събота, 12 март 2011 г.

приказка на английски!

The Magic Cards
She saw him firstly in the back. The foreigner had arrived in the town at noon. He stopped at the little centre, put down his hat and showed his sunny hair. Then he looked around, saw that the shop was closed and went off to the tavern.
Sylvia followed him as she was bare and in short pants. Then she peered through the window cautiously. Her lips shrank sulkily like only children do. She could be seen and shooed away any moment, but her curiosity stuck her to the doubtfully clean window. It came out that there was no such danger, because all looks were directed to the foreigner.
- So, my name is Melec and I’m privileged to show you my magic Abkhazian cards…
- Bullshit – grinned a tall man and showed his broken tooth.
All the men remained silent, after which burst in laughter.
- What are these cards doing? – asked a thick man suspiciously.
- Giving advice… For example, they may recommend to the foreigner with the broken tooth to go to the dentist – said Melec and smiled.
The tall man stood up and pulled the foreigner by the collar. All men jumped up and after they pressed him back down, he collapsed onto the chair.
- Here, pull a card – continued Melec as though nothing special hadn’t happened.
The man examined him, then turned to all sides to seek for the other people’s approval and after he received it in the form of telling nods, he stretched out his wizened hand. The moment the man touched one of the cards, light flew between his fingers and lit the room. He tried to pull back, but stood as if the card had glued his palm. The man finally had the card and turned it with trembling fingers:
- The one you call a master, will call you his slave – he read.
Only the tall man looked as if deeply transformed. He stood up again and his two friends from both sides made the same, being afraid he will pummel the guest. The man hugged Melec and didn’t let him go for quite a time. The others started wondering where to look and to gad about in their seats.
- You are magician, foreigner! – repeated the man on and on.
- No, it’s only that my cards are magical.
Then the tall man told how the last time when he visited the town next to theirs, he met a man who offered him a job. It seemed enticing for him, because there was a promise for a double salary, but what bothered him was that he had to move with his family there. That time he thought he had the greatest luck in his life, but a few days later, when giving it a second thought, he started hesitating. He didn’t want to leave his born town with all friends and relatives and start all over again. He was still hesitating and didn’t even tell his wife. But the card – it reflected his fears like a silver coin.
Everybody in the tavern listened to the story obviously bored. The only person seeing insight in the cards was the person picking up one. Melec explained the peculiarity of the cards – they inspired and changed only the man who took chances with them.
The tall man invited Melec for an overnight at home and as soon as he heard his confirmation, Sylvia rushed home. She flew into her room and went out in a while, dressed in simple blue skirt, flavored white blouse and red lips.
Her mother looked at her suspiciously and said:
- Hey, are you preparing for a fair in the centre?
The girl blushed and hid in her room again. At that time she heard the squeaking of the entrance door and saw her father with the guest. When Sylvia showed, Melec nodded smiling. Then he stretched his hand for a shake and felt his palms persperating. “He likes me”, she thought.
The evening went on cheerfully. Melec told jokes and all laughed. Only her mother was sober as though she read her daughter’s thoughts.
- How long are you staying? – asked the mother.
- I haven’t thought, but if your hospitality allows… a few days. I’d like to hand out as much cards as possible for some money to make my living.
During the evening Melec looked at Sylvia and felt the sweet waves passing through his stomach off to the heels and back.
- Next year is a leap-year. It is showing even now – said the mother who noticed the looks’ exchange between the two of them.
She set away the dishes and soon everyone went to bed. The following days flew away like a moment for Sylvia. She ran after Melec wherever he went and announced herself as his assistant. This gave him obvious pleasure. Only her mother’s presence froze them both. The old lady was anxious about her daughter twice younger than this foreigner who was dealing with unclear matters. What kind of life was going to lead her girl, if she had to wander from town to town with him? How was she going to have a child and take care of it? The old woman nodded her head to move away these thoughts and repeated that her daughter has gone too far and when the foreigner turns back on his way, she’ll forget him. But Melec was delaying his leaving on purpose. It was fifth day already as he wandered from house to house and Sylvia said he was making quite a decent sum of money with the magic cards.
While they were walking in the quarters, Melec told Abkhazian fairy tales to Sylvia. She liked particularly the one in which the hero went to ask for a maiden from her brothers. They didn’t incline to give her and he burst into the house his horse pushing the door with his chest. Sylvia carried away in the foreigner’s story and imagined him being the hero, herself being the maiden.
The next Sunday the mother behaved coldly towards the guests from the morning. She didn’t invite him to breakfast and asked to pay for her stay. Melec pulled out his money and paid generously. He said he sets off in the morning.
As soon as she found out about his leaving, Sylvia withered. The next day she watched long after her lover and then cried silently in her room. From that day on she began to fade away like a torn rose. They went to doctors, but nobody found what kind of disease she had. The winter passed and all relatives were anxious about Sylvia’s health, as she moved like a shadow not living in the tangible world.
The leap year came and the grannies in the town started talking that the maidens aren’t to get married. This was only allowed in some cases if the maiden proposes to her chosen one.
The morning Melec came again was the 29th February – “the leaping day”, as women call it in the town. It appeared once in four years and all people were awaiting it with anxiety. This day nobody was to go out, because they said in this day one could be tempted to fall down the track of his mind.
The town was deserted and gloomy. Melec approached the squeaking door where Sylvia lived and cried out. Her father went out. A little later the mother showed, but she was in a hurry to hide back again. The two men sat on the bench in the yard and chatted like old friends. The father told Melec about his daughter’s state, then he asked him in the house.
The foreigner’s face grew grey when he saw his pale maiden. Only her warm black eyes glowed when they found him. At that moment there was no one in the world for them. The windows, the tables, the carpets in the room – all those objects rolled. She stretched out for him.
- Marry me today – she said silently and collapsed in his hands.
All of a sudden the sweet breath of her lover, his wide shoulders, the most beautiful blue eyes in the world, all of these sank in the bottomless roundabout and she let her head drop.
Her parents ran to her, the father slapping her in the face, the mother fetching water to splash her. She opened eyes in half an hour returning from an unknown world even for herself. Melec stood in astonishment and held her hand.
- Today is my birthday – he said collecting himself – and you, my dear, made me the best present.
Sylvia didn’t get him, her eyes burning in unknown light. The next week she lay all day, but now she ate and insisted Melec telling her his Abkhazian fairy tales. They spent a lot time together and the mother didn’t dare to object seeing the progress her daughter was making.
- Pull out a card – said Melec once to her. – Come on!
Sylvia hesitated but touched one. The already known light diffused through her fingers and illuminated the whole room.
- “Eat ordinary food”, Abkhazian proverb – she read and both of them laughed. – It seems they’re all Abkhazian.
He made her a sign to wait and went out returning with a bread. She took a bite. Melec repeated the same.
- Do you remember what you told me on my birthday? – he asked chewing.
- No – she replied. I hope it was nice.
- Marry me today – said Melec and looked at her with his sea blue eyes.
- This is what I told you or what you are telling me now? – her voice trembling.
- Both – he replied and looked down.
- And you when... – she replied and a playful flame shined in the corner of her eyes - … when are you pulling a card?
- I’ve never done that.
- So, it’s time – she added.
Melec bent over the pack and chose one. The room shined with the known light and he read:
- “Give” and “take” go hand in hand, Abkhazian proverb.
Melec interpreted this as a sign that he had given too much without taking back. Of course he did not mean the money taken from the magic cards business, but something else – the fact that he didn’t allow himself “to take” the woman of his heart. Maybe he did that, because he like everyone else, without meaning to, took consideration into people’s opinion.
Although a magic cards man, he was only a man.
Sylvia and her chosen one got married in the first spring day. The ceremony was modest, but the whole town jabbered about it not solely because it was the only wedding this year, but also because the two of them were the most thrilling couple in the town. Grannies prattled on that year nobody married and the younger reminded them that this is acceptable only if the maiden proposes to the man.
But people didn’t dare to say out loud their doubts if this had really happened. It was not easy for a maiden to propose to her loved one. Even Sylvia’s parents didn’t know the truth and what’s more didn’t try to find it. It was just now that they started understanding the reasons of their daughter’s secret disease.
Sylvia was at the peak of her beauty and courage. She laughed like a waterfall, she tossed her hair like a tree crown and didn’t walk, but danced. She often repeated that her husband is much younger than her. One year of his could take in four of hers’… maybe because of his great heart, which gave away light to people.
When the first April rays caressed the earth, the couple packed and prepared to go. Sylvia said goodbye to her parents not knowing when she would see them again. The young woman hugged her mother and passed her the pack of cards. Then she asked her to pull out one because she was the only one who hadn’t done that. The old lady tried to hold the tears in her eyes. When she finally took a card, the whole town lit in an extraordinary light.
The card said: „It’s easier to stop the rain than a girl intending to get married”, Abkhazian proverb.
STARRING:
The pack of cards – the business
Melec – the loved man
Sylvia – the loved maiden
Parents – the public opinion
People with pulled cards – Melec’s connection with the world
The town – the world




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