Italian–English parallel text
Cinquanta in cima
Fifty at the Top
DuoText
A bilingual Italian–English edition: the Italian text with the English beside it, paragraph by paragraph.
Opening the reader…
La foto sul muro
The photo on the wall
Sipho viveva a Città del Capo con sua moglie. Aveva quarantanove anni e faceva l’insegnante in una grande scuola.
Sipho lived in Cape Town with his wife. He was forty-nine, and he was a teacher at a big school.
Ogni mattina andava al lavoro in macchina sotto la Table Mountain. La guardava ogni giorno. Non è mai salito.
Every morning, he drove to work under Table Mountain. He looked up at it every day. He never went up.
Una domenica sera sua moglie si è seduta accanto a lui sul divano.
One Sunday evening, his wife sat down next to him on the sofa.
«Il tuo compleanno è tra tre settimane», ha detto. «Stai per compiere cinquant’anni. Che cosa vorresti? Una grande festa?»
“Your birthday is in three weeks,” she said. “You’re going to be fifty. What would you like? A big party?”
«Niente festa», ha detto Sipho. «Mi piacerebbe salire a piedi sulla Table Mountain.»
“No party,” said Sipho. “I’d like to walk up Table Mountain.”
Sua moglie ha riso. «Tu? Tu prendi la macchina per andare al negozio in fondo alla strada.»
His wife laughed. “You? You take the car to the shop at the end of the street.”
«Lo so. Ma voglio farlo. Con il vecchio gruppo.»
“I know. But I want to do it. With the old group.”
Ha guardato una foto sul muro. Quattro ragazzi magri stavano in piedi su una grande roccia. Dietro di loro c’era il mare e tutta la città.
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 della Table Mountain, nel 1994. I ragazzi avevano diciotto anni. Hanno finito l’ultimo esame quella settimana. Il giorno dopo sono saliti a piedi sulla montagna.
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.
«Trentadue anni», ha detto Sipho. «Voglio la stessa foto. Le stesse quattro persone, a cinquant’anni.»
“Thirty-two years,” said Sipho. “I want the same photo. The same four people, at fifty.”
«Quando li hai visti l’ultima volta?»
“When did you last see them?”
Sipho ci ha pensato. «Cinque anni fa. Forse sei.»
Sipho thought about it. “Five years ago. Maybe six.”
«Allora scrivi a loro», ha detto sua moglie. «Stasera.»
“Then write to them,” said his wife. “Tonight.”
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