Arabic–English parallel text
خمسون على القمة
Fifty at the Top
DuoText
A bilingual Arabic–English edition: the Arabic text with the English beside it, paragraph by paragraph.
Opening the reader…
الصورة على الحائط
The photo on the wall
عاش سيبو في كيب تاون مع زوجته. كان عمره تسعة وأربعين عامًا، وكان مدرّسًا في مدرسة كبيرة.
Sipho lived in Cape Town with his wife. He was forty-nine, and he was a teacher at a big school.
كل صباح كان يقود سيارته إلى العمل تحت جبل الطاولة. كان ينظر إليه كل يوم، لكنه لم يصعد إليه أبدًا.
Every morning, he drove to work under Table Mountain. He looked up at it every day. He never went up.
في مساء يوم أحد، جلست زوجته بجانبه على الأريكة.
One Sunday evening, his wife sat down next to him on the sofa.
قالت: «عيد ميلادك بعد ثلاثة أسابيع. ستبلغ الخمسين. ماذا تريد؟ حفلة كبيرة؟»
“Your birthday is in three weeks,” she said. “You’re going to be fifty. What would you like? A big party?”
قال سيبو: «لا حفلة. أريد أن أصعد جبل الطاولة.»
“No party,” said Sipho. “I’d like to walk up Table Mountain.”
ضحكت زوجته وقالت: «أنت؟ أنت تأخذ السيارة إلى المحل في آخر الشارع!»
His wife laughed. “You? You take the car to the shop at the end of the street.”
«أعرف. لكنني أريد أن أفعل ذلك. مع المجموعة القديمة.»
“I know. But I want to do it. With the old group.”
نظر إلى صورة على الحائط. أربعة أولاد نحيفين يقفون على صخرة كبيرة. وخلفهم البحر والمدينة كلها.
He looked at a photo on the wall. Four thin boys stood on a big rock. Behind them, there was the sea and the whole city.
كانت تلك قمة جبل الطاولة في عام 1994. كان الأولاد في الثامنة عشرة. أنهوا آخر امتحان لهم في ذلك الأسبوع. وفي اليوم التالي صعدوا الجبل.
It was the top of Table Mountain, in 1994. The boys were eighteen. They finished their last exam that week. The next day, they walked up the mountain.
قال سيبو: «اثنان وثلاثون عامًا. أريد الصورة نفسها. الأشخاص الأربعة أنفسهم، في الخمسين.»
“Thirty-two years,” said Sipho. “I want the same photo. The same four people, at fifty.”
«متى رأيتهم آخر مرة؟»
“When did you last see them?”
فكّر سيبو في الأمر. «قبل خمس سنوات. وربما ست.»
Sipho thought about it. “Five years ago. Maybe six.”
قالت زوجته: «إذًا اكتب لهم. الليلة.»
“Then write to them,” said his wife. “Tonight.”
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