Spring – Fanie Viljoen
English Summary
Chapter 1: HAPPY BIRTHDAY (VEELS GELUK), DEAR (LIEWE) SHAULIN
It’s Shaulin’s birthday (verjaarsdag) and he received (ontvang) a video
camera as a present (geskenk) from his parents (ouers). Both he and Jody, his
one friend, think it is fantastic. His other (ander) friend, Brandon, however,
does not share their enthusiasm (entoesiasme).
Brandon is lying (lê) on Shaulin’s bed with his hands behind (agter) his head,
proclaiming that it’s just a video camera and that cell phones can take
(neem) videos as well.
Shaulin strokes (vee) the camera, his fingers feeling the buttons (knoppies)
and he says that he has always wanted one.
Brandon is still not impressed (nie beïndruk nie). He shakes (skud) his head,
telling Shaulin to get over it since it’s not as though Shaulin got a girlfriend
(meisie) or anything.
Everyone (almal) knows that Shaulin struggles (sukkel) to find a girlfriend and
he doesn’t know why since it should (moet) be easy (maklik). He thinks that
he’s a cool (koel) guy (ou) and that he’s not too ugly (lelik). Maybe the
dimple (kuiltjie) in his cheek (wang) makes him look too much (te veel) like a
mamma’s boy (mamma-se-seuntjie). Or maybe his breath (asem) stinks and
nobody has told him about it (daarvan).
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,Perhaps he just does not understand (verstaan) girls. They are quite (mos
maar) strange (vreemd).
Shaulin looks (kyk) at Jody. She is kind of (nogal) cute (oulik): she has a pretty
body (lyfie), black (swart) hair and she wants to put (sit) a tattoo
(tatoeërmerk) on her shoulder (skouer); she even showed (gewys) him what it
should (moet) look (lyk) like.
{A picture of a rose (roos) is shown (gewys) to illustrate (illustreer) what Jody’s
tattoo would look like.}
Jody’s parents (ma-hulle) are refusing (weier), though. Shaulin also doesn’t
think she should get one. She has such (so) a very smooth (supergladde),
honey-brown (heuningbruin) skin (vel) and a tattoo will (sal) only ruin (bederf)
it.
Shaulin smiles (glimlag) as he thinks about how he would like to touch (streel)
her shoulder (skouer) and maybe even softly (saggies) kiss (soen) her skin
(vel) … But it will never (nooit) happen (gebeur).
Jody is not interested (stel nie belang) in Shaulin. She likes (hou van)
rough/bad (rowwe) guys. Shaulin is too tame (mak) for her liking. He at least
(darem) has some (‘n paar) muscles (spiere) that he got from playing rugby.
He even got a bloody nose (bloedneus) once and he only cried (gehuil)
very, VERY softly (sag).
Other than that (andersins), he is just an ordinary (gewone) guy. Luckily, he
and Jody are friends since (aangesien) ordinary (gewone) guys make good
friends.
Jody saying happy birthday (lekker verjaar) to Shaulin, wakes him from his
daydream (dagdroom). She wraps (draai) a few (paar) paper ribbons
(papierlinte) around his head and ties (knoop) a silver balloon to his shirt
(hemp).
Shaulin laughs; he likes (hou daarvan) that she is touching (raak aan) him, but
he doesn’t want to show (wys) it, so he asks what she is doing.
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,Jody playfully (speels) replies that she is wishing him happy birthday (wens
hom geluk). Shaulin stops (keer) her and quickly switches (skakel) on the
video camera. He aims (mik) it at Jody and tells her to do it again.
Brandon rolls his eyes: he is clearly irritated (geïrriteerd) and he looks away
(kyk weg).
Jody poses (poseer) for the camera while wishing Shaulin a happy birthday.
Her smile (glimlag) looks like Rihanna’s.
Chapter 2: WHAT WAS UP WITH (MET) BRANDON?
It’s very late in the evening and Shaulin is still watching (kyk) TV (televisie). His
parents (pa-hulle) have gone to bed already (slaap al).
Shaulin grins (grinnik). He’s had three slices (stukke) of his birthday cake
(verjaardagkoek), some milk tart (melktert) and koeksisters. He will lose
(afskud) the extra kilograms on the rugby field since a wing (vleuel) has to be
fast (vinnig).
Brandon says Shaulin has wings (vlerke) attached to (aan) his feet: that’s
what it looks (lyk) like when he runs (hardloop) towards the try line (doellyn)
and no one is able to stop (keer) him.
Just a pity (net jammer) Jody doesn’t like (hou nie van) rugby heroes
(rugbyhelde); they are not her type (tipe).
Shaulin’s thoughts (gedagtes) shift back (gaan terug) to Brandon. His friend
was acting (opgetree) very strange (vreemd) that day. What was up with him
(fout met hom)?
Shaulin sends Jody (stuur) an SMS, asking her what was wrong (fout) with
Brandon. She replies that Brandon is just jealous (jaloers) and that Shaulin
should sleep well (lekker slaap).
Jody is probably right, Shaulin thinks as he nods (knik) his head. Brandon’s
parents (pa-hulle) are poor (arm). He never (nooit) gets big presents
(geskenke) on his birthday.
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, Chapter 3: THE PLAN
Brandon is in a better mood (bui) the next day. He first goes to the fridge
(yskas) in Shaulin’s kitchen (kombuis), saying he is hungry (maag grom) and
he helps himself to some leftover (oorskiet) cake and tart. Shaulin just pours
(gooi) them some cold drinks: he does not want to look at cake today.
They go outside (buitetoe) and as Brandon takes a seat on one of the
garden chairs (tuinstoele), he asks Shaulin where his camera is since he wants
Shaulin to test it out a bit. Shaulin answers that he had tested it already, but
Brandon has a different (ander) idea.
He gets a dreamy (dromerige) expression (uitdrukking) on his face (gesig)
when he asks Shaulin where Sharon, Shaulin’s sister, is. Shaulin replies that she
is probably at the fishpond, reading a book and asks why Brandon wants to
go greet (groet) his sister since he came to visit (kuier) Shaulin. Brandon tells
his friend to just leave it (los dit).
Shaulin shakes (skud) his head as he finds this very strange (vreemd): since
(van) when has Brandon been so interested (stel belang) in what his sister
does?
Brandon then announces that he has an idea for the video. He puts (steek)
his hand in his pocket (broek se sak) and pulls (trek) out a bunch (bos) of red
crackers (klappers).
Shaulin asks Brandon if he is ten years old again and that one is not allowed
to (mag nie) set off (skiet) fireworks anymore (nie meer).
Brandon pretends (maak asof) not to hear Shaulin. He says he thinks they
should not only set it off, but scare (skrikmaak) Sharon with it.
Chapter 4: REVENGE (WRAAK)
Shaulin tells Brandon that he’s not very sure about this (weet darem nie) and
that Sharon is going to be angry (vies) with them. Brandon agrees (stem
saam) that she might be, but he thinks she is going to be laughing (haarself
pap lag) by the end of it.
Shaulin is still uncertain (onseker) where the video camera fits into all of this
and Brandon shakes his head, saying Shaulin is as dumb (dom) as dirt/mud
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