A translation of Me Encanto Dios by Jaime Sabines

This post is pretty different from what I normally do. I was in my Spanish Literature class yesterday, and we covered a poet named Jaime Sabines. I was immediately struck by his poems, and realized how sad it was that no one I know would be able to read his work because it’s in Spanish. So, I decided to translate it. I’m not fluent, so if I made any mistakes let me know. I did my best to convey the message of the poem. Enjoy! My next actual essay should be out in a week or so.

P.S. I decided to translate this for my girlfriend, who loves poems. She speaks and reads some Spanish, but I wanted her to be able to understand it better. Love you Babe!

Me encanta Dios. (I love God) This is more like love in the sense of I love cookies, instead of the sense of I love my girlfriend. Amor is a romantic love. He's just declaring that he really, really likes God.

Es un viejo magnífico que no se toma en serio. (He is a magnificent old man that doesn’t take himself seriously)

A él le gusta jugar y juega, y a veces se le pasa la mano y nos rompe una pierna o nos aplasta definitivamente. (He likes to play and he plays, and sometimes he moves his hand and breaks our leg or permanently crushes us) Aplastar can also mean to defeat or to squash.

Pero esto sucede porque es un poco cegatón y bastante torpe con las manos. (But this happens because he is a little blind and very awkward with his hands)

Nos ha enviado a algunos tipos excepcionales como Buda, o Cristo, o Mahoma, o mi tía Chofi, para que nos digan que nos portemos bien. (He has sent us various exceptional types like Budda, or Christ, or Mohhamad, or my aunt Chofi, to tell us to behave ourselves)

Pero esto a él no le preocupa mucho: nos conoce. (But this does not bother him much. He knows us)

Sabe que el pez grande se traga al chico, que la lagartija grande se traga a la pequeña, que el hombre se traga al hombre. (He knows that the big fish swallows the child, that the big lizard swallows the little one, that the man swallows the man) Swallow in this case is more metaphorical, as in violence and oppression. Also lagartija is a specific type of lizard, lagarto is a general lizard)

Y por eso inventó la muerte: para que la vida -no tú ni yo- la vida, sea para siempre. (And for this reason he invented death: so that life, not you or I, that life would be forever)

Ahora los científicos salen con su teoría del Big Bang…Pero ¿qué importa si el universo se expande interminablemente o se contrae? (Now the scientists have come out with the theory of the Big Bang…But who cares if the universe expands endlessly or if it contracts) Salir is to leave, but also to go out.

Esto es asunto sólo para agencias de viajes. (This is only an issue for travel agencies)

A mí me encanta Dios. (I love God) Same sentiment as before

Ha puesto orden en las galaxias y distribuye bien el tránsito en el camino de las hormigas. (He put order in the galaxies and well distributed the walk of the ants in the road)

Y es tan juguetón y travieso que el otro día descubrí que ha hecho -frente al ataque de los antibióticos- ¡bacterias mutantes!4 (And he is very playful and naughty the other day I discovered that he has made- due to the attack of the antibiotics- mutant bacteria) frente is the front, but in this context means because of or due to

Viejo sabio o niño explorador, cuando deja de jugar con sus soldaditos de plomo y de carne y hueso, hace campos de flores o pinta el cielo de manera increíble.5 (Wise old man or child explorer, when he is done playing with his toy soldiers of lead and of meat and bone, he makes fields of flowers or paints the sky in an incredible way)

Mueve una mano y hace el mar, y mueve la otra y hace el bosque. Y cuando pasa por encima de nosotros, quedan las nubes, pedazos de su aliento. (He moves a hand and makes the sea, and he moves another and makes the forest. And when he passes above us, he stays the clouds, pieces of his breath)

Dicen que a veces se enfurece y hace terremotos, y manda tormentas, caudales de fuego, vientos desatados, aguas alevosas, castigos y desastres. Pero esto es mentira. Es la tierra que cambia -y se agita y crece- cuando Dios se aleja.7 (They say that sometimes he gets furious and makes earthquakes and sends storms, flows of fire, undoing winds, treacherous waters, punishments and disasters. But this is a lie. It’s the earth that changes- and shakes and grows- when God moves away) Agitarse can mean any kind of vigorous movement, like flapping. I thought shaking made the most sense

Dios siempre está de buen humor. (God is always in good humor)

Por eso es el preferido de mis padres, el escogido de mis hijos, el más cercano de mis hermanos, la mujer más amada, el perrito y la pulga, la piedra más antigua, el pétalo más tierno, el aroma más dulce, la noche insondable, el borboteo de luz, el manantial que soy. (For this reason he is the favorite of my parents, the chosen of my children, the closest of my brothers, the woman most beloved, the dog and the flea, the most tender petal, the sweetest aroma, the unfathomable night, the bubbling light, the spring that I am)

A mí me gusta, a mí me encanta Dios. Que Dios bendiga a Dios (I like, I love God. May God Bless God.)