(Joseph Sant u Patrick Sammut: ĦOLM QABEL L-IRQAD. Stejjer. Pubblikazzjoni: Five Star Ltd, 2009. pp.35)Min ma jħobbhomx l-istejjer! Mhux biss, imma aktar mal-istorja tkun sempliċi biex tifhimha, aktar tinżel għasel lil dak li jkun. Id-dinja tagħna saret tant mimlija kumplikazzjonijiet u problemi, li l-bniedem sar jippreferi jaqra storja ħafifa biex taqtgħu ftit mir-realtajiet ta’ madwaru u ddaħħlu fid-dinja tal-immaġinazzjoni li tirrilassah imqar għal ftit minuti biss. Proprju għalhekk, il-ħrafa baqgħet attwali u popolari sa llum.
ĦOLM QABEL L-IRQAD huwa ktejjeb ta’ dan it-tip. It-12-il rakkont li jħaddan, miktubin minn Joseph Sant u Patrick Sammut, żgur li jogħġbu kemm lill-kbar kif ukoll liż-żgħar. Huma rakkonti ħfief, qosra, mexxejja u ma jitolbu ebda taħbil il-moħħ żejjed; dawn huma kollha ingredjenti adattati għall-ħrafa kif nafuha lkoll.
Forsi l-aktar kittieb li rabat ismu ma’ din it-tip ta’ letteratura kien il-leġġendarju Grieg Esopu, li għex madwar is-seklu Sitta. Warajh ġew oħrajn. F’pajjiżna, l-aktar popolari kien il-Patri Ġiżwita Manwel Magri, li ħafna mill-ħrejjef tiegħu għadhom jinqraw saħansitra fi żmenijietna.
Iż-żewġ awturi Joseph Sant u Patrick Sammut (it-tieni huwa n-neputi tal-ewwel) tawna sitt rakkonti kull wieħed. Joseph Sammut huwa isem kemmxejn ġdid fil-letteratura tagħna, iżda ċertament jidher li għandu ħażna ta’ ħrejjef li ġabarhom tul is-snin u llum adattahom jew aħjar ħa l-ideat minnhom biex ħoloq oħrajn ġodda.
Min-naħa l-oħra, Patrick Sammut huwa forsi aktar marbut mal-poeżija peress li huwa l-Viċi-President tal-Għaqda Poeti Maltin, u wieħed mill-aktar membri ħabrieka tagħha. Huwa tana wkoll pubblikazzjonijiet oħra, kemm ta’ poeżija, kif ukoll ta’ kritika.
Sant ibbaża l-maġġoranza tar-rakkonti tiegħu dwar xi annimali partikolari. Naturalment, għax hekk għamlu kittieba oħra tal-ħrejjef tradizzjonali. Daqqa t’għajn lejn l-ismijiet ta’ wħud mir-rakkonti tiegħu Il-Qattus Misterjuż, Il-Ġurdien Żaqqieq, Min ma jħobbx il-Kelb u Il-Bagħal ta’ Nikola huma xhieda biżżejjed ta’ dan.
Sammut, imbagħad, ikkonċentra aktar dwar persuni u daħħalhom f’ċirkostanzi komuni marbutin mal-ħajja kontemporanja. L-istejjer Bessie ma titkerrahx aktar, Il-mobajl speċjali ta’ Alfred, Peter tiġih idea, kollha jikkonfermaw b’mod ċar dan li rrid ngħid.
Kull ħrafa, barra milli toffri okkażjoni divertenti lejn tmiemha, għandha messaġġ morali siewi ħafna. Ħaġa li llum qiegħda tisparixxi fil-kitbiet li qegħdin jiġu f’idejna. L-iskuża? Dik ħaġa tal-passat. Il-letteratura hekk imsejħa “moderna” trid tħaddan għadd ta’ kliem vulgari, pastaż, doppju sens, baxx u saħasitra tagħti dettalji sesswali biex tkun ta’ ċertu livell. Għax wara kollox, dan hu l-mod kif tisraq l-aptit tal-qarrej “miskin”!
F’dawn ir-rakkonti ma nsibu xejn minn dan. Għalhekk fil-bidu għedt li dan il-ktejjeb tajjeb għal idejn il-kbar u ż-żgħar. Jiena nemmen li biex tagħti gost lill-qarrej u tedukah ma tridx tħammiġlu moħħu, anqas jekk tpoġġi tabella “Għall-kbar biss”! Jaqaw il-pornografija tilfet il-veru tifsir tagħha?
ĦOLM QABEL L-IRQAD, barra mill-preżentazzjoni pulita li għandu, hu mżewwaq bi stampi ħelwin; xogħol ta’ Clifford Xuereb. Fih ukoll bijografiji tal-awturi u Daħla tiegħi.
Jiena naħseb li li kieku xi ħadd kellu jaqra mqar rakkont minnu qabel jorqod, jidħol fis-saltna tal-ħolm bi tbissima, joħlom ħolm sabiħ u jistenbaħ bl-istess tbissima li jkun raqad biha.
ALFRED MASSA
OF DREAMS AND CHILDHOOD DAYS
Joseph Sant/Patrick Sammut: Ħolm qabel l-irqad : a collection of short
stories for children; a FiveStar publication, 2009, 35pp.
In his introduction to this little book of short stories for children of all
ages, Alfred Massa says that this kind of literature will never lose its
popularity, and adds that it not only appeals to children but, as is
certainly true, also to adults. And I fully concur with these contentions.
Childhood is the happiest phase of our life, those happy-go-lucky years
that seem so long and yet are so short and elusive. And it is this phase that
keeps us adults dreaming on, cherishing whatever our memory recaptures
for us from those days, which somehow seem to fade farther and farther
away as we grow older.
This delightful little book deals with a series of short stories, fables, written
in the usual style of stories for children; yet both authors seem to have
abandoned completely the run-of-the-mill style that usually forms the whole
concept of the tale for children. I’d say they were out to please not only
children but also, as Massa says, adults.
These stories are far removed from the realm of fantasy, although a certain
element of fantasy prevails and is very often added for effect; but there
is practically none of the traditional fairy-tale, particularly the Maltese
fairy-tale. These tales rather recall those delightful gems written by Maltese
authors of yonder years such as Dun Xand Cortis, Temi Zammit and Alfons
Maria Galea, many of which very often featured in the old school text-
books Ġabra ta’ Ward , edited by E.B. Vella, a series so popular with us
children way back in the forties and fifties.
Times have changed, of course, so has the back-drop. Yet there is that
subtle element of sweet-sad nostalgia, particularly when the narrator is
Sant, a nostalgia which, whenever a writer puts pen to paper, and particular-
ly when he is recalling his childhood days, will inevitably betray a longing
for vanished days. Sammut, on the other hand, much younger than Sant,
complements perfectly within his own dimension of things as he sees them,
the more so in his own conception of what a story for children should be
all about. And this factor makes these stories even more interesting.
The cover of this book depicts the stereo-typed Grandpa narrating a tale
to his nephews before bedtime. And this is indeed a book one should read
to children; a book children of all ages should read. It is written in excellent
Maltese, in a clear print, is handsomely illustrated and the moral is there,
very often hardly noticeable, subtle, but it is there nonetheless.
ALFRED PALMA
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