Pattaya Inferno. Canto V

…tanto ch'i' vidi de le cose belle
   che porta 'l ciel, per un pertugio tondo.
E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.

Kathleen stormed out and left me there with Bee.
   ‘Mee bpan-haa?’ she said, ‘What is wrong with her?’
‘She thinks these bars are bad.’ ‘Chai, I agree,

   Bad! But no choice. Someone must take care
Of mae and pae – and factory no good!
   Hours too long – and not much money there.

In bar – extra for dancing in the nude,
   And lady drinks and barfines, and then some –
Short time, long time – baht maak when I’m screwed,

   And some guys – just five minutes – then they cum!
I butterfly – that’s bad – but make good karma;
   Send money to my family – make tambun!

My friend – her father is a poor rice farmer –
    She met a guy – he’d just got a divorce,
And looked so sad, but Jiab is a charmer,

   She sat with him dressed in her see-through gauze,
And healed his broken heart with just a kiss
   (Later, in bed, she gave much more, of course).

They married, and now live in wedded bliss.
   So out of this bad place, there came some good.
It happens sometimes – me – I hope for this.’

   ‘My life is broken too, I wish you could
Repair it like your friend repaired that guy.
   I’d make you happy – I promise you I would.’

‘Mai nae-jai – I think you are butterfly!
   Butterfly OK – but not when wed.
You’d hurt me – like you hurt Lek – make me cry!’

   I got to thinking about what she’d said.
In simple terms: you cannot have your cake
   And eat it too. Marry – or butterfly instead.

One of them would work. Trying to make
   Them both work leads you to the 14^th floor!
I’d have to choose. Meanwhile, I planned to take

   Bee to my Condo for long time hardcore –
And who knows – maybe for longer time –
   For wedding bells and union evermore!

And so I said, ‘Check bin,’ and paid barfine,
   Took her far away from all the bars,
And all the noise and lights, and past the sign,

   And outside, we looked up and saw the stars.

© Rob, 2007. All rights reserved by the author.

An excellent translation of Dante’s ‘Inferno’ can be found at http://home.earthlink.net/~zimls/
along with the Italian original and extensive notes.