After a while, Father Agamedes got to his feet, made a gesture calling for silence, just a gesture, nothing more, he was a tall, extremely thin man, indeed it was a matter of great perplexity among his parishioners as to just where Father Agamedes put the considerable quantity of food that he ate, as was evident at the weddings and christenings he presided over, he got to his feet, looked at the people seated around him, wrinkled his sensitive nose at the sight of the dirty, disorderly table, oh, they’re so ill bred, Senhora Dona Clemência, but then felt himself filled with charity, doubtless Christian charity, and said, My dear children, I address myself to you and especially to the newlyweds on this happy day on which I have had the great good fortune to unite in holy matrimony Gracinda Mau-Tempo and Manuel Espada, she, the daughter of João Mau-Tempo and Faustina Gonçalves and he, the son of Tomás Espada and the late Flor Martinha. You have made the vows of faithfulness and mutual support that the holy mother church requires of all those who come to her in order to sanctify the joining together of man and wife until death do them part. Father Agamedes was wrong to mention death at this point, because Tomás Espada closed his eyes to hold back his tears but failed, tears are like water oozing out from a painful crack in a wall, everyone, very wisely, pretended not to notice, and Father Agamedes proceeded regardless, This land of ours may be small, but fortunately we share a great friendship, there are no dissensions or disputes such as I have seen in other places, and although it’s true that the people here are not great frequenters of our beloved mother church, who is always waiting patiently for her children to come to her, it is also true that almost no one omits to attend the sacraments, and those who don’t attend are lost sheep whom I, alas, have long given up all hope of saving, may God forgive me, for a minister should never lose hope of leading his entire flock into the arms of God. One of those stray sheep was present, as was his wife, who compared very favorably with her husband in the stray-sheep stakes, namely Sigismundo Canastro and Joana Canastra, both of whom were beaming as if Father Agamedes’s words were bouquets of roses, far be it from me to boast, but I have proven to be a constant and caring shepherd, for example, three years ago, at the time of the strike, as I hope you will all remember, some of you here today were among those I freed from prison, as you yourselves can attest, and were it not for Monte Lavre’s good standing with the Lord, all twenty-two of you could have been taken to the bullring, as happened to other men in lands less blessed by Our Lord and the Virgin Mother, although I know, of course, that I, poor repentant sinner than I am, cannot take the credit for such things.
At this point, João Mau-Tempo turned red and, needing to look at someone, he looked at Sigismundo Canastro, whose grave and now unsmiling eyes were fixed on the priest, and then António Mau-Tempo spoke up, This is my sister’s wedding, Father Agamedes, it’s no time to speak of strikes or who should take credit for what, and his voice was so serene that he didn’t seem the least angry, although he was, and everyone else kept silent, waiting to see what might happen next, but the priest merely proposed a toast to the health of the newlyweds and sat down. That was not a good idea, Father Agamedes, Norberto said afterward, what possessed you to say such things, it’s like mentioning rope in the house of a hanged man, You’re quite right, said Father Agamedes, I don’t know what came over me, I just wanted to show them that if it weren’t for us, the church and the latifundio, the two persons of the Holy Trinity, of which the third is the State, that purest of doves, if it were not for us, how would they keep body and soul together, and, come election time, who would they give their votes to, but I confess I was wrong, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa, that’s why I didn’t stay there much longer, I gave my pastoral duties as an excuse and left, I was, admittedly, slightly tipsy, though I didn’t drink much of that rough fortified wine of theirs, far too acidic for my stomach, not like the excellent wine from your cellar, Senhor Lamberto.
Then António Mau-Tempo, as spokesman, said, Right, now that Father Agamedes has gone and we’re among family, we can say what we like, according to our inclinations and our hearts’ choosing, so Manuel Espada will talk to Gracinda, his wife and my sister, while my other sister, Amélia, doubtless has her eye on someone too, though she might not be free to speak to him, and if he’s not here, then she can think about him, and we will all understand, because sometimes that’s the most we can do, and my parents will think back over their lives and over ours and what they were like when they were young, and they will forgive us our mistakes, and the rest of you will think about yourselves and your nearest and dearest, some of whom are already dead, I know, but if you call them,
