Francisco Palemón Arcos, Chilapa, Mexico
Translated from the Spanish version by Tyler Gebauer
Originally written in Nahuatl
Allow me to give you a piece of advice: do not be selfish with water. If someone consumes it or takes it away, let them. If they do, the water will be content, because it enjoys being taken. It knows that this is how it gives strength to humans, or more precisely, how it quenches their thirst, kills it, removes it, and therefore gives them energy. If the water is not treated in this way, it will leave, or even dry out, and then we lose our strength.
Listen, over there at the place you all know of as “the place of water in the shape of hair,” tucked over to the side: at one time water flowed out from there, but they blocked it and built a closed-off house. Then man, animals, and plants were unable to consume the water; it wasn’t given the chance to enjoy entering into bodies of the human, animal, and vegetable species. The water became sad and left; that is, it dried up. If this is our thinking, then let us reflect: look, right over there in Sakasonapa the opposite is happening. In that place the water is free; if it runs dry, it comes back again. It is available for all who walk and live in the area; it is available for the plants that have grown in the shape of hair and always retain their moisture. They have even given it an offering of flowers and candles for its happiness.
I say that our God, the one who gives us water, gives it sense and feeling, as well as his blessing. That is to say, water is born to be free, and its veins flow all around the earth. If someone restricts it, he kills it, and then it goes away. It seeks out the freedom to give life to other people, animals, and plants. It goes to other places to sweeten their joy.
Yolatsin ipan nokalpan
(Original Nahuatl version)
Francisco Palemón Arcos
Matemetsontlahtolli in tlamachilistli: on atsintle maka xitlastlakan, tla yakah atleh niman kitikeh; xikawilikan. Ihkon on atsintle pakeh, kwelita ika makonikan ikonewan. Ihkon tlachikawaltia niman ihkon kimiktia amiktli. Tla ihkon xenkichiwa, on atl yaw, waki niman, tameh, kwalli tihmikisew.
San xikitakan, nee inakastlan Sakatsonapan; oameyak atl. Ompa okitsakeh niman okitlahchiwilkeh. Tla ihkon, nin tameh, nin wakaxtin, nin yolkatsintin atliyaw. On atsintle onahman niman oyaw, matikontokan, owak. Aman on komulli waktok; san tlaltsintli kipiya; on atl oyaw kampa kitlayolchikawa.
Tla ihkon tikitah matinemilikan; xikitakan, Sakasonapan sokse tlamantik: ompa xakah kitlastla. Maski tlame atl, soksajpa wahkisa. Ompa atleh tokniwan, ompa atleh yolkameh, ompa noskaltia sakatsintle niman, aman, ompa kitlamanilia; nanikitowa ika totahtsin, wan atl tetsmaka, kiyolitia niman kwalli tetstlachochiwilia. Matikontokan, on atl nelwayo tlamakahtli; totahtsin kimakawa niman kixexelowa ipan tlaltipaktli. Tla yaka kinowachkatia, kimiktia, niman on atl yaw, soksekan onteyolitia, soksekan ontetsopelia.
On atl ban owak ¿enkimati kan on onesitoh? Na nikintowa ika nee, kampa tameh titokayotia Kolosapan. Maske ompa okitlahchiwilkeh, xakah kitsakwa. Ompa ehko, ompa nosewiya, ompa noyekneke niman ompa atsahtsililo. Ipan in tlahtolli temetsihlia; maka matipasolokan on atsintle, nochimeh matikonikan niman nochimeh matipaktikan. Ihkon kentla, nee, tihchiwa Komuhlian, niman ihkon ken tihchiwa Tepec. Ompa kampa atsintle tlayochikawa wan nehnemi niman wan tekitih. Itlamakayotl tetsyolitia.
El sentimiento del agua en mi comunidad
(Spanish self-translation by the author from the Nahuatl version)
Francisco Palemón Arcos
Déjenme darles un consejo: no sean egoístas con el agua. Si alguien lo toma (lo ingiere) o se lo lleva, déjenlo. Si es así, el agua se pone contento porque, a él, le gusta que lo tomen. Él sabe que así les da la fuerza a los humanos, de hecho, termina con la sed; la mata, la elimina y, por lo tanto, fortalece. Si no lo hacen así él se va, incluso, se seca. Entonces, nosotros podemos desfallecer.
Escuchen, allá donde ustedes conocen –a un ladito– de “el lugar del agua en forma de cabello”, manó mucha agua, pero lo restringieron y le construyeron una casa muy cerrada. Entonces ni el hombre, ni los animales y las plantas lo podían consumir; no se daba el gusto de entrar en los cuerpos de la especie humana, animal y vegetal. El agua se entristeció y se fue; digamos, se secó. Si este es nuestro pensamiento, reflexionemos; miren: allí justo en Sakasonapa sucede lo contrario. En ese lugar el agua está libre, si se acaba vuelve a salir. Está a disposición de todos los caminantes y vecinos del lugar, está a disposición de las plantas que han crecido en forma de cabello y siempre se conserva en humedad, incluso, le han conferido una ofrenda de flores y velas para su alegría.
Yo digo que nuestro Dios, el que nos da el agua, le da sentido y sentimiento, además de su bendición. Digamos, el agua nace para ser libre, sus venas están sueltas alrededor de la tierra. Si alguien lo restringe, lo mata y, entonces, se va. Busca su libertad para dar vida a otras gentes, animales y plantas, va a otros lugares para endulzar la alegría.
Francisco Palemón Arcos is a teacher, writer, and promoter of the Nahuatl language whose poems have been featured in Círculo de poesía, Revista SinFín, and Ojarasca, the literary section of the prestigious Mexican newspaper La Jornada. He holds a Master’s degree in Indo-American Linguistics from the Center for Advanced Studies of Social Anthropology in Mexico City and a Doctorate in Education. He is a professor at the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional (UPN) in Chilapa, Mexico.
Tyler Gebauer is submitting the English translation of “The Feelings of Water in My Community” with the author’s permission. Tyler is a freelance literary translator who has worked for organizations and writers based out of Chicago, Mexico City, Madrid, Bolivia, and El Salvador. His literary translation has been published in Modern Literature and Packingtown Review(forthcoming).
You can find him online at www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-gebauer-1992n