Ilie Moromete, Niculae, Cocoșilă[1], and about seven others are at Poiana[2]. Ilie is rolling a cigarette, Cocoșilă is busy with a glass of plum brandy, Niculae is reading Marx's Capital, and the others are whispering. Ilie puffs and hands the newspaper: Niculae, take a look, see what's in the paper. Are the Americans coming? Are they going to raise taxes after the elections? Niculae shakes the tattered pages: Dad, you've made your cigarette out of the economics section again. And on the back, it was written about health. You've always done that, you've smoked both the tax and life.
[1] Ilie Moromete is the main character in "Moromeții" written by Marin Preda. It is a social fresco novel which illustrates the Romanian rural life in the interwar and postwar period. Niculae is one of the sons of Ilie Moromete. Cocoșilă is a friend of Ilie Moromete.
[2] Poiana lui Iocan is the place where the people of the village gather on Sundays. They read the newspaper and comment on politics ironically.
Mira Wolf
After 100 years of activity, Flaming newspaper is coming to an end. The last issue: secrets. Accumulator, the accountant, is engaged in loan sharking. Consumption sells sugar pills as aspirin at the pharmacy. Father Two-Faced, who scolded us last Saturday for not fasting, died last night, stuffed, between Mrs. Wealthy's breasts. Well, there's also this. Our journalist, Porky[1], invents news. Yes, what were we supposed to do? Nothing happens in this shitty town. Well, not all of them are shameless lies. Just some things. Clean Flaming!
[1] Porky is a slang term meaning a lie, the equivalent of the Romanian term "gogoașă / gogoși".
Anca Socaciu-Man
The Last Night of Love was the headline on the front page of the daily Event of the Day. Today is a historic day: we, the editorial team, sincerely thank you for all your love, our loyal readers. Our death came slowly, one by one, since we were replaced by robots. The requiem will take place in the Rose Park, on Sunday. You are invited to a fresh koliva and a glass of plum brandy. In the AD coming year, the Globalist Museum will feature one last newspaper, framed in walnut wood. Antiquity.
(Translated by Laura-Monica Doroiman / 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.