The Surprise
2012; University of Oklahoma; Volume: 86; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês
10.7588/worllitetoda.86.5.0060
ISSN1945-8134
AutoresLili Potpara, Translated by Kristina Zdravič Reardon,
Resumo60 WORLD LITERATURE TODAY photo : gonzalez molero The scare hasn’t had consequences, among other things because when that good man found me lying on the ground, the ambulance only had to drive down the ramp then back up to get to the hospital. The worst part of being here is the heat and the uncomfortable mattresses. The care is good. There’s even a nurse whose name, from what I was able to find out, is Rosa, but unfortunately she has an attorney boyfriend who always waits for her in the bar across the street from the hospital. It’s hotter today than ever, my sheets are drenched. The doctors have assured me that they’ll release me today or tomorrow. My father visits me more than anyone, more affectionate than ever. He comes at breakfast time, leaves after lunch, and sometimes returns for my dinner . Tonight, for example, he’s promised he’ll come. He was so happy. Before he left, he said: I think I’ll come at eight. And it’s no bother, son, don’t worry, it doesn’t take long at all in the car. Besides, I always find a spot in the hospital parking garage. Have you noticed how easy it is to park down there? Translation from the Spanish By George Henson Andrés Neuman (b. 1977, Buenos Aires) is a novelist, short-story writer, poet, essayist, and aphorist. He writes his own blog, Microrréplicas, one of the best literary blogs in Spanish according to a survey by El Cultural. His fourth novel, El viajero del siglo, won the 2009 Alfaguara Prize and the National Critics Prize, awarded by the Spanish Literary Critics Association. The critics of El País and El Mundo included it among the five best novels of the year in the Spanish language. It is available in English as Traveler of the Century. George Henson is a senior lecturer in Spanish at the University of Dallas at Texas, where he is completing a PhD in literary and translation studies. His work has appeared in The Literary Review, Puerto del Sol, Nimrod, and Words without Borders. His translations include Elena Poniatowska’s The Heart of the Artichoke and Luis Jorge Boone’s The Cannibal Night, both published by Alligator Press. The Surprise Lili Potpara F or several days, it is quiet in the apartment . The sister and brother are playing quietly, and Daddy and Mama are not talking. The silence is thick and heavy. It echoes sometimes, too, when the boy and the girl stand between their parents and ask questions, which both have to answer at the same time. Then one day Mama comes home from work early. The brother isn’t there yet, and Daddy is working. The girl is playing a game where she talks to herself, asking questions and answering them in a different voice. “Alenka, come into the kitchen!” Mama says. Alenka apologizes to her toys and tells them, in her different answering voice, that she’ll be back quickly. “Alenka, I have to tell you something,” says Mama. Mama has that look that scares Alenka. She doesn’t know what it means to say, but it is as if it were drawn on the wrong face. “You know Daddy got you a birthday surprise .” It’s true that Alenka will be eleven years old soon, and this is finally the year she will become a teenager. Soon, Alenka will no longer be a sweet little girl. “Daddy bought you a bike,” says Mama. “One of those Rog Pony folding bicycles.” Alenka doesn’t say anything, but something makes her heart tighten and something makes her angry. Of course she wants a Pony, she has wanted a Pony for a long time, so that she can go with Silva and Katarina to “Amerika,” a little side street, which is too far away for her since she doesn’t have a bike. And when Silva and Katarina tell her how it is in Amerika, how the slopes are steep, and how you have to brake hard at the bottom , Alenka wishes that they would talk about something else. “You know, Alenka,” Mama continues with...
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