Йейтс Уильям Батлер - Кельтские сумерки. Уровень 1 / The Celtic Twilight

Уильям Батлер Йейтс

Кельтские сумерки. Уровень 1 / The Celtic Twilight

Адаптация текста и словарь М. Кузнецовой

Дизайн обложки Анастасии Орловой

© Кузнецова М. М., адаптация, словарь, 2023

© ООО «Издательство АСТ», 2023

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THE HOSTING OF THE SIDHE[1]

THIS BOOK

I wanted to create a small world from the beautiful and meaningful things in this imperfect[8] world, and to show a little piece of Ireland to my own people. I have written down what I have heard and seen. I havent separated my beliefs from those of the common people. I have let my characters, including ghosts and fairies, go their own way. The things a person experiences are lifes memories, and anyone can interpret[9] them as they please. I have also interpreted them in my own way, but I will be happy as long as my interpretation suits me.

A TELLER OF TALES

Paddy Flynn told me many of the tales in this book. He lived in a small and leaky[10] cabin in Ballisodare[11] village. He described it as the most peaceful place in County Sligo. This place is filled with fairies. The first time I saw him, he was cooking mushrooms. The next time, he was sleeping under a hedge[12] with a smile on his face. He was always happy. But I could sense a hint of sadness in his eyes.

And yet there was much in his life to depress[13] him, for his age, eccentricity, and deafness, and the children were constantly bothering him. Probably thats why he always advised to be happy and hope for the best.

I wrote down Paddy Flynns stories and words in my notebook after meeting him. I feel sad looking at the empty pages at the end that will never be filled. Paddy Flynn passed away[14]. A friend of mine gave him a big bottle of whiskey, and even though he was usually not a heavy drinker[15], he got really excited from this gift, and he didnt stop drinking for a few days until he passed away. His body was tired from old age and difficult times, and it couldnt handle the alcohol like it did when he was young.

BELIEF AND UNBELIEF

Some people in the western villages have doubts. Last Christmas, a woman told me that she didnt believe in hell or ghosts. She thought that hell was made up by the priest[16] to make people behave, and she didnt think ghosts could freely walk the earth. But she believed in fairies, leprechauns[17], kelpies[18], and fallen angels. I also met a man with a tattoo of a Mohawk Indian on his arm who had similar beliefs and doubts. He said that people never doubt that fairies are real.

A young girl who worked in the village of Grange, near the slopes of Ben Bulben[19],disappeared one night around three years ago. People said that the fairies had stolen her.

A village resident tried to stop them from taking her. But he ended up with nothing in his hands except a broomstick[20]. The villagers asked the constable[21] for help, and he immediately started searching every house. He also advised the villagers to burn all the ragweed[22] on the field where the girl disappeared because ragweed is sacred[23] to the fairies. They spent the whole night burning the ragweed while the constable said special words. In the morning, they found the little girl walking in the field. She said that the fairies had taken her very far away, riding on a magical horse. Eventually, she saw a big river, and the man who tried to save her was floating down the river in a small boat.

MORTAL[24] HELP

Long ago in stories, men were taken away to assist the gods in a battle. Cuchullan[25] helped the goddess Fands[26] to defeat another nation and gained her favor. Ive also heard that the fairies folk cant even play their game called hurley[27] unless they have a mortal on each team. Without the help of mortals, the fairies folk are weak and cannot even hit the balls. One day, me and my friend were walking on some marshy[28] land in Galway when we saw an old, tough-looking man digging a ditch. My friend had heard that this man had seen something amazing. And eventually we get this story from him. When he was a young boy, he was working with around thirty other men, women, and boys. They were near Tuam[29], not too far from Knock-na-gur. Suddenly, they all saw about one hundred and fifty fairies folk from a distance of around half a mile. There were two of them, he said, in dark clothes like people of our own time, who stood about a hundred yards from one another. The others wore colorful clothes.

He could not see what they were doing, but it seemed like they have been playing hurley. Sometimes they would disappear, and then they came back out of the bodies of the two men in dark clothes. These two men were of the size of living men, but the others were small. He saw them for about half-an-hour, and then the old man he was working for said, Get on, get on, or we will have no work done! I asked if he saw the fairies too, Oh, yes, but he did not want work he was paying wages for to be neglected[30]. He made everybody work so hard that nobody saw what happened to the fairies.

A VISIONARY[31]

One evening a young man came to my house and started talking about the creation of the earth and heaven and many other things. He had written many poems and painted many mystical drawings. But lately he hadnt written or painted anything. He feared that the emotional life of the artist was bad for him. However, he willingly recited[32] his poems. Suddenly it seemed to me that he was looking around a little nervously.

Do you see anything, X? I said. A shining woman, covered by her long hair, is standing near the doorway, he answered. Is it some living person who thinks of us? I said; No, he replied; If it was alive I would feel that. It is a spirit. It is someone who is dead or who has never lived.

I asked him what he was doing, and he said that he worked as a clerk in a big store. However, he enjoyed walking around the hills and talking to eccentric farmers. He would also make strange and guilt-ridden[33] people to share their problems with him. Another night, when I was at his place, more than one person came to discuss their beliefs and doubts. Sometimes he had visions[34] while talking to them. He has accurately[35] told several people about their past and distant friends, leaving them silent. Even though he was young, hes much more clever than the oldest people around.

The poetry he recited to me was full of his nature and his visions. Sometimes it was about past lives that he had lived, and sometimes about people from those lives. I told him I wanted to write an article about him and his poetry, and he said that I could do so, but he asked me not to mention his name. He wished to stay unknown. The next day, he sent me a collection of his poems along with a note that said: Here are copies of the verses you liked. I dont think Ill ever be able to write or paint anymore. Im preparing myself for a new life.

I remember one person in particular. A winter or two ago, he spent much of the night walking up and down the mountain, talking to an old peasant. Both of them were unhappy: X because he had realized that art and poetry werent for him, and the old peasant because his life was ending without any achievements or hope left. Both of them were so Celtic! They were always striving[36] for something that couldnt be fully expressed in words or actions. The peasant was lost in his mind with sadness. Once he exclaimed, God owns the heavens, but He wants the world; and once he complained that his old neighbors were gone and everyone had forgotten about him. They used to bring a chair for him by the fire in every cabin, but now they asked, Who is that old man over there? He said, I feel doomed[37], and then continued talking about God and heaven. He also said more than once, pointing his arm towards the mountain, Only I know what happened under the thorn-tree[38] forty years ago, and as he said it, tears sparkled on his face in the moonlight.