ஜாக் ரூபோவின் (Jacques Roubaud) புகழ் பெற்ற கவிதையான ஆம்ஸ்டர்டாம் தெருவைப் படித்துப் பாருங்கள். மொழிபெயர்ப்பு தேவையில்லை. இவர் ஒரு கணிதவியல் அறிஞர். மேத்மேட்டிக்ஸ் என்று ஒரு நாவல் எழுதியிருக்கிறார்.
Amsterdam Street goes down goes up
Goes up and down it does, my street
I go up or go down Amsterdam Street
Go down go up my Amsterdam Street
We say we go up say we go down
Streets that go up and streets going down
Say it even of hesitant streets
Or streets on absolutely level ground
We go up streets on the macadam
Walk on the sidewalk down the street
So I go down my Rue d’Amsterdam
So I climb my Amsterdam Street
What is it goes down and what goes up
Goes down or not in every street?
Is it the houses that go up and up
Or falling fall toward the bottom of the street?
It’s the houses, they go by number
The one on the door that faces the street
If the street goes down so do the numbers
And if the numbers go up so does the street
But why do we say that numbers go up
Climbing from naught to infinite height?
Because numbers form a street of numbers
The street of whole numbers outdistancing night
Long indeed the high road of numbers
The high abstract road, no end to that way
You go up you go down you count and recount
The world-long night where all numbers are gray
But maybe our streets are just shadows
Shadows of numbers that fall in the rain
Remnants and ends of the street of numbers
Going up going down while our lives remain