Spanish–English parallel text
Cincuenta en la cima
Fifty at the Top
DuoText
A bilingual Spanish–English edition: the Spanish text with the English beside it, paragraph by paragraph.
Opening the reader…
La foto de la pared
The photo on the wall
Sipho vivía en Ciudad del Cabo con su mujer. Tenía cuarenta y nueve años y era profesor en una escuela grande.
Sipho lived in Cape Town with his wife. He was forty-nine, and he was a teacher at a big school.
Cada mañana iba en coche al trabajo por debajo de Table Mountain. La miraba todos los días. Nunca subía.
Every morning, he drove to work under Table Mountain. He looked up at it every day. He never went up.
Un domingo por la tarde, su mujer se sentó a su lado en el sofá.
One Sunday evening, his wife sat down next to him on the sofa.
«Tu cumpleaños es en tres semanas», dijo ella. «Vas a cumplir cincuenta años. ¿Qué quieres? ¿Una fiesta grande?»
“Your birthday is in three weeks,” she said. “You’re going to be fifty. What would you like? A big party?”
«Nada de fiestas», dijo Sipho. «Quiero subir a Table Mountain a pie.»
“No party,” said Sipho. “I’d like to walk up Table Mountain.”
Su mujer se rió. «¿Tú? Vas en coche a la tienda del final de la calle.»
His wife laughed. “You? You take the car to the shop at the end of the street.”
«Lo sé. Pero quiero hacerlo. Con el viejo grupo.»
“I know. But I want to do it. With the old group.”
Miró una foto en la pared. Cuatro chicos delgados estaban de pie en una roca grande. Detrás de ellos, había el mar y toda la ciudad.
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.
Era la cima de Table Mountain, en 1994. Los chicos tenían dieciocho años. Terminaron su último examen esa semana. Al día siguiente, subieron a la montaña a pie.
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.
«Treinta y dos años», dijo Sipho. «Quiero la misma foto. Las mismas cuatro personas, a los cincuenta.»
“Thirty-two years,” said Sipho. “I want the same photo. The same four people, at fifty.”
«¿Cuándo los viste por última vez?»
“When did you last see them?”
Sipho pensó en eso. «Hace cinco años. Quizá seis.»
Sipho thought about it. “Five years ago. Maybe six.”
«Entonces escríbeles», dijo su mujer. «Esta noche.»
“Then write to them,” said his wife. “Tonight.”
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