F0155 · The Maroon Kingdom / The Way Back
Luis Méndez and Jorge Comneno had met at the pope’s court. They had been introduced by Al-Hákim, the pope’s legendary physician, who, under the name of San Genesio, would be the first man to attempt a blood transfusion.
The flocks formed images beside the clouds. Isaac heard them returning returning to the treetops. He heard the castle gate opening. Farid had come back with the singing monk. He smiled.
Alberto thought he was waking in the monastery. He saw himself bowing before the Virgin of San Luca. In the choir he heard the singer’s manly voice offering up the day’s sufferings, and although when he awoke he did not remember what had been read, he was sure it concerned him. He had spent several weeks shut up in a sort of dungeon, where a man finally appeared and told him in Italian that he had come to help him escape the fury of the lord of Carpio. On the day of his death, Alberto would remember the gleam of the florin against the black velvet cloak. He was an elegant man of few words. Clearly a condottiere whom Farid must have found to help him return. And so the adventure of the New World ended, with him returning to the confinement from which he had thought he could free himself. He would not have time to miss Farid for very long. The castrato had left him in a tavern and had disappeared as providentially as he had appeared when the marquis was about to take his revenge. He learned from the condottiere that they would walk along the entire coast, seeking to evade the customs posts. In Tuscan territory they hoped to be safe. While they traveled through the lands of mad Queen Juana, they had to be prepared to fight or to bribe the soldiers who would surely ask for a safe-conduct they did not have. The afternoon light began to turn blue. The trot of the horses pulling the cart gave rhythm to a thought that had lodged in his mind: what am I going to do when you die? I don’t know. He thought in dreams and saw Farid again running through the city, looking for the soldiers who were now taking him back to the monastery he had never considered his home. Look for you, he thought again and again, and when he realized he was dreaming, he awoke with the sad foreboding that perhaps it was a premonition.
F0155 · The Maroon Kingdom / The Way Back
Luis Méndez and Jorge Comneno had met at the pope’s court. They had been introduced by Al-Hákim, the pope’s legendary physician, who, under the name of San Genesio, would be the first man to attempt a blood transfusion.
The flocks formed images beside the clouds. Isaac heard them returning returning to the treetops. He heard the castle gate opening. Farid had come back with the singing monk. He smiled.
Alberto thought he was waking in the monastery. He saw himself bowing before the Virgin of San Luca. In the choir he heard the singer’s manly voice offering up the day’s sufferings, and although when he awoke he did not remember what had been read, he was sure it concerned him. He had spent several weeks shut up in a sort of dungeon, where a man finally appeared and told him in Italian that he had come to help him escape the fury of the lord of Carpio. On the day of his death, Alberto would remember the gleam of the florin against the black velvet cloak. He was an elegant man of few words. Clearly a condottiere whom Farid must have found to help him return. And so the adventure of the New World ended, with him returning to the confinement from which he had thought he could free himself. He would not have time to miss Farid for very long. The castrato had left him in a tavern and had disappeared as providentially as he had appeared when the marquis was about to take his revenge. He learned from the condottiere that they would walk along the entire coast, seeking to evade the customs posts. In Tuscan territory they hoped to be safe. While they traveled through the lands of mad Queen Juana, they had to be prepared to fight or to bribe the soldiers who would surely ask for a safe-conduct they did not have. The afternoon light began to turn blue. The trot of the horses pulling the cart gave rhythm to a thought that had lodged in his mind: what am I going to do when you die? I don’t know. He thought in dreams and saw Farid again running through the city, looking for the soldiers who were now taking him back to the monastery he had never considered his home. Look for you, he thought again and again, and when he realized he was dreaming, he awoke with the sad foreboding that perhaps it was a premonition.
F0155 · El Reino Cimarrón / El camino de regreso
Luis Méndez y Jorge Comneno se habían conocido en la corte del papa. Los había presentado Al-Hákim el legendario médico del papa quien, con el nombre de San Genesio sería el primer hombre que intentó una transfusión sanguínea.
Las parvadas formaban imágenes junto a las nubes. Isaac escuchó que volvían volvían a las copas de los árboles. Escuchó que se abría el portón del castillo. Farid había vuelto con el monje cantor. Sonrió.
Alberto creyó que despertaba en el monasterio. Se miró a sí mismo inclinado frente a la Virgen de San Luca. Escuchaba en el coro la voz viril del cantor ofreciendo los sufrimientos del día y aunque cuando despertó no recordaba qué se había leído estaba seguro que lo atañía a él. Habían pasado varias semanas en que vivió encerrado en una suerte de calabozo en el que finalmente apareció un hombre que le dijo en italiano que venía para ayudarlo a escapar de la furia del señor del Carpio. El día de su muerte, Alberto recordaría el brillo del florín contra la capa de terciopelo negro. Era un hombre elegante, de pocas palabras. A todas luces un condotiero que habría conseguido Farid para ayudarlo a volver. Así terminaba la aventura del Nuevo Mundo, con él regresando al encierro del que había creído poderse liberar. No tendría tiempo de extrañar a Farid durante mucho tiempo. El castrato lo había dejado en una taberna y había desaparecido de forma tan providencial como apareció cuando el marqués estaba a punto de llevar a cabo su venganza. Supo por el condotiero que caminarían por toda la costa buscando evadir las aduanas. En territorio toscano esperaban encontrarse a salvo. Mientras viajaran por las tierras de la loca reina Juana tenían que estar preparados para luchar o para corromper a los soldados que seguramente pedirían un salvoconducto que no tenían. La luz de la tarde comenzó a volverse a azul. El trote de los caballos que arrastraban la carreta daban ritmo a un pensamiento que se le había quedado pegado, ¿qué voy a hacer cuando te mueras? No lo sé. Pensaba en sueños y volvía a ver a Farid corriendo por la ciudad, buscando a los soldados que ahora lo llevaban de regreso al monasterio que nunca consideró su casa. Buscarte, pensaba una y otra vez y cuando se daba cuenta de que estaba soñando despertaba con el triste presentimiento de que se trataba tal vez de una premonición.