TED2014
Billy Collins: Two poems about what dogs think (probably)
Billy Collins: To dikt om hva hunder tenker (antakeligvis)
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Hva tenker hundene våre når de ser på oss? Poet Billy Collins forestiller de indre livene hos to veldig forskjellige følgesvenner. Det er en sjarmerende kortpresentasjon, perfekt for å ta en pause og drømme seg bort litt...
Billy Collins - Poet
A two-term U.S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins captures readers with his understated wit, profound insight -- and a sense of being "hospitable." Full bio
A two-term U.S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins captures readers with his understated wit, profound insight -- and a sense of being "hospitable." Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:13
I don't know if you've noticed,
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Jeg vet ikke om dere har lagt merke til det,
00:14
but there's been a spate of books
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men det har vært en flom av bøker
00:16
that have come out lately
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som har kommet ut i det siste,
00:17
contemplating or speculating
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og som drøfter eller spekulerer
00:20
on the cognition and emotional life of dogs.
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rundt viljestyringen og følelslivet til hunder.
00:24
Do they think, do they feel and, if so, how?
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Tenker de, føler de, og i såfall, hvordan?
00:27
So this afternoon, in my limited time,
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Så denne ettermiddagen, med min begrensede tid,
00:29
I wanted to take the guesswork out of a lot of that
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ønsket jeg å ta gjetningen ut av mye av det
00:31
by introducing you to two dogs,
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ved å introdusere dere for to hunder,
00:34
both of whom have taken the command "speak"
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og begge har tatt kommandoen "prat"
00:39
quite literally.
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ganske bokstavelig.
00:43
The first dog is the first to go,
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Den første hunden er førstemann ut,
00:46
and he is contemplating an aspect
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og han drøfter et aspekt
00:50
of his relationship to his owner,
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av sitt forhold til sin eier,
00:52
and the title is "A Dog on His Master."
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og tittelen lyder "En hund om sin mester":
00:57
"As young as I look,
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"Så ung som jeg ser ut,
00:59
I am growing older faster than he.
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vokser jeg gammel raskere enn han.
01:02
Seven to one is the ratio, they tend to say.
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Syv til ett er forholdet pleier de å si.
01:06
Whatever the number, I will pass him one day
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Uansett nummeret vil jeg gå han forbi
01:09
and take the lead,
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og ta ledelsen an,
01:11
the way I do on our walks in the woods,
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som jeg gjør på turene våre i skogen,
01:14
and if this ever manages to cross his mind,
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og om dette noen gang krysser hans sinn,
01:18
it would be the sweetest shadow
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ville det være den søteste skyggen
01:20
I have ever cast on snow or grass."
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jeg noen gang har kastet over snø eller gress."
01:25
(Applause)
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(applaus i salen)
01:28
Thank you.
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Takk.
01:31
And our next dog
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Og vår neste hund...
01:34
speaks in something called the revenant,
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... snakker i noe kalt tilbakevendelsen,
01:37
which means a spirit that comes back
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som betyr at en ånd har kommet tilbake
01:39
to visit you.
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for å besøke deg.
01:43
"I am the dog you put to sleep,
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"Jeg er hunden du avlivet,
01:47
as you like to call the needle of oblivion,
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som du liker å kalle tomhetsnålen,
01:50
come back to tell you this simple thing:
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jeg kom tilbake for å si denne enkle saken:
01:53
I never liked you."
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Jeg likte deg aldri."
01:55
(Laughter)
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(latter i salen)
01:57
"When I licked your face,
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"Når jeg sleiket fjeset ditt,
01:59
I thought of biting off your nose.
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tenkte jeg på å bite av deg nesen.
02:02
When I watched you toweling yourself dry,
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Når jeg så deg tørke deg med håndkledet,
02:05
I wanted to leap and unman you with a snap.
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ville jeg springe frem og avmanne deg med et knekk.
02:09
I resented the way you moved,
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Jeg avskydde måten du beveget deg på,
02:11
your lack of animal grace,
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din mangel på dyrisk prominans,
02:13
the way you would sit in a chair to eat,
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måten du satt i stolen og åt,
02:16
a napkin on your lap, a knife in your hand.
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en serviett på fanget, en kniv i hånden.
02:20
I would have run away
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Jeg ville rømt fra deg,
02:22
but I was too weak,
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men jeg var for svak,
02:23
a trick you taught me
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et triks du lærte meg
02:25
while I was learning to sit and heel
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mens jeg lærte å sitte og gå fot
02:28
and, greatest of insults,
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og, den største fornærmelsen,
02:30
shake hands without a hand.
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håndhilse uten en hånd.
02:34
I admit the sight of the leash would excite me,
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Jeg innrømmer at synet av båndet gjorde meg opprømt,
02:38
but only because it meant I was about to smell things
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men bare fordi det betydde at jeg ville lukte ting
02:41
you had never touched.
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du aldri har rørt ved.
02:46
You do not want to believe this,
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Du ønsker ikke å tro dette,
02:47
but I have no reason to lie:
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men jeg har ingen grunn til å lyve:
02:50
I hated the car, hated the rubber toys,
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Jeg hatet bilen, jeg hatet gummileker,
02:54
disliked your friends, and worse, your relatives.
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mislikte vennene dine, og verre, dine slektninger.
02:59
The jingling of my tags drove me mad.
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Ranglingen fra halsbåndet mitt drev meg gal.
03:03
You always scratched me in the wrong place."
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Du klødde meg alltid på feil plass."
03:06
(Laughter)
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(latter i salen)
03:08
"All I ever wanted from you was food and water
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"Alt jeg noen gang ønsket fra deg var mat og vann
03:11
in my bowls.
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i skålene mine.
03:13
While you slept, I watched you breathe
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Mens du sov så jeg deg puste
03:15
as the moon rose in the sky.
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mens månen steg på himmelen.
03:17
It took all of my strength
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Det tok all min styrke
03:19
not to raise my head and howl.
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å ikke lette på hodet og ule.
03:22
Now, I am free of the collar,
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Nå, fri fra halsbåndet,
03:24
free of the yellow raincoat,
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fri fra den gule regnfrakken,
03:27
monogrammed sweater,
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broderte genseren,
03:29
the absurdity of your lawn,
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absurditeten med din gressplen,
03:32
and that is all you need to know about this place,
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og det er alt du behøver å vite om dette stedet,
03:35
except what you already supposed
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sett bort fra hva du allerede antok
03:38
and are glad it did not happen sooner,
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og er glad ikke skjedde tidligere,
03:40
that everyone here can read and write,
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at alle her kan lese og skrive,
03:43
the dogs in poetry,
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hundene i poesi,
03:47
the cats and all the others
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kattene og alle de andre
03:50
in prose."
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i prosa."
03:52
Thank you.
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Takk så mye.
03:54
(Applause)
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(applaus i salen)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Billy Collins - PoetA two-term U.S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins captures readers with his understated wit, profound insight -- and a sense of being "hospitable."
Why you should listen
Accessibility is not a word often associated with great poetry. Yet Billy Collins has managed to create a legacy from what he calls being poetically “hospitable.” Preferring lyrical simplicity to abstruse intellectualism, Collins combines humility and depth of perception, undercutting light and digestible topics with dark and at times biting humor.
While Collins approaches his work with a healthy sense of self-deprecation, calling his poems “domestic” and “middle class,” John Taylor has said of Collins: “Rarely has anyone written poems that appear so transparent on the surface yet become so ambiguous, thought-provoking, or simply wise once the reader has peered into the depths.”
In 2001 he was named U.S. Poet Laureate, a title he kept until 2003. Collins lives in Somers, New York, and is an English professor at City University of New York, where he has taught for more than 40 years.
Credits for the animations in this talk:
"Budapest," "Forgetfulness" and "Some Days" -- animation by Julian Grey/Head Gear
"The Country" -- animation by Brady Baltezor/Radium
"The Dead" -- animation by Juan Delcan/Spontaneous
Billy Collins | Speaker | TED.com