KAZUO ISHIGURO

Never Let Me Go - fragments
 

But I didn’t say or do anything. It was partly, I suppose, that I was so floored by the fact that Ruth would come out with such a trick. I remember a huge tiredness coming over me, a kind of lethargy in the face of the tangled mess before me. It was like being given a maths problem when your brain’s exhausted, and you know there’s some far-off solution, but you can’t work up the energy even to give it a go. Something in me just gave up. A voice went: “All right, let him think the absolute worst. Let him think it, let him think it.” And I suppose I looked at him with resignation, with a face that said: “Yes, it’s true, what else did you expect?” And I can recall now, as fresh as anything, Tommy’s own face, the anger receding for the moment, being replaced by an expression almost of wonder, like I was a rare butterfly he’d come across on a fence-post.
 

Raluca Nebunoiu

Kazuo Ishiguro
 

Dar nu am spus si nici nu am facut nimic. In parte, banuiesc, din cauza ca am fost daramata de faptul ca Ruth s-a putut folosi de un asemenea subterfugiu. Imi amintesc ca am fost coplesita de oboseala, de un fel de letargie in fata incurcaturilor care ma asteptau. Era ca si cum ti s-ar da o problema de matematica atunci cand creierul iti este extenuat si stii ca exista o solutie undeva departe, dar nu-ti poti aduna energia nici macar sa incerci sa o rezolvi. Ceva inauntrul meu pur si simplu a renuntat. O voce a spus: “Bine, lasa-l sa creada tot ce e mai rau. Lasa-l sa creada asta, lasa-l sa creada asta.” Si banuiesc ca l-am privit cu resemnare, cu o fata pe care se citea: “Da, e adevarat. Te asteptai la altceva?” Si imi amintesc acum, cat se poate de clar, fata lui Tommy, mania disparand pentru o clipa, inlocuita de o expresie aproape de uimire, ca si cum as fi fost un exemplar rar de fluture pe care l-a vazut intamplator pe un gard.