All day long, sitting on a bench in the backyard, were the four mentally disabled sons of the Mazzini-Ferraz couple. They had their tongues in between their lips, eyes glazed over, and turning their heads from side to side with their mouths wide open.
The yard was dirt, closed to the west by a circle of bricks. The bench rested parallel to him, fifteen feet, and there they stayed immobile, eyes fixated on the bricks. As the sun was hidden behind the circle, when it finally set, the boys had a party. The blinding light caught their attention; little by little their eyes became animated. Letting loose a thunderous laugh laced with anxiousness, they looked at the sun with a beastly happiness, as if it were food.
Other time, lined up on the bench, they buzzed for hours on end, imitating the electric tram. The loud noises shook their stupor and they ran around the yard biting their tongues and bellowing. But they were almost always lethargic, spending the entire day sitting on the bench with their legs hanging completely still, slobbering on their pants.
The oldest was twelve years old and the youngest was nine. Their dirty and helpless look showed the absolute lack of the care of a mother.
These four disabled boys, nevertheless, had a day when they were a gift to their parents. After three months of marriage, Mazzini and Berta focused their love between them to create much more vital future: a son. What greater happiness for the lovers than this honored consecration of their marriage, freed from the selfishness of endless mutual love, which is worse for love because it has no chance for renewal?
This is how Mazzini and Berta felt, and when their son came, after fourteen months of marriage, they believed he fulfilled their happiness. The creature grew, handsome and radiant, until he was a one and a half years old. But one night in the twentieth month, the boy was rocked with terrible convulsions and the next day, he did not know who his parents were anymore. The doctor examined their son with this professional attention that he was looking for the cause of his affliction in the sicknesses of his parents.
After a few days, his paralyzed limbs regained movement; but his intelligence, his soul, even his instinct, they had all gone away. He had been completely disabled, slimy, flaccid, and dead at the knees of his mother.
“Son! My dear son!” sobbed his mother about the awful fate of their firstborn. His heartbroken father accompanied the doctor outside. “Sir, this is all I can say; I think he is a lost cause. You can try to better him, educate him as much as you can, but no more than that,” said the doctor. “Ok, ok!” nodded Mazzini, “But tell me, do you think it is hereditary?” “As for the father’s side, I told you what I thought when I saw your son. In respect to the mother, there is a lung that is not functioning well but I did not see anything else. I did a thorough exam,” the doctor assured him.
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Bachelor's degree - Indiana State University
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Years of experience: 9. Registered at ProZ.com: Oct 2015.
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