The Wind Whistling in the Cranes by Margaret Jull Costa

Author:Margaret Jull Costa
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Liveright
Published: 2022-01-04T00:00:00+00:00

“The boss would like table number thirteen . . .”

The table stood waiting for them, right by the window. On the group’s arrival, the waiter had hurried to light the candles, which floated in holders full of water. The autumn night had plunged the Ria into total darkness. Beyond the area lit by the hotel lights, nothing could be seen. But this opaque exterior didn’t matter. Everyone knew the shadows were hiding a long snaking lake like a Persian carpet, which altered its shape from moment to moment, hour to hour, its wet soupy surface always different, always pulled this way and that by invisible, mysterious force lines. They talked about that as they took their seats. The Dutchmen, who had been waiting for this moment for months, felt quite content. Van de Berg was accompanied now by another Dutchman, marginally shorter and less pink, and by his own lawyer, a Portuguese man almost as burly as they were. Uncle Afonso was still accompanied only by Dom Silvestre. Uncle Rui, as agreed, hadn’t joined them. This was a business dinner. No sooner had they sat down, the two candles fluttering in the middle of the table, than Senhor Van de Berg forgot the darkness outside and remembered the birds that morning. Beautiful, just beautiful. It was a table for eight, and there were five of them, all dressed in dark colors as if for some kind of ceremony, with the biggest Dutchman sitting at the center, taking up enough space for three.

“So, were they shearwaters in the end?”—he had asked, spacing out the syllables.

Uncle Afonso had then turned to Dom Silvestre. At this particular business dinner, birds were not his area. Let his brother-in-law talk about birds.

“Yes, what were they called again?”

Dom Silvestre was the one with the bird knowledge, not only because as a hunter he was interested in any creature that moved, but also because he had done some research expressly for that dinner. Dom Silvestre considered it very important to be on top of such material, which could be slipped into the conversation at opportune moments. His success wasn’t simply down to luck—it took a lot of work. So if Senhor Van de Berg and his associates wished, he could, naturally, discuss the birds, mollusks, plants, lakes, soils, and various rare species native to the local area. Because Mar de Prainhas, of which his wife was co-owner, was replete with rarities. And since the Dutchman was listening with devout attention, Uncle Dom had begun holding forth about plovers and terns, emphasizing the ornithological significance of the little bittern, a marvelous white creature with a pointy feather cap. Yes, it could fly. To demonstrate how it flew, Uncle Dom spread his arms and began to whoop, right there in the Luxor Restaurant, which made the other men laugh. Raising his hand, sometimes to his own head, Uncle Dom spoke with particular relish of the western swamp hen, with its purple feet and a little red tiara in the middle of its forehead.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.