For Lies Spoken out of Kindness / Za laži izgovorene iz milosrđa

I seek mercy

for those who lack the courage

to tell the evil one that he is evil

or the bad one that he is bad,

for those who hesitate

to hurt with the truth,

for the people who lie out of kindness.

For the man who would rather be humiliated

than humiliate,

for the man who has no heart

to pull down a mask when he sees it

on someone's face,

for people who cannot insult

those of different thoughts and creeds,

for those who never could

pronounce a sentence to others,

for whom all judges seem strict,

for every kind untruthful story

and other similar weaknesses.


* * *


Tražim pomilovanje
za one koji nemaju snage
zlome kazati da je zao
niti rđavome de je rđav,
za onoga kome je žao
čoveka istinom unesrećiti,
za ljude koji lažu iz milosrđa.
Za čoveka koji će ponižen biti
radije nego koga da ponizi,
za onoga koji i kad nazre
obrazinu kome na licu
nema srca da je zdere,
za ljude koji ne mogu da uvrede
ni čoveka druge misli i vere,
za one koji nikad ne bi mogli
drugome presudu da izriču,
kojima se sve sudije čine stroge,
za svaku milosrdnu lažnu priču
i slične njima slabosti mnoge.



Desanka Maksimović