Suddenly I was filled with regret that I'd bought my plot so prematurely . . . . I'd been afraid of being left to the dogs. I'd gone to Mrs. Freid's stone setting at Pinelawn [a NY cemetery], and it seemed like a nice place. A Mr. Simchik showed me around and gave me a pamphlet. I'd been imagining something under a tree, a weeping willow perhaps, maybe a little bench. But. When he told me the price my heart sank. He showed me my options, a few plots that were either too close to the road or where the grass was balding. Nothing at all with a tree? I asked. Simchik shook his head. A bush? He licked a finger and rustled through his papers. He hemmed and hawed, but finally he gave in. We may have something, he said, it's more than you were planning to spend but you can pay in instalments. It was at the far end, in the subarbs of the Jewish part. It wasn't exactly under a tree but it was near one, near enough that during the fall some of its leaves might drift down to me. I thought it over. Simchik told me to take my time and went back to the office. I stood in the sunlight. Then I got down on the grass and rolled onto my back. The ground was hard and cold under my raincoat. I watched the clouds pass above. Maybe I fell asleep. The next thing I knew, Simchik was standing above me. Nu? You'll take it?
plot - dziełka; tu: kwatera (na cmentarzu)
prematurely - przedwcześnie
a Mr. Simchik - "a" znaczy tu "niejaki"
a pamphlet - broszura
weeping willow - wierzba płacząca
was balding - przerzedzała się
hem and haw - jąkać się (przed daniem odpowiedzi)
pay in instalments - płacić w ratach
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