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17th Translation Contest: "The Sounds of Silence" » English to Swahili » Entry by George Mwidima Kihanda


Source text in English

Translation by George Mwidima Kihanda (#22328)

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.
Gumzo kwa miaka mingi, hata katika ulimwengu ulioendelea, ni kwamba watu wanatamani ukimya na hawawezi kuupata. Muungurumo wa trafiki/foleni za magari, milio isiyokoma ya simu za mkononi, matangazo ya kidijitali katika mabasi na treni, TV zikiwaka hata katika ofisi tupu, ni mlolongo usiokwisha na kumvurugia mtu mawazo. Jamii ya binadamu inajichosha yenyewe kwa kelele na inatamani kinyume chake - iwe porini, au katika bahari pana au katika maeneo mengine yaliyotengwa kwa ajili ya kutulia na kukusanyikia. Alain Corbin, profesa wa historia, anaandika kutoka ukimbizini kwake huko Sorbonne, na Erling Kagge, mchunguzi wa Norway, toka katika kumbukumbu zake za taka za Antarctica, ambapo wote wamejaribu kukimbia.

Na bado, kama Mr Corbin anavyoelezea katika "Historia ya Ukimya", labda hakuna kelele zaidi kuliko ilivyokuwa. Kabla ya matairi ya kujazwa upepo, barabara za jiji zilijaa kelele za kupasua masikio za magurudumu ya chuma na viatu vya farasi kwenye jiwe. Kabla ya kujitenga kwa hiari kwenye simu za mkononi, mabasi na treni zilijawa na mazungumzo. Wauza-magazeti hawakuacha vyombo vyao kimya, bali walitangaza kwa sauti ya juu, kama walivyofanya wauza matunda ya cheri, wauza mrujuani na wauza samaki wabichi aina ya bangala. Majumba ya tamthilia na maigizo yalikuwa ni vurugu za vilio na kuzomea. Hata mashambani, wakulima waliimba walipokuwa wakifanya kazi ngumu ya kuchosha. Hawaimbi siku hizi.

Kilichobadilika sio kiasi cha kelele, ambazo karne zilizopita pia zililalamikia, bali kiasi cha kumvurugia mtu mawazo yake, ambacho kinachukua nafasi ambayo ukimya ungeweza kuchukua. Hapo linaonekana tatizo lingine kubwa, kwa sababu wakati kimya kinapoingia ndani ya kina cha msitu wa mipaini, katika jangwa tupu, katika chumba kilichoachwa wazi ghafla - mara nyingi huogopesha badala ya kukubalika. Hofu huingia ndani; sikio lenyewe hufunga kwa kitu chochote kile, kuvuma kwa moto au mwito wa ndege au mlio wa majani, kitu ambacho kitaliokoa sikio hilo kutokana na utupu huu usiojulikana. Watu wanataka ukimya, lakini sio kiasi hicho.


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