Časoris is an online newspaper aimed at children. Each week we’ll take an article and post it here as a Slovene-English dual text.
Včeraj mestna sramota, danes nova znamenitost
Yesterday a city disgrace, today a new landmark
Written by Romana Dobnikar Šeruga, translated by JL Flanner & G Translate
Pred dvesto leti je bila tovarna sladkorja – zato so jo Ljubljančani poimenovali Cukrarna.
Two hundred years ago, it was a sugar factory - that's why the people of Ljubljana named it Cukrarna (“the sugar factory”)..
Nekaj časa je bila največja v vsej Avstro-Ogrski monarhiji. Nato jo je uničil požar. Po tistem so jo obnovili le toliko, da je bila primerna za oddajanje sob. V njih so bivali vojaki in tovarniški delavci ter revnejši Ljubljančani. Nekaj časa je v Cukrarni bival tudi pisatelj Ivan Cankar.
For some time it was the largest in the entire Austro-Hungarian monarchy. It was then destroyed by fire. After that, it was restored only to the extent that it was suitable for renting out rooms. They housed soldiers and factory workers, as well as poorer Ljubljana residents. The writer Ivan Cankar also lived in Cukrarna for some time.
Bivalne razmere v Cukrarni so bile slabe in se niso nikoli več izboljšale.
Living conditions in Cukrarna were poor and never improved.
Zadnjih dvajset let je bila Cukrarna zapuščena. Iz nje so izselili brezdomce in zazidali vhode, da se ne bi komu na glavo podrla streha. Kakšna sramota, so ob pogledu na propadajočo stavbo govorili mimoidoči.
For the last twenty years, the Cukrarna has been abandoned. Homeless people were evicted from it and entrances were walled up so that the roof would not fall on anyone's head. What a shame, passers-by said as they looked at the crumbling building.
Zdaj je »ljubljanska sramota« na obrežju Ljubljanice postala nova mestna znamenitost. Zdi se, kot da se je iz grdega račka spremenila v čudovitega laboda.
Now "Ljubljana’s shame" on the banks of the Ljubljanica has become a new city landmark. It seems to have changed from an ugly duckling to a beautiful swan.
Že od daleč je videti snežno belo pročelje mogočne stavbe. Ob pravem vremenu zvečer njena okna – vsega skupaj jih je 365 – zažarijo v barvah zahajajočega sonca. Zato je že postala priljubljen fotografski motiv.
From afar you can see the snow-white façade of the mighty building. In the right weather in the evening, its windows - 365 in all - glow in the colours of the setting sun. It has thus already become a popular photographic motif.
Mimoidoči pa radi pokukajo v notranjost.
Passers-by, on the other hand, like to peek inside.
In radovedneži bomo danes prišli na svoj račun. Cukrarna bo kot muzej sodobne umetnosti odprla svoja vrata in spet bomo lahko vstopili v najbolj prostorno zgradbo v Ljubljani.
And the curious will come of their own accord today. Cukrarna will open its doors as a museum of contemporary art, and we will once again be able to enter the most spacious building in Ljubljana.
Prostrana ploščad pred Cukrarno že postaja priljubljeno mesto za druženje, kolesarji pa so tam odkrili lepo kolesarsko pot.
The spacious platform in front of Cukrarna is already becoming a popular place for socializing, and cyclists have discovered a beautiful cycling route there.
Read more stories and improve your Slovene at Časoris, while all our dual texts can be found here.
