Spanish–English parallel text
El paquete
The Parcel
DuoText
A bilingual Spanish–English edition: the Spanish text with the English beside it, paragraph by paragraph.
Opening the reader…
Demasiado frío para mamá
Too cold for Mama
Kofi Mensah tenía treinta años. Era de Ghana y vivía en Ámsterdam. Trabajaba en la recepción de un hotel grande.
Kofi Mensah was thirty. He came from Ghana, and he lived in Amsterdam. He worked at the reception desk of a big hotel.
Era una noche de lunes de enero. El hotel estaba tranquilo. Fuera, hacía seis grados bajo cero.
It was a Monday night in January. The hotel was quiet. Outside, it was minus six degrees.
A las once, sonó su móvil. Era su madre desde Acra.
At eleven o’clock, his phone rang. It was his mother in Accra.
«¡Kofi! ¡Tengo mi billete! Llego el sábado a las diez de la mañana».
“Kofi! I have my ticket! I arrive on Saturday at ten in the morning.”
«Qué bien, mamá. Voy a estar en el aeropuerto. Luego podemos pasear por los canales».
“That’s great, Mama. I’ll be at the airport. Then we can walk by the canals.”
«¿Hace frío en Ámsterdam?».
“Is it cold in Amsterdam?”
Kofi miró por la ventana. Había nieve sobre las bicis en la calle.
Kofi looked out of the window. There was snow on the bikes in the street.
«Un poco», dijo él.
“A little,” he said.
«Bien. Voy a llevar mis vestidos bonitos. Y un poco de pescado para ti. Estás demasiado delgado en tus fotos».
“Good. I’m going to bring my nice dresses. And some fish for you. You are too thin in your photos.”
Después de la llamada, Kofi se sentó en el escritorio con la cabeza entre las manos. Su madre no tenía ropa de invierno. Nunca la necesitaba en Acra.
After the call, Kofi sat at the desk with his head in his hands. His mother had no winter clothes. She never needed them in Accra.
«¿Qué pasa?», preguntó Lotte. Ella trabajaba en recepción con él en el turno de noche.
“What’s wrong?” asked Lotte. She worked at reception with him on the night shift.
«Mi madre viene el sábado. Piensa que aquí hace un poco de frío».
“My mother is coming on Saturday. She thinks it’s a little cold here.”
Lotte se rió. «¡Un poco! Hace seis bajo cero. Necesita un abrigo de invierno de verdad».
Lotte laughed. “A little! It’s minus six. She needs a real winter coat.”
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