awakened by the evening concert of the crickets and sparrows, and by the gathering of the villagers for the celebration of the Feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. He set out on his peripato, the evening walk that was broken inevitably by a stop in the kapheneion and then was resumed in the expectation that Pelagia would have cooked something by the time that he returned. He was hoping that she would have prepared an unseasonable kokoretsi, as he had noted the presence of liver and intestines on the table where previously he had been performing his surgery. It had occurred to him that some spots of Mandras' blood might end up in the meal, and he wondered idly if that might amount to cannibalism. This had prompted the further speculation as in whether or not a Muslim might consider the taking of Holy Communion to be anthropophagous.
As soon as he entered the kapheneion he knew that something was amiss. Solemn martial music was emanating from the radio, and the boys were sitting in a grim and ominous silence, clutching their tumblers, that brows furrowed. Dr Iannis noted with astonishment that both Stamatis and Kokolios had the glistening tracks of nears down their cheeks. To his astonishment, he saw Father Arsenios stride by outside, his arms raised prophetic, his patriarchal beard thrust forward, crying,
`Sacrilege, sacrilege, hovel ye ships of Tarshish, behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind. Cry ye daughters of Rabbah, clothe ye with sackcloth, woe, woe, woe...'
`What's going on?' he asked.
`'The bastards have sunk the Elli,' said Kokolios, `and they've torpedoed the wharf at Tinos.'
`What? What?'
'The Elli. The battleship. The Italians sank it at Tinos, just when all the pilgrims were setting off to the church to see the miracles.'
'The icon weren't on board was it? What's going on? I mean why? Is the icon all right?'
`We don't know, we don't know,' said Stamatis. I wish I was still deaf so that I could not have heard it. Nobody knows how many mere killed, I don't know if the icon's all right. The Italians attacked us, that's all, I don't know why. On the Feast of the Dormidon, it's an unholy thing.'
`It's an outrage, all those sick pilgrims. What is Metaxas going to do?'
Kokolios shrugged; `The Italians say it wasn't them, but they've already found bits of Italian torpedo. Do they think that we have no balls? The bastards say it was the British, and no one saw the submarine. No one knows what will happen.'
The doctor put his hands to his face and felt his own tears fighting to appear. He was possessed by all the furious and impotent rage of the little man who has been bound and gagged, and forced to watch whilst his own wife is raped and mutilated. He did not stop to try to understand why he and Kokolios should both be sick wide horror over the violation of an icon and a holy day, when one was a Communist and the other a secularist. He did not stop to question whether or not war was inevitable. These were not things that needed to be examined. Kokolios and Stamatis stood up and cams out together when he ""Come on boys, we're all going to the church. It's a question of solidarity.'
10 L'Omosessuale (3) A guilty man wishes only to be understood, because to be understood is to appear to be forgiven. Perhaps in his own eyes he is guiltless, but it is enough for him to know that others consider him culpable and he feels the need to be explained. In my case, however, no one knows that I am guilty, and nonetheless I wish to be understood.
I was picked for the mission because I am a big man, because I had acquired a reputation for endurance, because I am reasonably intelligent (Francesco used to say that in the Army `intelligent' means `doesn't usually fuck anything up'), and because I was 'soldierly', which means that I kept my men in order, polished my boots when they were not too wet, and knew the meaning of most of
As soon as he entered the kapheneion he knew that something was amiss. Solemn martial music was emanating from the radio, and the boys were sitting in a grim and ominous silence, clutching their tumblers, that brows furrowed. Dr Iannis noted with astonishment that both Stamatis and Kokolios had the glistening tracks of nears down their cheeks. To his astonishment, he saw Father Arsenios stride by outside, his arms raised prophetic, his patriarchal beard thrust forward, crying,
`Sacrilege, sacrilege, hovel ye ships of Tarshish, behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind. Cry ye daughters of Rabbah, clothe ye with sackcloth, woe, woe, woe...'
`What's going on?' he asked.
`'The bastards have sunk the Elli,' said Kokolios, `and they've torpedoed the wharf at Tinos.'
`What? What?'
'The Elli. The battleship. The Italians sank it at Tinos, just when all the pilgrims were setting off to the church to see the miracles.'
'The icon weren't on board was it? What's going on? I mean why? Is the icon all right?'
`We don't know, we don't know,' said Stamatis. I wish I was still deaf so that I could not have heard it. Nobody knows how many mere killed, I don't know if the icon's all right. The Italians attacked us, that's all, I don't know why. On the Feast of the Dormidon, it's an unholy thing.'
`It's an outrage, all those sick pilgrims. What is Metaxas going to do?'
Kokolios shrugged; `The Italians say it wasn't them, but they've already found bits of Italian torpedo. Do they think that we have no balls? The bastards say it was the British, and no one saw the submarine. No one knows what will happen.'
The doctor put his hands to his face and felt his own tears fighting to appear. He was possessed by all the furious and impotent rage of the little man who has been bound and gagged, and forced to watch whilst his own wife is raped and mutilated. He did not stop to try to understand why he and Kokolios should both be sick wide horror over the violation of an icon and a holy day, when one was a Communist and the other a secularist. He did not stop to question whether or not war was inevitable. These were not things that needed to be examined. Kokolios and Stamatis stood up and cams out together when he ""Come on boys, we're all going to the church. It's a question of solidarity.'
10 L'Omosessuale (3) A guilty man wishes only to be understood, because to be understood is to appear to be forgiven. Perhaps in his own eyes he is guiltless, but it is enough for him to know that others consider him culpable and he feels the need to be explained. In my case, however, no one knows that I am guilty, and nonetheless I wish to be understood.
I was picked for the mission because I am a big man, because I had acquired a reputation for endurance, because I am reasonably intelligent (Francesco used to say that in the Army `intelligent' means `doesn't usually fuck anything up'), and because I was 'soldierly', which means that I kept my men in order, polished my boots when they were not too wet, and knew the meaning of most of
Similar Books
