F0148 · The Maroon Kingdom / The Third Oath
There, suddenly, beside Alberto, Farid murmured for the third time:
Most High Jesus Christ, I have never believed in you, but I give you my life if you get me out of this place. And suddenly he felt at peace. At peace with himself, at peace with death.
Farid smiled and told him that many years ago, in a Hammam, he had attained what he, Alessio, called immortality. Of course, such a claim only heightened the curiosity of the monk, who went on losing his faith to find the sensual pleasures that, he thought, the convent had stolen from him.
The man led them through a labyrinth of vapors, and at last, in a very hot room with gleaming walls, they lay down on two wooden beds. Two men with enormous bellies began beating them with herbs and throwing cold water over them, and he remembered the slave trader’s voice. Then he knew where to begin telling how he had come here, to this bath where at last he could speak of his mother’s murderer.
F0148 · The Maroon Kingdom / The Third Oath
There, suddenly, beside Alberto, Farid murmured for the third time:
Most High Jesus Christ, I have never believed in you, but I give you my life if you get me out of this place. And suddenly he felt at peace. At peace with himself, at peace with death.
Farid smiled and told him that many years ago, in a Hammam, he had attained what he, Alessio, called immortality. Of course, such a claim only heightened the curiosity of the monk, who went on losing his faith to find the sensual pleasures that, he thought, the convent had stolen from him.
The man led them through a labyrinth of vapors, and at last, in a very hot room with gleaming walls, they lay down on two wooden beds. Two men with enormous bellies began beating them with herbs and throwing cold water over them, and he remembered the slave trader’s voice. Then he knew where to begin telling how he had come here, to this bath where at last he could speak of his mother’s murderer.
F0148 · El Reino Cimarrón / El tercer juramento
Farid ahí, de pronto, junto a Alberto murmuró por tercera vez:
Altísimo Jesucristo, nunca he creído en ti, pero te doy mi vida si me sacas de este lugar. Y de pronto, se sintió en paz. En paz consigo mismo, en paz con la muerte.
Farid sonrió y le habló de que hace muchos años en un Hammam había conseguido eso que él, Alessio, llamaba inmortalidad. Por supuesto, semejante afirmación lo único que hizo fue acrecentar la curiosidad del monje que seguía perdiendo la fe para encontrarse con los placeres sensuales que, pensaba, el convento le había robado.
El hombre los condujo por un laberinto de vapores y al final, en un cuarto muy caliente, con paredes brillantes se recostaron sobre dos camas de madera. Dos hombres de barrigas enormes comenzaron a golpearlos con hierbas y les lanzaron agua fría y él recordó la voz del vendedor de esclavos. Supo entonces dónde comenzar a contar cómo había llegado hasta aquí hasta este baño en el que por fin podía hablar del asesino de su madre.