«Tres días más tarde me llegó una carta. Era la primera vez que recibía una carta. En el sobre ponía mi nombre y mis señas. Era como ser descubierto, como nacer. Alguien me había encontrado. Esa carta había sido llevada a través de la ciudad y metida en el buzón correcto. Antes de preguntarme por el remitente, pense: ¿Llegará a tener valor algún día este sello? [...] Barnum Nilsen, ponía con letras alargadas y estrechas, y la dirección debajo; pues sí, me habían encontrado, yo era una persona, ya no cabía duda, era una persona con la que se podía contar.»
Lars Saabye Christensen, El hermanastro
Lars Saabye Christensen, El hermanastro
I put this in Google translate and got a fairly garbled version which i have tried to clean up. In my native language I think it reads
ReplyDelete"Three days later I got a letter. It was the first time I had ever received a letter. On the envelope had been put my name and my address. It was like being discovered, like being born. Someone had encountered me. This letter had been carried across town and tucked into the correct mailbox. Before asking about the sender, I thought: Will this seal one day be valuable? [...] Barnum Nilsen, put in long and narrow letters, and the address below; Yes, they found me, I was a person, no doubt, was a person you could count on. "Lars Saabye Christensen, The Half-brother
I'd love to be able to recall what my first letter was.
I think it was from my friend Laura, but I'm not 100% sure.
DeleteHe wonders if the postage stamp will be valuable one day, because his friend's father is a philatelist.
DeleteAh, thank you. - I wondered if it was the stamp rather than the seal.
DeleteI think I may have remembered it - I had a Malaysian penpal when I was very young. She was called Thein Swee Lai and I think she may have sent me my first real letter. Inside where a couple of dyed leaf skeletons which I still have.
DeleteI think it a great text!
ReplyDeletePostcards and folded cards I must have received from very early age. But a real letter?
I'm in doubt whether my first letter came from a former classmate with whom I did exchange letters after she went to an other school or a girl with whom I had shared a hospital room (she because of an ear surgery, I because of a treatment for chronic sinusitis). At the age of 12, 13 or 14.
My first postcard was from my Godfather, when he was in the Canary islands, due to his military service. I was 6 or 7. The postcard shows the Teide volcano, and I still treasure it (The sender passed away some years ago).
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