Episódio 29: Happy Halloween (Feliz Dia das Bruxas)

Duolingo English for Portuguese Speakers Podcast

Em Des Moines, a capital do estado norte-americano de Iowa, as pessoas são loucas por Halloween.

E Katie Swanson-Niermann, que tem o apelido de Swany, só descobriu isso quando se mudou pra lá em 2013, com 26 anos.

I celebrated Halloween as a kid, but it was very different in Des Moines.

Everyone in our neighborhood loved Halloween.

Every house had amazing decorations that were both fun and scary, like spiders and ghosts.

Our neighbors wore zombie costumes and tried to scare people.

One man, who was very tall, dressed like a monster and walked around the streets at night.

O Halloween é uma celebração com fantasias, enfeites e brincadeiras.

Uma tradição muito conhecida é o trick or treat: as crianças se fantasiam e saem batendo de porta em porta gritando “Trick or treat?”.

Trick é uma travessura, que pode ser uma pegadinha ou uma piada.

E treat é uma guloseima.

Mas a verdade é que na maioria dos lugares, as crianças não fazem mais travessuras.

But in Des Moines, tricks are still part of the tradition.

The kids trick or treat the night before Halloween, and they usually tell you jokes before you give them candy.

On my first Halloween in Des Moines, I woke up to a very surprising trick…

Welcome to “Histórias em Inglês com Duolingo”.

Eu sou Helena Fruet.

Nesse podcast, você vai poder praticar inglês no seu ritmo, ouvindo histórias reais e emocionantes.

Os protagonistas falam um inglês simples e fácil de entender — perfeito pra quem tá aprendendo.

Nesse episódio, temos duas histórias sobre como se comemora o Halloween, uma noite de fantasmas e fantasias… e também de abóboras, ou pumpkins!

Em 2014, Swany e seu marido compraram uma casa em Des Moines, perto de onde ela estudava medicina.

A casa ficava no alto de uma colina, num bairro histórico.

E eles alugavam um dos quartos pra uma inquilina, pra ajudar a pagar a hipoteca.

To get to the front door of our house, you had to walk down a path through a small garden.

It was the smallest house on the street, and it needed some improvements, but we loved it.

We had friendly neighbors, a wonderful roommate, and a cute dog.

But I was so busy studying and going to class that I didn’t have time to help my husband with the house.

He cleaned and did all of the repairs.

I felt so bad that I couldn’t help! So, in October, I got three pumpkins to decorate our porch for Halloween.

They were bright orange, and I was very proud of them.

O Halloween é comemorado na noite de 31 de outubro, e a tradição nos Estados Unidos é decorar as casas.

Em Des Moines, era uma verdadeira paixão.

Des Moines loved Halloween! All of the houses in our neighborhood had lots of decorations.

Some were scary, but I enjoyed seeing everyone’s enthusiasm.

I loved how all of the neighbors came together to celebrate the holiday.

My pumpkins were simple, but they were special to me.

They made me feel like I was part of the Halloween celebrations.

As abóboras fazem muito sucesso no Halloween.

As pessoas tiram todo o miolo e esculpem, ou carve, fazendo rostos e outros desenhos.

Essas abóboras decoradas com velas dentro são muito comuns.

Elas se chamam jack-o’-lanterns.

Most of our neighbors had pumpkins too.

They liked to carve monster faces, animals, or famous characters on them.

Then at night, they put candles in the pumpkins, and they became beautiful jack-o’-lanterns.

I always carved pumpkins when I was a kid too.

But that year, I didn’t have time to carve my pumpkins.

Mesmo estando superocupada, Swany queria que o Halloween chegasse logo.

Ela queria ver as crianças se fantasiarem, ou dress up, e irem até a casa dela para fazer o trick or treat.

When I was a kid, I went out on Halloween with my brother and sister every year.

We used to dress up in costumes and go to our neighbors’ houses.

When they opened their doors, we yelled, “trick or treat!” and then we got candy! We didn’t have to do any tricks.

We had a map of the houses that gave the biggest chocolate bars.

Our neighbors gave us so much candy! We went home when we couldn’t carry any more.

Mas, em Des Moines, a tradição das “gostosuras ou travessuras” é um pouco diferente.

Em vez de sair na noite do dia 31, como acontece nos outros lugares, as crianças vão de porta em porta um dia antes do Halloween.

Aí às três da tarde do dia 30, quando as crianças começaram a aparecer fantasiadas na casa de Swany, aconteceu uma coisa inesperada…

I had a big bowl of candy.

Kids came to my door, dressed like animals and monsters.

When they yelled “trick or treat,” I tried to give them candy, but they said, “Wait!” They wanted to do a trick before they got their candy.

Usually, the trick was a really bad joke like, “Where do pencils go on vacation? … To Pennsylvania!”

Swany adorou que as travessuras eram piadas bobinhas! Mas naquela noite, fizeram uma travessura com ela que não foi tão divertida.

Right after I fell asleep, I heard some noises outside.

We lived in a city, close to a bar, so it was normal to hear people outside laughing and talking while they walked home.

But I could hear the noises getting louder and louder.

Pra Swany o som era como se a pessoa estivesse pertinho da casa, mas do lado de fora.

Então, ainda meio dormindo, ela foi até a janela do quarto do segundo andar..

I looked out the window.

There was a young woman walking down the garden path towards my house.

At first, I thought maybe she was coming from the bar and got confused.

But then, she went to my porch and picked up one of my pumpkins.

So I opened the window and shouted, “Hey! Put my pumpkin down!”

A mulher ficou paralisada.

I continued telling her to put down my pumpkin.

But she said, “You just don’t understand! You just don’t understand!” I had no idea what she meant.

Then, she started carrying the big pumpkin away!

No meio de todo esse alvoroço, o marido de Swany acordou.

Ele não tinha ideia do que tava acontecendo e perguntou por que Swany tava gritando.

I said, “Someone just stole the pumpkin!” He said, “It’s okay.

It’s just a pumpkin.” And I said, “No! You don’t understand.

She took my pumpkin!” I wanted to follow her and take my pumpkin back, but my husband convinced me to go back to bed.

He said he’d get me another pumpkin.

Swany ficou triste.

Mas convencida de que não tinha mais o que fazer, ela voltou a dormir.

In the morning, it felt like a dream.

My husband didn’t remember very much.

And my roommate slept through the whole thing, so I explained what happened.

As I remembered the woman carrying my pumpkin away, I became mad and sad again.

I was upset that I let her take my pumpkin.

Swany tava triste e decidiu sair pra passear com o cachorro.

When I opened the front door, there was a surprise.

My pumpkin was back! I couldn’t believe it!

Mas a abóbora tava diferente.

Agora ela tava esculpida com muitos detalhes! E tinha uma vela dentro.

Someone carved the big pumpkin into an amazing jack-o’-lantern! The pumpkin had scary eyes and a mouth with huge teeth.

The details were incredible! There was also a tiny pumpkin in the jack-o’-lantern’s mouth.

It looked like the big pumpkin was eating the small pumpkin.

A abóbora tinha sido esculpida com detalhes incríveis! Swany tava surpresa… e feliz.

I loved it! I laughed when I thought about the night before.

When the woman took my pumpkin and said, “You just don’t understand!” I really didn’t understand! It was a trick — but it was a nice trick! In the end, I was happy she took the pumpkin.

Swany não só recuperou sua abóbora, como ficou com a melhor abóbora de todo o quarteirão!

My husband and I don’t live in Des Moines anymore, but we will always remember that Halloween.

Now, we carve pumpkins with our kids too.

But last year, we accidentally carved the mouth on the top of the pumpkin instead of the bottom! When we noticed it was wrong, we laughed.

It seemed like the pumpkin was playing a trick on us!

É verdade que nos Estados Unidos são as crianças que saem fantasiadas pedindo guloseimas no Halloween.

Mas muitos adultos também gostam de se fantasiar.

E pra Garett Reppenhagen, essa sempre foi a melhor parte do Halloween.

When people ask me what my favorite holiday is, they’re surprised by my answer.

It’s not Christmas or Thanksgiving — it’s Halloween! I love dressing up.

I love having fun.

And most importantly, I love making people laugh.

Garett era apaixonado por Halloween desde criança.

O pai dele serviu no exército, e por isso ele cresceu morando em bases militares.

Ele lembra que quando era criança, passava o Halloween indo de casa em casa na base.

O que ele mais gostava era ir nas casas dos oficiais, porque eles sempre tinham os melhores doces.

I’m very serious about my costumes.

I was a pirate once, and another time, I dressed up as a character from the movie Star Wars — I was a stormtrooper.

I spent months designing my costumes.

Além das fantasias, Garett também adorava as travessuras típicas do Halloween.

Ele é o filho do meio e sempre pregava peças nos dois irmãos e nos vizinhos.

Garett acha que o Halloween é uma festa que realmente combina com a sua personalidade.

I’ve always loved Halloween.

As an adult, I still get just as excited about the holiday as I did when I was a kid.

Mas, por uns bons anos, Garett não pôde comemorar sua festa preferida como gostaria.

Even though my dad was in the military, I never wanted to join.

But after high school, I was getting in trouble a lot, I felt lost.

I thought the military could be a good thing for me.

But a month after I joined the army, the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 happened, and I was sent abroad.

A vida de Garett mudou completamente.

Agora ele seria enviado pra bases militares, ou military bases, num front de guerra.

Comemorar o Halloween não era mais uma opção.

For the first three years that I was in the army, I wasn’t able to celebrate Halloween.

I was living on military bases outside the U.S., so it wasn’t easy to go to a store and buy a costume.

And of course the Army didn’t give us the day off for Halloween.

No quarto ano dele no exército, Garett foi mandado pro Iraque.

Depois de oito meses lá, tanto ele quanto muitos dos outros soldados estavam passando por momentos difíceis.

Eles tinham saudade de casa e precisavam se animar um pouco.

Foi então que Garett decidiu que naquele ano, não ia deixar o Halloween passar em branco outra vez.

I was on a military base in Iraq, so I didn’t have a lot of options.

There were no stores where I could buy a costume.

And I didn’t have much time to make one.

But then one day, during a mission, I realized that the answer was right in front of me.

Em vez de usar uma fantasia inventada, ele ia se vestir como alguém que todos conheciam no seu esquadrão: seu comandante, o sargento Richardson, ou Sergeant Richardson, que tinha um look fácil de imitar.

He was bald, with a big mustache.

And he always had tobacco in his mouth, so it always looked full.

He was easy to imitate.

I knew it was going to make the other soldiers laugh.

I started trying to act like him, which was actually pretty easy.

The only thing I needed to do was find the right costume.

Garett planejou tudo um mês antes do dia 31 de outubro, então teve tempo de deixar o bigode crescer pra ficar parecido com o do sargento Richardson.

Depois, ele foi na loja de conveniências da base e comprou uma xícara de café parecida com a que o sargento usava.

Garett também comprou chiclete pra imitar o fumo de mascar que o sargento sempre tinha na boca.

Ele até comprou palitos de dente pra colocar atrás das orelhas, assim elas ficariam salientes como as de Richardson.

But I still needed the most important part of the costume — Sergeant Richardson’s uniform.

Todos os soldados recebem um uniforme que mostra seu nome e seu posto militar.

Garett sabia que precisava de uma das camisas do sargento Richardson pra completar a fantasia.

Mas não ia ser fácil.

If I wanted to get Sergeant Richardson’s shirt, then his roommate needed to help me.

But the first time I asked his roommate, he refused.

Sergeant Richardson was a very serious person.

He didn’t like jokes.

Dressing up like him was dangerous because it could make him very angry.

I promised the sergeant’s roommate that I wouldn’t tell anyone on the base that he helped me, so finally, he said yes.

Garett já tinha tudo o que precisava.

E aí, na manhã de Halloween, ele acordou, raspou a cabeça, colocou a camisa e foi pro restaurante tomar café da manhã.

When I entered the dining hall, I acted like everything was normal.

I just walked to the kitchen and ordered an omelet, like I always did.

I could hear everyone at their tables laughing and talking about me.

After I sat down to eat, I talked like Sergeant Richardson, I acted like him.

I was him.

People started joking and saying, “Good Morning, Sergeant Richardson.”

Mas, uns minutos depois, o comandante de toda a base entrou no restaurante procurando o sargento Richardson — o verdadeiro sargento Richardson.

Since I looked exactly like Sergeant Richardson, the commander, our boss, walked over to my table.

Everyone around me started to move away.

They knew that I was going to be in trouble as soon as the commander realized that I wasn’t Sergeant Richardson.

Garett se levantou na mesma hora, ficou em posição de sentido e cumprimentou seu superior.

Ele sabia que aquilo não ia acabar bem.

The commander looked at me and said, “What are you doing?” I responded, “I’m eating breakfast.” And he said, “No, why are you dressed like that?” And I said, “It’s Halloween.” And he said, “Wrong answer.

Throw your food in the trash, go to your room, and don’t leave until I come to find you.”

Garett tava apavorado.

Se passar por outro soldado, principalmente um superior, era um delito grave no exército.

Tão grave que pode até dar cadeia.

É claro que Garett tava só tentando se divertir.

Ele não queria tomar o lugar de um superior no mundo real.

Ele não tinha nem imaginado que a brincadeira podia ter consequências reais.

E não fazia ideia do que podia acontecer com ele dali pra frente.

I was so scared that I thought I was going to vomit.

I thought that I might have to leave the military and that I might even go to jail.

I was in my room for hours u ntil the commander finally came to my door.

O comandante entrou no quarto e mandou ele colocar o uniforme do sargento Richardson.

Garett pensou: “Ah, não! Isso não vai dar certo… Ele vai me obrigar a devolver o uniforme, e o sargento Richardson vai me punir.”

I was really surprised by what happened next.

The commander told people on the base that I was in trouble, but actually, he just came into my room, ordered me to stand up, and took a photo of me and left.

I think he thought it was funny! No shouting, no jail, nothing.

I couldn’t believe it! Later that night, I went on a mission with Sergeant Richardson.

When I arrived, I was wearing his shirt.

We took a picture together, but I don’t think he was very happy about it.

Por vários dias, a fantasia de Garett foi o único assunto na base.

I was in Iraq, in the middle of a war.

There weren’t a lot of opportunities to laugh and forget about everything that was happening there.

But on Halloween that year, I was able to make a few people happier, and to me, that was all worth it.

Garett Reppenhagen saiu do exército no ano seguinte.

Mas ainda faz de tudo pra se divertir e fazer os outros rirem no Halloween.

A história dele foi produzida por Paige Sutherland, uma jornalista de Boston.

Nossa primeira narradora, Katie Swanson-Niermann, a Swany, trabalha como médica em Minneapolis, em Minnesota.

Ela continua amando abóboras! A história dela foi produzida por Tressa Versteeg, uma jornalista que mora no Maine.

Eu sou Helena Fruet.

Thank you for listening!