My sister is looking for a saying in Spanish, that might be a quote from a book. It goes something like “on the road (El Camino in the original, means road or path, right?) you’re already there (at your destination)”, meaning that the path itself is the point of the journey.
Hope that makes sense and hope someone knows what I’m talking about
All of Cantares is short poems from Machado; the complete record was songs with Machado lyrics. The record is called Dedicado a Antonio Machado, poeta; published in 1969, it was Serrat’s first record in Spanish (previous ones had been in Catalan). He did the same with Miguel Hernández lyrics in 1972 (the record is called like the poet).
You will find that if two people translate a book into the same language, you will get two different versions. Each translator comes from his or her own world… A good translator must also be a writer… How more so than with poetry!
You can find a myriad of translations of this poem by Machado on the internet.
I occasionally work as a translator, English → Spanish. Here is my translation of this verse, which is most likely unlike any other you will come across. I find that most translations are far too literal. Anyway…
*Voyager, the path is made by your own footsteps,
and nothing else;
Voyager, there is no path,
other than the one you make by walking it.
*
Many thanks to all who answered and especially to those who offered translations. I’m quite sure this is what my sister was looking for, I’ll forward both translations to her.
(What would I do without SD? This place is an endless pit full of knowledge on all topics.)