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In today's world there are
photographs everywhere – web pages on the internet, magazines full of fashion
and film stars, newspapers full of photos of war and sport, places and people
from other lands. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and maybe it is,
but what is the picture telling us? Sometimes we only see what we want to see
...
fashion and film stars: vestuario de moda y estrellas del cine; war and
sport: guerra y deportes; from other lands: de otras regiones;
they say: dicen que; a picture is worth: una imagen vale; a
thousand words: mil palabras; maybe it is: es posible que así sea;
we only see: sólo vemos; what we want to see: lo que queremos ver;
Make a picture in your mind: a
girl with thin cheeks and tired eyes. Her arms and legs are as thin as sticks;
she is only skin and bone. Clouds of dust circle above her head as the food
trucks drive away. Their wheels leave marks on the dry ground, and soon only the
marks show that the food trucks came to the village, and left.
make a picture in your mind: imagina esta foto; thin cheeks: mejillas
flacas; tired eyes: ojos exhaustos; as thin as sticks: tan
delgadas como palos; skin and bone: piel y huesos; clouds of dust:
nubes de polvo; circle above: sobrevuelan; food trucks: camiones
que proveen comida; drive away: se alejan del lugar; wheels:
ruedas; leave marks: dejan huellas; on the dry ground: sobre el
terreno reseco;
The sun is at its hottest; the
African sky is unending and cruel. Even the white men with cameras, busily
taking photographs of the usual fighting over the food, are now getting ready to
leave. They pack away their cameras, jump into their cars, and drive quickly
away
to cool, modern hotels in a city miles away. They are photojournalists.
is
at its hottest: alcanza su máxima temperatura; unending and cruel:
interminable y despiadado; busily taking: afanosamente ocupados en tomar;
usual fighting: las peleas diarias; over the food: por hacerse de
alimentos; getting ready to leave: preparándose para retirarse; pack
away: empacan; jump into: se avalanzan sobre; drive quickly away
to: se alejan velozmente hacia; miles away: a millas de distancia;
photojournalists: reporteros gráficos, periodistas;
One of them, sun-burned and
hot, dressed in a shirt and jeans, kneels down on the dusty ground to take some
photographs of the girl before he leaves. In the pocket of his shirt is a
protein bar, soft from the sun, uneaten, untouched, forgotten.
sun-burned and hot: bronceado y acalorado; dressed in: vestido con;
kneels down: se arrodilla; on the dusty ground: sobre el terreno
polvoriento; before he leaves: antes de irse; protein bar: barrita
de proteínas; soft from the sun: ablandada por el sol; uneaten:
sin comer; untouched: sin tocar; forgotten: ignorada;
He doesn't stop to think about
the uneaten bar in his pocket and the starving girl. He is only one man. What
can one man do in a world where life is cruel, and governments cannot or will
not help their people? And who wants to stay in a place like this, with its dirt
and its terrible smells, if they can drive away from it?
he
doesn't stop to think about: él no se detiene un instante para pensar en;
the uneaten bar in his pocket: la barrita sin comer que hay en su bolsillo;
the starving girl: la muchacha famélica, muerta de hambre; governments:
los gobiernos; cannot or will not help: no pueden o no lograrán ayudar a;
who wants to stay: quién desea quedarse; like this: como éste; its
dirt: su mugre, suciedad; its terrible smells: sus olores
nauseabundos; if they can drive away: si ellos pueden huir;
The girl caught the
photographer's eye. She was in the middle of a group of boys, fighting just as
strongly as they were, when the food trucks arrived. But she was pushed down and
fell under the boys' feet. The boys stepped all over her, and when she could
move again, the bags of rice were all gone. She stayed there, red-eyed, moving
her fingers slowly over the dusty ground.
caught the photographer's eye: atrajo la atención del fotógrafo; fighting:
peleándose; as strongly as they were: ferozmente; pushed down:
derribada; stepped all over her: la pisotearon toda; the bags of rice:
las bolsas de arroz; were all gone: habían desaparecido; she stayed
there: ella permanecía allí; red-eyed: con los ojos enrojecidos (de
tanto llorar); slowly: muy despacio;
The journalist takes his last
photo, returns to America with his bag full of films. One of his photographs of
the girl sells and is placed on the front cover of a news magazine.
last photo: última fotografía; full of: repleta de; sells: se
vende; placed on the front cover: ubicada en la portada; news magazine:
revista de actualidad;
'You've caught the face of
hunger in Africa,' the news editor tells him.
you've caught: has captado; the face of hunger: el rostro del hambre;
He wants to tell the editor
that this photograph is just one face, in one village, in a country full of
hungry faces. But he does not say it. The photograph is good for him. More
people admire his work and want to buy his photographs for their magazines and
newspapers.
just one face: apenas un solo rostro; in one village: en un pueblo;
full of hungry faces: abarrotado de rostros famélicos;
The photograph is in most news
stores by the end of the month, even in those bookstores where people go only to
read the magazines and not to buy. They look at the face of the African girl,
and quickly turn away to enjoy the rest of their shopping trip.
news stores: kioscos y librerías; and quickly turn away: y se van
rápidamente; to enjoy ... their shopping trip: para disfrutar ... su día
de compras;
But the girl's
picture stays in their minds.
stays in their minds: permanece en sus pensamientos;
A teenager has just finished
looking at the clothes in
Vogue,
an expensive
fashion magazine. She sees the photograph under the heading
"STARVING AFRICA".
Her parents are from Africa. She herself was born and schooled in America,
watching American TV, American films, and has never travelled out of America.
She is uncomfortable with photographs like these. She remembers her classmates
in school, who joke about starving Africans. She isn't African in
that
kind
of way, but she isn't truly American either.
a
teenager: una muchacha adolescente; Vogue: revista mensual
norteamericana para mujeres; expensive: cara (de precio elevado);
heading: titular (de diario o revista); Starving Africa: África
Famélica; schooled: instruída; has never travelled out of: no ha
salido jamás de; uncomfortable: molesta; like these: como éstas;
classmates: compañeros de clase; who joke about: que hacían bromas
sobre (los); in that kind of way: de esa manera; she isn't truly
American either: tampoco es totalmente norteamericana;
When she was younger,
Cinderella, Snow White, and all the other girls and princesses in the Disney
films didn't look like her. When she was older and became interested in fashion,
the models on the magazine covers didn't look like her either. Then the
magazines found out that Africa had beautiful women.
Cinderella: Cenicienta; Snow White: Blancanieves; didn't look like
her: no tenían su apariencia; in fashion: en la moda; magazine
covers: tapas de revista; either: tampoco; found out:
descubrieron;
A Nigerian model is in the
latest copy of
Vogue,
dressed in blue, and thin, so thin. The teenager feels
the fat at the top of her legs. She wants to be thin like the model. She wants
to wear jeans that are like a second skin. She wants a photograph of herself
with cool, unsmiling eyes like the Nigerian model. She is careful about what she
eats, and if she eats too much, she puts her finger down her throat to make
herself sick.
latest copy: último ejemplar; feels the fat: palpa la gordura; at
the top of her legs: en la parte superior de sus propas piernas; thin
like the model: delgada como la modelo; like a second skin: como una
segunda piel (jeans muy ajustados); cool, unsmiling eyes like: ojos
calmos y serios como (los de); she is careful about what she eats: ella
controla lo que come; too much: demasiado, en exceso; she puts her
finger down her throat: introduce sus dedos en la garganta; to make
herself sick: para descomponerse (y lanzar lo ingerido);
Why does our world have people
who starve, and people who decide to starve themselves? It doesn't matter why.
The hunger inside this teenager is real. So she stares at the girl in the
photograph, does not think about the dry dusty hungry land behind her, and
admires her cheek bones.
people who starve: personas que se mueren de hambre; who decide to starve
themselves: que deciden morirse de hambre; it doesn't matter why: no
importa por qué; the hunger: el hambre; she stares: mira
deslumbrada; the dry dusty hungry land behind her: la tierra polvorienta
y famélica que se encuentra detrás suyo; and admires her cheek bones: y
termina admirando los huesos de su mejillas. |
