– A FAMILY OF TREES
I've just crossed a sunburnt plain and here they are.
They're not growing beside the road; it's too noisy. They're living in uncultivated fields, by a spring, known only to the birds.
In the distance, they look impenetrable.
Ad I come nearer, their trunks move apart.
They welcome me, warily. I may rest and cool down but I can sense that they're watching me closely and cautiously.
It's a family, the elders in the middle, surrounded by the youngsters whose first leaves have just been born, more or less everywhere, but not one of them has opened up yet.
There trees take a long time dying and they keep the dead ones standing until they fall down like dust.
They gently stroke one another's branches, to make certain they're still there, like blind people. If the wind runs out of breath trying t uproot them, they wave their arms about.
But they never quarrel. When they murmur, it's only to show their agreement.
I feel that they must be my real family. It won't take long for me to forget my other one.
There trees will gradually adopt me, and in order to deserve it, I'm learning the things I'll need to know.
I already know how to watch the passing clouds: I also know how to keep still and I've almost learned how to stop talking.
(NATURAL STORIES by Jules Renard)
– UNA FAMIGLIA D’ALBERI (italian translation)
Li incontro, dopo aver traversato una pianura bruciata dal sole.
Non abitano lungo la strada, per via del rumore. Abitano in mezzo ai
campi incolti, accanto ad una fonte nota solo agli uccelli.
Di lontano, sembrano impenetrabili. Come mi avvicino, invece, i
tronchi si disserrano.
Mi accolgono circospetti: posso riposarmi, rinfrescarmi, ma indovino
che mi osservano con diffidenza.
Vivono in famiglia: i più vecchi in mezzo, e i piccoli, quelli che
mettono appena le prime foglie, qua e là, tutto intorno, senza
allontanarsi.
Son duri a morire, e i morti li conservano in piedi fra loro, finché
cadono in polvere.
Si accarezzano coi loro lunghi rami per assicurarsi di esserci tutti,
come i ciechi. Si sbracciano in gesti di collera, se il vento soffia
da sradicarli. Ma non litigano mai fra di loro. Mormorano tutti
insieme, d’accordo.
Sento che questa sarebbe la mia vera famiglia: l’altra sarebbe presto
dimenticata.
Questi alberi mi adotteranno a poco a poco, e per meritarlo imparerò
ciò che bisogna sapere.
Già so guardare le nuvole che passano: già so stare fermo e ho quasi
imparato a tacere.
(Tratto da STORIE NATURALI di Jules Renard)
Composition took sixth place at Saussurea Fundation competion, Courmayeur, Italy (2008).
Analogic pics on color and negative films, taken with Nikon FE2 camera. Taken on Mount Ramaceto, Liguria, Italy.
