This is an interpretation into the English language of a poem by the scholar-poet Zava Damdin (1976- ). The title in the Mongolian language and its Mongolian Cyrillic script is,”Хэзээ ч”.
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Never
Never met, yet someone is so close to me
Never talked, yet we already know so much about each other
Never sent a letter, yet I received one in my dream
Never saw each other, yet crystal images appear in my chest
Never said anything, yet someone has already listened
Never explained, yet someone understands deeply, and shows me the signs
Never loved, yet such love and compassion is growing in my heart
Never forgiven, yet with forgiveness they meet again, like before
Never thought, yet someone must have whispered, remember?
Never endured, yet for whatever reason I continue: there is no choice
Never mistaken, yet must have made a thousand mistakes
Never searched, yet found a famous great name
Never stole, yet took on a heavy thing, without telling others
Never killed, yet in my mind, performed assassination in defence of the oppressed
Never lied, yet must have lied a lot to cruel-hearted fools
Never grubby, yet hugged someone in a very attached way
Never fooled, yet always doing such foolish things
Never wisened, yet somehow skilfully eloquent whenever chirping and tweeting a song
Never powered, yet reaching the summit of such high mountain peaks, just on my own
Never talented, yet the arts touch my devotion and so I like to create some
Never moved, yet a light sadness always blankets my original mind
Never fell in love, yet am always refreshed by both love and kindness
Never realised, yet my heart beats strongly with such vows, the ultimate law
Never say never, yet here I am, singing never!
Pure Land of Swoyambhu
Zava Damdin
Translated by Zava Damdin and C.Pleteshner
English interpretation 20.02.2023 from the original Mongolian 02.01.2021
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Mongolian Cyrillic Text Version
Хэзээ ч
Хэзээ ч уулзаагүй ч хэн нэгэнтэй ихэд дотно байх юм
Хэзээ ч ярилцаагүй ч хэзээдээ л танил ойр байх юм
Хэзээ ч захидал бичээгүй ч хэн нэгэн зүүдэнд захидал илгээх юм
Хэзээ ч хараагүй ч хэнхдэг цээжинд дүр зураг нь машид тодорхой
Хэзээ ч хэлээгүй ч хэн нэгэн урьдаар сонссон л байх юм
Хэзээ ч учирлаагүй ч хэт утгыг ухаж ойлгоод дохио утга үзүүлж байх юм
Хэзээ ч хайрлаагүй ч хэзээний л хайр энэрэл ундруулан байх юм
Хэзээ ч уучлаагүй ч хэзээдээ л уучлагдан эргээд л уулзах юм
Хэзээ ч бодоогүй ч хэрхэвч л хэн нэгэн шивнэн сануулах юм
Хэзээ ч тэвчээгүй ч хэр баргийн шалтгаанаар тэвчүүлэх юм
Хэзээ ч алдаагүй ч хэзээдээ л мянган удаа алдсан байх юм
Хэзээ ч хайгаагүй ч хэтэрхий их алдар сууг олсон л байх юм
Хэзээ ч хулгай хийгээгүй ч хэтэрхий том зүйл хэлэлгүй авсан байх юм
Хэзээ ч амь таслаагүй ч хэлмэгдэгсдийг өмгөөлөн оюун санаандаа аллага үйлдсэн байх юм
Хэзээ ч худлаа хэлээгүй ч хэрцгий тэнэгүүдэд машид их худал ярьсан байх юм
Хэзээ ч ариун бусыг үйлдээгүй ч хэн нэгнийг тэчияадан тэвэрсэн байх юм
Хэзээ ч тэнэгтээгүй ч ухаангүй үйлдэл үргэлж гаргаж байх юм
Хэзээ ч сэцэрхээгүй ч хэзээдээ л уран яруу донгодсон байх юм
Хэзээ ч бяралхаагүй ч хүч чадлаа зориулан уулсын оргилд хүрсэн байх юм
Хэзээ ч авъяасгүй ч урлагт дурлан бүтээл хийхийг зорих юм
Хэзээ ч сэтгэл хөдлөөгүй атлаа хөнгөн гунигт үргэлж автах юм
Хэзээ ч дурлаагүй ч хэзээний л дурлал хайраар амьсгалан байх юм
Хэзээ ч ухаараагүй ч хэвт ёс зүрхэнд минь лугшиж л байх юм
Хэзээ ч гэж хэлдэггүй мөртөө л хэзээ ч хэмээн дуулан байх юм
Очирт Хадан Хоргo
Зава Дамдин
02.01.2021
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Source
A Bilingual Collection of Zava Damdin (1976- ) Poetry. Vol. 1 (2021-2024). The Zava Damdin Sutra and Scripture Institute Library Archive, Manjushri Temple Soyombot Oron, Mongolia. Unpublished manuscript. pp26-27.
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Notes
Excluding the preparatory training and clarity of narrative structure and ideation required, the journey of such compositions tends to move through three phases, starting with: (i) the creation of the original composition with the vertical Mongol Bichig Script; (ii) the subsequent transfer and rendering of this transcript into the Mongolian Cyrillic Script; and then on to, (iii) a (British) English language interpretation, such as you see here. I bring to this interpretive exercise my own particular collection of English language narrative skills and their imagined audiences. From this perspective, a final English language version of a narrative emerges as a negotiated text.
Translation is always an interpretation into another culture.
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Attribution
In keeping with ethical scholarly research and publishing practices and the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, I anticipate that anyone using or translating into another language all or part of this article and submitting it for accreditation or other purpose under their own name, to acknowledge this URL and its author as the source. Not to do so, is contrary to the ethical principles of the Creative Commons license as it applies to the public domain.
end of transcript.
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