23.2.07
Poemas favoritos LIX
Favorite poems LIX
O Rei Demétrio
Konstantinos Kaváfis
(Tradução de José Paulo Paes)
Ao ser deixado pelos macedônios,
os quais demonstraram preferir a Pirro,
o rei Demétrio (que a alma tinha
grande) de modo algum – assim disseram –
como rei comportou-se. Foi tirar
as vestimentas de ouro, jogou longe
os calçados de púrpura e, envergando
roupas simples, partiu logo em seguida.
Portou-se exatamente como o ator
que, uma vez o espetáculo acabado,
troca de roupa e vai-se logo embora.
***
King DimitriosC. P Cavafy
(Translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard)
Not like a king but an actor he put
on a gray cloak instead of his royal
one and secretly went away.
Plutarch, Life of Dimitrios
When the Macedonians deserted him
and showed they preferred Pyrrhos,
King Dimitrios (a noble soul) didn't behave
– so they said –
at all like a king.
He took off his golden robes,
threw away his purple buskins,
and quickly dressing himself
in simple clothes, he slipped out–
just like an actor who,
the play over,
changes his costume and goes away.
