Mac Barnett: Why a good book is a secret door

Prevodilac: Ivana Krivokuća Lektor: Mile Živković

Hi everybody. So my name is Mac.

Zdravo svima. Zovem se Mek.

My job is that I lie to children,

Moj posao je da lažem decu,

but they're honest lies.

ali to su iskrene laži.

I write children's books,

Pišem knjige za decu,

and there's a quote from Pablo Picasso,

i ima jedan citat Pabla Pikasa:

"We all know that Art is not truth.

"Svi mi znamo da umetnost nije istina.

Art is a lie that makes us realize truth

Umetnost je laž koja čini da shvatimo istinu

or at least the truth that is given us to understand.

ili makar istinu koja nam je data da je razumemo.

The artist must know the manner whereby

Umetnik mora znati način pomoću koga

to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies."

će ubediti druge u istinitost njegovih laži."

I first heard this when I was a kid,

Prvi put sam ovo čuo kada sam bio dete,

and I loved it,

i svidelo mi se,

but I had no idea what it meant.

ali nisam imao pojma šta je značilo.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

So I thought, you know what, it's what I'm here

Pa sam pomislio, znate šta, zbog toga sam ovde

to talk to you today about, though,

da govorim sa vama

truth and lies, fiction and reality.

o istini i lažima, fikciji i stvarnosti.

So how could I untangle

Kako bih mogao da razmrsim

this knotted bunch of sentences?

ovu zamršenu gomilu rečenica?

And I said, I've got PowerPoint. Let's do a Venn diagram.

I rekao sam, imam PowerPoint. Hajde da uradimo Venov dijagram.

["Truth. Lies."] (Laughter)

["Istina. Laži."] (Smeh)

So there it is, right there, boom.

Dakle eto ga, upravo ovde, bum.

We've got truth and lies

Imamo istinu i laži

and then there's this little space,

i zatim tu je ovaj mali prostor,

the edge, in the middle.

ivica, u sredini.

That liminal space, that's art.

Taj liminalni prostor, to je umetnost.

All right. Venn diagram. (Laughter) (Applause)

U redu. Venov dijagram. (Smeh) (Aplauz)

But that's actually not very helpful either.

Ali ni to zapravo nije mnogo od pomoći.

The thing that made me understand

Ono što je učinilo da razumem

that quote and really kind of what art,

taj citat i kakva je u stvari umetnost,

at least the art of fiction, was,

ili bar umetnost fikcije,

was working with kids.

jeste rad sa decom.

I used to be a summer camp counselor.

Nekada sam bio savetnik letnjeg kampa.

I would do it on my summers off from college,

Radio bih to u leto kada sam bio na koledžu,

and I loved it.

i obožavao sam to.

It was a sports summer camp

Bio je to sportski letnji kamp

for four- to six-year-olds.

za decu od 4 do 6 godina.

I was in charge of the four-year-olds,

Bio sam zadužen za četvorogodišnjake,

which is good, because

što je dobro, jer

four-year-olds can't play sports, and neither can I.

četvorogodišnjaci ne umeju da igraju sportske igre, a ne umem ni ja.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

I play sports at a four-year-old level,

Igram sportske igre na nivou četvorogodišnjaka,

so what would happen is the kids would

tako da bi deca driblala

dribble around some cones, and then got hot,

oko nekih čunjeva, i onda bi im bilo vruće,

and then they would go sit underneath the tree

i zatim bi seli ispod drveta

where I was already sitting — (Laughter) —

gde sam ja već sedeo - (Smeh) -

and I would just make up stories and tell them to them

i ja bih izmišljao priče i pričao im ih

and I would tell them stories about my life.

i pričao bih im priče o svom životu.

I would tell them about how, on the weekends,

Pričao bih im kako bih, vikendima,

I would go home and I would spy for the Queen of England.

odlazio kući i špijunirao za kraljicu Engleske.

And soon, other kids

I uskoro, druga deca

who weren't even in my group of kids,

koja nisu čak ni bila u mojoj grupi,

they would come up to me, and they would say,

dolazili bi kod mene, i rekli bi:

"You're Mac Barnett, right?

"Ti si Mek Barnet, zar ne?

You're the guy who spies for the Queen of England."

Ti si tip koji špijunira za kraljicu Engleske."

And I had been waiting my whole life for strangers

Čekao sam čitavog života da nepoznati priđu

to come up and ask me that question.

i postave mi to pitanje.

In my fantasy, they were svelte Russian women,

U mojoj fantaziji, to su bile vitke Ruskinje,

but, you know, four-year-olds —

ali, znate, četvorogodišnjaci -

you take what you can get in Berkeley, California.

uzimaš šta ti se pruža u Berkliju u Kaliforniji.

And I realized that the stories that I was telling

Shvatio sam da su priče koje sam pričao

were real in this way that was familiar to me

bile stvarne na način koji mi je bio poznat

and really exciting.

i zaista uzbudljiv.

I think the pinnacle of this for me — I'll never forget this —

Mislim da je vrhunac ovoga za mene - nikada neću zaboraviti ovo -

there was this little girl named Riley. She was tiny,

tu je bila devojčica po imenu Rajli. Bila je malena,

and she used to always take out her lunch every day

i uvek je imala običaj da ruča napolju

and she would throw out her fruit.

i da baca svoje voće.

She would just take her fruit,

Samo bi uzela svoje voće,

her mom packed her a melon every day,

mama bi joj spakovala dinju svakog dana,

and she would just throw it in the ivy

a ona bi je bacila u bršljen

and then she would eat fruit snacks

i zatim bi jela voćne grickalice

and pudding cups, and I was like, "Riley,

i puding, a ja sam govorio:

you can't do that, you have to eat the fruit."

"Rajli, ne možeš to da radiš, moraš da jedeš voće."

And she was like, "Why?"

A ona je rekla: "Zašto?"

And I was like, "Well, when you throw the fruit in the ivy,

Ja sam kazao: "Pa, kada bacaš voće u bršljen,

pretty soon, it's going to be overgrown with melons,"

uskoro će potpuno da obraste lubenicama,"

which is why I think I ended up

zbog čega mislim da sam na kraju

telling stories to children and not being a nutritionist for children.

pričao priče deci a nisam postao nutricionista za decu.

And so Riley was like, "That will never happen.

Rajli je rekla: "To se nikada neće dogoditi.

That's not going to happen."

To se neće dogoditi."

And so, on the last day of camp,

I tako, poslednjeg dana kampa,

I got up early and I got a big cantaloupe

ustao sam rano i kupio veliku dinju

from the grocery store

u prodavnici

and I hid it in the ivy,

i sakrio je u bršljenu,

and then at lunchtime, I was like,

i zatim u vreme ručka rekao:

"Riley, why don't you go over there and see what you've done."

"Rajli, zašto ne odeš tamo i vidiš šta si učinila."

And — (Laughter) —

I - (Smeh) -

she went trudging through the ivy, and then her eyes

ona se provukla kroz bršljen, i onda su njene oči

just got so wide, and she pointed out this melon

postale tako velike i pokazala je dinju

that was bigger than her head,

koja je bila veća od njene glave,

and then all the kids ran over there and rushed around her,

i sva deca su potrčala tamo i pohitala oko nje,

and one of the kids was like, "Hey,

a neko od dece reče:

why is there a sticker on this?"

"Hej, zašto je nalepnica na ovome?"

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

And I was like, "That is also why I say

A ja sam rekao: "Baš zbog toga sam govorio

do not throw your stickers in the ivy.

da ne bacate ni svoje nalepnice u bršljen.

Put them in the trash can. It ruins nature when you do this."

Ubacite ih u kantu za smeće. Uništavate prirodu kada to radite."

And Riley carried that melon around with her all day,

Rajli je nosala tu dinju sa sobom čitavog dana,

and she was so proud.

i bila je tako ponosna.

And Riley knew she didn't grow a melon in seven days,

Rajli je znala da nije uzgajila dinju za sedam dana,

but she also knew that she did,

ali je takođe znala da jeste,

and it's a weird place,

i to je čudno mesto,

but it's not just a place that kids can get to.

ali tamo ne dospevaju samo deca.

It's anything. Art can get us to that place.

To je bilo šta. Umetnost nas može odvesti na to mesto.

She was right in that place in the middle,

Ona je bila upravo na tom središnjem mestu,

that place which you could call art or fiction.

na tom mestu koje biste mogli nazvati umetnost ili fikcija.

I'm going to call it wonder.

Ja ću ga zvati čuđenje.

It's what Coleridge called the willing suspension of disbelief

To je ono što je Kolridž nazvao voljnom suspenzijom neverice

or poetic faith,

ili poetičnom verom,

for those moments where a story, no matter how strange,

te trenutke gde priča, ma kako čudna,

has some semblance of the truth,

ima nešto sličnosti sa istinom,

and then you're able to believe it.

i tada ste u stanju da verujete u nju.

It's not just kids who can get there.

Ne dospevaju samo deca tamo.

Adults can too, and we get there when we read.

Odrasli mogu takođe, a tamo stižemo kada čitamo.

It's why in two days, people will be

Zato će se dva dana ljudi

descending on Dublin to take the walking tour

navaliti na Dablin da bi krenuli na pešačku turu

of Bloomsday and see everything that happened in "Ulysses,"

Blumsdeja i videli sve što se dogodilo u "Uliksu",

even though none of that happened.

iako se ništa od toga nije dogodilo.

Or people go to London and they visit Baker Street

Ili kad ljudi idu u London i posećuju ulicu Bejker

to see Sherlock Holmes' apartment,

da vide stan Šerloka Holmsa,

even though 221B is just a number that was painted

iako je 221B samo broj koji je oslikan

on a building that never actually had that address.

na zgradi koja nikada zapravo nije imala tu adresu.

We know these characters aren't real,

Mi znamo da ti likovi nisu stvarni,

but we have real feelings about them,

ali imamo stvarna osećanja prema njima,

and we're able to do that.

i u stanju smo da to činimo.

We know these characters aren't real,

Znamo da ti likovi nisu stvarni,

and yet we also know that they are.

a ipak takođe znamo da jesu.

Kids can get there a lot more easily than adults can,

Deca mogu da stignu tamo mnogo lakše nego odrasli,

and that's why I love writing for kids.

i zato volim da pišem za decu.

I think kids are the best audience

Mislim da su deca najbolja publika

for serious literary fiction.

za ozbiljnu književnu fikciju.

When I was a kid,

Kada sam bio dete,

I was obsessed with secret door novels,

bio sam opsednut romanima sa tajnim vratima,

things like "Narnia,"

stvarima kao što je "Narnija",

where you would open a wardrobe and go through to a magical land.

gde biste otvorili orman i otišli u čarobnu zemlju.

And I was convinced that secret doors really did exist

I bio sam ubeđen da tajna vrata zaista postoje

and I would look for them and try to go through them.

i tragao bih za njima i pokušavao da ih pronađem.

I wanted to live and cross over into that fictional world, which is —

Želeo sam da živim i pređem u taj izmišljeni svet, a to je -

I would always just open people's closet doors. (Laughter)

uvek bih ljudima otvarao vrata plakara. (Smeh)

I would just go through my mom's boyfriend's closet,

Prošao bih kroz plakar dečka moje mame,

and there was not a secret magical land there.

a tamo nije bilo tajne čarobne zemlje.

There was some other weird stuff that I think my mom should know about.

Tamo je bilo nekih drugih čudnih stvari za koje mislim

(Laughter)

da je moja mama trebalo da zna. (Smeh)

And I was happy to tell her all about it.

I bilo mi je drago da joj ispričam sve o tome.

After college, my first job was working

Posle koledža, moj prvi posao je bio da radim

behind one of these secret doors.

iza jednih od tih tajnih vrata.

This is a place called 826 Valencia.

Ovo je mesto zvano 826 Valensija.

It's at 826 Valencia Street

Nalazi se na adresi 826 Valensija

in the Mission in San Francisco,

u Misiji u San Francisku,

and when I worked there, there was a publishing company

i kada sam radio tamo, postojala je izdavačka kompanija

headquartered there called McSweeney's,

sa sedištem tamo po imenu Meksviniz,

a nonprofit writing center called 826 Valencia,

neprofitni spisateljski centar zvani 826 Valensija,

but then the front of it

ali ispred njega

was a strange shop.

je bila čudna radnja.

You see, this place was zoned retail,

Vidite, to mesto je bilo u zoni maloprodaje,

and in San Francisco, they were not going to give us a variance,

a u San Francisku nisu hteli da nam dopuste odstupanje,

and so the writer who founded it, a writer named Dave Eggers,

i tako je pisac koji ga je osnovao, pisac po imenu Dejv Egers,

to come into compliance with code, he said, "Fine,

da bi bio u skladu sa propisima, rekao:

I'm just going to build a pirate supply store."

"Dobro, moraću da napravim piratsku radnju za snabdevanje."

And that's what he did. (Laughter)

I to je i učinio. (Smeh)

And it's beautiful. It's all wood.

Prelepa je. Skroz je u drvetu.

There's drawers you can pull out and get citrus

Ima fioka koje možete da izvučete i uzmete citruse

so you don't get scurvy.

kako ne biste dobili skorbut.

They have eyepatches in lots of colors,

Imaju poveze za oko u mnogim bojama,

because when it's springtime, pirates want to go wild.

jer kada je prolećno doba, pirati žele da divljaju.

You don't know. Black is boring. Pastel.

Ne znate vi. Crno je dosadno. Pastelno.

Or eyes, also in lots of colors,

Ili oči, takođe mnogo boja,

just glass eyes, depending on how you want

staklenih očiju, u zavisnosti od toga

to deal with that situation.

kako želite da se bavite situacijom.

And the store, strangely,

I radnja, čudno,

people came to them and bought things,

ljudi su dolazili i kupovali stvari,

and they ended up paying the rent

i na kraju su platili kiriju

for our tutoring center, which was behind it,

za nas tutorski centar, koji je bio iza,

but to me, more important was the fact

ali za mene, važnija je bila činjenica

that I think the quality of work you do,

što mislim da kvalitet posla koji obavljate,

kids would come and get instruction in writing,

deca bi dolazila i dobijala uputstva o pisanju,

and when you have to walk this weird, liminal, fictional space like this to go do your writing,

a kada treba da hodate ovim čudnim, liminalnim, izmišljenim prostorom

it's going to affect the kind of work that you make.

da biste pisali, to će imati uticaja na vrstu posla koji obavljate.

It's a secret door that you can walk through.

To su tajna vrata kroz koja možete proći.

So I ran the 826 in Los Angeles,

Vodio sam 826 u Los Anđelesu,

and it was my job to build the store down there.

i moj posao je bio da napravim prodavnicu tamo.

So we have The Echo Park Time Travel Mart.

Tako smo dobili Eho park market za putovanje kroz vreme.

That's our motto: "Whenever you are, we're already then."

To je naš moto: "Kad god ste vi, mi smo već tada."

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

And it's on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.

Nalazi se na Bulevaru Sanset u Los Anđelesu.

Our friendly staff is ready to help you.

Naše prijateljsko osoblje je spremno da vam pomogne.

They're from all eras,

Oni su iz svih era,

including just the 1980s, that guy on the end,

uključujući 1980-e, onaj tip na kraju,

he's from the very recent past.

on je iz vrlo skorašnje prošlosti.

There's our Employees of the Month,

Evo naših radnika meseca,

including Genghis Khan, Charles Dickens.

uključujići Džingis Kana, Čarlsa Dikensa.

Some great people have come up through our ranks.

Neki od velikih ljudi su prošli kroz naše redove.

This is our kind of pharmacy section.

Ovo je naša vrsta farmaceutske sekcije.

We have some patent medicines,

Imamo neke patentirane lekove,

Canopic jars for your organs,

kanopske vaze za vaše organe,

communist soap that says,

komunistički sapun na kome piše:

"This is your soap for the year." (Laughter)

"Ovo je vaš sapun za ovu godinu." (Smeh)

Our slushy machine broke

Naša mašina za sladoled se pokvarila

on the opening night and we didn't know what to do.

u noći otvaranja i nismo znali šta da radimo.

Our architect was covered in red syrup.

Naš arhitekta je bio prekriven crvenim sirupom.

It looked like he had just murdered somebody,

Izgledalo je kao da je upravo ubio nekoga,

which it was not out of the question

što ne bi bilo neverovatno

for this particular architect,

za ovog konkretnog arhitektu,

i nismo znali šta da radimo.

and we didn't know what to do.

To je trebalo da bude vrhunac naše radnje.

It was going to be the highlight of our store.

So we just put that sign on it that said,

Tako da smo stavili znak na kome je pisalo:

"Out of order. Come back yesterday." (Laughter)

"U kvaru. Vratite se juče." (Smeh)

And that ended up being a better joke than slushies,

I to je na kraju bila još bolja šala od sladoleda,

so we just left it there forever.

pa smo ga ostavili tu za stalno.

Mammoth Chunks. These things weigh, like, seven pounds each.

Mamut u komadima. Teži oko 3 kg svaka.

Barbarian repellent. It's full of salad

Sprej za odbijanje varvara. Pun je salate

and potpourri — things that barbarians hate.

i potpurija - stvari koje varvari mrze.

Dead languages.

Mrtvi jezici.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Leeches, nature's tiny doctors.

Pijavice, mali doktori prirode.

And Viking Odorant, which comes in lots of great scents:

I vikinški dezodoransi, dostupni u mnogo sjajnih mirisa:

toenails, sweat and rotten vegetables, pyre ash.

nokti na nožnim prstima, gnjecavo i trulo povrće, pepeo sa lomače.

Because we believe that Axe Body Spray

Zato što verujemo da je Aks dezodorans

is something that you should only find on the battlefield,

nešto što bi trebalo da nađete samo na bojnom polju,

not under your arms. (Laughter)

a ne pod svojim rukama.

And these are robot emotion chips,

A ovo su robotski čipovi za emocije,

so robots can feel love or fear.

kako bi roboti mogli da osete ljubav ili strah.

Our biggest seller is Schadenfreude,

Najviše se prodaje Zluradost,

which we did not expect.

što nismo očekivali.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

We did not think that was going to happen.

Nismo mislili da će se to dogoditi.

Ali neprofitna organizacija je iza,

But there's a nonprofit behind it,

i deca prolaze kroz vrata na kojima piše: "Samo za zaposlene"

and kids go through a door that says "Employees Only"

and they end up in this space

i dospevaju na mesto

where they do homework and write stories

gde rade domaće zadatke i pišu priče

and make films and this is a book release party

i prave filmove i ovo je žurka povodom promocije knjige

where kids will read.

gde deca čitaju.

There's a quarterly that's published

Postoji tromesečnik u kome se objavljuju

with just writing that's done by the kids

samo dela koja su pisala deca

who come every day after school,

koja dolaze svakog dana posle škole,

and we have release parties

i imamo promotivne žurke

and they eat cake and read for their parents

i oni jedu tortu i čitaju svojim roditeljima

and drink milk out of champagne glasses.

i piju mleko iz čaša za šampanjac.

And it's a very special space,

I to je veoma posebno mesto,

because it's this weird space in the front.

jer je ovo čudno mesto ispred.

The joke isn't a joke.

Šala nije šala.

You can't find the seams on the fiction,

Ne možete naći šupljine u fikciji,

and I love that. It's this little bit of fiction

i obožavam to. To malo fikcije

that's colonized the real world.

je kolonizovalo stvarni svet.

I see it as kind of a book in three dimensions.

Ja to vidim kao knjigu u tri dimenzije.

There's a term called metafiction,

Postoji termin metafikcija,

and that's just stories about stories,

i to su priče o pričama,

i sada je metafikcija popularna.

and meta's having a moment now.

Its last big moment was probably in the 1960s

Njen poslednji veliki momenat je bio verovatno u 1960-im

with novelists like John Barth and William Gaddis,

sa romanopiscima kao što je Džon Bart i Vilijem Gedis,

but it's been around.

ali uvek je bila tu negde.

It's almost as old as storytelling itself.

Skoro da je stara kao samo pripovedanje.

And one metafictive technique

I jedna tehnika metafikcije

is breaking the fourth wall. Right?

narušava granicu između fikcije i stvarnosti. Zar ne?

It's when an actor will turn to the audience

To je kada se glumac okrene ka publici

and say, "I am an actor,

i kaže: "Ja sam glumac,

these are just rafters."

ovi su samo splavari."

And even that supposedly honest moment,

Čak i taj navodno iskreni trenutak,

I would argue, is in service of the lie,

tvrdio bih, u službi je laži,

but it's supposed to foreground the artificiality

a trebalo bi da stavi u prvi plan

of the fiction.

lažnost fikcije.

For me, I kind of prefer the opposite.

Što se mene tiče, ja preferiram suprotno.

If I'm going to break down the fourth wall,

Ako ću narušiti tu granicu,,

I want fiction to escape

hoću da fikcija izađe

and come into the real world.

i istupi u stvarni svet.

I want a book to be a secret door that opens

Želim da knjiga bude tajni prolaz koji se otvara

and lets the stories out into reality.

i pušta priče u stvarnost.

And so I try to do this in my books.

Pokušavam da to uradim u svojim knjigama.

And here's just one example.

Evo jednog primera.

This is the first book that I ever made.

Ovo je prva knjiga koju sam ikada napravio.

It's called "Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem."

Zove se "Bili Tviters i njegov problem sa plavim kitom".

And it's about a kid who gets a blue whale as a pet

Radi se o detetu koje dobija plavog kita za ljubimca

but it's a punishment

ali to je kazna

and it ruins his life.

i uništi njegov život.

So it's delivered overnight by FedUp.

Dostavlja ga preko noći FedUp.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

And he has to take it to school with him.

I mora da ga vodi u školu sa sobom.

He lives in San Francisco —

On živi u San Francisku -

very tough city to own a blue whale in.

veoma nezgodnom gradu za čuvanje plavog kita.

A lot of hills, real estate is at a premium.

Dosta brda, nekretnine su skupe.

This market's crazy, everybody.

Na tržištu je ludilo, narode.

But underneath the jacket is this case,

Ali ispod omota je ovo umetnuto,

and that's the cover underneath the book, the jacket,

a to je korica ispod knjige, omota,

and there's an ad

i tu je oglas

that offers a free 30-day risk-free trial

koji nudi besplatnu probu 30 dana bez rizika

for a blue whale.

za plavog kita.

And you can just send in a self-addressed stamped envelope

Možete poslati odštampani koverat adresiran na sebe

and we'll send you a whale.

a mi ćemo vam poslati kita.

And kids do write in.

Deca zaista pišu.

So here's a letter. It says, "Dear people,

Evo pisma. Kaže: "Dragi ljudi,

I bet you 10 bucks you won't send me a blue whale.

kladim se u 10 dolara da mi nećete poslati plavog kita.

Eliot Gannon (age 6)."

Eliot Genon (6 godina)."

(Laughter) (Applause)

(Smeh) (Aplauz)

So what Eliot and the other kids

Ono šta Eliot i druga deca

who send these in get back

koja to šalju dobiju nazad

is a letter in very small print from a Norwegian law firm —

jeste pismo sa vrlo sitnim slovima iz norveške pravne firme --

(Laughter) —

(Smeh) --

that says that due to a change in customs laws,

u kome stoji da je zbog izmene carinskih zakona

their whale has been held up in Sognefjord,

njihov kit zadržan u Sonjefjordu,

which is a very lovely fjord,

koji je veoma lep fjord,

and then it just kind of talks about Sognefjord

i zatim samo govori o Sonjefjordu

and Norwegian food for a little while. It digresses.

i norveškoj hrani neko vreme. Pravi digresiju.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

But it finishes off by saying that

Ali završava se tako što navodi

your whale would love to hear from you.

da bi kit voleo da se čuje sa vama.

He's got a phone number,

On ima telefonski broj,

and you can call and leave him a message.

i možete pozvati i ostaviti mu poruku.

And when you call and leave him a message,

A kada pozovete i ostavite mu poruku,

you just, on the outgoing message,

na odlaznoj poruci,

it's just whale sounds and then a beep,

čuju se zvuci kita i zatim bip,

which actually sounds a lot like a whale sound.

koji zapravo dosta podseća na zvuk kita.

And they get a picture of their whale too.

I takođe dobiju sliku svog kita.

So this is Randolph,

Ovo je Rendolf,

and Randolph belongs to a kid named Nico

i on pripada detetu po imenu Niko

who was one of the first kids to ever call in,

koji se među prvima javio,

and I'll play you some of Nico's message.

i pustiću vam neke od Nikovih poruka.

This is the first message I ever got from Nico.

Ovo je prva poruka koju sam dobio od Nika.

(Audio) Nico: Hello, this is Nico.

(Audio) Niko: Zdravo, ovde Niko.

I am your owner, Randolph. Hello.

Ja sam tvoj vlasnik, Rendolfe. Zdravo.

So this is the first time I can ever talk to you,

Ovo je prvi put da mogu da razgovaram sa tobom,

and I might talk to you soon another day. Bye.

a možda ću moći uskoro da pričam sa tobom drugog dana. Ćao.

Mac Barnett: So Nico called back, like, an hour later.

Mek Barnet: Niko je ponovo pozvao, nekih sat vremena kasnije.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

And here's another one of Nico's messages.

Evo još jedne od Nikovih poruka.

(Audio) Nico: Hello, Randolph, this is Nico.

(Audio) Niko: Zdravo Rendolfe, ovde Niko.

I haven't talked to you for a long time,

Nisam dugo pričao sa tobom,

but I talked to you on Saturday or Sunday,

ali sam pričao sa tobom u subotu ili nedelju,

yeah, Saturday or Sunday,

da, subotu ili nedelju,

so now I'm calling you again

pa te sad ponovo zovem

to say hello and I wonder what you're doing right now,

da se javim i pitam se šta sada radiš,

and I'm going to probably call you again

i verovatno ću te zvati ponovo

tomorrow or today,

sutra ili danas,

so I'll talk to you later. Bye.

tako da ću pričati sa tobom kasnije. Ćao.

MB: So he did, he called back that day again.

MB: I jeste, pozvao je ponovo tog dana.

He's left over 25 messages for Randolph

Ostavio je preko 25 poruka za Rendolfa

over four years.

tokom četiri godine.

You find out all about him

Saznate sve o njemu

and the grandma that he loves

i baki koju voli

and the grandma that he likes a little bit less —

i baki koja mu se sviđa malo manje -

(Laughter) —

(Smeh) -

and the crossword puzzles that he does,

i ukrštenicama kojima se bavi,

and this is — I'll play you one more message from Nico.

i ovo je - pustiću vam još jednu poruku od Nika.

This is the Christmas message from Nico.

Ovo je Božićna poruka od Nika.

[Beep] (Audio) Nico: Hello, Randolph,

[Bip] (Audio) Niko: Zdravo Rendolfe,

sorry I haven't talked to you in a long time.

izvini što dugo nisam pričao sa tobom.

It's just that I've been so busy

Bio sam toliko zauzet

because school started,

jer je škola počela,

as you might not know, probably,

što ti verovatno ne znaš,

since you're a whale, you don't know,

pošto si kit, ne znaš,

and I'm calling you to just say,

i zovem te samo da kažem,

to wish you a merry Christmas.

da ti poželim srećan Božić.

So have a nice Christmas,

Želim ti lep Božić,

and bye-bye, Randolph. Goodbye.

i ćao-ćao Rendolfe. Zbogom.

MB: I actually got Nico,

MB: Zapravo sam dobio Nika,

I hadn't heard from in 18 months,

nisam ga čuo 18 meseci,

and he just left a message two days ago.

i upravo je ostavio poruku pre dva dana.

His voice is completely different,

Njegov glas je potpuno drugačiji,

but he put his babysitter on the phone,

ali je dao bebisiterki telefon,

and she was very nice to Randolph as well.

a i ona je bila veoma fina prema Rendolfu.

But Nico's the best reader I could hope for.

Ali Niko je najbolji čitalac kome sam se mogao nadati.

I would want anyone I was writing for

Želeo bih da svi za koje sam pisao

to be in that place emotionally

budu emotivno na tom mestu

with the things that I create.

sa stvarima koje kreiram.

I feel lucky. Kids like Nico are the best readers,

Osećam se srećnim. Deca kao što je Niko su najbolji čitaoci,

and they deserve the best stories we can give them.

i zaslužuju najbolje priče koje im možemo dati.

Thank you very much.

Hvala vam puno.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)