Cautivos: A Novel by Ariel Dorfman
Author:Ariel Dorfman
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Bisac Code 1: FIC000000
ISBN: 9781682192306
Publisher: OR Books
Published: 2020-07-14T16:00:00+00:00
FIVE
“ . . . Don Fernando asked the captive to tell them the story of his life, which was bound to be interesting . . . . To which the captive responded that he would gladly do as he was asked: And that way, your graces will hear a true account that will surpass the lying fictions which tend to be composed with such strange and planned artifice.”
—Don Quixote de la Mancha
“WE HAVE A problem,” Marín says.
“And if you,” Garrido adds, “help us solve it . . .”
“We will reciprocate.”
“Lately,” the escribano Carrasco intervenes, “Spain’s councils and magistrates and adjudicators and, alas, notaries, have been inundated with a plethora, I use the word appropriately, I trust, in the presence of a scholar such as yourself, Miguel de Cervantes, whether Cortinas or Saavedra, as you now call yourself, always so erudite and perceptive, a plethora, I repeat, of petitions and stories and requests and narratives and tales from all kinds of former captives.”
“Or rather,” Marín corrected him, “people who claim to be former captives. And the workload, to be blunt, is getting to be cumbersome—endlessly corroborating evidence, does this date match that one, has this suffering been exaggerated or even invented, oh it’s so tedious.”
“And frankly, driving us a bit crazy. All this gathering of witnesses, the same questions over and over. Unexciting, dull, humdrum. Stopping us from the more important work required for the security and surveillance of our realm and dominions—like finding people such as you for missions like that one to the coast of Berbería, I’m sure you’re still grateful for that opportunity, like this one, to serve Spain.”
Spain! Again and again, Spain! Yet again the offer, the urge, the command, to serve the country from which he had felt estranged upon his return. And to which he had remained loyal, in spite of his frustration. Something he had discussed with Padre Pedro de León one evening when his schooldays friend remarked on how much Miguel had changed from the boy he recalled, funny and exuberant and eager for what life would beget.
“Changed?” Miguel paused, as if wondering whether to let the moment pass or if . . . . Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he let loose a torrent of recriminations: “Not me, not me. The country, they changed my country while I was away. At first, Pedro, at first I told myself that I was to blame, the one who was out of step. It hurt too much not to fit into the country, how it dreamt itself. So I simply made believe that everything was the same, that ten years made no difference in the life of a nation, it had to be my fault, captivity had displaced me, that’s what I told myself. And for years closed my eyes, kept repeating that we were the greatest empire in the world, that we still are. Refused to accept that we were going down the drain. Owners of half the orb and going down the drain.
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