Le blog de maud.tardieu

Words of Maud Tardieu (2)

Patrice Tardieu : here are again some «　folds　» of her words with her scattered ashes.

«　Without a word that could erase or tone down memories　»

«　To unite words, intertwine them, shake them, jumble them, then have a look at them, feel them, their glance, their essential being, it’s moving.　»

«　Words are sometimes hollow, they contain an uncertain black nucleus to those who receive them.　»

Maud Tardieu

Remark by Patrice Tardieu : here, words can’t erase the remembrance of things past; but they have their glance on them.

Note du traducteur : pour traduire «　atténuer le souvenir　» j’ai hésité entre «　lessen　», «　reduce　», «　fade　» et finalement j’ai opté pour la diminution de couleur, «　to tone down　».

Patrice Tardieu

Maud’s trunk (19)

Patrice Tardieu : here are some scattered thoughts by Maud Tardieu that I have found.

WORDS

«　Word, how much can you be flattened, rounded, useless, thrown away, concealed, puffed out, merry; can you be harmful, a gift, a wrench; never can you not be.　»

«　Words want to say everything, snatch, add, take away, convey, induce all things.　»

«　Never write an emotion; just a word will erase the slightest fold.　»

«　Words stay concealed, unknown in their «　want to say　».　»

«　 the inside of a word that knows what it encloses.　»

Maud Tardieu

Translated by Patrice Tardieu

Note du traducteur :

La difficulté de la deuxième phrase est de garder la légèreté du français «　tout　» qui risque de devenir très lourd en anglais, si on traduit par exemple par «　all things　». Le verbe «　donner　» serait trop plat avec «　to give　»; j

’ai hésité entre «　to feed　», «　to entrust　» et «　to convey　» ( finalement choisi ) mais les nuances sont différentes. «　To feed　»: «　nourrir　»; «　to entrust　»: «　confier　»; «　to convey　»: «　transporter, transmettre des idées　».

La troisième phrase pose problème : «　écrire une émotion　» est étrange en français, ce serait plutôt «　décrire une émotion　», mais la phrase devient banale. J’ai gardé en anglais cette construction étonnante, d’autant plus qu’il est question des «　plis　» de l’émotion; là encore, c’est un mot inattendu. Les deux dernières phrases sont extraordinaires: les mots veulent dire quelque chose mais nous l’ignorons. C’est le mot lui-même qui sait ce qu’il y a en lui.

Patrice Tardieu

Haze

«　 a bride’s veil, the haze went over the rooftops, rounding off the angles, bringing together all the edges, colours, roughness; a soft, calm impression resulted from this cohesion protected by the veil so lightly laid on human constructions, without a fold, without anything that could hold it back here and there, just spread on it, touching slightly houses, trees, gardens. The eyes were at rest and sipped that strange silence.　»

Maud Tardieu

Translated by Patrice Tardieu

Note du traducteur: je traduis «　le brouillard　» par «　haze　» car il s’agit non du «　fog　» londonien mais de la brume de la Méditerranée après une forte chaleur; ce n’est pas non plus l’humide «　mist　» du matin sur les champs.

Note by Patrice Tardieu: I forgot to write down the following translation I made of «　Then life goes on　», it is nearly at the end:

«　Death consist in loosing the sight of them [ the deceased ], but what had been felt stays and helps you to endure the real sight; their survival is in you, around you; you continue living with them　».

Maud Tardieu

Here is the keywords of this text by Maud Tardieu which shows that the love of the deceased continues to sustain you in your life:

Life that goes on, time imparted to you, your being slowly erased, changes of everyone, to know it right from the beginning, to fulfil what you have set your heart on, an eternal memory, death brings you peacefulness and quietness, to stay in the mind of others, learned everything, achieved your journey on earth, all emotions have been carried out, to have accomplished that for which you came, time goes by, death is not anymore a grief, to pluck what is best, not to stay doing nothing, to live all you wanted to live, no fear anymore of death, to have loved and been changed, to have everything, to be one with the one you have chosen, to create what follows and the memory, now you can go, peaceful death, death alike love by sublimating an end as far as suicide, the total gift of oneself, it’s a complete love, doesn’t touch even lightly this received happiness, death is a extreme feeling and becomes a question, the presence of those we loved will always stay in the folds of our life, the dead woman brings a supernatural and thorough fond love never forgotten, it’s a support till the end of your life, when those we have loved fade away from life, near you, in yourself, they still tell their lives with their words, you are forever surrounded by them, loosing the sight of the deceased, what has been felt stays, to endure the real sight, their survival in you, around you, to continue to live with them, the love of your parents, of your child, different moving impressive disconcerting love which make you become a human being living full of emotions, the love of the deceased.

Key names: Patrice Tardieu, Maud Tardieu.