In this video Adeyinka reads his own translation of Hamlet’s ‘to be or not to be’ speech in Yoruba. Yoruba is one of the four official languages of Nigeria along with English, Hausa and Igbo. It is spoken by 28 million people in Nigeria and Benin, as well as in the Americas, Europe and other parts of Africa.
I was very impressed when Adeyinka told me he translated the speech himself. As previous translators in this series have pointed out, translating Shakespeare has its challenges and Adeyinka spent two weeks working on his translation of this iconic speech. He first tried a direct translation but felt it altered the meaning. After tearing up many sheets of paper he consulted the works of Yoruba scholars which helped him create a translation that doesn’t lose the meaning and flow of the soliloquy and also reads well in Yoruba.
I am pleased to add Adeyinka’s translation to our collection of translated editions; it is very rewarding to find a translation that we don’t have already and which enriches our existing holdings.
Thank you very much to Adeyinka for his translation and reading and to Naomi Westerman for making this recording at the Bush Theatre.
Hamlet’s ‘to be or not to be’ monologue translated by Adeyinka Akinwade into Yoruba
Ko ri be abi ko ma ri be: Ibeere yen ni yen o:
Boya o ti le je ohun iyi julo ninu okan lati farada:
kanakana ati ofa eyini ti o buru jai ti a ti yan bi kadara eni,
Abi ki a tile mu ohun ija dide l'odi si agbami idamu ni,
Nipase ikoju yi a kuku fi opin si gbogbo e. Ni bi iku, si orun;
Ko pari; ati Nipase orun ni a wipe a de opin
Edun okan, ati egberun ipanilaya aye
ti eran ara ti yan l'aayo, idapo
ti a n fe tokantokan. Si iku, orun ni;
Lati sun: ala tun le ra'ye : beeni, sugbon ibe Saa niyen;
Wipe ninu orun iku ni ala wo lo tun ma yoju,
Nigba ti a ba ti se ilokoi aye yi danu,
O sa gba ka tese duro die sa: ohun to n buyi fun gan ni yen
Ohun to n fa idamu gbigbe inu aye pe si niyen;
Nitori tani yio f'aragba ilagba ati esin igba akoko,
Asise anini lara, egan onigberaga okunrin,
Edun ikorira ife, aisedede ofin,
Fifi ipo jaye fami lete n tuto,
Ati abuku ti awon oni suuru ma n ri lowo awon ti won ko tile ja mo nkan kan,
Nigbati ohun tikalara re kan tile le fi opin si gbogbo e
pelu abe oloju fenfe? Tani o fe ma gbe eru idamu,
Ko ma kerora pelu oogun l'abe igbe aye to ti su ni igbe,
Sugbon awon nkan kan lehin iku,
Ilu na ti a ko tii se awa ri re ri ibudo
na ti arin irin ajo e kii pad a, a tile ma da ero okan eni riboribo,
Nipase be a wa ma je ki a kuku farada awon igbokegbodo ti a n doju ko
Ju ki a fo lo si awon Ibi ti a ko mo ri bi?
Bibe eri okan a wa so gbogbo wa di ojo,
A ti wipe ogangan igbese wa a wa da atibaba olokunrun b'ori okan wa
Ati wipe idawole nla na eyi ti oye ki a mu lokunkundu lasiko
Nidi eyi a di ohun irewesi
A wa so oruko sise nu.