Tania Luna: How a penny made me feel like a millionaire

Prevoditelj: Martina Dolenčić Recezent: Mladen Barešić

I'm five years old, and I am very proud.

Pet mi je godina i vrlo sam ponosna.

My father has just built the best outhouse

Moj je otac upravo sagradio najbolji poljski zahod

in our little village in Ukraine.

u našem malom selu u Ukrajini.

Inside, it's a smelly, gaping hole in the ground,

Iznutra, to je smrdljiva, zjapeća rupa u zemlji,

but outside, it's pearly white formica

ali izvana, ona je biserno bijela

and it literally gleams in the sun.

i doslovno sjaji na suncu.

This makes me feel so proud, so important,

To me čini toliko ponosnom, toliko važnom,

that I appoint myself the leader of my little group of friends

da sebe imenujem vođom svoje male grupe prijatelja

and I devise missions for us.

i osmišljavam misije za nas.

So we prowl from house to house

Prikradamo se tako od kuće do kuće

looking for flies captured in spider webs

u potrazi za muhama zarobljenim u paučinama

and we set them free.

i oslobađamo ih.

Four years earlier, when I was one,

Četiri godine ranije, kad sam imala jednu godinu,

after the Chernobyl accident,

nakon nesreće u Černobilu,

the rain came down black,

spustila se crna kiša;

and my sister's hair fell out in clumps,

kosa moje sestre ispadala je u pramenovima,

and I spent nine months in the hospital.

a ja sam devet mjeseci provela u bolnici.

There were no visitors allowed,

Nije bilo dopuštenih posjeta,

so my mother bribed a hospital worker.

pa je moja majka podmitila nekoga u bolnici,

She acquired a nurse's uniform,

nabavila odjeću medicinske sestre,

and she snuck in every night to sit by my side.

i svake se noći ušuljala kako bi bila pored mene.

Five years later, an unexpected silver lining.

Pet godina kasnije, neočekivano "svjetlo na kraju tunela"...

Thanks to Chernobyl, we get asylum in the U.S.

Zahvaljujući Černobilu, dobivamo azil u SAD-u.

I am six years old, and I don't cry when we leave home

Šest mi je godina i ne plačem dok napuštamo dom

and we come to America,

i dolazimo u Ameriku,

because I expect it to be a place filled with rare

jer očekujem da će to biti mjesto prepuno rijetkih

and wonderful things like bananas and chocolate

i predivnih stvari poput banana i čokolade,

and Bazooka bubble gum,

i žvakaćih guma "Bazooka".

Bazooka bubble gum with the little cartoon wrappers inside,

Žvakaćih guma "Bazooka" s malenim omotom u obliku stripa iznutra.

Bazooka that we'd get once a year in Ukraine

Bazooka koje bismo u Ukrajini dobivali jednom godišnje

and we'd have to chew one piece for an entire week.

i jedan smo komadić morali žvakati po cijeli tjedan.

So the first day we get to New York,

Prvog dana nakon dolaska u New York,

my grandmother and I find a penny

moja baka i ja pronalazimo jedan cent

in the floor of the homeless shelter that my family's staying in.

na podu utočišta za beskućnike, u kojemu je moja obitelj boravi.

Only, we don't know that it's a homeless shelter.

Jedino što ne znamo da je to utočište za beskućnike;

We think that it's a hotel, a hotel with lots of rats.

mi mislimo da je to hotel, hotel s mnogo štakora.

So we find this penny kind of fossilized in the floor,

I tako, pronalazimo taj cent, nekako fosiliziran u podu,

and we think that a very wealthy man must have left it there

i mislimo da ga je sigurno neki vrlo bogati čovjek ostavio ondje,

because regular people don't just lose money.

jer obični ljudi ne gube novac samo tako.

And I hold this penny in the palm of my hand,

I držim taj cent na dlanu -

and it's sticky and rusty,

ljepljiv je i zahrđao -

but it feels like I'm holding a fortune.

ali čini se kao da držim bogatstvo.

I decide that I'm going to get my very own piece

Odlučujem nabaviti jedan, samo moj, primjerak

žvakaće gume Bazooka.

of Bazooka bubble gum.

And in that moment, I feel like a millionaire.

I u tom trenutku, osjećam se k'o milijunašica.

About a year later, I get to feel that way again

Oko godinu dana kasnije, ponovno se imam priliku tako osjećati

kad u smeću nalazimo vreću punu plišanih životinja,

when we find a bag full of stuffed animals in the trash,

and suddenly I have more toys

i odjednom imam više igračaka

than I've ever had in my whole life.

nego ikada u životu.

And again, I get that feeling when we get a knock

I ponovno, taj osjećaj mi se vraća kad nam netko pokuca

on the door of our apartment in Brooklyn,

na vrata našeg stana u Brooklynu,

and my sister and I find a deliveryman

a moja sestra i ja ugledamo dostavljača

with a box of pizza that we didn't order.

s kutijom pizze koju nismo naručile.

So we take the pizza, our very first pizza,

I tako, uzmemo mi tu pizzu, našu prvu pizzu,

and we devour slice after slice

i gutamo komad za komadom

as the deliveryman stands there and stares at us from the doorway.

dok poštar stoji ondje i gleda nas s vrata.

And he tells us to pay, but we don't speak English.

Kaže nam da platimo, ali mi ne govorimo engleski.

My mother comes out, and he asks her for money,

Moja majka izlazi, i on je zatraži novac,

but she doesn't have enough.

ali ona ga nema dovoljno.

She walks 50 blocks to and from work every day

U to doba, ona svakoga dana prepješači 50 blokova na posao i s posla

just to avoid spending money on bus fare.

samo kako bi izbjegla plaćanje autobusne karte.

Then our neighbor pops her head in,

Tad naša susjeda proviri u stan

and she turns red with rage when she realizes

i zajapuri se kad shvati

that those immigrants from downstairs

da su se useljenici s donjega kata

have somehow gotten their hands on her pizza.

dočepali nekako njene pizze.

Everyone's upset.

Svi su uzrujani.

But the pizza is delicious.

Ali, pizza je ukusna...

It doesn't hit me until years later just how little we had.

Godinama mi nije padalo na pamet koliko smo malo imali.

On our 10 year anniversary of being in the U.S.,

Desetu godišnjicu našeg boravka u SAD-u

we decided to celebrate by reserving a room

odlučili smo proslaviti rezerviravši sobu

at the hotel that we first stayed in when we got to the U.S.

u hotelu u kojemu smo odsjeli kad smo stigli u SAD.

The man at the front desk laughs, and he says,

Čovjek na recepciji se nasmije i reče:

"You can't reserve a room here. This is a homeless shelter."

"Ne možete ovdje rezervirati sobu. Ovo je utočište za beskućnike."

And we were shocked.

Bili smo šokirani...

My husband Brian was also homeless as a kid.

Moj muž Brian je, također, u djetinjstvu bio beskućnik.

His family lost everything, and at age 11,

Njegova je obitelj izgubila sve, i u jedanaestoj godini

he had to live in motels with his dad,

morao je živjeti s ocem u motelima,

motels that would round up all of their food

u motelima koji bi skupili svu njihovu hranu

and keep it hostage until they were able to pay the bill.

i držali je kao zalog dok ovi ne bi bili u stanju platiti račun.

And one time, when he finally got his box

U jednom trenutku, kad su mu napokon vratili

of Frosted Flakes back, it was crawling with roaches.

njegovu kutiju pahuljica, bila je puna žohara.

But he did have one thing.

Ali, jednu je stvar imao...

He had this shoebox that he carried with him everywhere

Imao je tu kutiju cipela koju je svuda nosio sa sobom,

containing nine comic books,

u kojoj je bilo devet stripova:

two G.I. Joes painted to look like Spider-Man

dva G. I. Joea obojana da izgledaju kao Spider-Man,

and five Gobots. And this was his treasure.

i pet Gobota. I to je bilo njegovo blago.

This was his own assembly of heroes

To je bio njegov vlastiti skup junaka

that kept him from drugs and gangs

koji su ga čuvali od droge i od bandi

and from giving up on his dreams.

i od odustajanja od vlastitih snova.

I'm going to tell you about one more

Ispričat ću vam o još jednom

formerly homeless member of our family.

članu naše obitelji, nekadašnjem beskućniku.

This is Scarlett.

Ovo je Scarlett.

Once upon a time, Scarlet was used as bait in dog fights.

Jednom davno, Scarlett su upotrebljavali kao mamac u borbama pasa.

She was tied up and thrown into the ring

Bila je svezana i bačena u ring

for other dogs to attack so they'd get more aggressive before the fight.

da bi je ostali psi napali i postali što agresivniji prije borbe.

And now, these days, she eats organic food

Danas, ona jede organsku hranu

and she sleeps on an orthopedic bed with her name on it,

i spava na ortopedskom krevetu, sa svojim imenom na njemu, ali...

but when we pour water for her in her bowl,

Ali... dok joj ulijevamo vodu u njenu posudu,

she still looks up and she wags her tail in gratitude.

još uvijek podiže pogled i zahvalno maše repom.

Sometimes Brian and I walk through the park with Scarlett,

Ponekad Brian i ja šetamo parkom sa Scarlett,

and she rolls through the grass,

i ona se valja po travi,

and we just look at her

a mi je samo gledamo...

and then we look at each other

I onda pogledamo jedno drugo

and we feel gratitude.

i osjećamo zahvalnost.

We forget about all of our new middle-class frustrations

Zaboravimo na sve naše nove frustracije

and disappointments,

i razočaranja, tipična za srednji sloj,

and we feel like millionaires.

i osjećamo se poput milijunaša.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)