KAZUO ISHIGURO

Never Let Me Go - fragments
 

When I think about this now, it seems to me, even if she wasn’t a guardian, she was the adult, and she should have said or done something, even if it was just to tell me off. Then I’d have known how to behave. But she just went on standing out there, sobbing and sobbing, staring at me through the doorway with that same look in her eyes she always had when she looked at us, like she was seeing something that gave her the creeps. Except this time there was something else, something extra in that look I couldn’t fathom.
I didn’t know what to do or say, or what to expect next. Perhaps she would come into the room, shout at me, hit me even, I didn’t have a clue. As it was, she turned and the next moment I could hear her footsteps leaving the hut. I realised the tape had gone on to the next track, and I turned it off and sat down on the nearest bed. And as I did so, I saw through the window in front of me her figure hurrying off towards the main house. She didn’t glance back, but I could tell from the way her back was hunched up she was still sobbing.

Elena Gheorghe

Kazuo Ishiguro
 

Cand ma gandesc la toate acestea acum, mi se pare ca, desi nu era un supraveghetor, era totusi un adult, si ar fi trebuit sa spuna sau sa faca ceva, chiar daca acest lucru insemna sa imi atraga atentia. Macar atunci as fi stiut cum trebuie sa ma port. In schimb, a continuat sa stea acolo, suspinand, uitandu-se la mine prin crapatura de la usa cu aceeasi privire ca atunci cand ne observa, ca si cand imaginea ii dadea fiori. Totusi, de data aceasta mai era ceva in acea privire, ceva ce nu puteam intelege.
N-am stiut ce sa fac sau ce sa spun sau la ce sa ma astept sa urmeze. Poate ca o sa intre in camera, o sa tipe la mine, o sa ma loveasca chiar, n-aveam idee. In schimb, s-a intors si in momentul urmator, i-am auzit pasii indepartandu-se de cabana. Mi-am dat seama ca incepuse melodia urmatoare, asa ca am oprit walkman-ul si m-am asezat pe cel mai apropiat pat. In timp ce ma asezam, am vazut prin fereastra din fata mea silueta ei grabindu-se inspre cladirea principala. Nu s-a uitat inapoi, dar mi-am dat seama, dupa felul in care i se arcuise spatele ca inca mai plangea.