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

Prevodilac: Tereza Ivanovic Lektor: Tatjana Jevdjic

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

Imam pet godina i veoma sam ponosna.

My father has just built the best outhouse

Moj tata je upravo izgradio najbolji poljski klozet

in our little village in Ukraine.

u našem malom selu u Ukrajini.

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

Unutra je to jedna smrdljiva rupa u zemlji,

but outside, it's pearly white formica

ali spolja je kao biserno beli laminat

and it literally gleams in the sun.

i bukvalno sija na suncu.

This makes me feel so proud, so important,

To me čini tako ponosnom i važnom

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

da sama sebe imenujem za vođu moje male grupe prijatela

and I devise missions for us.

i smišljam zadatke za nas.

So we prowl from house to house

Tumarali smo od kuće do kuće

looking for flies captured in spider webs

tražeći muve zarobljene u paukovim mrežama

and we set them free.

i oslobađali smo ih.

Four years earlier, when I was one,

Četiri godine pre toga, kad sam imala godinu dana,

after the Chernobyl accident,

posle černobiljske katastrofe

the rain came down black,

padala je crna kiša,

and my sister's hair fell out in clumps,

a sestrina kosa je opadala u pramenovima

and I spent nine months in the hospital.

i ja sam provela devet meseci u bolnici.

There were no visitors allowed,

Nisu bile dozvoljene posete,

so my mother bribed a hospital worker.

pa je mama potplatila radnika u bolnici.

She acquired a nurse's uniform,

Nabavila je uniformu medicinske sestre

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

i ušunjala se svake noći da bi sedela pored mene.

Five years later, an unexpected silver lining.

Pet godina kasnije, neočekivana, sjajna vest.

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

Zahvaljujući Černobilju dobili smo azil u SAD.

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

Imam šest godina i ne plačem kada napuštamo kuću

and we come to America,

i dolazimo u Ameriku,

because I expect it to be a place filled with rare

jer sam očekivala da je tamo puno retkih

and wonderful things like bananas and chocolate

i divnih stvari kao što su banane i čokolada

and Bazooka bubble gum,

i "Bazuka" žvakaće gume,

Bazooka bubble gum with the little cartoon wrappers inside,

"Bazuka" žvaka umotana u strip,

Bazooka that we'd get once a year in Ukraine

"Bazuka", koju smo u Ukrajini dobijali jednom godišnje

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

i morali smo jedan komad žvakati cele nedelje.

So the first day we get to New York,

Prvog dana po dolasku u Njujork

my grandmother and I find a penny

baka i ja nalazimo jedan peni

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

na podu skloništa za beskućnike u kojoj je moja porodica odsela.

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

Samo, ne znamo da je to sklonište.

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

Mislimo da je hotel, hotel sa mnogo pacova.

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

Nalazimo taj peni, kao da se skamenio u podu,

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

i mislimo da ga je ostavio neki veoma bogat čovek

because regular people don't just lose money.

jer obični ljudi ne gube novac tek tako.

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

Držim taj peni u šaci,

and it's sticky and rusty,

lepljiv je i zarđao,

but it feels like I'm holding a fortune.

ali čini mi se kao da držim bogatstvo.

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

Odlučujem da kupim svoj

komad "Bazuka" žvake.

of Bazooka bubble gum.

And in that moment, I feel like a millionaire.

U tom trenutku se osećam kao milioner.

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

Otprilike godinu dana kasnije imam isti osećaj,

kada nalazimo u đubretu vreću punu igračaka

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

and suddenly I have more toys

i iznenada ih imam više nego

than I've ever had in my whole life.

ikada u životu.

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

I opet imam isti osećaj, kada nam neko zakuca

on the door of our apartment in Brooklyn,

na vrata našeg stana u Bruklinu

and my sister and I find a deliveryman

i sestra i ja ugledamo čoveka koji isporučuje

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

picu, koju nismo ni naručili.

So we take the pizza, our very first pizza,

Uzimamo tu picu, prvu u životu,

and we devour slice after slice

i gutamo parče po parče

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

dok čovek stoji i zuri u nas sa praga.

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,

Izlazi mama i on traži novac od nje,

but she doesn't have enough.

ali mama nema dovoljno.

She walks 50 blocks to and from work every day

Ona pešači 50 blokova do posla i nazad svakog dana

just to avoid spending money on bus fare.

samo da ne troši novac za autobus.

Then our neighbor pops her head in,

Tada komšinica proviri

and she turns red with rage when she realizes

i pocrveni od besa kada shvati

that those immigrants from downstairs

da su se imigranti sa prizemlja

have somehow gotten their hands on her pizza.

nekako dočepali njene pice.

Everyone's upset.

Svi su ljuti.

But the pizza is delicious.

Ali, pica je ukusna.

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

Tek kasnije me je pogodilo to što smo tako malo imali.

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

Na desetu godišnjicu boravka u SAD

we decided to celebrate by reserving a room

odlučili smo da proslavimo rezervacijom sobe

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

u hotelu u kojem smo prvo odseli kad smo stigli u SAD.

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

Čovek za pultom se smeje i kaže:

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

"Ne možete rezervisati sobu ovde. Ovo je sklonište za beskućnike."

And we were shocked.

Bili smo šokirani.

My husband Brian was also homeless as a kid.

Moj suprug Brajan je, kao dete, takođe bio beskućnik.

His family lost everything, and at age 11,

Njegova porodica je sve izgubila i sa 11 godina

he had to live in motels with his dad,

morao je da živi u motelima sa svojim ocem,

motels that would round up all of their food

u motelima gde su im zadržavali svu hranu

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

kao garanciju dok ne bi platili račun.

And one time, when he finally got his box

Jednom, kad su im konačno vratili

of Frosted Flakes back, it was crawling with roaches.

kutiju sa zamrznutim pahuljicama, u njoj su već milele bubašvabe.

But he did have one thing.

Ali, jednu stvar je imao.

He had this shoebox that he carried with him everywhere

Imao je kutiju za cipele koju je 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. Džo-a koji su bili ofarbani tako da liče na Spajdermena

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 skup njegovih junaka

that kept him from drugs and gangs

koji su ga držali dalje od droge i bandi

and from giving up on his dreams.

i čuvali ga da ne odustane od svojih snova.

I'm going to tell you about one more

Pričaću vam o još jednom

formerly homeless member of our family.

bivšem beskućniku iz naše porodice.

This is Scarlett.

Ovo je Skarlet.

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

Nekada je Skarlet bila mamac u borbama pasa.

She was tied up and thrown into the ring

Vezali su je i bacili u ring

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

da bi je drugi psi napadali, da bi bili agresvniji pre borbe.

And now, these days, she eats organic food

Ovih dana ona jede organsku hranu

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

i spava na anatomskom krevetu sa svojim imenom,

but when we pour water for her in her bowl,

a kad sipamo vodu u njenu činiju,

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

još uvek pogleda gore i maše repom u znak zahvalnosti.

Sometimes Brian and I walk through the park with Scarlett,

Ponekad se Brajan i ja šetamo sa Skarlet u parku,

and she rolls through the grass,

ona se kortlja po travi

and we just look at her

a mi je samo pogledamo,

and then we look at each other

pa se i sami pogledamo

and we feel gratitude.

i osećamo zahvalnost.

We forget about all of our new middle-class frustrations

Zaboravimo na sve frustracije

and disappointments,

i razočarenja naše srednje klase

and we feel like millionaires.

i osećamo se kao milioneri.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)