El viejo y su nieto

Había una vez un hombre muy anciano. Se le había nublado la vista, apenas podía oír y le temblaban las rodillas. Cuando se sentaba a la mesa, apenas podía sujetar la cuchara, y derramaba sopa sobre el mantel o la dejaba caer de la boca.

There was once a very old man. His eyes had grown dim, he could hardly hear, and his knees shook. When he sat at the table, he could hardly hold his spoon, and he spilled soup on the tablecloth or let it run out of his mouth.

A su hijo y a la mujer de su hijo esto les daba asco. Al final, el viejo abuelo tuvo que sentarse en el rincón detrás de la estufa, y le daban la comida en un cuenco de barro, y ni siquiera la suficiente.

His son and his son’s wife were disgusted by this. In the end, the old grandfather had to sit in the corner behind the stove, and they gave him his food in a clay bowl, and not even enough of it.

Miraba hacia la mesa con los ojos llenos de lágrimas. Una vez, sus manos temblorosas no pudieron sostener el cuenco, y este se cayó al suelo y se rompió. La joven esposa lo regañó, pero él no dijo nada y solo suspiró.

He would look toward the table with his eyes full of tears. Once his shaking hands couldn’t hold the bowl, and it fell to the floor and broke. The young wife scolded him, but he said nothing and only sighed.

Entonces le compraron un cuenco de madera por unas pocas monedas, y tuvo que comer de ahí.

Then they bought him a wooden bowl for a few pennies, and he had to eat out of that.

Estaban sentados allí un día cuando su nieto pequeño, que tenía cuatro años, empezó a recoger trozos de madera en el suelo. «¿Qué estás haciendo ahí?», preguntó el padre.

They were sitting there one day when their little grandson, who was four years old, began to gather bits of wood on the floor. “What are you doing there?” asked the father.

«Estoy haciendo un pequeño comedero», contestó el niño, «para que coman tú y mamá cuando yo sea grande».

“I’m making a little trough,” the child answered, “for you and Mother to eat out of when I’m big.”

El hombre y su mujer se miraron durante un rato y luego se pusieron a llorar. Llevaron al viejo abuelo a la mesa y, a partir de entonces, lo dejaron comer siempre con ellos y no decían nada si derramaba un poco.

The man and his wife looked at each other for a while, and then they began to cry. They took the old grandfather to the table, and from then on they always let him eat with them, and they said nothing if he spilled a little.