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| They hung above Mexico. | Visjeli su nad Meksikom. |
| They hung above an island in that lake in Mexico. | Visjeli su nad otokom u onom jezeru u Meksiku. |
| They heard dogs barking in the night far below. They saw a few boats on the moonlit lake moving like water insects. They heard a guitar playing and a man singing in a high sad voice. | Čuli su lavež pasa u noći duboko ispod sebe. Ugledali su nekoliko brodica u mjesečinom obasjanom jezeru, kako se gibaju poput vodenih kukaca. Čuli su svirku gitare i muški glas kako pjeva tužno i visoko. |
| A long way off across the dark borders of land, in the United States, packs of children, mobs of dogs ran laughing, barking, knocking, from door to door, their hands full of sweet bags of treasure, wild with joy on Halloween night. | Mnogo, mnogo dalje, preko mračnih granica zemlje, u Sjedinjenim Državama, čopori djece i rulje pasa trčali su i smijali se, lajali, i kucali idući od vrata do vrata, ruku punih slatkih vrećica s blagom, poludjeli od veselja u Noći vještica. |
| “But, here—” whispered Tom. | "Ali tu..." prošaptao je Tom. |
| “Here what?” asked Moundshroud, hovering at his elbow. | "Tu što?" upitao je Grobolijes, lebdeći mu s boka. |
| “Oh, why here—” | "Mislim, zašto tu..." |
| “And down through all of South America—” | "I kroz čitavu Južnu Ameriku..." |
| “Yes, South. Here and South. All the cemeteries. All the graveyards are—” | "Da, južno. Ovdje i prema jugu. Sva groblja. Sva su groblja..." |
| —full of candlelight, Tom thought. A thousand candles in this cemetery, a hundred candles in that graveyard, ten thousand small flickering lights farther on a hundred miles, five thousand miles down to the very tip of Argentina. | ... puna svijeća, pomislio je Tom. Tisuću svijeća na ovome groblju, a stotinu na onom, deset tisuća treperavih svjetalaca na stotinu milja, i tako još pet tisuća milja sve do samoga vrha Argentine. |
| “Is that the way they celebrate—” | "Zar tako oni slave..." |
| “El Dia de los Muertos. How’s your grade school Spanish, Tom?” | "El Dia de los Muertos. Koliko imaš iz španjolskog, Tome?" |
| “The Day of the Dead Ones?” | "Dan mrtvih?" |
| “Caramba, si! Kite, disassemble!” | "Caramba, si. Zmaju, razloži se!" |
| Swooping down, the Kite flew apart for a final time. The boys tumbled on the stony shore of the quiet lake. Mists hung over the waters. | Zmaj se sunovratio, pa se razletio po posljednji put. Dječaci su popadali po kamenitoj obali tihoga jezera. Nad vodom su se vukle magle. |
| Far across the lake they could see an unlit tombyard. There were, as yet, no candles burning in it. | Daleko na drugoj strani jezera ugledali su neosvijetljeno groblje. Na njemu još nisu gorjele svijeće. |
| Out of the mists, a dugout canoe moved silently without oars, as if the tide touched it across the waters. | A onda je iz magle izronila ladva, iz debla izdubljen čamac, i krenuo prema njima nečujno i bez vesala, kao da ga je preko jezera prenijela plima. |
| A tall figure in a gray winding sheet stood motionless in one end of the boat. | Na jednom je njegovu kraju nepomično stajao visok lik, uvijen u sivu plahtu. |
| The boat nudged the grassy shore softly. | Ladva je meko lupnula o travnatu obalu. |
| The boys gasped. For, as far as they could tell, only darkness was cupped inside the hood of the shrouded figure. | Dječaci su zinuli. Jer, koliko su mogli razabrati, kapuljača je zakukuljenoga neznanca skrivala samo tamu. |
| “Mr.—Mr. Moundshroud?” | "Gospodine... gospodine Grobolijes?" |
| They knew it had to be him. | Znali su da je to sigurno on. |
| But he said nothing. Only the faintest firefly of a grin flickered within the cowl. A bony hand gestured. | No on nije odgovorio ništa. Ispod kukuljice je bljesnula samo najslabašnija krijesnica smiješka. A koščata im je ruka dala znak. |
| The boys tumbled into the boat. | Dječaci su se sunovratili u čamac. |
| “Sh!” whispered a voice from the empty hood. | "Pst!" prošaptao je glas iz prazne kukuljice. |
| The figure gestured again and, touched by wind, they blew across the dark waters under a night sky filled with the billion never-before-seen fires of the stars. | Lik je ponovno dao znak i onda su, dotaknuti vjetrom, poletjeli poneseni preko tamnih voda pod nočnim nebom ispunjenim milijardom još neviđenih plamenova zvijezda. |
| Far off on that dark island, there was a prickle of guitar sound. | Daleko od njih, s mračnog otoka, dopiralo je sitno bockanje gitarske svirke. |
| A single candle was lit in the graveyard. | Na groblju je bila upaljena tek jedna svijeća. |
| Somewhere someone blew a musical sound on a flute. | Netko je negdje puhao u sviralu, proizvodeći milozvučan ton. |
| Another candle was lit among the tombstones. | Među spomenicima se upalila još jedna svijeća. |
| Someone sang a single word of a song. | Netko je zapjevao jedincatu riječ pjesme. |
| A third candle was touched to life by a flaming match. And the faster the boat moved, the more guitar notes sounded and the more candles were lit high among the mounds on the stony hills. A dozen, a hundred, a thousand candles flared until it looked as if the great Andromeda star cluster had fallen out of the sky and tilted itself to rest here in the middle of almost-midnight Mexico. | Zapaljena je šibica svojim dodirom probudila u život i treću svijeću. I što se ladva brže gibala, čulo se sve više zvukova gitare, i sve se više svijeća palilo među humcima kamenitih brda. Buknulo je deset, stotinu, tisuću svijeća, sve dok se nije učinilo kao da je s neba pala velika Andromedina maglica, i da se sad nagnula da se odmori tu, usred skoro ponoćnog Meksika. |
| The boat struck the shore. The boys, surprised, fell out. They spun about, but Moundshroud was gone. Only his winding sheet lay empty in the boat. | Ladva je lupila u obalu. Dječaci su, zatečeni, popadali iz čamca. Hitro su se okrenuli, no Grobolijes je već bio nestao. U čamcu je ostao tek njegov prazni povoj. |
| A guitar called to them. A voice sang to them. | Gitara je zvala njih. Glas je pjevao njima. |
| A road like a river of white stones and white rocks led up through the town that was like a graveyard, to the graveyard that was like—a town! | Cesta nalik na rijeku bijelih oblu taka i bijeloga stijenja vodila je kroz grad nalik na groblje, sve do groblja koje je izgledalo — kao grad. |
| For there were no people in the town. | Jer u tom gradu nije bilo ljudi. |
| The boys reached the low wall of the graveyard and then the huge lacework iron gates. They took hold of the iron rungs and stared in. | Dječaci su stigli do niskoga grobljanskoga zida i potom do goleme čipke željeznih vrata. Uhvatili su se za željezne šipke i zapiljili se unutra. |
| “Why,” gasped Tom. “I never ever seen the like!” | "Pa mislim", zinuo je Tom. "Nikad nisam vidio ništa ni slično tome!" |
| For now they knew why the town was empty. | Jer su sad shvatili zašto je grad bio prazan. |
| Because the graveyard was full. | Zato što je groblje bilo puno. |
| By every grave was a woman kneeling to place gardenias or azaleas or marigolds in a frame upon the stone. | Kraj svakog je groba klečala žena i na kamen, u uzorak, slagala gardenije ili azaleje ili neven. |
| By every grave knelt a daughter who was lighting a new candle or lighting a candle that had just blown out. | Kraj svakog je groba klečala kći i palila ili novu svijeću, ili onu koju je netom utrnuo vjetar. |
| By every grave was a quiet boy with bright brown eyes, and in one hand a small papier-mâché funeral parade glued to a shingle, and in the other hand a papier-mâché skeleton head which rattled with rice or nuts inside. | Kraj svakog je groba bio tihi dječak sa sjajnim crnim očima, te u jednoj ruci držao malu pogrebnu povorku, napravljenu od papir-mašea, nalijepljena na šindru, a u drugoj mrtvačku glavu od papir-mašea koja je zveketala rižom i orasima u svojoj unutrašnjosti. |
| “Look,” whispered Tom. | "Vidi", prošaptao je Tora. |
| There were hundreds of graves. There were hundreds of women. There were hundreds of daughters. There were hundreds of sons. And hundreds upon hundreds upon thousands of candles. The whole graveyard was one swarm of candleshine as if a population of fireflies had heard of a Grand Conglomeration and had flown here to settle in and flame upon the stones and light the brown faces and the dark eyes and the black hair. | Pred njima su bile stotine grobova. I stotine žena. I stotine kćeri. 1 stotine sinova. I stotine i stotine i stotine i tisuće svijeća. Čitavo je groblje bilo samo jedan roj blistavih svijeća, i kao da su se sve krijesnice svijeta sjatile tu, na velikom kongresu, da se spuste na kamen i svojim plamenom obasjaju smeđa lica i crne oči i crnu kosu. |
| “Boy,” said Tom, half to himself, “at home we never go to the graveyard, except maybe Memorial Day, once a year, and then at high noon, full sun, no fun. This now, this is—fun!” | "Ljudi", rekao je Tom, napol sebi u bradu, "mi kod kuće nikad ne idemo na groblje, osim možda na Spomendan, jednom godišnje, a i tada usred bijela dana, po žarkome suncu, bez zezanja. A ovo, ovo je — zezanje!" |
| “Sure!” whisper-yelled everyone. “Mexican Halloweens are better than ours!” | "Sigurno!" povikali su šaptom svi odreda. "Meksički je Dan vještica bolji od našeg!" |
| For on every grave were plates of cookies shaped like funeral priests or skeletons or ghosts, waiting to be nibbled by—living people? or by ghosts that might come along toward dawn, hungry and forlorn? No one knew. No one said. | Rekao je to zato što su na svim grobovima bili tanjuri puni kolačića koji su izgledali kao svećenici na pogrebu, kosturi ili duhovi, i čekali da ih grickaju — živi ljudi? Ili možda duhovi koji bi mogli svratiti nekako pred zoru, gladni i snuždeni? To nitko nije znao. To nitko nije rekao. |
| And each boy inside the graveyard, next to his sister and mother, put down the miniature funeral on the grave. And they could see the tiny candy person inside the tiny wooden coffin placed before a tiny altar with tiny candles. And around the tiny coffin stood tiny altar boys with peanuts for heads and eyes painted on the peanut shells. And before the altar stood a priest with a cornnut for a head and a walnut for a stomach. And on the altar was a photograph of the person in the coffin, a real person once; remembered now. | A onda su svi dječaci na groblju, što su stajali kraj sestara i majki, spustili na grob minijaturnu pogrebnu povorku. I vidjeli su kako u svakom sićušnom drvenom lijesu, što bi ga stavili pred sićušni oltar sa sitnim svijećama, leži sićušan čovjek od marcipana. A oko sitnog su lijesa stajali sitni ministranti s glavom od kikirikija, i s očima nabojanim na njihovu ljusku. A pred oltarima su stajali svećenici s glavom od lješnjaka i trbuhom od oraha. A na oltaru je bila fotografija čovjeka u lijesu, čovjeka koji je nekoć bio stvarna osoba, a sad samo uspomena. |
| “Better, and still better,” whispered Ralph. | "Sve bolje i bolje", prošaptao je Ralph. |
| “Cuevos!” sang a far voice up the hill. | "Cuevos", zapjevao je daleki glas s padine brda. |
| Inside the graveyard, voices echoed the song. | Iz groblja su mu glasovi poput jeke vratili pjesmu. |
| Leaning against the graveyard walls, some with guitars in their hands or bottles, were the men of the village. | Naslonjeni na grobljansku ogradu, neki s gitarama i bocama u rukama, stajali su seoski muškarci. |
| “Cuevos de los Muertos—” sang the faraway voice. | "Cuevos de los Muertos..." zapjevao je daleki glas. |
| “Cuevos de los Muertos” sang the men in the shadows inside the gate. | "Cuevos de los Muertos..." zapjevali su muškarci u sjeni unutar grobljanskoga zida. |
| “Skulls,” translated Tom. “The skulls of the dead.” | "Lubanje", preveo je Tom. "Lubanje mrtvaca." |
| “Skulls, sweet sugar skulls, sweet candy skulls, the skulls of the dead ones,” sang the voice, coming close now. | "Lubanje, slatke lubanje od šećerleme, slatke lubanje od marcipana, lubanje mrtvih", zapjevao je glas, primičući se sve bliže. |
| And down the hill, treading softly in shadow, came a hunch-backed Vendor of Skulls. | A niz padinu, meko gazeći kroz sjenu, stigao je grbavi prodavač lubanja. |
| “No, not hunched—” said Tom, half aloud. | "Ne, nije grbav..." rekao je Tom u pol glasa. |
| “A whole load of skulls on his back,” cried Ralph. | "Na leđima mu je čitavo breme lubanja", uskliknuo je Ralph. |
| “Sweet skulls, sweet white crystal sugar candy skulls,” sang the Vendor, his face hidden under a vast sombrero. But it was Moundshroud’s voice that sweetly piped. | "Slatke lubanje, slatke bijele lubanje od kristalnog šećera", pjevao je prodavač, a lice mu je bilo skriveno pod golemim sombrerom. Ali taj glas, što je tako slađano diplio, bio je Grobolijesov. |
| And carried from a long bamboo over his shoulder hung on black threads were dozens and scores of sugar skulls as big as their own heads. And each skull was inscribed. | Preko ramena mu je bio prebačen bambusov štap, a s njega su visjele crne trake s desecima i tucetima šećernih lubanja velikih kao njihove glave. I na svakoj je glavi nešto pisalo. |
| “Names! Names!” sang the old Vendor. “Tell me your name, I give you your skull!” | "Imena! Imena!" zapjevao je stari prodavač. "Reci mi kako se zoveš, i ja ću ti dati tvoju lubanju!" |
| “Tom,” said Tom. | "Tom", odgovorio je Tom. |
| The old man plucked forth a skull. On it, in huge letters was written: | Starac je otrgnuo lubanju. Na njoj je, golemim slovima, pisalo: |
| TOM. | TOM. |
| Tom took and held his own name, his own sweet edible skull, in his fingers. | Tom je dohvatio svoje ime, svoju vlastitu jestivu lubanju, i uzeo je među prste. |
| “Ralph.” | "Ralph." |
| And a skull with the name RALPH written on it was tossed forth. Ralph caught it, laughing. | I bi mu bačena lubanja s natpisom RALPH. Ralph ju je dohvatio i nasmijao se. |
| In a swift game, the bony hand plucked, tossed white skull after skull, sweetly on the cool air: | Brzo se igrajući, koščata je ruka stala trzajem izvlačiti bijele lubanje jednu za drugom, i mazno ih bacati kroz studeni zrak: |
| HENRY-HANK! FRED! GEORGE! HACKLES! J.J.! WALLY! | HENRY-HANK! FRED! GEORGE! HACKLES! J.J.! WALLY! |
| The boys, bombarded, squealed and danced about, pelted with their own skulls and their own proud names sugar encrusted upon each white brow of those skulls. They caught and almost dropped this splendid bombardment. | Dječaci su, bombardirani, stali cičati, udarani vlastitim lubanjama i vlastitim gordim imenima, upisanima zapečenim šećerom na bijelim čelima. Pohvatali su, i pritom zamalo ispustili te presjajne bombe. |
| They stood, mouths wide open, staring at the sugary death-sweets in their gummy hands. | I sad su stajali, širom razjapljenih usta, i zurili u sladorne mrtvačke slatkiše u gumastim rukama. |
| And from within the graveyard, way-high male-soprano voices sang: | A iz groblja, vrlo visok muški sopran, najednom je zapjevao: |
| “Roberto … Maria … Conchita … Tomás. | Roberto... Maria... Conchita... Tomas. |
| Calavera, Calavera, sweet candy bones to eat! | Calavera, Calavera, slatkih kosti šećerlema! |
| Your name on the snow white sweet skull | Lubanja snijelna tvoje ime nosi. |
| You hurry down the street. | Požuri, požuri, još malo pa nema. |
| You buy from the piled high white | Kupi s bijele piramide |
| Hills in the square. Buy and eat! | Dignute na trgu! Kupi i jedi! |
| Chew your name! What a treat!” | Jedi ime svoje! Da se slina cijedi! |
| The boys lifted the sweet skulls in their fingers. | Dječaci su podigli slatke lubanje na prste. |
| “Bite the T and the O and the M. Tom! | Zagrizi T i O i M, Tome! |
| Chew the H, Swallow A, Digest N, Choke on K. | Žvakni H, progutaj A, probavi N, zagrcni se na K. |
| Hank!” | Hank! |
| Their mouths watered. But was it Poison they held? | Na usta im je došla slina. No možda je to što drže u ruci otrovno? |
| “Would you guess? Such happiness, such joy! | Pogoditi nećeš! Radost kakva! I kakva sreća! |
| As each boy dines on darkness, makes a meal of the night? What delight! Snap a bite! | Večerajte tmine, i blagujte noć! Zagrizite bodro! I slast će vam doć! |
| Go ahead! Munch that fine candy head!” | Ližite, grizite, tu glavu od bombona! |
| The boys tapped the sweet candy names to their lips and were about to bite when— | Dječaci su već svojim slatkim kandiranim imenima dotakli usta, kad najednom... |
| “Olé!” | "Ole!" |
| A mob of Mexican boys ran up yelling their names, seizing at skulls. | Dotrčala je gomila meksičkih dječaka, pa stala izvikivati svoja imena i grabiti lubanje. |
| “Tomás!” | "Tomas!" |
| And Tom saw Tomás run off with his named skull. | I sad je Tom vidio kako Tomas bježi sa svojom imenovanom lubanjom. |
| “Hey” said Tom. “He sorta looked like—me!” | "Hej", rekao je Tom. "Pa taj mi je nekako... sličan." |
| “Did he?” said the Vendor of Skulls. | "Doista?" upitao je prodavač lubanja. |
| “Enrique!” shouted a small Indian boy seizing Henry-Hanks skull. | "Enrique!" uzviknuo je mali Indijanac i dohvatio lubanju Henryja- Halata. |
| Enrique pelted down the hill. | I sjurio se nizbrdo. |
| “He looked like me!” said Henry-Hank. | "A ovaj izgleda kao ja." rekao je Henry-Hank. |
| “He did,” said Moundshroud. “Quick, boys, see what they’re up to. Hold on to your sweet craniums and get!” | "I jest", odgovorio je Grobolijes. "Brzo, dječaci, vidite što su nakanili. Držite svoje premile kranije i kreći!" |
| The boys jumped. | Dječaci su skočili. |
| For at that very moment an explosion hit the streets below, in the town. Then another explosion and another. Fireworks. | Jer je baš u tom trenutku u gradu ispod njih nasred ulice nešto grunulo. Potom je uslijedila još jedna eksplozija, pa još jedna. Vatromet. |
| The boys took a last look in at the flowers, the graves, cookies, foods, skulls upon graves, miniature funerals with miniature bodies and coffins, at candles, crouched women, lonely boys, girls, men, then whirled and exploded down the hill toward the firecrackers. | Dječaci su bacili posljednji pogled na cvijeće, na grobove, na kolače, poslastice i lubanje na grobovima, na minijaturne sprovode s minijaturnim leševima i lijesovima, na svijeće, pogurene žene, samotne dječake, djevojke, muškarce, a onda su se poput vihora, eksplozivno stuštili nizbrdo prema žabicama. |
| Into the plaza Tom and Ralph and all the other costumed boys raced panting. They jolted to a halt and danced about as a thousand miniature firecrackers banged around their shoes. The lights were on. Suddenly the shops were open. | Na glavni su trg Tom i Ralph i svi ostali zakrabuljeni dječaci dotrčali bez daha. A onda stali kao ukopani i zaplesali, kad su im oko nogu počele praštati tisuće žabica. Svjetla su gorjela. Najednom su se svi dućani otvorili. |
| And Tomás and José Juan and Enrique were lighting and tossing the firecrackers with yells. “Hey, Tom, from me, Tomás!” | A Tomas i Jose Juan i Enrique uz krikove su palili i bacali žabice. "Hej, Tom, to je od mene, Tomasa!" |
| Tom saw his own eyes glinting from the wild boy’s face. “Hey, Henry, this from Enrique! Bang! | Tom je opazio kako na licu divljega dječaka svjetlucaju njegove oči. "Hej, Henry, to je od Enriquea! Bum!" |
| “J.J., this—Bang! From José Juan!” | "J.J., ovo je — brum! Od Jose Juana!" |
| “Oh, this is the best Halloween of all!” said Tom. And it was. | "O, ovo je najljepša od svih Noći vještica!" rekao je Tom. A tako je i bilo. |
| For never in all their wild travels had so much happened to be seen, smelled, touched. | Zato što se još nikad za njihovih divljih putovanja nije zbivalo toliko toga što se moglo vidjeli, onjušiti, dotaći. |
| In every alley and door and window were mounds of sugar skulls with beautiful names. | U svakoj uličici, na svakom prozoru i u svakim vratima bile su gomile šećernih glava s lijepim imenima. |
| From every alley came the tap-tap of death-watch-beetle coffin makers nailing, hammering, tapping coffin lids like wooden drums in the night. | A iz svake je uličice dopirao tuc-tuc, nalik na šumove drvotočca, lijesara što su zabijali čavle, čekićali, i lupali po poklopcima lijesova kao po drvenim bubnjevima u noći. |
| On every corner were stacks of newspapers with pictures of the Mayor and his body painted in like a skeleton, or the President and his body all bones, or the loveliest maiden dressed like a xylophone and Death playing a tune on her musical ribs. | Na svakom su uglu bili snopovi novina, i na njima slike gradonačelnika na čijem je tijelu bio nabojan kostur, i predsjednika države s tijelom od kostiju, ili najljupkijih djevojaka odjenutih u ksilofon, po kojem je, tuckajuči ih po tonskim rebrima, Smrt svirala svoju melodiju. |
| “Calavera, Calavera, Calavera—” the song drifted down the hill. “See the politicians buried in the news, REST IN PEACE beneath their names. Such is fame! | "Calavera, Calavera, Calavera..." zaplovila je pjesma niz padinu. "Pogledajte političare zakopane u vijestima. POČIVALI U MIRU pod njihovim imenima. To je cijena slave! |
| “See the skeletons juggling, standing high | Kostura gle 'te, što žonglira, |
| On each other’s shoulders! | Onaj onom stoji na ramenu! |
| Preaching sermons, wrestling, playing soccer! | Propovjedi drže, loptaju se, hrvu! |
| Little runners, little jumpers, | Onaj trči, dubi na tjemenu, |
| Little skeletons that leap about and fall | Onaj skače, a onaj se ruši. |
| Did you ever dream that death could be | Sanjaste li ikad da smrt silna može |
| Whittled down so very small?” | Tako sitno da se sva sparuši? |
| And the song was true. Wherever the boys looked were the miniature acrobats, trapeze performers, basketball players, priests, jugglers, tumblers, but all were skeletons hand to hand, bony shoulder to shoulder, and all small enough for you to carry in your fingers. | I pjesma je govorila pravo. Gdje god bi dječaci pogledali, bili su minijaturni akrobati, artisti na trapezu, košarkaši, svećenici, žongleri, pelivani, no sve su to bili kosturi, sve koščato rame do koščatoga ramena, sve ruka do ruke, i dovoljno maleni da ih poneseš među prstima. |
| And over there in a window was a whole microscopic jazz band with a skeleton trumpeter and a skeleton drummer and a skeleton playing a tuba no bigger than a soup spoon and a skeleton conductor with a bright cap on his head and a baton in his hand, and tiny music pouring out of the tiny horns. | A tamo, u prozoru, bio je čitav mikroskopski džezistički sastav, s kosturom za trubom i kosturom za bubnjem i kosturom što je svirao saksofon ne veći od jušne žlice, i kostur-dirigent s jarkom kapom na glavi i palicom u ruci, a iz sićušnih se rogova izlijevala sićušna svirka. |
| Never before had the boys seen so many—bones!” | Dječaci još nikad nisu vidjeli toliko — kostiju! |
| “Bones!” laughed everyone. “Oh, lovely bones!” | "Kosti!" nasmijali su se svi odreda. "O, kako krasne kosti!" |
| The song began to fade: | Pjesma je počela zamirati: |
| “Hold the dark holiday in your palms, | Crni praznik primite na dlan. |
| Bite it, swallow it and survive, | Grizite, jedite, sretni što ste živi! |
| Come out the far black tunnel of El Dia de Muerte | Iz mračnog tunela El Dio de Muerte |
| And be glad, ah so glad you are … alive! | Iziđite, sretni, sretni, iziđite u dan! |
| Calavera … Calavera …” | Calavera... Calavera... |
| The newspapers, bordered in black, blew away in white funerals on the wind. | Novine, obrubljene crnim, raznosio je vjetar kao bijele sprovode. Meksički dječaci potrčali su uzbrdo svojim obiteljima. |
| The Mexican boys ran away up the hill to their families. | "O, čudnog li neobičnog čuda", prošaptao je Tom. |
| “Oh, strange funny strange,” whispered Tom. | "Što?" upitao je Ralph koji je stajao do njega. |
| “What?” said Ralph at his elbow. “Up in Illinois, we’ve forgotten what it’s all about. I mean the dead, up in our town, tonight, heck, they’re forgotten. Nobody remembers. Nobody cares. Nobody goes to sit and talk to them. Boy, that’s lonely. That’s really sad. But here—why, shucks. It’s both happy and sad. It’s all firecrackers and skeleton toys down here in the plaza and up in that graveyard now are all the Mexican dead folks with the families visiting and flowers and candles and singing and candy. I mean it’s almost like Thanksgiving, huh? And everyone set down to dinner, but only half the people able to eat, but that’s no mind, they’re there. It’s like holding hands at a séance with your friends, but some of the friends gone. Oh, heck, Ralph.” | "Gore u Illinoisu, mi smo već i zaboravili o čemu je tu zapravo riječ. Hoću reći, pokojnici, gore kod nas, u našem gradu, večeras, krampusa ti, sasvim smo ih zaboravili. Nitko ih se ne sjeća. Nikog nije briga. Nitko ne odlazi malo posjediti i popričati s njima. Ljudi, koja samotinja. I žalotinja. Ali ovdje — mislim, strah. I veselo je i tužno. Tu dolje, na gradskom trgu, tu su žabice i kosturi-igračke, a gore, na tom groblju, sad su svi ti mrtvi Meksikanci, i njihove obitelji koje ih obilaze, i cvijeće i svijeće i pjevanje i slatkiši. Hoću reći, to je skoro kao na Dan zahvalnosti, ha? I svi sjedaju za večeru, a samo polovica može jesti, no vrlo važno, oni su tu. To je kao kad se na seansi s prijateljima držimo za ruke, ali nekih više nema. O, krampusa ti, Ralph." |
| “Yeah,” said Ralph, nodding behind his mask. “Heck.” | "Aha", rekao je Ralph i kimnuo mu iza maske. "Krampusa ti." |
| “Look, oh, look, look there,” said J.J. | "A vidi, o, vidi tamo", rekao je J.J. |
| The boys looked. | Dječaci su pogledali. |
| On top of a mound of white sugar skulls was one with the name PIPKIN on it. | Na vrhu hrpe cijelih šećernih lubanja stajala je jedna na kojoj je bilo napisano ime PIPKIN. |
| Pipkin’s sweet skull, but—nowhere in all the explosions and dancing bones and flying skulls was there so much as one dust-speck or whimper or shadow of Pip. | Pipkinova slatka lubanja ali — nigdje u svoj toj eksploziji i plesu kostiju i među lubanjama u letu od Pipa ni truna prašine, ni jednoga cvileža ni sjene. |
| They had grown so accustomed to Pip’s leaping up in fantastic surprises, on the sides of Notre Dame, or weighted down in gold sarcophagi, that they had expected him, like a jack-in-the-box, to pop from a mound of sugar skulls, flap sheets in their faces, cry dirges. | Toliko su se već bili navikli da Pip iskače kao fantastično iznenađenje, iz zidova Notre Dame, ili obremenjen zlatnim sarkofagom, da su već počeli očekivati da će, poput kakvoga vražića iz kutije, iskočiti iz humka sladornih lubanja, zalepršati im plahtom u lice i zakričati tužbalicu. |
| But no. Suddenly, no Pip. No Pip at all. And maybe no Pip ever again. | Ali ne. Najednom Pipa niotkuda. Nikakvoga Pipa nigdje. A možda ga nikad više neće ni biti. |
| The boys shivered. A cold wind blew fog up from the lake. | Dječaci su se stresli. Studeni je vjetar dopuhnuo maglu s jezera. |