Seferis, Giorgos: Mythistorema 17. Astyanax (Μυθιστόρημα ΙΖ´ - Ἀστυάναξ in English)

Τώρα ποὺ θὰ φύγεις πάρε μαζί σου καὶ τὸ παιδὶ
ποὺ εἶδε τὸ φῶς κάτω ἀπὸ ἐκεῖνο τὸ πλατάνι,
μιὰ μέρα ποὺ ἀντηχοῦσαν σάλπιγγες καὶ ἔλαμπαν ὅπλα
καὶ τ᾿ ἄλογα ἱδρωμένα σκύβανε ν᾿ ἀγγίξουν
τὴν πράσινη ἐπιφάνεια τοῦ νεροῦ
στὴ γούρνα μὲ τὰ ὑγρά τους τὰ ρουθούνια.

Οἱ ἐλιὲς μὲ τὶς ρυτίδες τῶν γονιῶν μας
τὰ βράχια μὲ τὴ γνώση τῶν γονιῶν μας
καὶ τὸ αἷμα τοῦ ἀδερφοῦ μας ζωντανὸ στὸ χῶμα
ἤτανε μία γερὴ χαρὰ μία πλούσια τάξη
γιὰ τὶς ψυχὲς ποὺ γνώριζαν τὴν προσευχή τους.

Τώρα ποὺ θὰ φύγεις, τώρα ποὺ ἡ μέρα τῆς πληρωμῆς
χαράζει, τώρα ποὺ κανεὶς δὲν ξέρει
ποιὸν θὰ σκοτώσει καὶ πῶς θὰ τελειώσει,
πάρε μαζί σου τὸ παιδὶ ποὺ εἶδε τὸ φῶς
κάτω ἀπ᾿ τὰ φύλλα ἐκείνου τοῦ πλατάνου
καὶ μάθε του νὰ μελετᾶ τὰ δέντρα.

Now that you are leaving, take the boy with you as well,
the boy who saw the light under the plane tree,
one day when trumpets resounded and weapons shone
and the sweating horses
bent to the trough to touch with wet nostrils
the green surface of the water.

The olive trees with the wrinkles of our fathers
the rocks with the wisdom of our fathers
and our brother’s blood alive on the earth
were a vital joy, a rich pattern
for the souls who knew their prayer.

Now that you are leaving, now that the day of payment
dawns, now that no one knows
whom he will kill and how he will die,
take with you the boy who saw the light
under the leaves of that plane tree
and teach him to study the trees.