Putovanje jednog mudraca: Bajka za one koji uče engleski jezik

(The Journey of a Wise Man: A Fable for English Learners)

¹  U davna vremena, u jednoj brdovitoj zemlji je živio jedan mudrac. Ta zemlja je bila lijepa. Međutim, tamo je uvijek bilo teško naći dovoljno hrane.

¹ A long time ago, there was a wise man living in a mountain country. The country was beautiful. But it was always difficult to find enough food.

²  Stanovnici Gornje Zemlje su odlučili da zajedno putuju u Donju Zemlju. Kada se snijeg počeo topiti, oni su spakovali u svoje kočije sve što su imali. Sa iščekivanjem pomješanim sa tugom, mudrac i njegovi susjedi su ostavili svoje domove u Gornjoj Zemlji.

² The people of the High Country decided that they would travel together to the Low Country. When the snow began to melt, they packed all they owned into their wagons. With anticipation mixed with sadness, the wise man and his neighbors left their High Country homes.

 ³  Ubrzo nakon što su započeli svoje putovanje, mudrac je primjetio da se nešto čudno dešavalo. Dok su putovali, dan za danom, njegova desna ruka se počela kočiti. Što su dalje putovali od Gornje Zemlje, ruka je postajala sve slabija. Tri stvari su ga zbunile. Prvo, osjećao je da je njegova ruka bila najslabija kad god bi zastali u nekom selu. Drugo, primjetio je da kad bi se putnici iz Gornje Zemlje okupili naveče oko vatre da razgovaraju, njegova ruka je postajala ponovo jaka.

³ The wise man noticed something strange taking place soon after they began their journey. As they traveled day after day, his right arm began to feel stiff. The further they traveled from the High Country, the weaker it became. Three things puzzled him. First, his arm always felt the weakest whenever they stopped in a village. Secondly, he noticed that when the travelers from the High Country gathered around a fire at night to talk among themselves, his arm became strong again.

⁴  Njegovo treće otkriće ga je najviše zbunilo. Kada bi stavio svoju ruku iza leđa, nije više osjećao da je nemoćna i beskorisna.

⁴ His third discovery puzzled him the most. When he put his arm behind his back, it no longer felt stiff and useless.

⁵  Jednoga dana mudrac je bio zaprepašten. Nakon što je njegova kočija obišla krivinu na visokom planinskom putu, on je pogledao dole na kočije svojih susjeda ispred sebe. Shvatio je da su mnogi drugi ljudi takođe držali jednu ruku iza svojih leđa. Kada je pogledao pažljivije, vidio je da su neki stariji ljudi čak pričvrstili njihovu ruku kanapom.

⁵ One day the wise man was startled. As his wagon rounded a bend in a high mountain road, he looked down on his neighbors' wagons ahead of him. He realized that many others were also holding an arm behind their back. As he looked more closely, he saw that some older people had even tied their arm in place with a rope.

⁶  Pitao se zašto se to dešavalo?

⁶ Why, he wondered, was this happening?

⁷  Konačno su stigli u Donju Zemlju. Vrijeme je bilo toplo. Polja bi davala žito i u šumama se moglo naći drvo za njihove kuće. Život je izgledao obećavajuće. Sve je izgledalo obećavajuće izuzev njihovih oslabljenih ruku. Bilo je glasina da je vazduh u Donjoj Zemlji prouzrokovao ovu neobičnu slabost. Neki ljudi su čak rekli da moraju naučiti živjeti sa ovom slabošću ako žele da ostanu u Donjoj Zemlji.

⁷ At last they reached the Low Country. The weather was warm. The fields would produce grain and the forests would supply lumber for their houses. Life looked promising. Promising, that is, except for their weak arms. It was rumored that the Low Country's air caused this strange weakness. Some of the people even said they must learn to live with this weakness if they wanted to stay in the Low Country.

⁸  Odrasli ljudi i djeca su prionuli na posao. Očistili su zemlju, zasadili ljetinu i pripremili klade za gradnju njihovih novih kuća. Krojač iz Gornje Zemlje je sašio novu vrstu kaputa koji bi držao neupotrebljivu ruku na jednom mjestu. Dio na kaputu je presvukao kožom tako da je rame moglo gurati težak teret. Čak i sa novim kaputom, rad je bio težak jer je svako koristio samo jednu ruku.

⁸ The adults and children set to work. They cleared the land, planted crops, and prepared lumber to build their new homes. A High Country tailor sewed a new kind of coat that would hold the useless arm in place. He also put leather on the coat so the shoulder could push heavy loads. Even with the new coat, however, work was slow because everyone used only one arm.

⁹  Ponovo, mudrac je primjetio jednu neobičnu stvar. Prvo, primjetio je da čak iako im je to prouzrokovalo bol, djeca su ubrzo počela ponovo koristiti svoju oslabljenu ruku. Drugo, mudrac je primjetio da kad god su se ljudi iz Gornje Zemlje sastali u njihovim zgradama, ako bi zatvorili sva vrata i prozore, snaga se vraćala u ruke čak i kod najstarijih ljudi i žena. "Zasigurno, " rekla je većina, "ovo dokazuje da je problem u vazduhu Donje Zemlje." Većina se složila da je jedino rješenje bilo da izgrade čvrste kuće da bi sav vazduh Donje Zemlje bio zadržan napolju. No mudrac je najviše bio zbunjen zbog toga što je izgledalo da su djeca postajala jača dok su se igrala i radila napolju, na vazduhu Donje Zemlje.

⁹ Again, the wise man noticed a strange thing. First, he noticed that--even though it caused them pain--the children soon began using their weak arm again. Secondly, the wise man noticed that whenever the High Country people met together in their first buildings, if they shut all the doors and windows, strength returned to the arms of even the oldest men and women. "Surely," most said, "this proves that the Low Country air is at fault." Most agreed that the only solution was to build houses so strong that all Low Country air could be kept outside. But the wise man was puzzled most because the children seemed to become stronger while playing and working outside in the Low Country air.

¹⁰  Mudrac je posmatrao svoje susjede iz Donje Zemlje koji su pokušavali graditi svoje kuće koristeći samo jednu ruku. On se počeo pribojavati za njihovo dobro. Novi kaput im je pomogao da rade brže sa jednom rukom. Ali zima je dolazila, a ni kuće ni ljetina ne bi bili pripremljeni ako bi svako nastavio da radi sa jednom rukom iza svojih leđa.

¹⁰ The wise man watched his High Country neighbors trying to build their houses while using only one arm. He became fearful for his people's welfare. The new coat helped them work faster with one arm. But winter was coming and neither the houses nor the crops would be ready if everyone continued to work with one arm behind their back.

¹¹  Mudrac je naučio lekciju od djece. Shvatio je da iako je bilo bolno, korišćenje oslabljene ruke za težak rad je bio jedini način da je ponovo učine jakom. Zbog toga što je dolazila zima, on je znao da nije mogao da stane sa radom na svojoj kući da bi potrošio sve svoje vrijeme pokušavajući da učini svoju ruku jakom. Takođe je znao da nije mogao završiti svoju kuću prije zime ukoliko ne bi koristio obe ruke. Mudrac je shvatio da ako želi završiti svoju kuću prije zime, mora provesti neko vrijeme svakoga dana jačajući svoju ruku tako da bi mogao brže završiti svoju kuću.

¹¹ The wise man learned a lesson from the children. He realized that--even though it was painful--using his weak arm for hard work was the only way to make it strong again. Because winter was coming, he knew that he could not stop working on his house in order to spend all his time trying to make his arm strong. But he also knew that he could not finish his house before winter unless he used both arms. The wise man decided that if he was to finish his house before winter, he must spend some time each day strengthening his arm so that he could finish his house more quickly.

¹²  Mudrac je proveo vrijeme svakoga dana jačajući svoju ruku i radeći na svojoj kući. On je završio svoju kuću prije zime.

¹² The wise man spent time each day both strengthening his arm and working on his house. He finished his house before winter.

¹³  Neki ljudi iz Gornje Zemlje su nastradali te zime, jer je snijeg došao prije nego što su njihovi usjevi bili požnjeveni i njihove kuće završene. Oni su sporo radili svakoga dana zato što su se bojali da prestanu sa radom na svojim kućama dovoljno dugo da bi ojačali svoju oslabljenu ruku.

¹³ Some High Country people perished that winter because the snow came before their crops were harvested and their houses finished. They had worked slowly every day because they were afraid to stop working on their houses long enough to strengthen their weak arm.

¹⁴  Ako ti živiš u Sjedinjenim Državama i ne govoriš dobro engleski jezik, ti živiš kao da je jedna tvoja ruka svezana iza tvojih leđa. Ti moraš raditi da bi izdržavao svoju porodicu. Ako ne provedeš vrijeme svakoga dana učeći engleski, bićeš ograničen do kraja života. Spoken English Learned Quickly je bio napisan da bi ti mogao učiti kod kuće i pored toga zadržati posao. Ako ćeš redovno učiti engleski jezik svakoga dana u periodu od šest mjeseci do godinu dana, tvoj engleski će se veoma poboljšati. Ti ćeš biti sposobniji zaraditi više novca, živjeti djelotvornije u tvojoj zajednici i razgovarati sa tvojom djecom koja uče engleski u školi.

¹⁴ If you live in the United States and cannot speak English well, you are living as though one arm was tied behind your back. You must work to support your family. But if you do not spend time each day learning English, you will be limited for the rest of your life. SPOKEN ENGLISH LEARNED QUICKLY was written so that you can study at home and still hold a job. If you will regularly study English each day for six months to a year, your English will greatly improve. You will be more able to earn higher wages, live more effectively in your community, and talk with your children as they learn English in school.