Haim Gouri: Odysseus (From Hebrew)

Odysseus
By Haim Gouri
Translated by A.Z. Foreman

And when he returned to his native town, he found a sea
And sundry fish, and grass afloat on the slowed waves
And a sapped sun down on the sky's far side.

All errors keep occurring, said Odysseus to himself in his tired heart
Of what had occurred to him, and he returned to the crossroads near the neighboring town
To find the current road to his birthplace which was not the tide.

He came as a wayfarer, full of yearning and tired as if already dreaming,
Among a people whose dialect was now a different Greek.
The words he had taken on his trek as provisions had died.

For a moment, he thought he had overslept his lifetime,
Returning to people who were not shocked to see him,
And were too young to stare wide-eyed.

He resorted to gestures, asking what they tried to comprehend
From beyond the expanse.
Purple turned violet and sank on the selfsame sky's far side.

And the adults got up and gathered their children from circles around him
And hurried them away to house after house
Where light after light grew yellow inside.

Dew came down onto his head.
Wind came round and kissed his lips.
Water came forth and bathed his feet like an old Euryclea
And did not see the scar, and wound on down the slope for such are the ways of the tide.

The Original:

אודיסס
חיים גורי

וּבְשׁוּבוֹ אֶל עִיר מולַדְתוֹ מָצָא יָם 
וְדָגִים שׁוֹנִים וְעֵשֶב צָף עַל הַגַּלִים אִטִיִים 
וְשֶׁמֶש נֶחְלֶשֶת בְּשׁוּלֵי שָמַיִם.   

טָעוּת לְעוֹלָם חוֹזֶרֶת, אָמַר אוֹדִיסֵס בְּלִבּוֹ הֶעָיֵף 
וְחָזַר עַד פָּרָשַת – הַּדְרָכִים הַסְּמוּכָה לָעִיר הַשְּכֵנָה. 
לִמְצֹא אֶת הַדֶּרֶך אֶל עִיר מוֹלַדְתוֹ שֶלֹא הַיְתָה מַיִם.   

הָלַך עָיֵף כְּחוֹלֵם וּמִתְגַעְגֵעַ מְאֹד 
בֵּין אֲנָשִים שֶדִּבְּרוּ יוַנִית אַחֶרֶת. 
הַמִּלִים שֶנָּטַל עִמוֹ כְּצֵידָה לְדֶרֶך הַמַּסָעוֹת, גָוְעוּ בֵּינְתַיִם.   

רֶגַע חָשַב כִּי נִרְדַם לְיָמִים רַבִּים 
וְחָזַר אֶל אֲנָשִים שֶלֹא תָּמְהוּ בִּרְאוֹתָם אוֹתוֹ 
וְלֹא קָרְעוּ עֵינַיִם.   

הוּא שָאַל אוֹתָם בִּתְנוּעוֹת וְהֵם נִסוּ לְהַבִין אוֹתוׁ 
מִתֹּוך הַמֶּרְחַקִּים. 
הָאַרְגמָן הִסְגִיל וְהָלַך בְּשוּלֵי אוֹתָם שָמַיִם.   

קָמוּ הַמְּבוּגָרִים וְנָטְלוּ אֶת הַיְּלָדִים שֶעָמְדוּ סְבִיבוֹ בְּמַעְגָל 
וּמָשְכוּ אוֹתָם.
וְאוֹר אַחַר אוֹר הִצְהִיב בְּבַיִת אַחַר בַּית.   

בָּא טַל וְיָרַד עַל רֹאשוֹ. 
בָּאָה רוּחַ וְנָשְקָה לִשְׂפָתָיו. 
בָּאוּ מַיִם וְשָׁטְפוּ רַגְלָיו כְּאֶבְרִקְלִיָה הַזְּקֵנָה. 
וְלֹא רָאוּ אֶת הַצַּלֶקֶת וְהִמְשִיכּו בַּמוֹרָד כְּדֶרֶך הַמַּיִם.