Building bridges, not walls
Wait for the ladybirds to come to you. You cannot summon or call them, no matter how much you beg. You can cry for them at four am in your tiny studio apartment, a thousand miles away from the cottage in the field you grew up in, and they will hear you, but they will not come.
El toro, una bestia inquieta, gruñía en la tierra seca del Campo de la Colina, contiguo a la parcela familiar. En él, Mike el Negro invertía todas sus ambiciones: no deseaba otra cosa que tener el dinero suficiente para, un día, poder comprar todas las tierras del Gran Granjero Dillon además de sus enormes rebaños.
Aquella mañana el toro dormía bajo la sombra de unos fresnos.
The beast burst into life, charging down the hill. Liam leapt aside, stricken dumb in terror. The animal trundled forward, goring their mother in one fatal thrust. She slumped to the ground, blood pumping from her punctured back.
One day, people from the town started getting sick. The teacher stopped giving her lessons. The shop clerk had to close down his shop, the two bakers were not able to bake bread anymore, the priest had to close down the church… Until one morning, Tomás appeared at the doctor’s house with a container full of water.
La abuela es tozuda y quiere hacer su voluntad, tiene carácter. La vida la curtió desde muy joven. Tenía apenas 10 años cuando su madre se puso de parto en la cocina; los gritos desgarradores paralizaron a María que, tras unos instantes, salió corriendo a casa de la vecina. Aunque todo acabó bien, jamás olvidaría ese momento.
She had an older sister, Betty, but they never got on. She was too formal, too obedient. She was also her mother’s pride and joy, whilst she was not. But she didn’t mind too much, so long as she was allowed to go out exploring and climbing trees.
One day, however, her childhood morphed into something else as the air became tense.
Tenía una hermana mayor, Betty, pero nunca se llevaron bien. Ella era demasiado formal, demasiado obediente. También era el orgullo y alegría de su madre, no como ella. Pero no le daba mucha importancia mientras le permitieran salir a explorar y a trepar árboles.
Sin embargo, un día su infancia se transformó en algo distinto cuando el ambiente se tornó tenso.
That summer, the summer of 1984, he told me his most fascinating story yet. The watch had belonged to a woman who, in 1944, had burst into the shop like a hurricane. It was late and my grandfather was about to leave when he heard a noise outside and then someone knocked at the door. The woman at the door was stifling, breathing heavily as if she had been running. She seemed scared.
Ese verano, el del ochenta y cuatro, me contó la historia más fascinante de todas. El reloj había pertenecido a una mujer que en mil novecientos cuarenta y cuatro había irrumpido en la tienda como si de un viento huracanado se tratara. Era tarde, y mi abuelo estaba a punto de marcharse cuando escuchó un ruido en la puerta, como un golpe fuerte y a continuación alguien llamó a la puerta. La mujer de la puerta estaba sofocada y con la respiración agitada como si hubiera estado corriendo. Parecía asustada.
They are accustomed to having the wind blow in their faces. Accustomed to icy winter wind that cuts their lips. That pushes open doors and windows with its restless noise at siesta time. That vents their heads, covered with headscarves or berets, as a form of rebellion. That protects the ears, and keeps them from having ideas, otherwise they may become too wild.
In the town, outside politics aren’t important. But outsiders do come to the village to take the fruits of their land, which farmers and shepherds work to produce here. Trucks are now coming to the village to take away men’s arms.
THE WANDERING BARD 