Romanian–English parallel text
Cincizeci în vârf
Fifty at the Top
DuoText
A bilingual Romanian–English edition: the Romanian text with the English beside it, paragraph by paragraph.
Opening the reader…
Fotografia de pe perete
The photo on the wall
Sipho locuia în Cape Town cu soția lui. Avea patruzeci și nouă de ani și era profesor la o școală mare.
Sipho lived in Cape Town with his wife. He was forty-nine, and he was a teacher at a big school.
În fiecare dimineață, mergea cu mașina la serviciu pe sub Table Mountain. Se uita la munte în fiecare zi. Nu urca niciodată.
Every morning, he drove to work under Table Mountain. He looked up at it every day. He never went up.
Într-o duminică seară, soția lui s-a așezat lângă el pe canapea.
One Sunday evening, his wife sat down next to him on the sofa.
„Ziua ta este peste trei săptămâni”, a spus ea. „Vei împlini cincizeci de ani. Ce ai vrea? O petrecere mare?”
“Your birthday is in three weeks,” she said. “You’re going to be fifty. What would you like? A big party?”
„Fără petrecere”, a spus Sipho. „Aș vrea să urc pe Table Mountain.”
“No party,” said Sipho. “I’d like to walk up Table Mountain.”
Soția lui a râs. „Tu? Tu iei mașina până la magazinul din capătul străzii.”
His wife laughed. “You? You take the car to the shop at the end of the street.”
„Știu. Dar vreau să fac asta. Cu vechiul grup.”
“I know. But I want to do it. With the old group.”
S-a uitat la o fotografie de pe perete. Patru băieți slabi stăteau pe o stâncă mare. În spatele lor, era marea și tot orașul.
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 vârful muntelui Table Mountain, în 1994. Băieții aveau optsprezece ani. Au terminat ultimul examen în acea săptămână. A doua zi, au urcat pe munte.
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.
„Treizeci și doi de ani”, a spus Sipho. „Vreau aceeași fotografie. Aceiași patru oameni, la cincizeci de ani.”
“Thirty-two years,” said Sipho. “I want the same photo. The same four people, at fifty.”
„Când i-ai văzut ultima dată?”
“When did you last see them?”
Sipho s-a gândit puțin. „Acum cinci ani. Poate șase.”
Sipho thought about it. “Five years ago. Maybe six.”
„Atunci scrie-le”, a spus soția lui. „În seara asta.”
“Then write to them,” said his wife. “Tonight.”
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