KAZUO ISHIGURO

Never Let Me Go - fragments
 

Tommy and I talked about all this not so long ago, and his own account of how his troubles began confirmed what I was thinking that night. According to him, it had all started one afternoon in one of Miss Geraldine’s art classes. Until that day, Tommy told me, he’d always quite enjoyed painting. But then that day in Miss Geraldine’s class, Tommy had done this particular watercolor – of an elephant standing in some tall grass – and that was what started it all off. He’d done it, he claimed, as a kind of joke. I quizzed him a lot on this point and I suspect the truth was that it was like a lot of things at that age: you don’t have any clear reason, you just do it. You do it because you think it might get a laugh, or because you want to see if it’ll cause a stir. And when you’re asked to explain it afterwards, it doesn’t seem to make any sense. We’ve all done things like that. Tommy didn’t quite put it this way, but I’m sure that’s how it happened.
 

Eveline Braniste

Kazuo Ishiguro
 

Tommy si cu mine am vorbit despre asta cu putin timp in urma si propria lui poveste despre cum au inceput toate necazurile sale mi-a confirmat ceea ce gandeam in noaptea aceea. Dupa spusele sale, totul a inceput intr-o dupa-amiaza in timpul unei ore de pictura a domnisoarei Geraldine. Pana in acea zi, mi-a spus Tommy, ii placuse intotdeauna sa picteze. Dar in acea zi la ora domnisoarei Geraldine, Tommy a facut o anumita acuarela – care infatisa un elefant in iarba inalta – si de acolo a pornit totul. L-a desenat, dupa cum pretinde el, intr-un spirit de gluma. I-am pus multe intrebari cu privire la acest subiect si cred ca adevarul este la fel ca si in cazul multor lucruri pe care le faci la acea varsta : nu ai un motiv anume, pur si simplu o faci. O faci pentru ca ai impresia ca va starni rasul sau pentru ca vrei sa vezi daca va provoca agitatie. Si cand ti se cere apoi sa dai o explicatie, nu pare sa aiba nicio logica. Cu totii am facut astfel de lucruri. Tommy nu a pus problema chiar in acest mod, dar sunt sigura ca asa s-a intamplat.