28 fevriye 2004,
February 28, 2004

M te sèmante pou respekte e fè respekte Konstitisyon an.
I have sworn to respect and make respected the Constitution.

Aswè a, 28 fevriye 2004, mwen toujou deside
Tonight, February 2004, I still decide

Respekte e fè respekte Konstitisyon an,
To respect and make respected the Constitution,

Konstitisyon an se garanti lavi ak lapè,
The Constitution guarantees life and peace

Kontitisyon an pa dwe nwaye nan san pèp Ayisyen.
The Constitution should not be drowned in the blood of the Haitian people.

Se pou sa, si aswè a se demisyon m ki pou evite yon beny san,
For this (reason), if tonight it's my resignation which will avoid a bloodbath.

M aksepte ale ak espwa va gen lavi e non lanmò.
I accept to leave with hope there will be life and not death.

Lavi pou tout moun.
Life for everyone.

Lanmò pou pèsonn.
Death for no one.

Nan respekte Konstitisyon an,
In respecting the Constitution,

E nan fè respekte Konstitisyon an,
And in making respected the Constitution,

Ayiti va gen lavi ak lapè.
Haiti will have life and peace.

Mèsi.
Thank you.

[English version: E. W. Védrine]

It was my pleasure to translate into American English this historical Haitian Creole document written by Haiti 's former president, his Excellency, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. As a native speaker of Haitian Creole, I read the original and I tried to stay as close as possible to it in order to respect its semantics in both languages. To come up with an English version, I did not read any translation of it to any language beforehand, in order to ensure that my version was a genuine one. Though this document is short on paper, it's a heavy one in the two hundred years of Haiti 's existence.

Emmanuel W. Védrine,
Chief editor - Védrine Creole Project, Inc.
Credit is due to Marilyn Mason who reviewed my English version.

       

Emmanuel W. Védrine
E. W. VEDRINE CREOLE PROJECT, Inc.
P.O.B. 255962
Dorchester, MA 02125-5110 (U.S)
evedrine@hotmail.com, e_vedrine@yahoo.com

 

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