It’s not known where this spirit of didacticism came from, whether from Lisbon, Évora, Beja or Portalegre, or if it was used in a jocular mode at the club in Montemor or after too much cognac, or if Leandro Leandres brought it home with him from the house of dragons, but whatever its origin, it quickly spread throughout the latifundio, passing from Norberto to Gilberto, from Berto to Lamberto, from Alberto to Angilberto, and, once it had found general acceptance, the overseers were summoned and given their orders, Any harvesting already begun must stop, and don’t start work on any new fields. Some calamity must have occurred, perhaps the wheatfields have become leprous, and the latifundio has taken pity on its harvester-children and doesn’t want to see them disfigured, their fingers mere stubs, their legs stumps, their noses absences, their lives are unfortunate enough as it is. This bread is poisoned, at the end of each field place scarecrows with horrible gaping skulls for heads, that should put the fear of death into even the most resolute souls, and if that doesn’t scare them off, then call the guards, they’ll sort them out. And the overseer says, That won’t be necessary, no one is likely to go to the fields unless he’s sure to get paid, and certainly not if he’s going to get a bullet between the shoulder blades, but think of the loss of income. And Alberto says, Better cut the shoe than pinch the foot, it won’t ruin us to leave the wheat unharvested for a year. And the overseer says, They want more money, they say the price of food is going up and up and that they’re starving. And Sigisberto says, That’s nothing to do with me, we pay them what we want to pay them, food is expensive for us as well. And the overseer says, According to them, they’re going to get together to talk to the boss. And Norberto says, I don’t want any dogs following behind me, barking.
All over the latifundio one hears only the barking of dogs. They barked when, from the Minho to the Algarve, from the coast to the eastern border, the people rose up in the general’s name, and they were barking a new bark, which, in the language of ordinary folk, translated as, If you want better pay, vote Delgado on the day, this taste for rhymes goes back a long way, well, we are, after all, a nation of poets, and they barked so much that soon they were barking at people’s doors, it won’t be long, Father Agamedes, before they start profaning churches, that’s always the first thing they do, spitting in the face of the holy mother church, Please, Dona Clemência, don’t even talk about it, not that I’m afraid of martyrdom, but Our Lord will not allow a repetition of the kind of outrage that took place in Santiago do Escoural, where, can you imagine, they turned the church into a school, I didn’t see it with my own eyes, of course, it was before my time, but that’s what I’ve been told, It’s true, Father Agamedes, as true as we’re sitting here now, ah, the follies of the republic, which, God willing, will not be repeated, be careful when you leave, mind the dogs don’t bite you. When Father Agamedes peers around the door on the way out, he asks in a shrill, tremulous voice, Are the dogs under control, and someone replies dully, These ones are, but put like that, how do we know which dogs are loose and which not, but Father Agamedes feels certain that this information will ensure the safety of his delicate calves and steps out into the courtyard, where he finds, to his relief, that the dogs are indeed safely tethered, but when he goes out through the street door, he finds a crowd of people, not barking, all we need is for men to start barking, but if this murmuring doesn’t sound like a dog growling, I’ll eat my hat, and Father Agamedes doesn’t see the line of ants marching along the wall of the building, raising their heads like dogs, they’re quiet now, but whatever will become of us if the whole pack of them were to join forces.
As mentioned above, this year’s harvest has been canceled, as a punishment for the usual impertinence of asking for more wages and for the exceptional crime of supporting Delgado, everywhere and anywhere. I really don’t care, said Adalberto, I just need to be sure that the government is in agreement, Oh, it is, said Leandro Leandres, and so are we, we think it’s a magnificent idea. And what about the losses, sir, what about the losses, you can count on our good will, but we’ll have to be compensated, everything has its price, a perfectly justifiable remark made in some unnamed place on the latifundio, it must have been in a town, because what would the civil governor be doing in a tiny village unless he was there to attend some inauguration ceremony, but wherever it was, the remark was made, perhaps on a balcony looking out over the countryside, Don’t worry, Senhor Berto, we’re studying how best to assist agriculture, the nation is aware of farmers’ concerns and will not forget this patriotic gesture. They almost hoist the flag, but why bother, election day has been and gone, and while Tomás* may be our brand-new president, he acts the same as the former resident, well, if the others can rhyme, why shouldn’t I, I’m as important
