The healing power of reading | Michelle Kuo

Prevodilac: Milenka Okuka Lektor: Ivana Krivokuća

I want to talk today about how reading can change our lives

Danas želim da govorim o tome kako čitanje može da nam promeni život,

and about the limits of that change.

kao i o granicama te promene.

I want to talk to you about how reading can give us a shareable world

Želim da vam govorim o tome kako čitanje može da nam podari zajednički svet

of powerful human connection.

snažne ljudske povezanosti.

But also about how that connection is always partial.

Međutim, i o tome kako je ta veza uvek delimična.

How reading is ultimately a lonely, idiosyncratic undertaking.

Kako je čitanje, naposletku, usamljen, individualan poduhvat.

The writer who changed my life

Pisac koji mi je promenio život

was the great African American novelist James Baldwin.

je veliki afričkoamerički romanopisac Džejms Boldvin.

When I was growing up in Western Michigan in the 1980s,

Dok sam odrastala u zapadnom Mičigenu tokom 1980-ih,

there weren't many Asian American writers interested in social change.

nije bilo mnogo azijskoameričkih pisaca zainteresovanih za društvene promene.

And so I think I turned to James Baldwin

Zato mislim da sam se okrenula Džejmsu Boldvinu

as a way to fill this void, as a way to feel racially conscious.

kako bih ispunila prazninu, kako bih bila rasno osvešćena.

But perhaps because I knew I wasn't myself African American,

Međutim, možda zato što sam znala da nisam Afroamerikanka,

I also felt challenged and indicted by his words.

njegove reči su me izazivale i osuđivale.

Especially these words:

Naročito ove reči:

"There are liberals who have all the proper attitudes,

„Postoje liberali sa potpuno ispravnim stavovima,

but no real convictions.

ali bez stvarnih ubeđenja.

When the chips are down and you somehow expect them to deliver,

Kada karte padnu na sto i nekako se ponadate se da će da deluju,

they are somehow not there."

oni se nekako izgube.“

They are somehow not there.

Nekako se izgube.

I took those words very literally.

Ove sam reči shvatila krajnje bukvalno.

Where should I put myself?

Gde da se smestim?

I went to the Mississippi Delta,

Otišla sam u Deltu Misisipija,

one of the poorest regions in the United States.

jednu od najsiromašnijih oblasti u Sjedinjenim Državama.

This is a place shaped by a powerful history.

To su mesto oblikovale jake sile istorije.

In the 1960s, African Americans risked their lives to fight for education,

Tokom 1960-ih, Afroamerikanci su rizikovali živote

da bi se izborili za obrazovanje,

to fight for the right to vote.

da bi se izborili za pravo glasa.

I wanted to be a part of that change,

Želela sam da budem deo te promene,

to help young teenagers graduate and go to college.

da pomognem tinejdžerima da maturiraju i da se upišu na fakultet.

When I got to the Mississippi Delta,

Kada sam stigla u Deltu Misisipija,

it was a place that was still poor,

mesto je i dalje bilo siromašno,

still segregated,

i dalje rasno podeljeno,

still dramatically in need of change.

i dalje je čeznulo za promenom.

My school, where I was placed,

Moja škola, u koju sam smeštena,

had no library, no guidance counselor,

nije imala biblioteku, nije imala pedagoga,

but it did have a police officer.

ali je imala policajca.

Half the teachers were substitutes

Polovina nastavnika su bili zamene,

and when students got into fights,

a kada bi se đaci potukli,

the school would send them to the local county jail.

škola ih je slala u lokalni okružni pritvor.

This is the school where I met Patrick.

Ovo je škola u kojoj sam upoznala Patrika.

He was 15 and held back twice, he was in the eighth grade.

Imao je 15 godina i dva puta je ponavljao, pohađao je osmi razred.

He was quiet, introspective,

Bio je tih, introspektivan,

like he was always in deep thought.

kao da je uvek duboko zamišljen.

And he hated seeing other people fight.

I mrzeo je da gleda druge ljude kako se svađaju.

I saw him once jump between two girls when they got into a fight

Videla sam ga jednom kako upada između dve devojke koje su se potukle,

and he got himself knocked to the ground.

i oboren je na zemlju zbog toga.

Patrick had just one problem.

Patrik je imao samo jedan problem.

He wouldn't come to school.

Nije dolazio u školu.

He said that sometimes school was just too depressing

Rekao je da ga škola ponekad prosto suviše deprimira

because people were always fighting and teachers were quitting.

jer se ljudi stalno tuku, a nastavnici daju otkaz.

And also, his mother worked two jobs and was just too tired to make him come.

A i njegova majka je radila dva posla

i prosto je bila suviše umorna da ga natera da dođe.

So I made it my job to get him to come to school.

Pa je to postala moja obaveza da ga navedem da dođe u školu.

And because I was crazy and 22 and zealously optimistic,

Kako sam bila luda 22-godišnjakinja i žarki optimista,

my strategy was just to show up at his house

strategija mi je bila samo da se pojavim kod njega kući

and say, "Hey, why don't you come to school?"

i kažem: „Hej, zašto ne bi došao u školu?“

And this strategy actually worked,

A ova strategija je zapravo delovala,

he started to come to school every day.

počeo je svakodnevno da dolazi u školu.

And he started to flourish in my class.

I počeo je da blista na mom času.

He was writing poetry, he was reading books.

Pisao je poeziju, čitao knjige.

He was coming to school every day.

Dolazio je u školu svakodnevno.

Around the same time

Otprilike u isto vreme

that I had figured out how to connect to Patrick,

kad sam shvatila kako da se povežem s Patrikom,

I got into law school at Harvard.

primljena sam na pravo na Harvardu.

I once again faced this question, where should I put myself,

Još jednom sam se suočila s pitanjem na koje mesto da se stavim,

where do I put my body?

na koje mesto da stavim svoje telo?

And I thought to myself

I pomislila sam u sebi

that the Mississippi Delta was a place where people with money,

kako je Delta Misisipija mesto na kom ljudi sa novcem,

people with opportunity,

ljudi koji imaju šanse,

those people leave.

da ti ljudi odlaze.

And the people who stay behind

A ljudi koji ostaju

are the people who don't have the chance to leave.

su ljudi koji nemaju šansu da odu.

I didn't want to be a person who left.

Nisam želela da budem osoba koja je otišla.

I wanted to be a person who stayed.

Želela sam da budem osoba koja je ostala.

On the other hand, I was lonely and tired.

S druge strane, bila sam usamljena i umorna.

And so I convinced myself that I could do more change

Pa sam ubedila samu sebe da mogu da donesem veće promene,

on a larger scale if I had a prestigious law degree.

većeg obima ako steknem prestižnu pravnu diplomu.

So I left.

Pa sam otišla.

Three years later,

Tri godine kasnije,

when I was about to graduate from law school,

kada je trebalo da diplomiram pravo,

my friend called me

nazvao me je prijatelj

and told me that Patrick had got into a fight and killed someone.

i rekao mi je da se Patrik potukao s nekim i da je ubio nekoga.

I was devastated.

Bila sam razorena.

Part of me didn't believe it,

Deo mene nije verovao u to,

but part of me also knew that it was true.

ali deo mene je takođe znao da je to istina.

I flew down to see Patrick.

Odletela sam da vidim Patrika.

I visited him in jail.

Posetila sam ga u zatvoru.

And he told me that it was true.

I rekao mi je da to jeste istina.

That he had killed someone.

Da je ubio nekoga.

And he didn't want to talk more about it.

I nije želeo više da govori o tome.

I asked him what had happened with school

Upitala sam ga šta se desilo sa školom,

and he said that he had dropped out the year after I left.

a on je odgovorio da se ispisao godinu dana nakon što sam otišla.

And then he wanted to tell me something else.

A potom je želeo da mi kaže još nešto.

He looked down and he said that he had had a baby daughter

Pogledao je u pod i rekao da ima kćerkicu

who was just born.

koja se tek rodila.

And he felt like he had let her down.

I da oseća kako ju je izneverio.

That was it, our conversation was rushed and awkward.

To je bilo to, naš razgovor je bio zbrzan i nezgrapan.

When I stepped outside the jail, a voice inside me said,

Kada sam zakoračila iz zatvora, glas u meni je govorio:

"Come back.

„Vrati se,

If you don't come back now, you'll never come back."

ako se sad ne vratiš, nikad se više nećeš vratiti.“

So I graduated from law school and I went back.

Pa sam diplomirala pravo i vratila se.

I went back to see Patrick,

Otišla sam da posetim Patrika,

I went back to see if I could help him with his legal case.

vratila sam se da vidim da li mogu da mu pomognem u pravnom smislu.

And this time, when I saw him a second time,

A ovaj put, kad sam ga videla drugi put,

I thought I had this great idea, I said,

pomislila sam kako imam sjajnu ideju, rekla sam:

"Hey, Patrick, why don't you write a letter to your daughter,

„Hej, Patriče, zašto ne napišeš pismo svojoj kćerci

so that you can keep her on your mind?"

kako bi ti bila na pameti?“

And I handed him a pen and a piece of paper,

I dodala sam mu olovku i parče papira,

and he started to write.

a on je počeo da piše.

But when I saw the paper that he handed back to me,

Međutim, kad sam ugledala papir koji mi je vratio,

I was shocked.

bila sam zapanjena.

I didn't recognize his handwriting,

Nisam prepoznala njegov rukopis,

he had made simple spelling mistakes.

pravio je proste pravopisne greške.

And I thought to myself that as a teacher,

I pomislila sam u sebi kao nastavnik,

I knew that a student could dramatically improve

znala sam da đak može drastično da napreduje

in a very quick amount of time,

za veoma kratko vreme,

but I never thought that a student could dramatically regress.

ali nikad mi nije palo na pamet da đak može drastično da nazaduje.

What even pained me more,

A dodatno me je zabolelo

was seeing what he had written to his daughter.

ono što je napisao kćerci.

He had written,

Napisao je:

"I'm sorry for my mistakes, I'm sorry for not being there for you."

„Žao mi je zbog mojih grešaka, žao mi je što ne mogu da budem uz tebe.“

And this was all he felt he had to say to her.

A ovo je sve što je smatrao da ima da joj kaže.

And I asked myself how can I convince him that he has more to say,

I zapitala sam se kako da ga ubedim da ima više da kaže,

parts of himself that he doesn't need to apologize for.

o delovima sebe zbog kojih ne mora da se izvinjava.

I wanted him to feel

Želela sam da oseti

that he had something worthwhile to share with his daughter.

da ima nešto vredno deljenja sa svojom kćerkom.

For every day the next seven months,

Svakog dana narednih sedam meseci,

I visited him and brought books.

posećivala sam ga i donosila knjige.

My tote bag became a little library.

Moj ceger je postao malena biblioteka.

I brought James Baldwin,

Donosila sam mu Džejmsa Boldvina,

I brought Walt Whitman, C.S. Lewis.

donosila sam Volta Vitmana, K. S. Luisa.

I brought guidebooks to trees, to birds,

Donosila sam vodiče za drveće, ptice

and what would become his favorite book, the dictionary.

i knjigu koja će mu postati omiljena, rečnik.

On some days,

Nekih dana,

we would sit for hours in silence, both of us reading.

sedeli bismo satima u tišini, oboje čitajući.

And on other days,

Drugih dana bismo čitali zajedno, čitali bismo poeziju.

we would read together, we would read poetry.

We started by reading haikus, hundreds of haikus,

Započeli smo čitajući haikue, na stotine haikua,

a deceptively simple masterpiece.

varljivo prosta remek-dela.

And I would ask him, "Share with me your favorite haikus."

I zatražila bih: „Podeli sa mnom omiljene haikue.“

And some of them are quite funny.

A neki od njih su prilično smešni.

So there's this by Issa:

Ovaj je od Ise:

"Don't worry, spiders, I keep house casually."

„Ne brinite se, pauci, održavam kuću nemarno.“

And this: "Napped half the day, no one punished me!"

I ovaj: „Dremao sam pola dana, niko me nije kaznio!“

And this gorgeous one, which is about the first day of snow falling,

I ovaj prelepi, koji je o prvom snegu:

"Deer licking first frost from each other's coats."

„Jeleni ližu prvi mraz jedan drugom s krzna.“

There's something mysterious and gorgeous

Ima nešto tajanstveno i očaravajuće

just about the way a poem looks.

u samom izgledu poezije.

The empty space is as important as the words themselves.

Prazan prostor je jednako važan kao i same reči.

We read this poem by W.S. Merwin,

Čitali smo ovu pesmu od V. S. Mervina,

which he wrote after he saw his wife working in the garden

koju je napisao nakon što je ugledao suprugu kako radi u bašti

and realized that they would spend the rest of their lives together.

i kada je shvatio da će da provedu ostatak života zajedno.

"Let me imagine that we will come again

„Dozvoli da zamislim da ćemo opet biti tu

when we want to and it will be spring

kad poželimo i da biće proleće.

We will be no older than we ever were

Nećemo da budemo stariji nego što smo ikad bili.

The worn griefs will have eased like the early cloud

Izlizani bol će da popusti poput ranog oblaka

through which morning slowly comes to itself"

kroz kojeg jutro polako dolazi sebi."

I asked Patrick what his favorite line was, and he said,

Upitala sam Patrika koji mu je omiljeni stih, a on je rekao:

"We will be no older than we ever were."

„Nećemo da budemo stariji nego što smo ikad bili.“

He said it reminded him of a place where time just stops,

Rekao je kako ga podseća na mesto na kom vreme prosto stoji,

where time doesn't matter anymore.

na kom vreme više nije važno.

And I asked him if he had a place like that,

I upitala sam ga da li on ima neko slično mesto

where time lasts forever.

na kom vreme traje zauvek.

And he said, "My mother."

A on je rekao: „Moja majka.“

When you read a poem alongside someone else,

Kada čitate pesmu s nekim drugim,

the poem changes in meaning.

pesma promeni smisao.

Because it becomes personal to that person, becomes personal to you.

Jer postaje lična za tu osobu, postaje lična za vas.

We then read books, we read so many books,

Potom smo čitali knjige, pročitali smo toliko knjiga,

we read the memoir of Frederick Douglass,

pročitali smo memoare Frederika Daglasa,

an American slave who taught himself to read and write

američkog roba koji je samog sebe naučio da čita i piše

and who escaped to freedom because of his literacy.

i koji se domogao slobode zahvaljujući svojoj pismenosti.

I had grown up thinking of Frederick Douglass as a hero

Odrastala sam smatrajući Frederika Daglasa herojem

and I thought of this story as one of uplift and hope.

i ovu priču sam shvatala kao optimističnu i punu nade.

But this book put Patrick in a kind of panic.

Međutim, njegova knjiga je uspaničila Patrika.

He fixated on a story Douglass told of how, over Christmas,

Opterećivala ga je priča koju je Daglas ispričao o tome kako su za vreme Božića

masters give slaves gin

gospodari davali robovima džin

as a way to prove to them that they can't handle freedom.

kako bi im dokazali da ne mogu da podnesu slobodu.

Because slaves would be stumbling on the fields.

Jer bi se robovi teturali po poljima.

Patrick said he related to this.

Patrik je rekao kako se pronalazi u tome.

He said that there are people in jail who, like slaves,

Rekao je kako postoje ljudi u zatvoru koji, poput robova,

don't want to think about their condition,

ne žele da razmišljaju o svom usudu

because it's too painful.

jer je suviše bolan.

Too painful to think about the past,

Suviše je bolno misliti na prošlost,

too painful to think about how far we have to go.

suviše je bolno misliti o tome koliko još vremena preostaje.

His favorite line was this line:

Omiljena rečenica mu je bila sledeća:

"Anything, no matter what, to get rid of thinking!

„Bilo šta, šta god, samo da se otarasim razmišljanja!

It was this everlasting thinking of my condition that tormented me."

Trajno razmišljanje o mom usudu me je mučilo.“

Patrick said that Douglass was brave to write, to keep thinking.

Patrik je rekao kako je Daglas bio hrabar jer je pisao i nastavio da razmišlja.

But Patrick would never know how much he seemed like Douglass to me.

Međutim, Patrik nikada neće saznati koliko me je podsećao na Daglasa.

How he kept reading, even though it put him in a panic.

Jer je nastavio da čita, iako je zbog toga bio uspaničen.

He finished the book before I did,

Pročitao je knjigu pre mene,

reading it in a concrete stairway with no light.

čitajući je na betonskom stepeništu bez svetla.

And then we went on to read one of my favorite books,

A onda smo pročitali jednu od mojih omiljenih knjiga,

Marilynne Robinson's "Gilead,"

„Galad“ od Merilin Robinson,

which is an extended letter from a father to his son.

koji je prošireno pismo oca sinu.

He loved this line:

Svidela mu se ova rečenica:

"I'm writing this in part to tell you

„Pišem delimično da ti kažem

that if you ever wonder what you've done in your life ...

da, ako se ikad zapitaš šta si postigao u životu [...]

you have been God's grace to me,

za mene si bio božja milost,

a miracle, something more than a miracle."

čudo, nešto više od čuda.“

Something about this language, its love, its longing, its voice,

Nešto u vezi s ovim jezikom, ljubav, čežnja, njegov glas,

rekindled Patrick's desire to write.

probudili su u Patriku želju da piše.

And he would fill notebooks upon notebooks

I ispisivao je svesku za sveskom

with letters to his daughter.

pismima za svoju kćerku.

In these beautiful, intricate letters,

U ovim prelepim, detaljnim pismima,

he would imagine him and his daughter going canoeing down the Mississippi river.

zamišljao je sebe i kćerku kako u kanuima plove niz reku Misisipi.

He would imagine them finding a mountain stream

Zamišljao je kako pronalaze planinski potok

with perfectly clear water.

sa savršeno bistrom vodom.

As I watched Patrick write,

Dok sam posmatrala Patrika kako piše,

I thought to myself,

pomislila sam u sebi,

and I now ask all of you,

a sada pitam sve vas

how many of you have written a letter to somebody you feel you have let down?

koliko vas je napisalo pismo nekome za koga ste osećali da ste ga izneverili?

It is just much easier to put those people out of your mind.

Prosto je mnogo lakše otarasiti se svih tih ljudi iz glave.

But Patrick showed up every day, facing his daughter,

Međutim, Patrik je svakodnevno bio prisutan, suočavajući se sa kćerkom,

holding himself accountable to her,

pozivajući se na odgovornost pred njom,

word by word with intense concentration.

reč po reč, intenzivnom usredsređenošću.

I wanted in my own life

I sama sam želela u svom životu

to put myself at risk in that way.

da rizikujem na taj način.

Because that risk reveals the strength of one's heart.

Jer taj rizik otkriva snagu nečijeg srca.

Let me take a step back and just ask an uncomfortable question.

Dozvolite za trenutak da odstupim i samo da vam postavim neprijatno pitanje.

Who am I to tell this story, as in this Patrick story?

Ko sam ja da pričam ovu priču, u smislu Patrikove priče?

Patrick's the one who lived with this pain

Patrik je taj koji je živeo s ovim bolom,

and I have never been hungry a day in my life.

a ja u životu ni dana nisam gladovala.

I thought about this question a lot,

Mnogo sam razmišljala o ovom pitanju,

but what I want to say is that this story is not just about Patrick.

ali želim da kažem da ova priča nije samo o Patriku.

It's about us,

Ova priča je o nama,

it's about the inequality between us.

o nejednakosti među nama.

The world of plenty

Svet izobilja

that Patrick and his parents and his grandparents

iz kog su Patrik, njegovi roditelji i njegovi baka i deka

have been shut out of.

bili isključeni.

In this story, I represent that world of plenty.

U ovoj priči, ja predstavljam taj svet izobilja.

And in telling this story, I didn't want to hide myself.

A pripovedajući je, nisam želela da se skrivam.

Hide the power that I do have.

Da skrivam moć koju imam.

In telling this story, I wanted to expose that power

Pričajući ovu priču, želela sam da razotkrijem tu moć

and then to ask,

i da onda pitam

how do we diminish the distance between us?

kako da umanjimo razdaljine među nama.

Reading is one way to close that distance.

Čitanje je jedan od načina da se premosti ta razdaljina.

It gives us a quiet universe that we can share together,

Pruža nam tihi svemir koji možemo da delimo zajedno,

that we can share in equally.

koji možemo da delimo jednako.

You're probably wondering now what happened to Patrick.

Verovatno se sad pitate šta se desilo sa Patrikom.

Did reading save his life?

Da li mu je čitanje spasilo život?

It did and it didn't.

I jeste i nije.

When Patrick got out of prison,

Kada je Patrik izašao iz zatvora,

his journey was excruciating.

njegov put je bio iscrpljujući.

Employers turned him away because of his record,

Poslodavci su ga odbijali zbog njegovog dosijea,

his best friend, his mother, died at age 43

njegov najbolji prijatelj, njegova majka, umrla je sa 43 godine

from heart disease and diabetes.

od srčane bolesti i dijabetesa.

He's been homeless, he's been hungry.

Bio je beskućnik, bio je gladan.

So people say a lot of things about reading that feel exaggerated to me.

Dakle, ljudi govore razne stvari o čitanju koje se meni čine preteranim.

Being literate didn't stop him form being discriminated against.

Pismenost nije sprečila da ga diskriminišu.

It didn't stop his mother from dying.

Nije sprečila smrt njegove majke.

So what can reading do?

Dakle, šta čitanjem postižemo?

I have a few answers to end with today.

Imam nekoliko odgovora kojima ću danas da završim.

Reading charged his inner life

Čitanje je obogatilo njegov unutrašnji život

with mystery, with imagination,

tajanstvenošću, maštom,

with beauty.

lepotom.

Reading gave him images that gave him joy:

Čitanje mu je podarilo slike koje su ga veselile:

mountain, ocean, deer, frost.

planine, okeane, jelene, mraz.

Words that taste of a free, natural world.

Reči koje imaju ukus slobode prirodnog sveta.

Reading gave him a language for what he had lost.

Čitanje mu je podarilo jezik za ono što je izgubio.

How precious are these lines from the poet Derek Walcott?

Koliko su dragoceni ovi stihovi od pesnika Dereka Volkota?

Patrick memorized this poem.

Patrik je napamet naučio ovu pesmu.

"Days that I have held,

„Dani koje sam grlio,

days that I have lost,

dani koje sam izgubio,

days that outgrow, like daughters,

dani koji su prerasli, poput kćerki,

my harboring arms."

moje brižne ruke.“

Reading taught him his own courage.

Čitanje ga je podučilo ličnoj hrabrosti.

Remember that he kept reading Frederick Douglass,

Setite se da je nastavio da čita Frederika Dagalsa,

even though it was painful.

iako je bilo bolno.

He kept being conscious, even though being conscious hurts.

Nastavio je da bude svestan, iako svesnost boli.

Reading is a form of thinking,

Čitanje je oblik razmišljanja,

that's why it's difficult to read because we have to think.

zato je teško čitati jer moramo da razmišljamo.

And Patrick chose to think, rather than to not think.

A Patrik je odabrao da misli, a ne da ne misli.

And last, reading gave him a language to speak to his daughter.

I, konačno, čitanje mu je podarilo jezik da razgovara sa svojom kćerkom.

Reading inspired him to want to write.

Čitanje ga je inspirisalo da piše.

The link between reading and writing is so powerful.

Veza između čitanja i pisanja je toliko moćna.

When we begin to read,

Kada počnemo da čitamo,

we begin to find the words.

počinjemo da nalazimo reči.

And he found the words to imagine the two of them together.

A on je pronašao reči da zamisli njih dvoje zajedno.

He found the words

Pronašao je reči

to tell her how much he loved her.

da joj kaže koliko je voli.

Reading also changed our relationship with each other.

Čitanje je takođe izmenilo naš odnos.

It gave us an occasion for intimacy,

Pružilo nam je priliku za prisnost,

to see beyond our points of view.

da vidimo izvan naših tačaka gledišta.

And reading took an unequal relationship

I čitanje je ukinulo nejednakost

and gave us a momentary equality.

i pružilo nam trenutnu jednakost.

When you meet somebody as a reader,

Kada upoznate nekog kao čitaoca,

you meet him for the first time,

upoznajete ga prvi put,

newly, freshly.

na nov, svež način.

There is no way you can know what his favorite line will be.

Ne postoji način da znate koja će da mu bude omiljena rečenica.

What memories and private griefs he has.

Kakva sećanja i lični bol nosi.

And you face the ultimate privacy of his inner life.

I suočavate se sa krajnjom privatnošću njegovog unutrašnjeg života.

And then you start to wonder, "Well, what is my inner life made of?

A onda počinjete da se pitate: „Pa, od čega je sačinjen moj unutrašnji život?

What do I have that's worthwhile to share with another?"

Šta ja to posedujem što je vredno deljenja s drugima?“

I want to close

Želim da završim

on some of my favorite lines from Patrick's letters to his daughter.

nekim od meni omiljenih rečenica iz Patrikovih pisama njegovoj kćerci.

"The river is shadowy in some places

„Reka je senovita na nekim mestima,

but the light shines through the cracks of trees ...

ali svetlost prosijava kroz pukotine drveća [...]

On some branches hang plenty of mulberries.

Sa nekih grana visi obilje dudinja.

You stretch your arm straight out to grab some."

Ispružiš skroz ruke da zgrabiš neke.“

And this lovely letter, where he writes,

I ovo ljupko pismo u kom piše:

"Close your eyes and listen to the sounds of the words.

„Zatvori oči i oslušni zvuk reči.

I know this poem by heart

Ovu pesmu znam napamet

and I would like you to know it, too."

i želeo bih da je znaš i ti.“

Thank you so much everyone.

Hvala vam svima.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)