Fina García-Marruz (Cuban, born 1923), universally referred to simply as
Fina, manages some improbable balancing acts. She has declared herself
simultaneously a convinced Catholic and a convinced Communist, and she is
universally loved despite her very close connection to the regime.
Somewhere I read a very moving essay of hers about first hearing of the
death of Lorca. I wish I could find it again. She was in the first flush of
adolescence, and he was her first love.
The selection below represents about 2/3 of the sequence, which she
published in 1994.
Mark
from “ENGLISH GRAMMAR”
Little Elegy
“Where are you, my son?”
“Oh, I’m here!”
“Where is your sister?”
“In the kitchen.”
“Does Emma have two cats?”
“Only two.”
“We have one mouth
and just two ears.”
“Is your brother rich?”
“Oh yes.”
“And are you poor?”
“Oh yes.”
“The house is old.”
“The book is gray.”
Where are you, butterfly?
Tell Me
“Tell me, can I do anything
for you?”
“I had a bird.
Do you know its name?”
Use of the Plural
(Changing plural to singular and singular to plural)
Are the rooms large?
Are the basements damp?
“My mother has a garden
with a small horse in it.”
Do the brothers have feathers?
Do the sisters have oranges?
“Day has night, sir.
The month has days and nights.”
The room, the kitchen, the basement.
The tulip, the umbrella.
And you, do you have oranges or feathers?
Do you have brothers or sisters?
Herald
The rooster
is certainly conceited.
But he has his reasons.
Adam
“Adam,
where have you been
all morning?”
“I have been
in my father’s garden.
I have been very happy.”
(I was so young
when I lost
my parents!)
Past Participles
Forsaken,
hidden,
gone.
(Let us walk slowly)
It’s raining hard.
Who Has Seen
Who has seen
the King’s palace?
The baker, the rock
and the rain.
Who wants to speak
to my father?
The glass of wine,
the slippers
and the coachman.
Be careful on the road.
This Grammar Book
In this grammar book
there are funny examples, but others
are very sad, and perhaps
should not be shown
to children.
Calmly it says:
“The watchmaker has sold all his watches.”
And then (there’s a certain logic to this)
“Mary is sad.”
“That man had many friends,
but he’s lost them all. He is very old.”
“I want to go to the theater.”
The birds build their nests.”
“Who is buying two shirts
for the poor boy?”
“You always sell me yesterday’s paper!”
Translated by Mark Weiss
|