The Sword and the Spear by Mia Couto

Author:Mia Couto
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

25

SERGEANT GERMANO DE MELO’S EIGHTH LETTER

Anything of gravity you have to say to an enemy, you must say it in his language. No judge passes a sentence in a tongue the defendant cannot understand. No one dies unless it is in their own language.

—A SAYING FROM NKOKOLANI

Sana Benene, October 22, 1895

Dear Lieutenant Ayres de Ornelas,

This time, I bring you substantial news. At last, my dear lieutenant, something is moving in this lifeless land. You are absolutely right, sir: something out of the ordinary is altering the fate of this Portuguese territory. And it was in the context of such change that Xiperenyane passed through here yesterday morning. He made a brief stop on his way to his lands at Zavala. The man is unstoppable, constantly roaming through the bush on campaign. He is an extraordinary fighter, a Negro of proven loyalty to the Portuguese crown. I only hope that this time we know how to repay him with due generosity. Strangely enough, Bibliana confessed to me that she had seen Xiperenyane in her dreams, skinny and in rags, sweeping the streets of Lourenço Marques. This was the pitiful future that awaited him. No more than the premonition of a witch, you will say, sir. Perhaps. Time will tell.

I know that our forces are preparing for a huge battle at Coolela. Part of me would like to be present at what will certainly be one of the most glorious events in the history of Portuguese Africa. Another part of me hesitates. Maybe there is more glory in these letters that are written independently of military confrontations. Maybe this unlikely encounter between such different people is nobler. Who knows whether Portugal may not achieve more for itself in this interweaving of such different people than in these bloody wars?

Were you concerned, sir, about my presenting myself at Liengme’s hospital? Did you fear that I would avoid appearing at the Chicomo military post, as my situation as a soldier requires me to do? Well, as things stand now, both destinations are out of the question. The military tension felt around here does not permit anyone to leave Sana Benene. At the moment, it is not even safe to travel down the river. We are surrounded, sir. And I suspect that we are besieged more by fear than by any real threat.

The person who suffers the most from this confinement is Bianca Vanzini. Between you and me, what worries her most is being away from her business interests in Lourenço Marques. Yesterday, however, the sun once again gleamed in the eyes of the Italian woman when our friend Xiperenyane promised to accompany her back to Inhambane after the upcoming battle at Coolela. From there, she would return to Lourenço Marques by sea. At one point, she even came up to me and asked me, in that evasive way of hers, whether it would not make more sense for her to go to Chicomo instead of Lourenço Marques. At least I won’t die without seeing Mouzinho, she said.

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