You all know this story. In the summer of 1950, Enrico Fermi, the Italian-American physicist and atomic-pile builder, went to lunch at Los Alamos National Laboratory and joined some colleagues there, and asked them a question: "Where is everybody?" This confused his colleagues, obviously, because they were sitting right there with him. And then he had to clarify that he wasn't talking about them. He was talking about the space aliens.
Svi znate sledeću priču. Leta 1950. godine, Enriko Fermi, italijansko-američki fizičar i graditelj nuklearnog reaktora, otišao je na ručak u Nacionalnoj laboratoriji u Los Alamosu u SAD, pridružio se kolegama i postavio im pitanje: „Gde su svi?" To je zbunilo njegove kolege, očigledno zato što su svi sedeli pored njega. Onda je pojasnio da ne misli na njih. Mislio je na svemirce.
You see, this was only a few years after the supposed flying saucer crash at Roswell, New Mexico. And even though that turned out to be nothing, nothing at all -- (Laughter) -- merely a downed weather balloon piloted by small hairless men with slits for mouths ... Still, America had gone saucer-mad, even famous scientists who were eating lunch. Fermi's reasoning, if I may paraphrase badly, is that the universe is so vast that it stands to reason, there should be other intelligent life out there. And the universe is so old that unless we were the very first civilization ever to evolve, we should have some evidence of their existence by now. And yet, to the best of our knowledge, we are alone.
Vidite, to se desilo samo nekoliko godina nakon navodnog pada letećeg tanjira u Rozvelu, u Nju Meksiku. I iako se ispostavilo da to nije bilo ništa, skroz ništa - (smeh) - ništa drugo do običnog oborenog meteorološkog balona, kojim su upravljala oniža ćelava bića s prorezom umesto usta... Amerika je ipak poludela za letećim tanjirma, čak i poznati naučnici koji su samo ručali. Fermijeva logika, ako smem da ga loše parafraziram, bila je da je univerzum toliko ogroman da je sasvim očekivano da negde tamo treba da postoji još inteligentnih bića. Univerzum je toliko star da, osim ako smo prva prvcijata civilizacija koja je ikad postojala, do sad treba da imamo neke dokaze o njihovom postojanju. Bar koliko smo do sad obavešteni, sami smo.
"Where is everybody?" asked Fermi, and his colleagues had no answer. Fermi then went on with the same blunt logic to disprove fairies, Sasquatch, God, the possibility of love -- and thereafter, as you know, Enrico Fermi ate alone. (Laughter) Now, I am not a scientist. I have never built an atomic pile. Although, I might argue that, technically, every pile is atomic.
„Gde su svi?", upitao je Fermi, a njegove kolege nisu imale odgovor. Fermi je nastavio sa istom šturom logikom kako bi dokazao postojanje vila, Saskvoča, boga, mogućnost voljenja - i stoga je, kao što već znate, Enriko Fermi jeo sam. (Smeh) Sad, ja nisam naučnik. Nikada nisam gradio nuklearni reaktor. Premda, mogu tvrditi da je, u suštini, svaki reaktor nuklearni.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
However, with respect, I might point out two possibilities that Enrico Fermi perhaps did not consider. One is that the aliens might be very far away. Perhaps, I dare say, even on other planets. The other possibility -- (Laughter) -- is, perhaps, Enrico Fermi himself was an alien.
Ipak, s dužnim poštovanjem, istakao bih dve mogućnosti koje Enriko Fermi možda nije uzeo u obzir. Prva je da vanzemaljci mogu biti veoma daleko. Možda, usudio bih se da kažem, čak i na drugim planetama. (Smeh) Druga mogućnost - (smeh) - je da je možda i sam Enriko Fermi bio vanzemaljac.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
Think about it. Isn't it a little convenient that in the midst of the World War, out of nowhere, suddenly an Italian scientist showed up with an amazing new technology that would transform everything in the world and darken the history of the human species forever after? And isn't it a little strange that he required no payment for this? That he asked for only one thing -- a gift of two healthy sperm whales? That's -- that's not true. But it is strange.
Razmislite. Nije li malo zgodno to što se usred Drugog svetskog rata odjednom niotkuda pojavio jedan italijanski naučnik sa sjajnom novom tehnologijom koja bi promenila sve na svetu i zauvek zamračila istoriju ljudske vrste? I nije li malo čudno to što nije tražio nikakvu naknadu za to? I to što je tražio samo jedno - da mu se daju dve zdrave ulješure? To - to nije istina. Ali jeste čudno.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
And if Enrico Fermi were indeed a space alien, wouldn't he be the first to have tried to convince his fellow scientists that the space aliens are not already here? For it is given in certain UFO-ology or UFOlogy circles, that the aliens are already here and have been for millennia; that they have walked among us in disguise, observing us, guiding our evolution from ape to man -- if you believe in that sort of thing -- and, occasionally, kidnapping us in their flying saucers and taking us away to have sex with us in pyramids.
I ako je Enriko Fermi stvarno bio svemirac, ne bi li on prvi pokušao da ubedi svoje kolege naučnike da svemirci nisu tamo? U NLO-ogiji, ili NLOloškim krugovima, smatra se da su vanzemaljci već ovde i da su tu bili stolećima, da se kreću prerušeni, posmatrajući nas, vodeći našu evoluciju od majmuna do čoveka - ako verujete u te priče - i da neke od nas povremeno kidnapuju u svoje leteće tanjire i odvode kako bi upražnjavali seks u piramidama.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
It's a difficult theory to discount, I think you'll agree.
Teško je odbaciti tu teoriju, složićete se.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
For even in my own life, there are memories I have that are difficult to explain -- happenings that are so odd and unaccountably weird, that it is difficult to imagine they were not the result of prolonged and frequent contact with aliens throughout my life. For how else will you explain the amazing and absolutely true close encounters that I had and will describe to you now? Encounter one: Ocean City, New Jersey, 1980. This was the summer when the special edition of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" was released. And I went on vacation with my parents to the Jersey shore. Within 12 hours, I was horribly sunburned, just like Richard Dreyfuss in the movie.
Čak i u mom iskustvu postoje sećanja za koja mi je teško da objasnim - dešavanja koja su toliko neobična i neobjašnjivo čudna da je teško zamisliti da nisu rezultat dugog i čestog kontakta s vanzemaljcima tokom mog života. Jer kako biste drugačije objasnili moje zapanjujuće i potpuno stvarne bliske susrete koje ću vam sada opisati? Susret broj 1: Oušn Siti, Nju Džerzi, 1980. Tog leta je izašlo specijalno izdanje knjige „Bliski susreti treće vrste". Bio sam na odmoru sa roditeljima na morskoj obali u Džerziju. Za 12 časova sam užasno izgoreo na suncu, baš kao i Ričard Drajfus u filmu.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
And so I spent the rest of the vacation largely sitting outside our little rental house at night, the sidewalk still warm from the sun, watching the skies for UFOs. What did I see? Stars, satellites, blinking airplanes -- typical sky junk. Occasionally, kids would come and join me and watch, but their necks soon got sore, and they would go off to the boardwalk to play video games and mingle with humans. I was pretty good at the video games. I was not very good at the other part, so I stayed alone with the cosmos.
I tako sam ostatak odmora proveo uglavnom sedeći uveče ispred male iznajmljene kuće, na trotoaru još toplom od sunca, i posmatrao nebo u potrazi za NLO-ima. Šta sam video? Zvezde, satelite, trepćuće avione - tipične nebeske gluposti. Povremeno bi mi se deca pridruživala i posmatrala, ali bi ih brzo zaboleli vratovi, te bi produžili drvenim putićem da igraju video-igrice i mešaju se s ljudskim bićima. Ja sam bio dobar u igricama, ali ne i u onom drugom, tako da sam ostajao sam sa kosmosom.
And that's when it happened. An elderly couple came walking down the street. I would say they were in their late seventies, and I would say that they were on a date, because he was wearing a very neat little suit with a yellow tie -- a brown suit. And she was wearing a cardigan, because it was now fully night and a chill was coming in off the ocean. I remember, for some reason, that they were exactly the same height. And then they stopped, and the man turned to me and said, "What are you looking for, flying saucers?"
I tada se desilo. Stariji par je išao ulicom. Rekao bih da su bili u kasnim sedamdesetim i rekao bih da su bili na ljubavnom sastanku, zato što je on bio u lepom odelcetu sa žutom kravatom - odelo braon boje. Ona je bila u džemperu jer je već bila mrkla noć te je hladnoća dolazila sa okeana. Sećam se, iz nekog razloga, da su bili tačno iste visine. Zastali su i čovek se okrenuo ka meni i rekao: „Šta to tražiš, leteće tanjire?"
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
You have to admit, that's a pretty boss piece of detective work for an old man on a date. But what was stranger still -- and even I realized it at the time, as a nine-year-old child -- was that they stopped at all. That this old man would interrupt his moonlight stroll with his sweetheart with the precise reason of making fun of a child. "Oh," he said, "little green men." And then his girlfriend joined in, too. "There's no such thing as space men," she said. "There's no such thing." And then they both laughed. "Ha, ha, ha." I looked around. The street was entirely empty. I had stopped hearing the sound of the ocean. It was as though time had stopped. I did not know why they were teasing me. I looked into their strangely angry faces, and I remember wondering, are they wearing rubber masks?
Morate priznati da je to prilično dobro obavljen detektivski posao za jednog starca na ljubavnom sastanku. Ali još čudnije - što sam čak i ja tad shvatio kao devetogodišnji dečak - bilo je to što su uopšte zastali. To što je taj starac prekinuo svoju šetnju pod mesečinom sa svojom ljubavlju samo da bi ismevao neko dete. „Ah", rekao je, „mali zeleni." A onda mu se i partnerka pridružila. „Svemirci ne postoje", reče ona. „Ne postoje." Potom su se oboje nasmejali: „Ha ha ha!" Osvrnuo sam se. Ulica je bila potpuno pusta. Nisam više čuo okean. Vreme kao da je stalo. Nisam shvatao zašto su me začikavali. Posmatrao sam njihova neobično ljuta lica i sećam se da sam se pitao da li nose gumene maske.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
And what would be behind those rubber masks, if they were? Giant, almond-shaped, unblinking eyes? Slits for mouths? The old man crooked his finger as though he were firing a gun, and then he made laser sounds. "Kew, kew, kew -- watch out." And they turned at once and walked away. The old man reached out his knobbly claw for the woman's hand, and found it, and left me alone. Now, you could describe this as a simple misunderstanding -- a strange encounter among humans. Maybe it was swamp gas, but -- (Laughter) -- I know what I saw.
A ako ih nose, šta bi bilo ispod njih? Krupne netrepćuće oči u obliku badema? Prorezi umesto usta? Starac je savio prst kao da puca iz pištolja, a onda je proizvodio zvuke laserskog oružja. „Piju piju piju - pazi se." Odjednom su se okrenuli i odšetali. Starac je ispružio svoju čvorastu kandžu ka ženinoj šaci, pronašao ju je, a mene ostavio za sobom. Ovo se može opisati kao običan nesporazum - jedan čudni susret ljudskih bića. Možda su u pitanju bila isparenja iz močvare, ali - (Smeh) - ja znam šta sam video.
Close encounter two: Brookline, Massachusetts, 1984. I went to see the movie "Dune," and a girl talked to me. Now, on its face -- (Laughter) -- this is impossible on its face, I realize -- but it is absolutely true. It was opening night, naturally. I went with my friend Tim McGonigal, who sat on my left. On my right was the girl in question. She had long, curly black hair, a blue jean jacket. I remember, she had some sort of injury to her ankle, an Ace bandage, and she had crutches. She was very tall, I would say. I was starting high school at the time. I would say she was a junior, but I had never seen her before. She didn't go to my school. I didn't know her name, and I never will. She was sitting with someone who I presume was her mother, and they were talking about the novel, "Dune." They were both big fans, mother and daughter -- very unusual. They were talking about how their favorite characters were the giant sandworms. And then it got stranger. That's when she turned to me and said, "Are you looking forward to seeing the movie?"
Bliski susret broj 2: Bruklin, Masačusets, 1984. godine. Krenuo sam da odgledam film „Dina" i jedna devojka je pričala sa mnom. Na njenom licu - (Smeh) - ovo je nemoguće na njenom licu, shvatam i sam - ali je potpuno istinito. Naravno, bila je premijera. Išao sam s prijateljem Timom Makgonaglom, koji je sedeo s moje leve strane. S desne strane bila je pomenuta devojka. Imala je dugu, kovrdžavu crnu kosu, plavu teksas-jaknu. Sećam se da je joj je nožni članak bio povređen, da je imala rastegljivi zavoj i štake. Rekao bih da je bila vrlo visoka. Ja sam u to vreme bio prva godina srednje škole, a rekao bih da je ona bila četvrta, ali je nikada ranije nisam video. Nije išla u moju školu. Nisam joj znao ime, i nikada ga neću ni saznati. Sedela je s osobom koja joj je, pretpostavljam, bila majka i pričale su o romanu „Dina". Obe su bile fanovi knjige, i majka i ćerka - što je vrlo neobično. Pričale su kako su im omiljeni likovi bili džinovski pustinjski crvi. A onda je postalo čudno. Onda se okrenula ka meni i upitala: „Je l' jedva čekaš da vidiš film?"
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
First of all, I was embarrassed because I had not read the novel "Dune" at that time. I was merely a connoisseur of movies featuring desert planets, as I still am.
Prvo i prvo, posramio sam se jer tad nisam bio pročitao roman „Dina". Bio sam samo poznavalac filmova s pustim planetama, što sam i dalje.
(Laughter) But it was also the tone of how she asked the question: apropos of nothing, like she didn't even care about the answer, as though she just wanted to talk to me. I did not know what to say. I said, "Yes." I did not even turn my head. The movie began. I need not remind you that this was David Lynch's version of "Dune," in which all of the characters were sexy and deformed at the same time.
(Smeh) Ali ton njenog pitanja - bez posebnog razloga, bio je kao da uopšte nije marila za odgovor, kao da je samo želela da razgovara sa mnom. Nisam znao šta da kažem. Odgovorio sam: „Da." Nisam čak ni okrenuo glavu. FIlm je počeo. Ne treba da vas podsećam da je to bila verzija „Dine" Dejvida Linča u kojoj su svi likovi bili seksi i deformisani u isto vreme.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
There was a character called the Third-Stage Guild Navigator, which was a kind of giant, floating fetus-creature that lived in a giant tank with this orange mist of psychedelic spice swirling around him, allowing him to bend space and time. He could never leave the tank or interact with the outside world. He had become, in his isolation, so deformed and so sexy, that he had to talk through a kind of old-timey radio to the outside world, and could never touch them. I mean, I liked him a lot better than the sandworms. The sandworms were fine, but your favorite character? Please.
U filmu ima lik koji se zove Navigator esnafa trećeg stepena, koji je neka vrsta džinovskog, plutajućeg bića-fetusa koje živi u džinovskom rezervoaru sa narandžastom izmaglicom psihodeličnih začina koji su kružili oko njega, i koji su mu omogućavali da savija prostor i vreme. Nije mogao da izađe iz rezervoara ili da komunicira sa spoljnim svetom. Postao je, u toj izolaciji, toliko deformisan i seksi da je morao da sa spoljnim svetom razgovara preko nekakvog starinskog radija, i ništa nije mogao dotaći. Mislim, on mi se više sviđao od pustinjskih crva. Oni su bili dobri, ali da vam budu omiljeni likovi? Molim vas.
When the movie ended, everyone seemed very happy to get up and get out of the theatre as soon as possible. Except for the girl. As I walked out, her pace slowed. Perhaps it was the crutches, but it seemed -- (Laughter) -- it seemed as though she might want to talk to me again. When I say it out loud, it sounds so ridiculous, but I can only come to the conclusion that it was what, in the alien abductee community, they call a "screen memory": a ridiculous false recollection designed by their brain to cover up some trauma -- say, of being kidnapped and flown off to a sex pyramid.
Kada se film završio svi su jedva čekali da ustanu i odu iz bioskopa što pre. Svi osim te devojke. Kako sam išao ka izlazu, ona je usporila korak. Možda je to bilo zbog štaka, ali je delovalo - (Smeh) - delovalo je kao da je izgleda htela da opet razgovaramo. Kada to izgovorim zvuči smešno, ali mogu samo da zaključim da je u pitanju bilo ono što se u krugovima ljudi koje su vanzemaljci oteli zove „lažno sećanje": smešno lažno sećanje koje mozak nadomisli kako bi se potisnula trauma - recimo, da vas kidnapuju i odvedu u piramidu za seks.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
And so I sure am glad I did not slow down to talk to her. I sure am glad I never saw her again.
Tako da mi je veoma drago što nisam usporio da razgovaram s njom. Veoma mi je drago što je nikada nisam ponovo video.
Close encounter three: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1989. In the mid-to-late '80s, the novelist Whitley Strieber wrote a book called "Communion," in which he described his own lifelong experiences being abducted by aliens. And he also described the phenomenon known in this community as "lost time," where Whitley Strieber would suddenly become aware that he could not remember the previous ten minutes, or the previous ten hours, or the previous ten days. And would come to the conclusion that that was when the aliens were taking him and giving him rectal probes.
Bliski susret broj 3: Filadelfija, Pensilvanija, 1989. godine. Sredinom ili krajem osamdesetih, romanopisac Vitli Striber napisao je knjigu „Pričest" u kojoj opisuje svoja dugogodišnja iskustva otimanja od strane vanzemaljaca. Takođe opisuje i fenomen tih krugova koji se zove „izgubljeno vreme", kada bi Vitli Striber iznenada postao svestan toga da ne može da se seti prethodnih deset minuta ili deset časova ili deset dana. I došao je do zaključka da su ga tada vanzemaljci odvodili i pregledali mu rektum.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
This book became, naturally, an enormous best-seller. This image by Ted Joseph was from that book, and was his, sort of, police sketch of what the creatures looked like that Whitley Strieber had described to him. And it was so successful that they made it into a movie. And in 1989, the way I remember it, I was in Philadelphia visiting my girlfriend, and we decided, apropos of nothing, to go see this movie. And the way I remember it, the movie featured these details. One: Whitley Strieber was played by Christopher Walken. Two: the alien was played by a rubber puppet.
Ta knjiga je, sasvim prirodno, postala veliki bestseler. Ova slika Teda Džozefa je iz te knjige i to je neka vrsta policijskog crteža izgleda tih stvorenja koja mu je Vitli Striber opisao. Knjiga je bila tako uspešna da su po njoj snimili film. A 1989. godine, po mom sećanju, bio sam u Filadelfiji u poseti devojci i odlučili smo bez posebnog razloga, da odgledamo taj film. Po mom sećanju, u filmu su se dešavale sledeće stvari: prvo, Vitlija Stribera igrao je Kristofer Voken. Drugo, vanzemaljca je glumila gumena lutka.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
Three: there was a surprisingly long sequence of the film in which the rubber puppet gives Christopher Walken a rectal probe. Four: this was being shown in a regular movie theater in Center City, Philadelphia. Five: all of which is to say, they made a movie out of the book, "Communion," and it starred Christopher Walken. Does something seem strange about this to you? Something odd? Something off? Something wrong with this picture? Think about it. Yes. The answer is: I had a girlfriend. What?
Treće, u filmu je bila prikazana iznenađujuće duga scena u kojoj gumena lutka pregleda rektum Kristofera Vokena. Četvrto, to je prikazivano u običnom bioskopu u Senter sitiju, u Filadelfiji. Peto, to sve govori da su napravili film od knjige „Pričest" i da je glavnu ulogu igrao Kristofer Voken. Da li vam je tu nešto čudno? Nešto čudno? Nešto neobično? Nešto pogrešno? Razmislite. Jeste. Odgovor je: ja sam imao devojku. Molim?
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
How did this happen? When did this happen? I remember walking out of the theater and becoming suddenly aware of this fact, as we walked hand in hand, and pondering these very same questions. And to this day, I have no answer for you. Close encounter four: the Algarve, Portugal, 1991. Some years later, I and this woman -- we'll call her "Catherine Fletcher" -- (Laughter) -- went traveling through the south of Portugal together. We stayed in old, crumbling, walled cities, in tiny little hotels, and we would climb up to the roof and drink Vinho Verde and watch the sun set and play checkers. What? Did we do this? Really? Does anyone do this? We went to some topless beaches. Excuse me? No, not in my life. For what it's worth, we went to Sagres, which was considered, at the time, to be the end of the world. And there I was chased by a pack of feral dogs on the dock, and the lead dog bit me on the ass, requiring me to go to a strange Portuguese clinic and receive an ass shot. Make of that what you will.
Kako se to dogodilo? Kada se to dogodilo? Sećam se da sam, dok smo izlazili iz bioskopa, iznenada postajao svestan te činjenice, dok smo se držali za ruke i razmišljali o tim istim pitanjima. I do dana današnjeg nemam odgovor. Bliski susret broj 4: Algarvi, Portugalija, 1991. godine. Nekoliko godina kasnije, ja sam s tom ženom - zvaćemo je „Ketrin Flečer" - (Smeh) - putovao južnom Portugalijom. Odsedali smo u malim hostelima u starim ruševitim gradovima opasanim zidinama, i jednom smo se popeli na krov i pili Vinjo verde, gledali zalazak sunca i igrali mice. Molim? Jesmo to mi radili? Stvarno? Ko to još radi? Išli smo na toples-plaže. Kako molim? Ne, ne u mom životu. Ako vam išta znači, bili smo u tvrđavi Sagres koju su svojevremeno smatrali krajem sveta. I eto mene kako trčim jer me juri čopor divljih pasa na doku, i onda me vođa ujede za dupe, zbog čega moram da odem u čudnu portugalsku kliniku i primim injekciju u dupe. Shvatite to kako želite.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
Our last day in Portugal, we were in the district capital of Faro, and Catherine decided that she wanted to go to the beach one last time. Now, Faro is a bustling little city, and to get to the beach, she explained, you would have to take a bus and then a boat. And did I want to come with? But I was exhausted and dog-bitten, and so I said, "No." I remember what she looked like before she left. The freckles had grown and multiplied on her face and shoulders, clustering into a kind of a tan. A tan, we were both tan -- is this true? Her eyes were extra bright and extra blue, as a result. She was smiling. She was a single woman about to go alone into a country, not even speaking the language, to travel alone by bus and boat to go to a beach she did not know or had never seen. I loved her, and then she went out into that strange, alien land.
Poslednjeg dana u Portugaliji bili smo u prestonici okruga Faro, i Ketrin je odlučila da hoće da ode na plažu poslednji put. Pošto je Faro jedan užurbani gradić, da biste došli do plaže, objasnila je, morali biste da idete autobusom i čamcem. Da li sam i ja hteo da pođem? Bio sam iscrpljen i izujedan te sam rekao da neću. Sećam se kako je izgledala pre nego što je otišla. Pojavile su joj se pege i umnožile se na licu i ramenima, formirajući neku vrstu tamnog tena. Oboje smo bili pocrneli - da li je to moguće? Oči su joj bile izrazito svetle i izrazito plave zbog toga. Smešila se. Ona je bila žena koja je htela da sama krene nekom zemljom a da i ne zna jezik, da sama putuje autobusom ili čamcem, da ode na plažu koju ne poznaje i koju nikad nije videla. Voleo sam je, i izašla je u tu čudnu, stranu zemlju.
It took me some time to come to my senses. I had my own "lost time" moment, where I woke up and suddenly realized it was very late in the day, almost dinnertime, and she had not come back. Nervous, I went down to the street to look for her. Now, I did not speak Portuguese. I did not know where the beach was. I could not call her on a cell phone because this was 1991, and the aliens had not given us that technology yet.
Trebalo mi je malo vremena da dođem k sebi. Imao sam sopstveni momenat „izgubljenog vremena" jer sam se probudio i odjednom shvatio da je dan skoro prošao, da je bilo skoro vreme za večeru i da se ona nije vratila. Sav nervozan, izašao sam na ulicu da je potražim. Nisam znao portugalski. Nisam znao gde je plaža. Nisam mogao da je nazovem na mobilni jer je to bilo 1991. godine, a vanzemaljci nam još uvek nisu dali tu tehnologiju.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
I realized that the day would only have two possible outcomes: either Catherine would come back to the hotel, or she would never come back to the hotel. And so I sat down to wait. I did not watch the skies, but the very end of the street where the buses and cars and pedestrians and little scooters were moving along. And I watched those constellations shift, hoping that they would part and I would see her face. It was at that moment, in that very small town of 30,000 or so, that I truly appreciated the vastness of the universe and the searching we might do in it. And that's when the Liberians came along. Five young men -- all laughing, happy, traveling together, coming back to this hotel where they were staying.
Shvatio sam da postoje samo dva moguća ishoda tog dana: ili bi se Ketrin vratila u hotel ili se ne bi vratila nikad. Tako sam seo i čekao. Nisam posmatrao nebo nego sam kraj ulice duž koje su se autobusi, auti, pešaci i mali skuteri kretali. Posmatrao sam kako se te skupine pomeraju i nadao sam se da će se razmaći i da će se ona pomoliti. U tom trenutku sam, u tom gradiću od oko 30.000 ljudi, istinski cenio veličinu svemira i potragu za tim šta mi tu radimo. Tada su naišli Liberijci. Pet mladića - koji su bili nasmejani, srećni i putovali zajedno, vraćali su se u hotel u kome su bili odseli.
One of them was named Joseph, and he asked me what was I doing, and I explained. And he said, "Don't worry." He was sure that Catherine would be safe. But he did not seem so very sure, for he sat down to wait with me. And for the next two hours, they all waited with me: taking turns, going up to their room, coming back, telling me jokes, distracting me. Two hours, they gave me a message. We are not alone.
Jedan od njih se zvao Džozef i pitao me je šta radim, i ja sam objasnio. On odgovori: „Nemoj se brinuti." Bio je uveren da je Ketrin dobro. Ali nije delovao sigurno jer je seo da pričeka sa mnom. U naredna dva sata svi su čekali sa mnom: na smenu su se penjali do svoje sobe, vraćali se, pričali viceve, odvlačili mi pažnju. Za dva sata su mi dali poruku. Nismo mi sami.
And then, in the middle of a sentence, at the very birth of twilight, I turned and looked down the street. The stars aligned, and she came back. She was smiling. She did not understand why I was so worried. Neither did the Liberians, although there was a huge amount of relief in their laughter as they clapped us on the back, and went back up to their room and left us alone in the street, holding hands. An event like this leaves a scar on the memory, much like a piece of alien technology that has been inserted into your buttocks by a "Portuguese doctor."
A onda, usred rečenice, u sam sumrak sam se okrenuo i pogledao ka ulici. Zvezde su se poravnale i ona se vratila. Smešila se. Nije shvatala zašto sam se toliko brinuo. Nisu ni Liberijci, iako se u njihovom smehu osećalo ogromno olakšanje dok su nas tapšali po leđima i vratili se u svoju sobu i ostavili nas same na ulici kako se držimo za ruke. Takav događaj ostavlja trag u pamćenju, slično kao neka vanzemaljska tehnologija koja vam je stavljena među guzove od strane „portugalskog doktora".
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
And even now, a decade and a half later, even now that we are married, I look for her still, whenever she is not in the room. And even though, I think you'll agree, it is probable that during the time she was away, she was kidnapped and replaced by an alien clone, I love her and wait for her still.
Čak i sada, deceniju i po nakon tog događaja, čak i sada kada smo venčani, uvek je tražim, kad god nije u istoj prostoriji. Mislim da ćete se svi složiti, čak i da postoji mogućnost da su je tokom tog vremena kada je bila odsutna kidnapovali i zamenili vanzemaljskim klonom, ja je volim i i dalje je čekam.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Hvala vam na pažnji.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)