Pioneers Forever
Pioneer's honor if I lie to you! I don't know why, but I skipped school the day I was supposed to become an Oktombrel (a sort of junior pioneer), when I was in the first grade. You can imagine my suffering for not having participated in the ritual which made you
The Red Scarf
excerpt Is that what it says? dashed Redhead at Tindei, grabbing him by the jacket's lapels. Does it say I've been to the vineyard? No. . . not that. . . you were just. . . mentioned as a. . . as an example! Tindei answered frightened, almost chocking and with
The Dreams Also Matter
excerpt A train puffed away from the smoky railway station. A number of pioneers were waving goodbye from the window of one of the cars. Among them, there was a familiar face: big, blue eyes, and the hair, as dark as a nutshell. Goodbye, my darlings!Goodbye, comrade instructor!The
Why Spiridon Was Late
CHARACTERS: NEACSU SPIRIDON: sixth grade pupil, the head of the Pioneer Unit VICA: Neacsu Spiridon's classmate, pupil on dutyMARIANA: classmate of Vica and SpiridonA WOMAN: 30-35 years oldTHE TEACHER: 28-30 years oldPUPILS: Neacsu Spiridon's schoolmates The setting
Action P. 1500
excerpt FURTHER ON YOU WILL FIND OUT THAT I HAVE A GOOD MOTHER, A NAGGING SISTER AND A FATHER WHO ALWAYS YELLS Why should we lie, I know that you don't know my Christian name, nor my surname either. You have all heard that I am called Cry-Baby. Well, I was unfairly
The First Book, The Last Book
excerpts Dear Mother, I'd like to tell you something, and just because if I tried to talk to you about it, you wouldn't let me, I'm putting it in writing. You said to me, I quote: You go to school, do a good job there, finish well and we'll let you do
Novel Of The Nearsighted Adolescent
excerpt VI. MONDAY, 8 TO 9, GERMAN When I was in the first grade, I flunked French, German and Romanian. I used to spend my afternoons barefoot on the pitch, sweating, short-sighted, playing oina. [1] I had become famous for the lightning rapidity with which I would catch
The Storm
The two students, Andrei Banica and Tudor Leru were in a hurry. That's why they had taken the shortcut. Leaving the highway that was taking a detour on the bank of the river Aries, they decided to climb up Vanatu, the mountain bordering on the river like a huge flat
The Life And Times Of Andrei Mihai Stan
Writing an oral history of a ten-year-old child may seem like a perfectly absurd enterprise any day of the week. The social experience of an individual of ten would not recommend an approach of this kind. With such a person it cannot be a matter of immediate memory. Hence
Parents Are To Be Educated (Sometimes)
How educated are the Romanian parents? I asked Martha Iliescu, the president of the organization Our Children, while I was looking for material for an editorial about teen mothers. I am told that, according to the survey Knowledge, skills and parental practices in Romania,
Two Wonder-Kids And A Female Cannibal
The jurist Matei Monorai lives nearby. If you'd hear him plead in court, you would not hesitate to call him Matei Golden Mouth. Ambrozie is on his way over, to ask Matei to plead for Vornicu, who has been sentenced to death. He arrives. Matei`s kids are playing outside,
Ignoramuses
An intellectual's room: books, books, books. At his desk, Father is reading, taking notes, reading. . . the door cracks open and Puiu enters: he advances a few steps, sees Father absorbed in work, and makes for the door. FATHER (feels his presence): Puiu, is that