The woman lives on her own, in a small house in the middle of the woods. One night she dreamed that if she buys a piece of jewellery, it will attract true love. So she bought the most beautiful ring in the world. One day a guy broke into her house and stole her jewellery. The thief sold it to a painter. And at the opening of his exhibition, he fell in love with the woman whose eyes stuck to one of his painting, and who had a house in the woods. One evening the man proposed to her, putting the ring on her finger.
Paul Dârvariu
You gave me two, since you lent me Mrs. Cocuța's one as well. Take them, Mișu, you told me. They will bring you luck at the wedding, as they brought us. Only I had bad luck. It slipped off my finger when I was washing in the basin. Why did I have to throw the water out the window? I searched for it with a flashlight through the grass until dawn. One of a kind wedding night, Mirela and I had. We waited for the sunrise, but in the meantime it had started snowing. What do you say, uncle Grigore, will you give me more time until the snow melts or should I take out a loan from CAR[1]?
[1] CAR (Casa de ajutor reciproc) is translated Mutual Aid House.
Titela Durnea
The man's steps are biting the dirt. The desire for revenge makes his blood boil. He lifts up the first stone. He weighs it. He's undecided. Too light. He lifts up a second one, a third, a fourth, until his legs grow heavy. At sunset, he's already burried under his own burden. When the jackal, scavenger by nature, circles him, all there's left to see of him is the right arm, bursting avengefully from under the piles. On his ring finger, the white trace which once meant a pledge shimmers. In the deep night, somewhere, someone says YES.
(Translated by Raluca Sălcianu / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)
Versiunea în română a acestui text se poate citi aici, în rubrica Ficțiuni Reale.