De Nederlandse schrijver Ramon Stoppelenburg werd geboren in Leiden op 20 december 1976. Zie ook mijn blog van 20 december 2008 en ook mijn blog van 20 december 2009 en ook mijn blog van 20 december 2010.
Uit: My Stupidities of 2010
„I was driving the car on a one-lane road that was sided by lush green trees. That’s basically driving through rural Australia. If there are no trees, there isn’t anything else. And with driving through Australia you always have to keep in mind that traffic is different here. So are the signs on the road. If a sign says T-crossing ahead it actually says that pretty much AT the T-crossing. If you even don’t see that sign, you will be in for a surprise.
And what a surprise I experienced. The road just stopped! We could only go right or left, but the car was still going 95 km/hour and we were very close to the crossing already! So Antal screamed STOP!!! and I hit the brakes immediately.
And of course the van didn’t just stop. It screeched and slipped, but there wasn’t a real signal or an upcoming full stop. I pushed the brakes to avoid slipping even more and heard this sound of the horn of a truck.
There was a fuel truck coming from our right! A fuel truck!
The end of the road was coming very near us, but also did that truck and there was no way that that honking truck driver could stop his road train for us. Ever. (Road trains never stop, actually. It takes them minutes to get going again.).“
Ramon Stoppelenburg (Leiden, 20 december 1976)
De Finse schrijver Väinö Linna werd geboren op 20 december 1920 in Urjala, bij Tampere. Zie ook mijn blog van 20 december 2006 en ook mijn blog van 20 december 2008 en ook mijn blog van 20 december 2009.
Uit:The Unknown Soldier(Vertaald doorDavid McDuff)
„Kariluoto was in high spirits. He felt a kind of gratuitous friendliness, even towards this lieutenant who was a complete stranger to him. This morning he was experiencing one of the greatest moments in his life. He knew that the breakthrough had taken place, and that now preparations were being made for the advance towards Karelia. He plied the lieutenant with questions about everything under the sun, so eagerly that he did not notice the gravity of the other man’s expression. The lieutenant was taciturn because of the task that lay before him, but in spite of this Kariluoto tried to donate some of his enthusiasm to him.
The Jaegers leaned on their bicycles and looked at the infantrymen, who were lying by the side of the road. Rahikainen approached with an air of tentative exploration.
‘You haven’t got a field kitchen with you, have you, by any chance?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, each man seems to have a pot on his head.’
‘Didn’t they give you helmets, then?’
‘Not us. All we’ve got is empty bellies. I suppose you have bread, too?’
‘A little. We were given dry rations last night before we set off.’
Rahikainen dug about in his pocketbook.
‘How many slices for a cockade?’
The Jaeger put his hand in his pocket. A fistful of red stars came into view:
‘You must think we’re new recruits.’
‘Look at all those. I’ve been too busy to collect as many as that. I’ve had to do a bit of fighting now and then. How about an officer’s tabs? What will you give for those?’
Väinö Linna (20 dezember 1920 – 21 april 1992)
De Engelse dichter en schrijver John Fletcher werd geboren in Rye (Sussex) en gedoopt op 20 december 1579. Zie ook mijn blog van 20 december 2009 en ook mijn blog van 20 december 2010.
Beauty Clear and Fair
Where the air
Rather like a perfume dwells;
Where the violet and the rose
Their blue veins and blush disclose,
And come to honour nothing else:
Where to live near
And planted there
Is to live, and still live new;
Where to gain a favour is
More than light, perpetual bliss–
Make me live by serving you!
Dear, again back recall
To this light,
A stranger to himself and all!
Both the wonder and the story
Shall be yours, and eke the glory;
I am your servant, and your thrall.
John Fletcher (20 december 1579 – 29 augustus 1625)
Anoniem Portret, National Portrait Gallery, Londen
Zie voor onderstaande schrijvers ook mijn blog van 20 december 2010.
De Duitse dichter en activist Ferdinand Avenarius werd geboren in Berlijn op 20 december 1856. Zie ook mijn blog van 20 december 2008 en ook mijn blog van 20 december 2009.
De Wit-Russische, jiddische, schrijver Mendele Mojcher Sforim werd geboren op 20 december 1835 in Kpyl bij Minsk. Zie ook mijn blog van 20 december 2009.