Als Ob
Leo StraussTraduzione inglese (parziale) di Erel Shalit | |
AS IF I know a little township, a place I went to live. It’s name I will not mention, I’ll call it just “AS IF”. Not everybody can just move to this little place: ‘cept those who by selection are of the “AS IF” race. The people in the streets here, they run from end to end, And, (although they get nowhere), they just like to pretend. They’re living an existence, AS IF’s the life they knew, And they enjoy all hearsay, AS IF it all were true. There, too, is a café-house with music and Ersatz And you can go and feel like…AS IF you’re Moishe Potz. And many a one person will oftentimes act whiffy: At home he was no big shot; here he pretends AS IF he…. On Sunday, (yes on Sunday), we’re getting hash. Of course THAT may have looked, (while still alive), AS IF it was a horse. On mornings and at evenings one drinks Ersatz….”AS IF”. And, with just soup and little food, one feels much like a sieve. One lies on straw to rest on, AS IF this were a bed, And thinks of friends and loved ones, AS IF some news one had. One bears this heavy burden AS IF there were no sorrow, And speaks of one fine future AS IF it comes tomorrow. | AS-IF I know a little tiny town A city just so neat I call it not by name but call the town As-if Not everyone may enter Into this special place You have to be selected From among the As-if race And there they live their life As-if a life to live Enjoying every rumor As-if the truth it were You lie down on the floor As-if it was a bed And think about your loved one As if she weren’t yet dead One bears the heavy fate As-if without a sorrow And talks about the future As if there was – tomorrow |