Kahlil Gibran*
You ask me how I became a madman. It happened thus: one day, long before many
gods were born, I woke from a deep sleep and found all my masks were stolen,-
the seven masks I have fashioned and worn in seven lives.-I ran maskless through
the crowded streets shouting, “Thieves, thieves, the cursed thieves.”
Men and women laughed at me and some ran to their houses in fear of me.
And when I reached the market place, a youth standing on a house-top cried, “He
is a madman.” I looked up to behold him; the sun kissed my own naked face for
the first time. For the first time the sun kissed my own naked face and my soul
was inflamed with love for the sun, and I wanted my masks no more. And as if in
a trance I cried, “Blessed, blessed are the thieves who stole my masks.”
Thus I became a madman.
And I have found both freedom of loneliness and the safety from being understood,
for those who understand us enslave something in us.
But let me not be too proud of my safety. Even a Thief in a jail is safe from
another thief.
Mi chiedi come io sia diventato un folle. Accadde così. Un giorno, molto prima che molti degli dei fossero generati, mi svegliai da un profondo sonno e scoprii che tutte le mie maschere erano state rubate - le sette maschere che in sette vite avevo forgiato e indossato.- E senza maschera corsi per le vie affollate gridando:"Ladri, ladri, maledetti ladri!"
Uomini e donne ridevano di me , e alcuni corsero a rinchiudersi nelle loro case per paura di me
.E quando giunsi
nella piazza del mercato, un giovane gridò dal tetto di una casa:" E' un folle!"
Volsi lo sguardo là in alto per guardarlo e il sole mi baciò per la prima volta
il volto nudo. Per la prima volta il sole
baciò il mio volto nudo, e la mia anima avvampò d'amore per il sole, e non
desiderai più le mie maschere. E come in trance gridai:" Benedetti, benedetti
siano i ladri che rubarono le mie maschere".
Fu così che divenni un folle.
E ho trovato libertà e salvezza nella mia pazzia: libertà di solitudine e salvezza dall'essere compreso, giacché coloro che ci comprendono asserviscono qualcosa in noi .
Ma non vorrò essere troppo fiero di questa mia salvezza. Anche un ladro in prigione è salvo da un altro ladro.
On
Children
Kahlil Gibran*
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.
I vostri figli non sono i vostri figli.
Sono i figli e le figlie della vita stessa.
Essi non vengono da voi, ma attraverso di voi,
e non vi appartengono benché viviate insieme.
Potete amarli, ma non costringerli ai vostri pensieri,
poiché essi hanno i loro pensieri.
Potete custodire i loro corpi, ma non le anime loro,
poiché abitano case future, che neppure in sogno potrete visitare.
Cercherete d’imitarli, ma non potrete farli simili a voi,
poiché la vita procede e non s’attarda su ieri.
Voi siete gli archi da cui i figli, le vostre frecce vive, sono scoccate
lontano.
L’Arciere vede il bersaglio sul sentiero infinito, e con la forza vi tende,
affinché le sue frecce vadano rapide e lontane.
In gioia siate tesi nelle mani dell’Arciere,
poiché, come ama il volo della freccia, così l’immobilità dell’arco
*Khalil Gibran (Bsharri, 1883 – New York,1931),also known as Kahlil Gibran, was a Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer. Born in the town of Bsharri in modern-day Lebanon, as a young man he emigrated with his family to the United States where he studied art and began his literary career. He is chiefly known in the English speaking world for his 1923 book The Prophet, an early example of inspirational fiction including a series of philosophical essays written in poetic English prose. The book sold well despite a cool critical reception, and became extremely popular in the 1960s counterculture. Gibran is the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu.