Ignace Nau
La Mouche-à-feu / The Firefly / Luciérnaga (prose)
Translation By
Miriam Patterson
Translator Biography
Miriam Patterson is an associate professor in a private Christian university. She has been teaching Spanish for 18 years and she hopes to teach French soon, too. She's currently learning Italian and she, along with her family, travel around the world each summer. Miriam loves baking and cooking new recipes and enjoys exercising. She is originally from Mexico, but currently lives in Greenville, SC.
Publication Date
2022
Description
English and Spanish prose translations of Ignace Nau's "La Mouche-à-feu" by Miriam Patterson
La Mouche-à-feu / The Firefly / Luciérnaga (prose)
English and Spanish prose translations of Ignace Nau's "La Mouche-à-feu" by Miriam Patterson
Original Work
La Mouche-à-feu
Le jour tombe et s’efface
Va, monte, redescends,
Vole, passe et repasse
Sans cesse dans l’espace.
Etoile voyageuse,
Petite mouche-à-feu
Si vive et si joyeuse,
Gentille bourdonneuse,
A l’œil sauve et bleu.
De parterre en parterre,
Au feu de tes éclairs,
Va toujours solitaire,
Quêter avec mystère
Les parfums les plus chers.
Sous la haie odorante,
C’est la belle-de-nuit
A la robe brillante,
Qui s’ouvre chatoyante
A la lune qui luit.
Vole, brille et boudonne,
Emplis-toi des senteurs
Que la brise te donne ;
Car la nuit se couronne
D’ etoiles et des fleurs.
Poem by Ignace Nau
Translated Work
The Firefly
The day falls and it’s gone
It goes, ascends, descends
Flies, passes et returns
Incessantly in space.
Traveling star,
Small firefly
So lively and so joyful,
Kindly buzzing,
Soothing and blue to the eye.
From ground to ground,
By the spark of your lightning,
Always alone,
Mysteriously seeking
The most expensive perfumes.
Under the fragrant hedge,
It’s the belle-de-nuit*
With a shiny dress,
Shimmering open
To the gleaming moon.
Fly, shine, and buzz,
Fill yourself with the scents
Gifted by the breeze;
Because the night is crowned
With stars and flowers.
Translation by Miriam Patterson, 2002
Luciérnaga
El día cae y se borra
Va, sube, desciende,
Vuela, pasa y regresa
Sin cesar en el espacio.
Estrella viajera,
Pequeña luciérnaga
Tan viva y tan alegre,
Zumbando amablemente,
A la vista segura y azul.
De suelo a suelo,
Al fuego de tus relámpagos,
Va siempre solitaria,
Buscando con misterio
Los perfumes más costosos.
Bajo el seto fragante,
Es la belleza de la noche
Con vestido brillante,
Que se abre reluciente
A la luna brillante.
Vuela, brilla y zumba,
Llénate de las fragancias
Que la brisa te da;
Porque la noche se corona
De estrellas y de flores
Translation by Miriam Patterson, 2022