Italian–English parallel text
Il pacco
The Parcel
DuoText
A free bilingual Italian–English edition: the Italian text with the English beside it, paragraph by paragraph. Read it online, or download it as a dual-language ebook.
Opening the reader…
Troppo freddo per la mamma
Too cold for Mama
Kofi Mensah aveva trent’anni. Veniva dal Ghana e viveva ad Amsterdam. Lavorava alla reception di un grande hotel.
Kofi Mensah was thirty. He came from Ghana, and he lived in Amsterdam. He worked at the reception desk of a big hotel.
Era un lunedì sera di gennaio. L’hotel era tranquillo. Fuori c’erano meno sei gradi.
It was a Monday night in January. The hotel was quiet. Outside, it was minus six degrees.
Alle undici ha suonato il suo telefono. Era sua madre da Accra.
At eleven o’clock, his phone rang. It was his mother in Accra.
«Kofi! Ho il biglietto! Arrivo sabato alle dieci di mattina.»
“Kofi! I have my ticket! I arrive on Saturday at ten in the morning.”
«È bellissimo, mamma. Sarò all’aeroporto. Poi possiamo camminare vicino ai canali.»
“That’s great, Mama. I’ll be at the airport. Then we can walk by the canals.”
«Fa freddo ad Amsterdam?»
“Is it cold in Amsterdam?”
Kofi ha guardato fuori dalla finestra. C’era la neve sulle biciclette nella strada.
Kofi looked out of the window. There was snow on the bikes in the street.
«Un po’», ha detto.
“A little,” he said.
«Bene. Porto i miei vestiti belli. E del pesce per te. Sei troppo magro nelle tue foto.»
“Good. I’m going to bring my nice dresses. And some fish for you. You are too thin in your photos.”
Dopo la telefonata, Kofi si è seduto alla scrivania con la testa tra le mani. Sua madre non aveva vestiti invernali. Non ne ha mai avuto bisogno ad Accra.
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.
«Che cosa c’è?», ha chiesto Lotte. Lavorava alla reception con lui nel turno di notte.
“What’s wrong?” asked Lotte. She worked at reception with him on the night shift.
«Mia madre arriva sabato. Pensa che qui fa un po’ freddo.»
“My mother is coming on Saturday. She thinks it’s a little cold here.”
Lotte ha riso. «Un po’! Ci sono meno sei gradi. Ha bisogno di un vero cappotto invernale.»
Lotte laughed. “A little! It’s minus six. She needs a real winter coat.”
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