Versindaba
~ 'n Weblog vir die Afrikaanse digkuns ~

Sekerlik almal besit ʼn “troon”.

ʼn Rukkie gelede, terwyl ek vertoef op die” troon” (‘n heerlike plek om te vertoef),  blaai ek deur my skoonma se ou tydskrifte.

Daar lees ek dat jy ʼn woord uit die WAT (Woordeboek van Afrikaanse Taal- is dit dalk dieselfde boek voorheen bekend as die HAT?) kan borg, wat nogals ʼn oulike inisiatief is om geld in te samel,  en net ʼn entjie verder lees ek dat mens ook ʼn woord kan “koop” vir n bietjie meer…..

ek sal met woorde alles regmaak

Dit is net daar wat ek begin wonder…

Indien ek so iets sou wou doen, watter woord op dees aarde sou ek wou koop, en wat sal ek daarmee wil en kan vermag?  Blykbaar kry mens ʼn sertifikaatjie om te sê dat jy nou die woord besit.  Waar sou ek dit hang?  Sou ek met my woord spog tydens ʼn partytjie?  En sê nou maar net  ek koop ʼn aantal woorde, voeg dit mooi saam, en voila- het ek nou ʼn gedig gekoop?  n Gedig wat ek graag sou wou koop is: ‘Eerbiedig” van Jan Afrika, en wonder of van daardie woorde opgeneem is in die WAT?

Dit bring my by besitlikheid.  Waarom is die mensdom so behep daarmee? Blykbaar kan mens ook deesdae planete koop….

Gepraat van planete, dit laat my dink aan die kleine prinsie (The Little Prince -Antoine de Saint-Exupery), maar ongelukkig besit ek net die Engelse weergawe, hier volg ʼn paar gedeeltes:

“And what do you do with five hundered million stars?’

Nothing.  I own them.

You own the stars?

Yes”

But I have already seen a king who…’

Kings own nothing. They reign over.  It is quite different.

And what use is it to you to own the stars?

It makes me rich.

And what is the point of being rich?

It enables me to buy other stars, if anybody can find any.

This man the little prince said to himself reasons a bit like my drunkard.  None the less, he put a few more questions

How can one own the stars?

Whose are they?  The businessman asked peevishly.

I don’t know.  They don’t belong to anyone

In which case they are mine, because I was the first person to think of it.

Is that sufficient?

Of course it is.  When you find a diamond that belongs to nobody, it is yours.  When you discover an island that belongs to no one, it is yours.  When you are the first to have an idea, you take out a patent on it: it is yours.  And I won the stars because nobody else before me thought of owning them.

That is logical said the little prince.  And what do you do with them?

I manage them, I count them and recount them said the businessman.  I am a man concerned with matters of consequence.

The little prince was still not satisfied

If I owned a silk scarf, I could put it around my neck and take it away with me.  But you cannot pick stars

No but I can put them in the bank

Whatever does that mean

It means that I write down the number of my stars on a piece of paper.  And then I put it in a drawer and lock it with a key

And is that all?

It is enough.

Quite amusing  thought the little prince.  Rather poetic. But an exercise of no real importance.

….but you are of no use to the stars…..”

Tel jou woorde…..