Trãiau de foarte mult timp împreunã

They had been living long together,

Și cam începuserã sã se repete.

And they had rather started to repeat themselves:

El era ea,

He was she,

Și ea era el.

And she was he.

Ea era ea,

She was she,

Și el era tot ea,

And he was she too.

Ea era, nu era,

Sometimes she either was, or she was not,

Și el era ele,

That's when he was one she, two shes, and many shes.

Sau cam așa ceva.

Such used to be life, more or less.

Dimineața mai ales,

And above all, early each morning,

Pîna se alegeau bine,

Till they would get at last to demarcate

Care cine mai este,

Who was each one,

De unde și pînã unde,

Where they did start and end

De ce așa și nu altminterea,

Why in this way and not the other one,

Trecea o groazã de timp.

A lot of time was wasted,

Trecea timpul ca pe apã.

As carried by a river time was flowing.

They even tried to kiss sometimes,

Voiau uneori chiar sã se sãrute

Dar își dãdeau seama la un moment dat

But suddenly they realized

Cã amîndoi sînt ea.

That both of them were she.

Mai ușor de repetat.

Much easier to duplicate.

Atunci începeau de spaimã sã caște.

But scared by such discovery,

Un cãscat așa de lînã moale,

Both would start yawning

Care se putea si croșeta

A yawn of softened wool,

În felul urmãtor:

Which could be even knitted, the way it follows:

Una cãsca foarte atent,

One she yawned very attentively,

Și cealaltã ținea ghemul.

Meanwhile, the other she was due to hold the ball.