Nina, who is a diabetic, takes her insulin shot every night at 10 pm. While Ion is very active around the house, Nina’s pain as a result of her illness keeps the pace of her life very slow. Her eyesight is also very bad, a fact that she laments, having been a voracious reader in her youth. Frequently as we are visiting with each other in the evening she will recite a poem by Mihai Eminescu, the most famous poet in Moldova.
Beats the moon upon my window
Down the same untroubled lane.
Only you are never passing,
Nevermore beyond my pane.
And the same prune trees in blossom
Reach their branches o'er the fence,
But the hours the past has taken
Never shall again come thence.
Other is your soul's intention,
Other eyes you have today,
Only I who am unchanging
Tread for ever that same way.
O, how slim and young and graceful,
Secretly with paces slow,
Would you come to me at evening
'Neath the hidden hawthorn's bough.
While my arms were clasped about you
It seemed we from the earth had sped;
And we talked great things together,
Though not a word had either said.
Kisses were our single answer,
Many queries, just one task,
While about the world beyond us
Neither had the time to ask.
Aye, little I knew in youth's enchantment
That it is alike absurd
Or to lean against a shadow,
Or believe a woman's word.
And the air still moves my curtain
As it used in times of yore...
Moonlight down the lane uncertain,
Only you come nevermore. - Mihai Eminescu