Pentru puin linite

de Cornel Nistea
Mtua mea avea meteahna de a nu ridica receptorul din furca telefonului dect dup ce
suna ndelung, lsndu-te s atepi la cellalt capt al firului ndeajuns ca s te nfurii i s
renuni la convorbirea cu ea. De ast dat n-aveam dect s-mi strunesc rbdarea i s nu crp de
ciud pn ce credea de cuviin s rspund. Doream s-i fac o vizit i convenisem ca de
fiecare dat, cnd trec pe la ea, s m anun telefonic. Acum, ns, ntrecea orice msur. tiam
c era acas i m-am gndit cu indignare la plcerea de-a m face s atept n cabina public, cu
receptorul acela murdar mutndu-l dintr-o mn n alta.
Bun! i-am spus. N-ai vrea s m invii azi la tine la mas? De dou zile sunt lefter. Sper s nu
m refuzi, altfel riti s auzi c nepotul tu a murit de inaniie.
Te obrzniceti ca de obicei. Eti un mizerabil i nu merii din partea mea ceva, iar tat-tu e un
mizerabil i mai mare. N-am fcut contract cu el s-i dau mas. N-are dect s munceasc, ori
du-te tu i muncete undeva dac ai nevoie de bani.
Vocea ei era sever, iar din felul n care mi se adresa se simea
o ironie usturtoare.
Bine, L. De acord cu morala ta. Azi vin la tine la mas, n continuare m-oi descurca eu cumva.
Ai pregtit o sup? Sper s ai i fructe, medicul mi-a recomandat multe vitamine s-mi pot
menine forma sportiv, altfel nu fac fa n echip i m dau afar.
Las prostiile! Prvlia e plin de lume. Am treab. Dac insiti, vino aici la mas, dar s nu-mi
ceri bani c n-ai s primeti. Mai departe am auzit zgomotul cu care receptorul lovise furca
aparatului telefonic.
n ziua aceea se juca meciul de fotbal Poli-Racing i a fi vrut s-l vd. N-aveam un sfan i m
gndeam s cer de la prietenul meu Romy care, la nevoie, mi mai mprumutase, dar acum aflase
c tatl meu fusese dat afar din fabric pentru alcoolism i fraud i n-aveam cum s-i napoiez
curnd, iar pensia bunicului nu ajungea celor de acas, necum s-mi achite datoriile mele, cum o
fcuse n ali ani. N-aveam alternativ. M-am urcat n troleibuzul de Obor i-ntr-un sfert de or
m aflam n Cartierul Blnarilor, deschiznd cu sfial ua micii prvlii.
Mi-a dat obrazul s i-l srut i a deschis s trec din prvlie n camera ei polivalent, unde-i
avea dormitorul, sufrageria, buctria, cmara, toate la un loc. nclzise papanaii, mi-a pus pe
mas o farfurie plin, i-am nceput s nfulec cu poft. Ea zbovea n prvlie, de unde
rzbteau pn n camer oapte.
L., unde ai fructe? Frigiderul e gol. Nu vd ceva aici.
Vin ndat. Am puin treab cu domnul Ermil. Ai rbdare.
Umbra lung a domnului Ermil se proiecta pe unul din pereii prvliei i pe tavan. Tocmai i
punea plria s plece. Am auzit sunetul metalic al roletei ce s-a ridicat s ias acest personaj
misterios, ce repeta aceleai saluturi cu vocea lui subire i piigiat de eunuc.
Pe sptmna viitoare. La revedere, i-a rspuns mtu-mea din cadrul uii, animat de-un
vizibil entuziasm.
Din prvlie mi-a adus, pe-o fructier, nite mere mari, roii. Le-a pus pe mas i s-a aezat pe
scaun n faa mea, inndu-i brbia n podul palmei, ngndurat. Se vedea c avea ceva pe
inim, c voia s-mi vorbeasc.
tii? M-am gndit s m pensionez. Sunt obosit i bolnav. s destul de btrn i obosit.
Domnul Ermil e de la asigurri. M-am gndit s-mi fac i-o asigurare de via. Cred c nu stric

s-mi fac o asigurare...

S nu faci asta, L. Tu n-ai s supori ocul pensionrii, doar tii cum e, ca o paralizie. Inima ta
nu rezist la un asemenea eveniment.
i, m rog, ce e ru c-mi iau o asigurare de via nainte de pensionare? Trebuie s m
pensionez. Nu mai rezist ntre pereii tia reci i plini de igrasie.
Ai putea face altceva. Ori vrei s nu mai faci nimic tot restul vieii? L., fr prvlia ta cu
mruniuri i clienii ti, vei deveni o
strin. i vei deveni ie nsei o strin. Singurtatea te va ucide. Zu, a prefera ca domnul
Ermil s fie un curtezan i nu un funcionar de la asigurri. Hai, spune-mi c am dreptate.
Sta acolo pe scaun cu brbia n podul palmei stngi, iar cu trei degete de la mna dreapt
frmnt un miez de pine.
Evita s m priveasc n fa.
Nu prea eti n apele tale, L. Ce se ntmpl cu tine?
Sunt obosit i bolnav. De treizeci de ani nu fac altceva dect s msor, s cntresc, s
numr, nimic altceva. Nu mai pot. Am i eu dreptul la puin linite i libertate. Parc a fi uitat
s triesc, s m bucur de via.
A prefera totui ca domnul Ermil s fie un curtezan...
O enervasem. Bnuia c nu nelegeam nimic din tot ce-mi spusese i acum era furioas.
nceteaz odat cu obrzniciile astea oribile, dac ai de gnd s te mai primesc!... Zilele astea
s treci pe la Oficiul de Turism s vezi n ce staiuni balneare mai au locuri pentru tratament n
luna iulie.
Pentru treaba asta mi dai o cent. Am mare nevoie, L. n zece, cnd iau bursa, i-o restitui cu
dobnd.
Totdeauna ai fcut glume de prost gust. Caut acolo, n vitrin,dar, vezi, s-mi lai inelul i
brara de argint, mai in nc la ele. Sunt cadouri de la Carol.
Carol era fostul ei so. O prsise curnd dup nunt. Bunicul nu-i dduse dota promis i Carol
plecase cu o balerin n Statele Unite de unde nu s-a mai ntors, iar ea nu s-a recstorit.
Povestea cu inelul i brara de argint mi-a czut ca un pepene n cap.
Chiar aa m crezi, L.? Ce dracu, doar nu-s ho de drumu mare! Nu neleg de ce nu pori
bijuteriile astea. Le ii n vitrin ca s te uii la ele? Dac tot nu le pori, vinde-le sau f-le cadou
cuiva.
M-a privit cu ngduin. S-a ridicat i, de sub faa de mas, a scos abonamentul ce mi-l fcea n
mod obinuit la concertele filarmonicii. Tcerea ei m ncurca i nu puteam s-i spun vreun
cuvnt de mulumire. Am pupat centa pe care mi-a dat-o, apoi i-am luat ntre palme cpuorul
mic i rotund i am srutat-o pe frunte.
tiam eu c eti o lady. O adevrat lady. Cnd termin facultatea i voi fi trimis la legaia din
Madrid, te voi lua cu mine s vizitm mpreun Spania. Ct despre pensionare, mai gndete-te.
Ai s duci dorul cmruei tale cu mruniuri; vei tnji dup clienii ti simpatici, s schimbi o
vorb cu cineva.
Prea s nu m asculte. Gndurile i toat fiina ei se cufundau din ce n ce mai mult ntr-o lume
strin mie, asemeni unei cmri intime n care nimeni n afar de ea n-avea cum s intre i s-o
cunoasc.
S-mi telefonezi mine pe la ase, dup ce vei fi trecut pe la Oficiul de Turism.
Nu i-au convenit staiunile care aveau bilete la tratament balnear n luna iulie.
Vezi ce au n august sau septembrie.
I-am telefonat a doua zi. i rezolvase singur un bilet la Bile Felix. Nu tiu de ce prefera, cu

inima ei slab, un bilet la nite bi cu ap termal radioactiv, ntr-o zon cu altitudine att de
mic.
L., bile alea nu-s indicate pentru tine. Ar trebui s tii i tu atta lucru, ce naiba! Du-te n alt
parte. Sunt attea locuri minunate n ara asta.
Spune-mi dac ai luat examenul de ieri i cu ce not, mi-a retezat-o ea.
L-am luat, desigur, cu not bun.
Cu ct?
Cu nou.
E suficient de bun nota asta s iei burs republican? Ne-amneles altfel la nceputul anului.
Eu nu-i mai pot da nimic, s tii.
O minisem. Profesorul m picase i nu aveam s iau nici mcar bursa obinuit. Chestia cu
bursa republican era o alt invenie de-a mea, care acum se dovedea a-mi fi fatal, pomenindum dintr-odat fr nici o surs de venit, iar pn la sfritul anului mai erau cteva luni
ncheiate. Curnd am fost dat afar din cmin, i m-am vzut cu bagajul n strad. Ca s rezist o
vreme, mi-am vndut abonamentul la concertele filarmonicii i-am fcut mici mprumuturi de la
colegii de an. Dar asta nu putea dura la nesfrit, i-am nceput s m gndesc cu groaz c nu
mai era altceva de fcut dect s-i mrturisesc adevrul, s hotrasc mtu-mea dac mai
puteam conta pe vreun ajutor de la ea.
Am sunat-o. Aveam de gnd s atept s-mi rspund, apoi, fr s mai spun ceva, s nchid.
Simeam nevoia s-o aud i att. Dar la telefonul ei n-a rspuns nimeni. M-am decis s-o vizitez
din nou, s-mi calc pe orgoliu, s nfrunt jena ce m rodea ca un vierme la inim.
Obloanele locuinei erau trase. n fereastra micuei prvlii, dincolo de gratiile de metal, n
ghivecele de ceramic roie nesmluit se vedeau cteva tufe de busuioc i mucat nflorite. i,
dup prospeimea florilor, a pmntului reavn din ghivece, mi-am dat seama c nu lipsea de
prea mult vreme, ns nici n-avea s se rentoarc prea curnd. Am revenit cteva zile mai
trziu, dar am gsit aceleai obloane trase i, n vitrina prvliei, dincolo de gratii, aceleai
ghivece cu tufele de busuioc i mucat. Florile nu le mai udase cineva, iar mucatele aveau din
loc n loc frunzulie nglbenite; numai tufele de busuioc nspicaser ceva mai mult i aveau
nenumrate floricele albe.
Telegrama adresat bunicului era semnat, incredibil, de domnul Ermil, funcionarul de la
asigurri. Biata mtu-mea murise de atac de cord la nici o lun de la pensionare, iar acum
bunicul i tria, ct era ziua de mare, picioarele pline de reumatism prin iarba ciugulit de
psri din jurul casei, fr s spun cuiva vreun cuvnt, nct prea c pierduse i cuta fr s
gseasc un obiect de pre, a crui imagine nu i-o mai reamintea. Nimic nu-l mai putea consola,
i ne-a trimis s rezolvm cu nmormntarea, aa cum se cuvenea.
L-am cutat pe Ermil. De ndat ce ne-am prezentat, omul a nceput s plng, s-o jeleasc.
De cteva luni tocmai ne nelesesem c m voi pensiona i eu i ne vom cstori. Era o femeie
cu inim bun. De acum, biata de ea, nu mai e!...
L-am btut pe spate n semn de compasiune pentru durerea lui ce prea sincer i-am ntors
privirea spre tatl meu, care ncremenise de-o bnuial ce-i amenina interesele. Domnul acela
scund i chel, omuleul cu ochelari cu ram de metal, era un mare pericol pentru el. Nu cumva
sora lui...
Nu avea nici un testament. Motenirea se ridica la lucrurile din cas i la cele cteva cecuri a cte
5000 de lei pe care era trecut, la clauze de mputernicire, numele meu.
Ce femeie nebun, domnule! ntr-o via de om s adune att de puin! Imposibil! E imposibil!
repeta fr contenire, buimcit, tatl meu.

Trraducere
For a little peace
Cornel Nistea
My aunt has the habit of not lifting the phone call handset only after long, leaving you to wait at
the other end enough to get mad and quit conversation with her. This time I had only my patience
and not bridle spite split up he thought fit to respond. I wanted to pay him a visit and agree that
each time you pass it, let me know by phone. But now surpassed any measure. I knew I was
home and I thought indignantly at the pleasure of making me wait in the cabin public, dirty
receiver that moving it from one hand to another.
- Hi There! I said. Would you like to invite me to your table today? The two days are broke. I
hope I did not refuse, otherwise you risk to hear that your nephew died of starvation.
- You obrzniceti as usual. You're a miserable and do not deserve anything from me and your
father is a miserable and higher. I did contract with him to give you a meal. He has only to work
or go and work somewhere if you need money.
Her voice was severe and the way I felt address
stinging irony.
- Okay, L. Agree with your morals. Today I come to you at the table, still I do I somehow sheep.
Have you prepared a soup? I hope you and fruit, my doctor recommended vitamins can keep my
athletic form, otherwise do not meet the team and kick me out.
- Cut the crap! The shop is full of people. I work. If you insist, come to the table, but do not ask
me for money because you did not receive. Further I heard the truck hit the receiver of the
telephone.
That day play football match Poli-Racing and I wanted to see him. I had a penny and I was
thinking of asking my friend Romy if need, I borrowed, but now learned that my father was fired
from the factory for alcoholism and fraud and there was no way to return it soon, and grandfather
did not reach the retirement home, let alone pay me my debts, as it had in previous years. I had
no alternative. I boarded the trolley of Obor and into a quarter of an hour I was in the
neighborhood furs, opening the door timidly small shops.
She gave me her cheek to kiss him and opened the shop to go to her room polyvalent, where he
had bedroom, living room, kitchen, pantry, all in one place. Heating papanaii, I put on the table
a full plate, and began to hungrily gobble. She lingered in the shop, where you could hear
whispers to the room.
- L., where you fruit? The refrigerator is empty. I do not see anything here.
- Coming soon. I have little to do with Mr. Ermil. Have patience.
Mr. Long Shadow Ermil projected on one of the walls and ceiling of the shop. Just put his hat to
go. I heard the sound of metal roller blinds that arose out this mysterious, you repeat the same
greetings with thin and high-pitched voice of the eunuch.
- See you next week. Goodbye, my aunt answered the door, animated by a visible enthusiasm.
From the shop brought me on a fruit bowl, large apples, tomatoes. Put them on the table and sat
on a chair in front of me, holding his chin in the palm, thoughtful. You could see she had
something in her heart, she wanted to speak to me.
- Do You Know? I thought to retire. I am tired and sick. IS quite old and tired. Ermil Lord's
insurance. I thought to make my life and insurance. I think it does not hurt to get an insurance ...

- Do not do that, L. You have to bear the shock retirement, you know what it's like paralysis.
Your heart can not resist such an event.
- And, well, what's wrong that I get life insurance before retirement? I must retire. Not anymore
between these walls full of cold and damp.
- You could do something else. Either you do not do anything the rest of your life? L., without
your shop with trinkets and your customers, you will become a
foreign. You will become a stranger to you thirsty. Loneliness will kill you. Really, I would
prefer that Mr. Ermil to be a courtier and not an official insurance. Come on, tell me I'm right.
Sitting there in the chair with his chin in the palm of the left and three fingers of his right hand
kneaded a crumb.
Avoid looking at me in the face.
- Not're in your waters, L. What is wrong with you?
- I am tired and sick. For thirty years I only To measure, to weigh, count, nothing else. I can not.
Am I entitled to a little peace and freedom. If I have forgotten to live, to enjoy life.
- I still prefer Mr. Ermil to be a courtesan ...
An annoying. He guessed that I did not understand anything that told me he was angry now.
- Stop with this horrible cheek, if you're going to get yourself! ... These days pass at the Tourist
Office to see what resorts have places for treatment in July.
- For this job give me a cent. I really need, L. In ten, they take stock, and a refund with interest.
-Totdeauna You made jokes in bad taste. Go there in the window, but, see, let me ring and silver
bracelet, longer keep them still. They are gifts from Carol.
Carol was her ex-husband. A left soon after the wedding. Grandfather had not promised to equip
and Carol had left a ballerina in the United States where never returned, and she has not
remarried.
Story with silver rings and bracelets I felt like a melon head.
- Really I think, L.? What the hell, just do not have the roads thief 'great! I do not understand
why not wear jewelry that. Keep them in the window to look at them? If you still do not wear
them, sell them or make them gift to someone.
I watched patiently. He rose, and under the table, pulled my subscription as it was commonly
Philharmonic concerts. Her silence confuse me and I could not say a word of thanks. I kissed
cents that I gave you, then I took between your hands cpuorul small and round and kissed her
forehead.
- I knew you were a lady. A real lady. When you finish college and will be sent to the legation in
Madrid, I will take with me to visit with Spain. As for retirement, think again. You have to go
missing your cmruei with trinkets; you long for your customers nice to have a word with
someone.
He seemed not to listen. Thoughts and sank her whole being increasingly more in a foreign world
to me, like a private chambers where no one but she was not going to come and meet her.
- To me the phone tomorrow at six, after you have passed on to the Office of Tourism.
No resorts have agreed that they had tickets to a spa treatment in July.
- See what you have in August or September.
I phoned the next day. Work through a ticket to Felix. Do not know why prefer her weak heart, a
ticket to some tepidarium radioactive altitude in an area so small.
- L. baths Those are not suitable for you. It should work as you know, what the hell! Go
elsewhere. There are so many wonderful places in this country.
- Tell me if you took the exam yesterday and that note, I cut a she.

- I took the course with good grade.

- How much?
- Nine.
- It's good enough to take note that the Republican scholarship? We amneles early otherwise. I
can not give you anything, you know.
A mind. The teacher I had fallen and I had to take even ordinary stock. Republican scholarship
thing was another invention of mine, who now proved fatal to me, making mention of me
suddenly without any source of income, and by the end there were a few months concluded.
Soon I was kicked out of the dorm, and I saw the bag in the street. To resist a while, I sold
Philharmonic subscription concerts and I made small loans at year colleges. But it could not last
forever, and I started thinking with horror that there was nothing to do but to confess the truth,
my aunt decide if I could count on any help from it.
I called her. I was going to wait to answer, then, not to say something, to go. I needed it and I
hear that. But they never answered the phone one. I decided to visit her again, stepping on my
pride, to face the embarrassment that I gnawed like a worm at the heart.
House shutters were drawn. In the window of little shops, bars of metal beyond the unglazed red
ceramic pots could see some basil bushes and flowering geranium. And, freshness flowers in pots
moist earth, I realized that was missing for too long, but never had to return soon. I returned a
few days later, but I found the same shutters drawn and in the shop window, behind bars, the
same potted basil bushes and geranium. Flowers no longer someone UDAs and geraniums and
there were yellowed leaflets; only nspicaser basil bushes some more and had numerous white
flowers.
Telegram signed grandfather was incredible, by Ermil, insurance clerk. My poor aunt had died of
heart attack at any month of retirement, and now grandfather his country, as it was day long legs
full of rheumatism bird pecking grass around the house without someone saying a word, that
seemed lost and search without finding a precious object, whose image has not a recall. Nothing
could console him, and sent us to solve the funeral, as was fitting.
I looked on Ermil. As soon as we have shown, the man began to cry, mourn it.
- For several months we just understood that I will retire and I and we married. She was a woman
with a good heart. For now, poor thing, it's not! ...
I knocked back a sign of compassion for his pain that seemed sincere and I looked back to my
father, who had frozen to a suspicion that threaten their interests. Lord that short, bald little man
with metal-rimmed glasses, was a danger to him. Is not his sister ...
There was no will. Heritage amounted to things in the house and several checks of every 5,000
lei that was passed in terms of empowerment, my name.
- What crazy woman, sir! a lifetime to collect so little! Impossible! It's impossible! repeat
without ceasing, confused, my father.

The Snow Man

by Wallace Stevens
One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;
And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter
Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,
Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place
For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.
Omul de zpad
de Wallace Stevens
Unul trebuie s aib o minte de iarn
Pentru a considera nghe i ramurile
Dintre pin-crustoase copacii cu zpad;
i au fost rece o lung perioad de timp
Pentru a vedea cele ienuperi tras cu ghea,
Cele molizi brute n strlucirea ndeprtat
Din soarele ianuarie; i nu s se gndeasc
Din orice mizerie n sunetul vntului,
n sunetul de cateva frunze,
Care este sunetul a terenului
Plin de aceeai vntului
Acest lucru este suflare n acelai loc gol

Pentru asculttor, care ascult n zpad,

i, nimic el nsui, vede
Nimic din ceea ce nu este acolo i nimic care este.