The Greatest Present
by Alec Blenche
Illustrations by Oana Țiu
A story for children learning Romanian
Another day draws to a close in a little bustling town called Oxford, full of beautiful old buildings and people from all over the world.
Emma has just returned home from her 10th birthday party. After spending the day with her friends playing, singing and dancing, and opening lots of presents, she’s just about ready for bed. But as she climbs the stairs towards her bedroom, she hears her mother calling after her.
“Yes, mum?” Emma answers.
“Emma, there’s still one more present you haven’t opened,” says her mother, and she hands her an envelope.
“What is it?” Emma asks
“I don’t know, it just came today in the mail.”
On the front are Emma’s name and address. Someone has written ‘Happy Birthday!” in large colourful letters. Emma grabs the envelope, jumps into bed and starts to open it with great anticipation. She loves surprises!
It’s a letter. She tries to read it, but it’s written in a different language, one she doesn’t recognize. At the bottom of the page, though, there’s a line in English:
“If you read this letter by yourself you will discover the greatest present of all.”
Her eyes grow bigger. She tries to read the text again, but it’s no use. She doesn’t understand a word of it.
“I think it’s in Romanian,” says her mother, from the doorway of her room.
“Romanian?”
“Yes, too bad your father is not home to read it for you.”
“When is he coming back?”
“He’ll be home soon. A few days or so.”
Emma’s father is a marine biologist. He works for Oxford University. For as long as she can remember, he’s always been studying, researching, traveling. Now he’s touring the country attending some conferences where grown-up people meet to talk about complicated things they seem to find interesting, but always sound so boring to Emma.
She loves him very much and misses him a lot. He always tells her the greatest stories about his childhood in Romania. And if he were here he’d be able to read her the letter, but without him, she’ll just have to solve this mystery by herself.
The next day at school she bumps into her good friend, Sebi, whose mother is also from Romania.
“Morning Emma!” he says.
“How do you say good morning in Romanian?” Emma asks.
“Well it’s the only thing I know, you say Bună dimineața.”
“Bună dimineața? Sounds nice… it sounds like a big fluffy ice cream.”
“Bună dimineața,” repeats the boy. “Hmm, more like a tasty bar of chocolate.”
They laugh. It feels good to say words in a different language. It’s fun and interesting.
“Did you ever think about learning Romanian?” she asks him.
“No, I never really did, but now that you mention it, it sounds kind of cool.”
“Can we do it together?”
“Okay, but what came over you all of sudden?”
“I have to solve a mystery.”
“A mystery? I love mysteries!” says the boy with delight.
“Well, it can be our great adventure…But first, we have to learn the language so we can read the secret letter.”
“There’s a letter?”
“I received it yesterday for my birthday, but it’s written in Romanian.”
“All right – I’m in!”
All day long Emma and Sebi talk about the mysterious letter. What exactly is it hiding? Where did this letter come from, and what could this ‘greatest present’ be? But no matter what questions they ask each other, they always arrive at the same answer: they need to learn Romanian.
“I know,” says Sebi at one point, focusing on an idea.
“Can your mum help us?”
“No, she doesn’t speak the language anymore, just a few words.”
“Like bună dimineața?” says Emma smiling
“Yeah. And, ahh, I remember she also taught me bună ziua and bună seara.”
“Bună ziua? asks Emma. “What’s that?”
“It means good afternoon, and bună seara means good evening.”
“Bună ziua, bună seara. Bună ziua, Bună seara, Bună dimineața…hahaha!” laughs Emma. “They really do sound like different types of delicious ice cream. Morning ice cream: Buna dimineața.”
“Is it blue like the morning sky?” asks Sebi, smiling.
“Of course – blueberries! And then there’s bună ziua, which is daytime ice cream.”
“Is it yellow like the sun?”
“Yeah, just like that – melon. And then you have bună seara, which is evening ice cream.”
“Violet?” says Sebi.
“Perfect!” answers Emma, applauding. “I love it: Bună dimineața, Bună ziua, Bună seara.”
Listen up.
Listen to Emma singing a song about the greetings in Romanian and English. Sign along with her if you want!
“And I know exactly who can help us with your letter. You won’t believe it… but it involves more ice cream!” says Sebi
Emma smiles as if she’s heard the best news in the world!
To be continued…
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