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| “Jehosophat,” said Tom Skelton, on the parapet. “We whistled all the stone griffins and demons here. Now Pipkin’s lost again. I was thinking, why can’t we whistle him?” | "Jehosophat", rekao je Tom Skelton, stojeći na kruništu. "Zviždanjem smo ovamo dovabili sve kamene grifone i demone. A Pipkin se opet izgubio. Pa sam mislio, zašto ne možemo dovabiti i njega?" |
| Moundshroud laughed so his cape boomed on the night wind and his dry bones jangled inside his skin. | Grobolijes se nasmijao tako da mu je pelerina prasnula na noćnom vjetru a u koži mu zazveketale kosti. |
| “Boys! Look around! He’s still here!” | "Dječaci! Samo se osvrnite! On je još tu." |
| “Where?” | "Gdje?" |
| “Here,” mourned a small faraway voice. | "Tu", zatužio je sitni daleki glasić. |
| The boys crickled their spines looking over the parapet, cracked their necks staring up. | Dječaci su istegnuli kičme zureći preko kruništa, pa zaškljocali vratovima zureći u visine. |
| “Look and find, lads, hide and seek!” | "Potražite i nađite, mladići, igra skrivača!" |
| And even in seeking they could not help but enjoy once more the turbulent slates of the cathedral all fringed with horrors and deliciously ugly with trapped beasts. | No čak i u tom traganju nisu se mogli oprijeti tome da još jednom uživaju u vrtložnim škriljcima katedrale što je bila sva opšivena jezom i profinjeno odvratna zbog svih tih zarobljenih zvijeri. |
| Where was Pipkin among all those dark sea creatures with gills gaped open like mouths for an eternal gasp and sigh? Where among all those lovely chiseled nightmares cut from the gallstones of night-lurks and monsters cracked out of old earthquakes, vomited up from mad volcanoes which cooled themselves to frights and deliriums? | Gdje je, među svim tim kreaturama iz crnih morskih dubina, sa škrgama rastvorenima poput usta što teže vječnom udahu i uzdahu, bio Pipkin? Gdje između svih tih ljupko isklesanih nakaza izrezanih iz žučnih kamenaca noćnih skrivala i čudovišta što su ih izradile pukotine drevnih potresa, izbljuvali podivljali vulkani, da bi se ohladili u stravu i delirij? |
| “Here,” wailed a far, small, familiar voice again. | "Amo", zajaukao je ponovno sitan, poznati glasić. |
| And way down on a ledge, halfway to the earth, the boys, squinting, thought they saw one small round beautiful angel-devil face with a familiar eye, a familiar nose, a friendly and familiar mouth. | I daleko dolje na vijencu, na pola puta do tla, dječacima se, kad su priškiljili, pričinilo da vide lijepo okruglo anđeosko-vražićko lišće poznatoga oka, poznatoga nosa, prijaznih i poznatih usta. |
| “Pipkin!” | "Pipkin!" |
| Shouting, they ran down stairways along dark corridors until they reached a ledge. Far out there on the windy air, above a very narrow walkway indeed, was that small face, lovely among so much ugliness. | Uz viku, stuštiše se stubištem, pa mračnim prolazima, dok ne stigoše do vijenca. Daleko od njih, u vjetrovitu zraku, nad doista vrlo uskom stazicom, stajalo je sitno lice, ljupko sred tolike rugobe. |
| Tom went first, not looking down, spreadeagling himself. Ralph followed. The rest inched along in a line. | Tom je krenuo prvi, raširenih ruku i prilijepljen uza zid, ne gledajući dolje. Za njim je pošao Ralph. Potom su, jedan po jedan, sitnim korakom krenuli i ostali. |
| “Watch out, Tom, don’t fall!” | "Pazi, Tom, nemoj pasti." |
| “I’m not fallin’. Here’s Pip.” | "Neću pasti. Evo Pipa." |
| And there he was. | A tu je i bio. |
| Standing in a line directly under the outthrust stone mask, the bust, the head of a gargoyle, they looked up at that mighty fine profile, that great nub nose, that unbearded cheek, that fuzzy cap of marbled hair. | Stajali su u liniji, ravno ispod izbačene kamene maske, poprsja, glave garguja, pa podigli pogled u taj silno profinjeni profil, u taj sjajni tupasti nos, u taj golobradi obraz, tu spletenu kapu mramorne kose. |
| Pipkin. | Pipkin. |
| “Pip, for cri-yi, what you doin’ here?” called Tom. Pip said nothing. | "Pip, svih ti suza, što ćeš ti tu?" zazvao ga je Tom. Pip nije odgovorio. |
| His mouth was cut stone. | Usta su mu bila isklesana od kamena. |
| “Aw it’s just rock,” said Ralph. “Just a gargoyle carved here a long time ago, looks like Pipkin.” | "Aj, to je samo kamen", rekao je Ralph. "Samo garguj što su ga još davno isklesali, i koji samo izgleda kao Pipkin." |
| “No, I heard him call!” | "Ne, čuo sam ga kako viče." |
| “But, how—” | "Ali kako..." |
| And then the wind gave them the answer. | No onda im je odgovor donio vjetar. |
| It blew around the high corners of Notre Dame. It fluted in the ears and piped out the gaping mouths of the gargoyles. | Zapuhao je oko visokih uglova Notre Dame. Zafrulio im je u uši i zadiplio kroz razjapljena usta garguja. |
| “Ahhh—” whispered Pipkin’s voice. The hair stood up on the backs of their necks. “Ooooo,” murmured the stone mouth. | "Ahhhh..." prošaptao je Pipkinov glas. Njima se na šijama naježila koža. "Ooooooo", promrmljala su kamena usta. |
| “Listen. There it is!” said Ralph excitedly. | "Posluštajte. To je tu!" rekao je Ralph uzbuđeno. |
| “Shut up!” cried Tom. “Pip? Next time the wind blows, tell us, how do we help? What got you here? How do we get you down?” | "Daj šuti!" usklinuo je Tom. "Pip? Kad sljedeći put puhne, reci nam kako da ti pomognemo? Što te dovelo ovamo? Kako da te skinemo?" |
| Silence. The boys clung to the rock-cliff face of the great cathedral. | Tišina. Dječaci su se prilijepili za kamenu liticu velike katedrale. |
| Then another swoop of wind sucked by, drew their breaths, and whistled in the carved stone boy’s teeth. | A onda je srknuo još jedan zapuh vjetra, isisao im dah i zviznuo kroz dječakove, iz kamena isklesane zube. |
| “One—” said Pip’s voice. | "Jedno..." rekao je Pipov glas. |
| “—question,” whispered Pip’s voice again after a pause. Silence. More wind. | "... pitanje", ponovno je prošaptao Pipov glas nakon kratke stanke. Tišina. Zatim još malo vjetra. |
| “At a—” | "Po..." |
| The boys waited. “—time.” | Dječaci su počekali. "...jedno." |
| “One question at a time!” translated Tom. | "Jedno pitanje po jedno!" preveo je Tom. |
| The boys hooted with laughter. That was Pip all right. | Dječaci su zahukali od smijeha. Bio je to pravi Pip. |
| “Okay” Tom gathered his spit. “What are you doing up here?” | "U redu." Tom je skupio pljuvačku. "Što radiš tu gore?" |
| The wind blew sadly and the voice spoke as from deep in an old well: | Vjetar je tužno puhnuo, i glas je progovorio kao iz dubokog i starog zdenca. |
| “Been—so many—places—in just—a few—hours.” | "Bio... sam na toliko... mjesta... za samo... nekoliko... sati." |
| The boys waited, grinding their teeth. | Dječaci su čekali i škrgutali zubima. |
| “Speak up, Pipkin!” | "Govori, Pipkine!" |
| The wind came back to mourn in the open stone mouth: | Vjetar se vratio da zatuži u otvorenim kamenim ustima. |
| But the wind had died. | A onda je vjetar zamro. |
| It began to rain. | I počela kiša. |
| And this was best of all. For the raindrops ran cold in Pipkin’s stone ears and out along his nose and fountained from his marble mouth so that he began to utter syllables in liquid tongues, with clear cold rainwater words: | No to je bilo najbolje od svega. Jer su hladne kišne kapi potekle u Pipkinove kamene uši i zatim kroz nos, da bi poput vodoskoka izbile iz mramornih usta, tako da je počeo izgovarati slogove tekućim nekim jezikom, bistre i hladne riječi od kišnice: |
| “Hey—this is better!” | "Hej... ovo je bolje!" |
| He spouted mist, he sprayed quick rain: | Briznuo je maglu, pa zaškropio hitrom kišicom: |
| “You should’ve been where I been! Gosh! I was buried for a mummy! I was trapped in a dog!” | "Trebali ste proći što i ja! Bogovi! Pokopaše me kao mumiju! Zatočiše u psu!" |
| “We guessed that was you, Pipkin!” | "Mi smo slutili, Pipkine, da si to ti!" |
| “And now here,” said the rain in the ear, the rain in the nose, the rain in the clear-dripping marble mouth. “Gosh, golly, funny, strange, inside this rock with all these devils and demons for pals! And, ten minutes from now, who knows where I’ll be? higher up? or buried deep!” | "A sad tu", rekla je kiša u uhu, kiša u nosu, kiša što se bistro cijedila iz mramornih usta. "Majko, ljudi, čudno, ludo, biti u kamenu sa svim tim vragovima i demonima kao pajdašima! A za deset minuta, tko zna gdje ću biti? Još više? Ili zakopan u dubinu!" |
| “Where, Pipkin?” | "Gdje to, Pipkine?" |
| The boys jostled. The rain squalled and beat them so they almost tilted and fell off the ledge. | Dječaci su se trznuli. Kiša je naletjela i lupila ih takvom žestinom da su zamalo izgubili ravnotežu i popadali s vijenca. |
| “Are you dead, Pipkin?” | "Jesi ti mrtav, Pipkine?" |
| “No, not yet,” said the cold rain in his mouth. “Part of me in a hospital a long way off home, part of me in that old Egyptian tomb. Part of me in the grass in England. Part of me here. Part of me in a worse place—” | "Ne, ne još", rekla je studena kiša u njegovim ustima. "Dio je mene u bolnici daleko od kuće, a dio u tom starom egipatskom grobu. Dio mene u engleskoj travi. Dio mene ovdje. Dio mene na još goremu mjestu..." |
| “Where?” | "Gdje to?" |
| “I don’t know, I don’t, oh gosh, one minute I’m yelling laughs, the next I’m scared. Now, just now, this very minute, I guess, I know, I’m scared. Help me, guys. Help, oh please!” | "To ne znam, ja, o Bože, jedan čas pucam od smijeha, drugi umirem od straha. Ali sada, ovoga časa, mislim da znam, umirem od straha. Pomozite mi, ljudi. Pomozite mi, o, preklinjem vas!" |
| Rain poured out his eyes like tears. | Iz očiju mu je potekla kiša kao suze. |
| The boys reached up to touch Pipkin’s chin, as best they could. But before they could touch … | Dječaci su ispružili ruke i htjeli dotaći Pipkinovu bradu, učiniti sve što mogu. No prije no što su u tome uspjeli... |
| A lightning bolt struck out of the sky. | Iz neba je tresnuo grom. |
| It flashed blue and white. | I bljesnuo bijelo i modro. |
| The entire cathedral shook. The boys had to grab demons’ horns and angels’ wings on either side so as not to be knocked off. | Čitava se katedrala zatresla. Dječaci su se morali uhvatiti za demonske rogove i anđeoska krila s obje strane, da ih ne zbaci s vijenca. |
| Thunder and smoke. And a great scattering of rock and stone. | Grom i dim. I silna lomljava stijenja i kamenja. |
| Pipkin’s face was gone. Knocked off by the lightning bolt, it fell down through space to shatter the ground below. | Pipkinova je lica nestalo. Srušeno udarcem groma, sad je propadalo kroz prazan prostor i na koncu se smrskalo o tlo pod njihovim nogama. |
| “Pipkin!” | "Pipkin!" |
| But there below on the cathedral porch stones were only flinty firesparks blowing away, and a fine gargoyle dust. Nose, chin, stone lip, hard cheek, bright eye, carved fine ear, all, all whipped away on the wind in chaff and shrapnel dust. They saw something like a spirit smoke, a bloom of gunpowder blow drifting south and west. | Ali dolje, pred portalom katedrale, kamenje se pretvorilo u kremene iskre, što su otjecale od njih, i sitan prah garguja. Nos, brada, kamena usna, tvrd obraz, jasno oko, isklesano fino uho, sve, sve je bilo otjerano bičem vjetra kao okresina i prašina šrapnela. Ugledali su nešto poput špiritnoga dima, cvijet barutne eksplozije nošen vjetrom na jugozapad. |
| “Mexico—” Moundshroud, one of the few men in all the world who knew how to utter, uttered the word. | "Meksiko..." Tu je riječ izgovorio Grobolijes, jedan od svega nekoliko ljudi na svijetu koji su je znali valjano izgovoriti. |
| “Mexico?” asked Tom. | "Meksiko?" upitao je Tom. |
| “The last grand travel of this night,” said Moundshroud, still uttering, savoring the syllables. “Whistle, boys, scream like tigers, cry like panthers, shriek like carnivores!” | "To je večeras zadnje veliko putovanje", odgovorio je Grobolijes, polako to izgovarajući, uživajući u svakom slogu. "Zviždite, dječaci, kričite kao tigrovi, vrištite poput pantera, urlajte poput mesoždera!" |
| “Scream, cry, shriek?” | "Da kričimo, vrištimo, urlamo?" |
| “Reassemble the Kite, lads, the Kite of Autumn. Paste back the fangs and fiery eyes and bloody talons. Yell the wind to sew it all together and ride us high and long and last. Bray, boys, whimper, trumpet, shout!” | "Skrpite ponovno, mladići, zmaja, Zmaja jeseni. Ponovno mu nalijepite očnjake i divlje oči i krvave čaporke. Viknite vjetru da se sve to ponovno zašije, i ponese nas visoko i daleko i dugo. Njačite, dječaci, cvilite, trubite, vičite!" |
| The boys hesitated. Moundshroud ran along the ledge like someone racketing a picket fence. He knocked each boy with his knee and elbow. The boys fell, and falling gave each his particular whimper, shriek, or scream. | Dječaci su oklijevali. Grobolijes je potrčao vijencem kao netko tko lupa po drvenom plotu. Svakog je dječaka udario laktom i koljenom. Dječaci su popadali, i svaki je, propadajući, ispustio svojstveni krik, vrisak ili jecaj. |
| Plummeting down through cold space, they felt the tail of a murderous peacock flourish beneath, all blood-filled eye. Ten thousand burning eyes came up. | Dok su se tako prevrtali, propadajući kroz studenu prazninu, osjetili su kako se pod njima vije rep ubilačkoga pauna, sazdan od zakrvavljenih očiju. Izronilo je deset tisuća plamenih očiju. |
| Hovered suddenly round a windy corner of gargoyles, the Autumn Kite, freshly assembled, broke their fall. They grabbed, they held to rim, to edge, to cross-struts, to trapdrum rattling papers, to bits and tatters and shreds of old meat-breath lion-mouth, and stale-blood tiger’s maw. | Jesenski zmaj, svježe sastavljen, dolebdio je najednom iza vjetrovita ugla garguja, i zaustavio njihov pad. Dohvatili su ga, uhvatili se za rub, za brid, za prečke, za čegrtave činele papira, za komadiće i krpice i krhotine starih lavovskih usta, iz kojih je bazdilo po mesu, i tigrov želudac pun usirene krvi. |
| Moundshroud leaped up to grab. This time he was the tail. The Autumn Kite hovered, waiting, eight boys upon its billowing surf of teeth and eyes. Moundshroud tuned his ear. | Grobolijes je poskočio i dohvatio ga. Ovaj je put on bio rep. Jesenski je zmaj lebdio, čekajući, s osam dječaka na toj dasci za surfanje sazdanoj od očiju i zuba. Grobolijes je naćulio uši. |
| Hundreds of miles away, beggars ran down Irish roads, starving, asking for food from door to door. Their cries rose in the night. | Stotine milja daleko, irskim su cestama trčali prosjaci, na smrt izgladnjeli, i išli od vrata do vrata, Proseći hranu. Njihovi su se krici dizali u noć. |
| Fred Fryer, in his beggar’s costume, heard. | Oslušnuo je i Fred Fryer, u svom prosjačkom ruhu. |
| “That way! Let’s fly there!” | "Idemo tamo! Daj da poletimo tamo!" |
| “No. No time. Listen!” | "Ne. Nemamo vremena. Poslušajte!" |
| Thousands of miles away, there was a faint tap-hammering of deathwatch beetles ticking the night. | Tisuće milja daleko, začulo se tiho kuckanje i čekićanje drvotočaca, tik-takanje u noći. |
| “The coffin makers of Mexico.” Moundshroud smiled. “In the streets with their long boxes and nails and little hammers, tapping, tapping.” | "Majstori ljesari u Meksiku." Grobolijes se nasmiješio. "Na ulicama s dugim sanducima i čavlima i malim čekićima, kuckaju, kuckaju." |
| “Pipkin?” whispered the boys. | "Pipkin?" prošaptali su dječaci. |
| “We hear,” said Moundshroud. “And, to Mexico, we go.” | "Čujemo", odgovorio je Grobolijes. "I u Meksiko, idemo." |
| The Autumn Kite boomed them away on a one-thousand-foot tidal wave of wind. | Jesenji ih je zmaj u prasku ponio, nošen tisuću stopa širokim plimnim valom vjetra. |
| The gargoyles, fluting in their stone nostrils, gaping their marble lips, used that same wind to wail them farewell. | Garguji pak, fruleći kamenim nosnicama, zijevajući mramornim usnama, poslužili su se istim vjetrom da im odjadikuju zbogom. |