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Uit: The Clothes They Stood Up In
"Perhaps they wrapped the stereo in the carpet," said Mrs. Ransome.
Mr. Ransome shuddered and said her fur coat was more likely, whereupon Mrs. Ransome started crying again.
It had not been much of a Così. Mrs. Ransome could not follow the plot and Mr. Ransome, who never tried, found the performance did not compare with the four recordings he possessed of the work. The acting he invariably found distracting. "None of them knows what to do with their arms," he said to his wife in the interval. Mrs. Ransome thought it probably went further than their arms but did not say so. She was wondering if the casserole she had left in the oven would get too dry at Gas Mark 4. Perhaps 3 would have been better. Dry it may well have been but there was no need to have worried. The thieves took the oven and the casserole with it.
The Ransomes lived in an Edwardian block of flats the color of ox blood not far from Regent's Park. It was handy for the City, though Mrs. Ransome would have preferred something farther out, seeing herself with a trug in a garden, vaguely. But she was not gifted in that direction. An African violet that her cleaning lady had given her at Christmas had finally given up the ghost that very morning and she had been forced to hide it in the wardrobe out of Mrs. Clegg's way. More wasted effort. The wardrobe had gone too.
They had no neighbors to speak of, or seldom to. Occasionally they ran into people in the lift and both parties would smile cautiously. Once they had asked some newcomers on their floor around to sherry, but he had turned out to be what he called "a big band freak" and she had been a dental receptionist with a timeshare in Portugal, so one way and another it had been an awkward evening and they had never repeated the experience. These days the turnover of tenants seemed increasingly rapid and the lift more and more wayward. People were always moving in and out again, some of them Arabs.
Alan Bennett (Armley, 9 mei 1934)
De Roemeense dichter, schrijver en filosoof Lucian Blaga werd geboren op 9 mei 1895 in Lancrăm, bij Alba Iulia. Zie ook mijn blog van 9 mei 2007 en ook mijn blog van 9 mei 2008 en ook mijn blog van 9 mei 2009 en ook mijn blog van 9 mei 2010.
We And The Earth
So many Stars fall tonight.
The evil of the night holds the Earth between his hands
and blows balls of flames upon the Earth,
forcefully, burning it.
Tonight, when so many
stars fall, your young witch
body burns in my arms
as if it was between ardent flames.
In madness,
I extend my arms like a flare,
to melt the snow from your naked shoulders
and to drink, consume with hunger,
your strength, blood, pride, your spring, everything.
At the dawn, as the day illuminates the night,
when the ashes of the night are gone, taken
by the wind to the west;
at the dawn, we also wish to be
just ashes, ourselves- the Earth.
Vertaald door Mari Goes
Lucian Blaga (9 mei 1895 6 mei 1961)
De Amerikaanse dichteres Mona Van Duyn werd geboren op 9 mei 1921 in Waterloo, Iowa. Zie ook mijn blog van 9 mei 2007 en ook mijn blog van 9 mei 2008 en ook mijn blog van 9 mei 2009 en ook mijn blog van 9 mei 2010.
Letters from a Father
II
We enjoyed your visit, it was nice of you to bring
the feeder but a terrible waste of your money
for that big bag of feed since we won't be living
more than a few weeks long. We can see
them good from where we sit, big ones and little ones
but you know when I farmed I used to like to hunt
and we had many a good meal from pigeons
and quail and pheasant but these birds won't
be good for nothing and are dirty to have so near
the house. Mother likes the redbirds though.
My bad knee is so sore and I can't hardly hear
and Mother says she is hoarse from yelling but I know
it's too late for a hearing aid. I belch up all the time
and have a sour mouth and of course with my heart
it's no use to go to a doctor. Mother is the same.
Has a scab she thinks is going to turn to a wart.
III
The birds are eating and fighting, Ha! Ha! All shapes
and colors and sizes coming out of our woods
but we don't know what they are. Your Mother hopes
you can send us a kind of book that tells about birds.
There is one the folks called snowbirds, they eat on the ground,
we had the girl sprinkle extra there, but say,
they eat something awful. I sent the girl to town
to buy some more feed, she had to go anyway.
Mona Van Duyn (9 mei 1921 - 2 december 2004)
De Egyptische schrijver Gamal al-Ghitani werd geboren op 9 mei 1945 in Guhaina, maar groeide op in Caïro. Zie ook mijn blog van 9 mei 2009 en ook mijn blog van 9 mei 2010.
Uit: L'ultime port. Lultime scintillement
Voici qu'est échu le temps des chroniques et des calamités. Voici que ma tête a blanchi et que mon cur a pris la couleur des tréfonds. Ô nostalgie de la belle cité, de ses jours heureux, de son fleuve scintillant. De ses retraites inviolées dont les propagateurs de mensonges vont jusqu'à nier l'existence. Ô nostalgie des soirs de veille, des ombrages, de l'écho des rires au coin des rues automnales. Nostalgie des nuits, de la torpeur du méridien, des instants de profusion. De ces journées radieuses soleil naissant, au zénith ou déclinant. De sa salive au goût de musc. Nostalgie du premier instant, quand y reviennent les voyageurs. De l'embrasement du crépuscule. Des mystères d'un passé révolu. Du vague dans les yeux des femmes. Ô nostalgie nostalgie...
2La cité s'est évanouie comme s'évanouit toute beauté, ô ma douleur... Ou bien n'était-ce qu'un pur fantôme, un rêve qui se dissipe comme s'évapore la rosée ? Un immense caravansérail ouvert au tout-venant, qu'on quitte comme on y est entré, avant que n'advienne le jour de la promesse. Informe-moi. Explique-moi. Ouvre-moi les yeux. Guide-moi. Regard immuable, il que rien n'abuse. Est-il vrai qu'elle est tombée sous l'emprise de gens qui ne l'aiment pas, de gens qui la détestent ? Est-il vrai qu'ils l'ont effacée d'un trait de plume dans des registres secrets, qu'ils l'ont vendue à vil prix pour le compte de banques lointaines et sourdes ? Est-il vrai que ne subsistent plus que d'amères chroniques ? Que la mer a tout recouvert, anéantissant tout ce qui pousse et croît ? Tout ce qui pousse et croît ; l'instant où naissent les bourgeons et s'ouvrent les fleurs. Au secours. Au secours. Au secours...
Gamal al-Ghitani (Guhaina, 9 mei 1945)
De Engelse schrijver Richard Adams werd geboren in Newbury op 9 mei 1920. Zie ook mijn blog van 9 mei 2007 en ook mijn blog van 9 mei 2009 en ook mijn blog van 9 mei 2010.
Uit Watership Down
"Five in the litter, you know: he was the last -- and the smallest. You'd wonder nothing had got him by now. I always say a man couldn't see him and a fox wouldn't want him. Still, I admit he seems to be able to keep out of harm's way."
The small rabbit came closer to his companion, lolloping on long hind legs.
"Let's go a bit further, Hazel," he said. "You know, there's something queer about the warren this evening, although I can't tell exactly what it is. Shall we go down to the brook?"
"All right," answered Hazel, "and you can find me a cowslip. If you can't find one, no one can."
He led the way down the slope, his shadow stretching behind him on the grass. They reached the brook and began nibbling and searching close beside the wheel ruts of the track.
It was not long before Fiver found what they were looking for. Cowslips are a delicacy among rabbits, and as a rule there are very few left by late May in the neighborhood of even a small warren. This one had not bloomed and its flat spread of leaves was almost hidden under the long grass. They were just sitting on it when two larger rabbits came running across from the other side of the nearby cattle wade.
"Cowslip?" said one. "All right -- just leave it to us. Come on, hurry up," he added, as Fiver hesitated. "You heard me, didn't you?"
"Fiver found it, Toadflax," said Hazel.
"And we'll eat it," replied Toadflax. "Cowslips are for Owsla -- don't you know that? If you don't, we can easily teach you."
Fiver had already turned away. Hazel caught him up by the culvert.
Richard Adams (Newbury, 9 mei 1920)
De Schotse schrijver James Barrie werd op 9 mei 1860 in Kirriemuir nabij Dundee geboren. Zie ook mijn blog van 9 mei 2007 en ook mijn blog van 9 mei 2009 en ook mijn blog van 9 mei 2010.
Uit: The Adventures of Peter Pan
Wendy was now almost overhead, and they could hear her plaintive cry. But more distinct came the shrill voice of Tinker Bell. The jealous fairy had now cast off all disguise of friendship, and was darting at her victim from every direction, pinching savagely each time she touched.
"Hullo, Tink," cried the wondering boys.
Tink's reply rang out: "Peter wants you to shoot the Wendy."
It was not in their nature to question when Peter ordered.
"let us do what Peter wishes!" cried the simple boys. "Quick, bows and arrows!"
All but Tootles popped down their trees. He had a bow and arrow with him, and Tink noted it, and rubbed her little hands.
"Quick, Tootles, quick," she screamed. "Peter will be so pleased."
Tootles excitedly fitted the arrow to his bow. "Out of the way, Tink," he shoulted, and then he fired, and Wendy fluttered to the ground with an arrow in her breast.
James Barrie (9 mei 1860 19 juni 1937)
De Italiaanse schrijver Pitigrilli (pseudoniem voor Dino Serge) werd geboren te Turijn op 9 mei 1893. Zie ook mijn blog van 9 mei 2007 en ook mijn blog van 9 mei 2009.
Uit: Kokain (Vertaald door Maria Gagliardi)
Ich trinke, um die Falten der Seele zu glätten, aber die Falten der Seele bringt man nicht weg; man kann sie wohl für einen Augenblick glätten: sie verschwinden für eine Stunde, kommen dann aber wieder zum Vorschein und graben sich um so tiefer ein.
(...)
'Das Mönchlein erklärte ihm, dass man Christus lieben müsse, weil er sich für die Menschheit geopfert habe. Und Tito erwiderte ihm, dass dann die Maulwürfe und Kaninchen, die in den physiologischen Laboratorien geopfert würden, um neue Heilmittel zum Wohle der Menschheit auszuprobieren, ebensogut Jesus Christus seien.'
Pitigrilli (9 mei 1893 8 mei 1975)
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