Blessed are the Merciful

Marian Bircea
I needed help and he'd complain that he was hungry. I went to the fair and returned to set the table. Bread, bacon and cheese. He asked for onion and salami. I offered him some. Some plum brandy would go along well. I served him a glass. Have you got some yogurt? What about some fried eggs, with tomatoes? I served that too. He'd chew really slowly. He'd like a cup of wine as well. What could I even say? Done. He drank it with small, slow gulps. Won't you give me some cigars? Be my guest. He was puffing. Eh, some coffee would be nice, and so I gave him some. Are you still there? my wife asks me. Now, let us go! But he would not stand up. What else do you want? That's a pretty wife you've got.
 
 Bogdan Burjan Sebastian
His soul felt like a late, November evening. With short, cold and frequent rainfall. Mist as well. All around. Yet he kept a bit of spring in his palm. A droplet only, warm and cozy. With plenty of fresh green. With dew on every single blade of grass. A ladybug was struggling to make her way through. Yet she kept falling over. She'd flounder, helpless. He picked it up carefully, in the palm of his hand. He felt a warm breeze. The ladybug opened its wings, small and frail. Are you coming back? Come along. I lack the wings. Come along, towards the sunlight, eyes shut. I cannot fly. Just close your eyes, she repeated with a smile.

Ana-Maria Butuza
All summer long I kept coming across this one puny boy selling wooden spoons and coat hangers. I offered him five lei[1] but he refused it, I'm a sheepherder from Arieș, I'm no beggar, if you want to buy some, that's the price. It moved me so much I could give him a kiss; I offered him a tenner and he let me pick out a spoon. One this week, another the next, and by the end of the holiday I had a full collection. One afternoon, while eating a pie in the park, he even taught me things, like how to play the flute and how simple it is to find joy.

(Translated by Adrian-Florin Duță / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)