The Childhood Certificate
I once experienced a terrible fright. I woke up one day to discover a different world from what I knew it to be, more clear-cut, more plainly divided into complementary colors and opposite moral categories. It all looked like in a naive painting: clear and graphic. The only
Why Does The Child Boil In Polenta?
excerpt Mother and I were working in a chocolate factory. My mother's husband was not allowed to work. He had to leave the country regularly and apply for asylum again and again. He and my mother always talked about how to make some money. We wanted to steal chocolate
Dumpy Picks A Trade
excerpts …Dreary clothes I do not wish forworn-away I simply abhor!Speckless white – that strikes my fancyOnly white, nought left to chance – yeah:capwithout a speckand a frockwithout a loch. Not a chimney sweep – a doctor would I be,though at present I may falter,that
The End Of The Holidays
excerpt Even though he would not have admitted it for anything in the world (he was a big boy now!), Gelu had not lost his taste for play. Before his indignant conscience, he held the one guilty to be Jack Barbecan, who had tapped on his door that morning: Gelu, let's
Student Dima From Seventh Grade
excerpt A NIGHT OF WAKING After the dinner party we go out into the hospital courtyard. Dusk is descending. A strong smell of carbolic acid tickles our nostrils. The boys are gathering round me. I tell them: Look. Let's all go to the cemetery. What should we do there
Creangă And Gopo
Gopo's Little Man (see Short History - click on Scurta istorie to see movie) I have been studying the Gopo archive belonging to the National Film Archive for some years, and now the first volume goes to print. It contains only a part of the legacy left by the film genius,
I Once Was A Child: School
Between September 15 and June 15, every child's life was hijacked by school. School was the children's only officially-sanctioned pursuit. Their only obligation. None of us got any thrill out of getting up early, eyes heavy with sleep, and trudging all the way
Master Trandafir
excerpt II Ever since the day I came back here, to our old little borough, I have hardly had one idle moment. I scoured all the familiar haunts that still brought to mind the childhood memories – the bright memories of a long gone childhood. I saw, on the banks of
Memories Of Childhood Days
In 1964, Creangă's memories were made into a movie (click here to see preview) by Elisabeta Bostan (b. 1931), whose filmography extending back to 1956, includes the Naica series (Naica and the Stork, Naica and the Squirrel, Naica Leaves for Bucharest), another film
Ionica The Liar
Thou shalt not lie! A lie might get you lunch, but not supper. And there's no honesty in a liar. . . There lived once a little boy, Ionica by his name, who was always loath to help his parents. He didn't like it and that's that. Whenever his father said to
An Invertebrate Mammal
It has been five years since a wolf lodged in the quiet building of the Natural Science Museum of our school. And because it was too big to fit on the shelves of the glass cases among the owls and hares, it was placed on a small table in the middle of the museum. It was
The Adventures Of Alfred The Donkey
excerpt NERO The piano Alfred had found was not brand new but it was, without the shadow of a doubt, the right one for Spartacus the tomcat's room. The one-eyed cat could only be grateful for such a find. He had now recovered his senses and was giving performances