我在等待海伦，为她庆祝五十岁生日。面前是一杯水，一瓶花。杯子是水晶杯，花是垂着头的兰花，不知道是真是假。

I am waiting for Helen on her fiftieth birthday. On the table, there’s a crystal drinking glass and a vase with rare orchids; I can’t tell if the flowers are genuine or not. Faint piano notes and a cold scent drift in the air.

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

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.

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.