Thread by @serbiaireland

Thread (longish): Translation of the monologue from this amazingly beautiful and sad documentary (in Serbian) about an old man and a swallow:

When I was 6 year old, before I could go to school, I worked as a "boytar". You know what "boytar" is? There was an old man who worked as a shepherd, and I went with him, and he told me: go there, do that...and I did...That's "boytar"...

So I did that for couple of years, until I was 13 years old. Then, I started minding village pigs. And you see, as a village swineherd, I didn't go to school. My father told me: son, you have to go to school. But I said, forget about school...

And then later my father said, oh well, it's ok, you won't be a lawyer anyway, as that's what people used to say: "you won't be a lawyer anyway"...And my father also said: but it doesn't matter, it's important that you have bread to eat...

And few years ago, I found a swallow. It fell from the nest. There were several swallows nests there. And I wanted to put the baby swallow back into the nest to be with its mother. But I couldn't find which one was its mother. So I was stuck with it...

And so I said, what else can I do? I will bring the swallow up myself, that's what I'll do. I'll try anyway. And so it was. I took the baby swallow home. And at that time we were picking cherries. And they were full of worms...

And so I told my wife: I know how we can feed the swallow. And she said: how? And I said, we can give it worms from the cherries. And she said: I don't know if the swallow will eat them. And I said: let's try. And so we did try, and the baby swallow ate 120 cherry worms...

And so I fed it 3 times a day. I would give it as many worms as it wanted to eat. And so this lasted for couple of days, until we picked all the cherries. And then I thought: what can I give it to eat now? It doesn't eat bread...

And so I said to my wife: you know what we are going to do now? I am going to catch flies. And she said: Oh come on, you are behaving like a child. But she did help me catch the flies for my swallow...

We would both go killing flies. She would use that thing for killing flies and sometimes she would kill three at the time...And I would then feed the swallow with them. A hundred at the time...

And then I would give it water. And I gave it water from my mouth. It only took water from my mouth...It would never drink water from a bawl. God forbid. And then when it didn't want any more food or water, then I would say: now let's go an play...And we would go and play...

And so I fed it like this for months. I think I fed it for 3 months until it grew up. But I had such a good time with it, god forgive me. For instance I would go to the field, to dig corn. And my swallow would go to the field with me...

It would go flying over the field, and all of a sudden, it would land on my hat. Oh, I would say, look at my beautiful swallow. I was so happy. My neighbors laughed. They would say: you are playing like a child. Got old and went mad. But I didn't care...

Wherever I went, my swallow went with me. It would land on my shoulder or on my hat, and go with me. It went with me into the pigsty when I was cleaning the pigsty, and it went with me into the house when I was going to sleep. And so I lived with my swallow and was happy...

And my wife told me: Oh my god, you are like a child. Let that swallow live its own life, and you live your own. And I said: Oh, but I got so used to it being with me all the time. I can't. I love it. I love this swallow like my life. There are no limits to my love...

It's dangerous when a man starts really loving someone like that...And so I enjoyed my life with my swallow. When I had some worries and when some troubles overwhelmed me, I would go to my swallow to cheer me up...

I would caress it, and then would let it go, and it would fly away, and then it would come back...It went everywhere with me. When I was digging my corn field, other people were laughing and saying: all you ever do is caress that swallow...

And I told them: I have to, it loves me, and I love it. What else can I do? Because everything likes to live. This is when I saw. Everything enjoys life and friendship...We were so very close, me and my swallow...

...And as I said, kids will be kids. Some love you some don't. Who loves their fathers? No one...That's what people say. Their parents and their wives...No one likes them...

They like you only when you make something nice for them to eat...Oh this is really nice, oh that is really nice...And then everyone goes on minding their own business...And their own money. And they all live where they want...

And my son, the youngest one, that lives with me, tells me: why did you make us? You are our father, you have to provide for us. And I am. But you know, we are all living souls, we all want to live...And so, you know, we quarrel...That's not good...To quarrel...

I have 5 sons...That one that lives with me...He doesn't like me at all...He wants to be fed and watered, and doesn't care how you provide it...He only cares about himself...And so you have to try hard. You have to. You are the parent...It's your responsibility...

And it's true...It is my responsibility...But you know, everyone loves their own. You know, your son makes you angry, and you still love him...He's yours...And then I think, other people's children aren't better either...

And the swallow...The swallow...It didn't know how to insult you...It always pleased you. I loved so much when it landed on my hat, and chirped to me...Oh I loved it so much...

And my neighbor would say: Hey you old fellow, how long are you going to play with that swallow...You are like a child...And I would say: I am not playing. I love this swallow...It's true...I am playing...But it's because I love my swallow...

But, time passed. It was the beginning of autumn, and the swallows were getting ready to fly away for the winter. And when they are getting ready to fly away, they gather together...

I was walking down the street one day with my swallow, and cars were rushing by. And I was really worried that it will fly too low and it will be hit by a car. And so it happened...

I was really trying to protect it. I was even thinking, maybe I should move somewhere where there are no cars...So that cars wont kill it. Cause cars fly down the road. The driver is driving, he is thinking about driving, he can't think about my swallow...

And one day my swallow didn't come back to me...It never came back. I looked everywhere for it...But couldn't find it...And so I thought...My swallow got killed...I am just sorry I never found its body...

I couldn't explain to the swallow not to go flying along the main street...All I could have done was to come and live here, in my field hut, away from the cars...But I thought, what would I do when winter comes?

So I thought, god help me, if nothing else, I'll pack up and go to the seaside, you know, where it's always warm, cause swallows look for warmth. So I can take my swallow there...But how would I do that? I don't have money to do that...

And so I thought how I could do it, and I said to my son who is a pilot: can you drive me to the seaside so I can take my swallow there. And he told me: You are fantasising...You are playing like a little child...

And I said: what do you mean playing like a little child? It's my swallow...And he said: that's an animal. And it's not the only swallow in the world. There are millions of them out there. And I said, she is the most precious to me. The dearest to me. Dearer than all of you...

I loved my swallow terribly...And so, when it disappeared, after that, I looked for it for a long time, for days...But I never found the body...And so we concluded that it died...A car must have hit it, and who knows where it fell...

And after that, it wasn't, I don't know, half a year, a year, my wife died...And when my wife died, I said: Oh, it's all over now...All my boats sank...It's all over...There is no more happiness for me at all...

Let me tell you: not having anyone, anyone who loves you, that's not life...That's not life...And all these people who tell you: I fancy you, I like you, I love you...They are all lying. And the swallow...The swallow didn't know how to lie...It loved me...It loved me so much...

And when it was chirping to me...Oh when it was chirping to me...It loved me so much...That was all I had...The only one who really respected me...A lot...And it went to god...I can't do anything about it...Yes, yes...My swallow is gone...

And you know, sometimes I am thinking, should I take another swallow like that to bring it up...But then I am thinking, no? What if something happens to it too, I would die crying after it...No, I won't do it...Let it live its own life, and I will live mine...

You know I love everyone. I love all the animals. I don't know how many times...I was minding my pigs, right here, right here, and I would see a snake. And I let it go...And people would say: Why did you not kill it?

And I say: No, no, you can't do that...Do you like to live? Well, that snake likes to live too...No...And they say: It's a snake. And I say: So it is. So what? Let it be. I don't know why god made all the creatures he made...I am not getting involved...