Aqui jaz a rainha, gigante e imóvel, cada um de seus seis braços caídos e abertos, curvados, tomados de leves espasmos, como se esquecesse de que não estava mais viva.

Here lies the queen, giant and still, each of her six arms sprawled, open, curved, twitching like she forgot she no longer breathed.

For as far as his memory could take him back in time, these small animals were always a permanent presence in that house and therefore in his life.

Per quanto riusciva a risalire all’indietro nel tempo con la memoria, la presenza di quegli animaletti era da sempre una costante, in quella casa, e quindi nella sua vita.

Even before the Time Era, longevity was a problem. Unevenly distributed as it was, it provided a rather accurate reflection of social, racial and economic inequalities.

Avant même l’ère du temps, la question de la longévité était un problème. Mal distribuée, elle reflétait assez justement les inégalités sociales, raciales et économiques dans le monde.

Balthasar navigated the vélocipède around a hole in the road as he cycled past Miss Edith’s house. He concentrated hard on not looking at the curtained windows for a glimpse of her silhouette. The big wheel wobbled as he oversteered.

Balthasar navigeerde de vélocipède om een gat in de weg terwijl hij langs het huis van Fräulein Edith reed. Hij concentreerde zich om niet naar de ramen te kijken. Hij wilde niets liever dan een glimp opvangen van haar silhouet achter de gordijnen. Het grote wiel wiebelde toen hij teveel stuurde.

那匹蓝色的马每次在我睡着的时候，就来到我的梦里，跟我宁静地说一声：“走吧。”于是我就跟着它，我们健步如飞——对于我衰败的身体而言，那种轻盈的感觉简直欣喜得让人恐惧。

These days it’s naïve to assume that a person would accept something from a stranger. This might never work on the street in daylight. But there’s something about the empty subway platform at night that makes Marcus believe she’ll take the note. Then it will be up to the words. They have to work. They must.