the trams, and you two fall over, which makes the Lisbonites laugh, What bumpkins, they cry, And look, there’s Avenida da Liberdade, and what’s that thing sticking up in the middle, that’s Restauradores, oh, really, and I think to myself, Well, frankly, I’m none the wiser, but ignorance is always the hardest and most embarrassing thing to own up to, anyway, let’s walk up Avenida da Liberdade and find our sister, who’s working as a maid, this is the street, she’s at number ninety-six, isn’t that what you said, after all, you’re the one who can read, No, there must be some mistake, it goes from ninety-five to ninety-seven, there is no ninety-six, but he who seeks always finds, here it is, they laughed at us because we didn’t know that ninety-six was on the other side, the people in Lisbon laugh a lot. Here’s the building where our sister works, it’s really tall, the owner and resident of the first-floor apartment is Senhor Alberto, our sometime boss, everything belongs to the same family, Well, look who’s here, Maria da Conceição will say, what a surprise, and how plump she’s got, there’s nothing like being a maid. We’ll all go out together afterward, because the lady of the house is very generous and gives her time off, although it will be discounted from her next bit of leave, because normally she gets an afternoon off once a fortnight, between lunch and supper. We’ll visit some cousins who live in the area, in streets and back streets, and there’ll be the same joyful greeting, Well, look who’s here, and we’ll arrange to go to the show tonight, but first, you mustn’t miss the zoo, the monkeys are so funny, and that’s a lion over there, and look at the elephant, if you came across a monster like that in the countryside, you’d die of fright, and the show is called
The Clam,
starring Beatriz Costa and Vasco Santana, the man almost had me crying with laughter. We’ll sleep here in the kitchen and in the corridor, don’t worry, we’re used to all sorts, the nights are different in Lisbon, it’s the silence, the silence isn’t the same, So, did you sleep well, and no one dares to say No, we spent all night tossing and turning, but now let’s have a cup of coffee and then go for a stroll around the city, but this isn’t a city, it’s the size of a county, and in Alcântara we’ll meet a group of men working on the railway line, and they say, Morning, bumpkins, and that’s it, our brother-in-law takes umbrage and goes over to them, What did you say, a few blows are exchanged, then we flee in shame, and the men shout, Look at the one in the jacket, Look at that bumpkin run, but we’re not bumpkins, and even if we were, that would still be no reason to scorn us. We will cross the river again, Look at the sea, and a gentleman traveling with us in the boat says very politely, Actually, this is the river, the sea starts over there, and he points, and then we realize that you can’t see land in that direction, how is that possible. When we disembark in Montijo, we’ll still have a few kilometers to walk, eight to be precise, until we reach our work camp, we spent an awful lot of money but it was worth it, and when we get back to Monte Lavre, we’ll have a lot to tell, because life has its good points too.
Sometimes when people get married, there’s already a baby on the way. The priest blesses the couple and the blessing falls on three, not two, as you can see by the sometimes quite prominent bump beneath the woman’s skirt. But even when that isn’t the case, whether the bride is a virgin or not, it would be very unusual for a year to pass without a child being born. And if God so wills it, it’ll be one child out, another one in, for as soon as the woman gives birth, she falls pregnant again. They’re real brutes these people, ignorant, worse than animals, because animals aren’t in heat all the time, they follow the laws of nature. But these men arrive home from work or
The Clam,
starring Beatriz Costa and Vasco Santana, the man almost had me crying with laughter. We’ll sleep here in the kitchen and in the corridor, don’t worry, we’re used to all sorts, the nights are different in Lisbon, it’s the silence, the silence isn’t the same, So, did you sleep well, and no one dares to say No, we spent all night tossing and turning, but now let’s have a cup of coffee and then go for a stroll around the city, but this isn’t a city, it’s the size of a county, and in Alcântara we’ll meet a group of men working on the railway line, and they say, Morning, bumpkins, and that’s it, our brother-in-law takes umbrage and goes over to them, What did you say, a few blows are exchanged, then we flee in shame, and the men shout, Look at the one in the jacket, Look at that bumpkin run, but we’re not bumpkins, and even if we were, that would still be no reason to scorn us. We will cross the river again, Look at the sea, and a gentleman traveling with us in the boat says very politely, Actually, this is the river, the sea starts over there, and he points, and then we realize that you can’t see land in that direction, how is that possible. When we disembark in Montijo, we’ll still have a few kilometers to walk, eight to be precise, until we reach our work camp, we spent an awful lot of money but it was worth it, and when we get back to Monte Lavre, we’ll have a lot to tell, because life has its good points too.
Sometimes when people get married, there’s already a baby on the way. The priest blesses the couple and the blessing falls on three, not two, as you can see by the sometimes quite prominent bump beneath the woman’s skirt. But even when that isn’t the case, whether the bride is a virgin or not, it would be very unusual for a year to pass without a child being born. And if God so wills it, it’ll be one child out, another one in, for as soon as the woman gives birth, she falls pregnant again. They’re real brutes these people, ignorant, worse than animals, because animals aren’t in heat all the time, they follow the laws of nature. But these men arrive home from work or
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