In memory of Truffles the cat, I made a translation of famous poem «Cat’s Heaven» into English. For all people who had had an experience of saying the last goodbye to their cats.
Автор стихотворения — Екатерина Агафонова, ссылка на русский оригинал, например, вот. Если кто-то знаком с автором, пожалуйста, дайте мейл или дайте ей ссылку на этот пост, я не смогла найти её контакт, чтобы послать перевод. Спасибо.
I was running across a field
But my paws weren’t touching the grass.
Smells that enveloped me were so real
That I didn’t realize life had passed.
And the sky was a multi-eyed cat
That would guide me to safety and bliss,
And he told me: please understand that
Your old body is not what you’ll miss.
So the smells were of honey and mint
As the grass reached out to the sky.
I’ll become a much better ‘reprint’
Of myself, when I get my ninth try.
Being a kitten, I had no belief
In the fairytales that we were told,
But it’s true: there’s a place where we live,
“Old Cat’s Heaven” is what it is called.
Old Cat’s Heaven of comfort and grace
Has this welcoming, wide-open gate.
But I saw my poor dear Daddy’s face
So I’ll hurry to reincarnate.
For a while then I quietly wandered
Through this Heaven, feeling quite blue…
Someone’s hands picked me up, and I wondered
Why they smelled so familiar and true.
Can’t remember her face and her color,
But this woman caressed me and kissed me.
I was hiding my face in her collar
Then she took me to my brothers and sisters.
Our sun was a goldfish aglimmer
In a sky full of clouds, ever-moving,
We were humanly cats, we were swimmers
In a sea above our catly hoomins.
We had catfights to show off our prowess —
Just for kicks, though, no blood and aggression.
I, for one, showed the best purring powers.
Ask the girls, I made quite an impression!
All is purrfect and beautiful here,
And there’s never a windstorm or snow.
Once I bit Mr. Grey in his ear –
It had healed in a second, you know!
Mr. Grey here is tough: died in fight,
He’s a tabby, he could be my bro.
In his dreams he sees dogs every night,
Fights his barking and tail-wiggling foes.
In my dreams I run over a field
Where the miracle flowers grow
Maybe death can be somehow repealed?
Ah, but I am just a cat. I don’t know.
Редактор перевода — Maria Saltykova