TOTH ARPAD

TOTH ARPAD

A FOREST’S TALE

A twitter of birds pervades

The dark corners of this forest,

Feet can walk slowly through the moss and

Here,beside the spring,a mighty bear lives!

The boughs take a bow to the man

The trout jumps over the dome of rocks,

In the hazy murk a trickle is flowing

As a sweet kiss dripping in the sunlight.

A stalking blackadder in the foliage

And a gust of wind is whistling on the cliff,

The wood sorrel comes out of the spruce shade

And a plane is breaking the silence faraway.

When the lungs are filled with fresh air

The oxygene turns the weak body back to life.

Here,a tired smile and some drops of sweat

Mean more than any beautiful flower.

TRANSLATED BY DRAGOŞ BARBU

WINTER IN CHIURUŞ*

-twilight portrait-

Ice picks hanging down on ragged branches

They rattle loudly in the frost,waiting,

With the sparrows’ joyful chorus

The incoming white snow on their fleeting ridges.

Blizzard,like a fire,makes the sparrows fly away,

Their chorus is broken by the fear,

Snowflakes dance zealously in their honor,

Till they get dizzy and tired.

Going down with every move,

Full of candour,

Snowflakes often lose their way.

The day goes down,the night is raising,

Black darkness wrecks the scenery,

And all the colors quickly dissapear

Under the hood of snow.

Now,go to sleep...all of you!

*Chiuruş is an old small village in Transylvania.

TRANSLATED BY DRAGOŞ BARBU

WINDFALLS

Dreadful sounds,a moaning voice

In the deep of the dark forest

Howling wolfwraiths far beyond in the moonlight

The ruthless storm is crushing down

The mighty trees,in scourge of wrath

Twisted roots rise out of the screaming cliffs

Mad winds scatter hollow streaks on the range,

The wild is shaking its coasts in anger

The woods split down in weaving fallings

Into the roaring forest,in mists of hidden danger

The Nothingness is raising!

TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY DRAGOŞ BARBU

TOTH ARPAD