LEADER FROM WESTERN LYBIA

In general Alexandria liked

the Prince from Western Lybia

Aristomenis, the son of Menelaos,

who stayed there for ten days.

Like his name, his attire, fittingly Greek.

He gladly accepted the honors, but

he did not seek them; he was modest.

He bought Greek books,

mainly historical and philosophical.

Above all he was a man of few words.

He was profound in his thoughts, people said,

and for such men it is natural not to talk a lot.

But he was neither deep in his thoughts, nor anything else.

Just an ordinary, funny man.

He took a Greek name, dressed like the Greeks,

he learned how to behave like a Greek more or less;

and his soul trembled as if he would

to ruin the somewhat good impression he made

by speaking Greek with a few barbarisms,

and  the Alexandrians would make fun of him,

as it is their habit, those awful people.

For this reason he restricted himself to a few words,

being careful with the conjunctions and pronunciation;

and he was so terribly bored having

all those unspoken words piled up inside him.

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Χρυσόθεμις//Chrysothemis

Τη νύχτα, περασμένα μεσάνυχτα, ακούστηκε στο δρόμο,
κάτω ακριβώς απ’ τα παράθυρά μου, το βήμα ενός διαβάτη· —
ίσως ποτέ κανένας δεν περπάτησε μ’ αυτό τον τρόπο κάτω απ’ το φεγγάρι
κι ίσως ποτέ κανένας να μην είχε ακούσει όπως εγώ ένα τέτοιο βήμα.
Ήταν ο πρώτος άνθρωπος που ερχότανε στον κόσμο.
Ήταν ο τελευταίος που έφευγε απ’ τον κόσμο. Και, ποτέ, κανένας
δεν είχε ρθει μήτε είχε φύγει.
Όπως σας είπα,
ο κόσμος ήταν ζεστός, χνουδωτός, ολοπόρφυρος — χωρίς κανένα ρήγμα.
Μονάχα το φεγγάρι δρόσιζε το χνούδι μιας κουβέρτας που ’χε μείνει στο μπαλκόνι.

That night, past mid-night, the steps of a passerby were

heard outside, just under my window, perhaps no one

ever walked in that fashion under the moonlight and

perhaps no one ever had listened to those steps

the way I did. He was the first ever man who came

to the world. He was the last one to leave. And, then,

no one came no one left.

As I said,

the world was warm, fluffy, all purple, without any chasm.

Only the moon was freshening the fluff of the blanket that

was left on the balcony.

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2023 Longlist Announcement

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