Octogenarian  Angolan

WHO  GO   SEARCH  O  FUTURE

In the Sovereign of the WORLD, there was a small house called TIME.  

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In the village there was an old man and the old man had a son.

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The old man who had a son (and a grandson who was also called Futuro) hardly ever worked.

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He took care of his grandson, sat in the sun, and told stories from the LAND-DO-TOMORROW. And there were only flowers and toy animals and a cauldron of funge and a fish farm (big, so big) that the whole world could eat, without ever running out.

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And grandfather used to tell. And the pioneer listened. And the people admired these tales and stories that only the old man knew.

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-  But what a beautiful story grandpa told me. Better than listening is going to see (and get to know) these LAND-DO-AMANHÃ, where hunger has died and the disease is over.

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And the future left. And it used to be.

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Sad, the father was unable to find him and thought:

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-  Now what to do if the boy ran away? A thousand ways has the world  some of peace, some of hunger, some of love, some of war... how can I find the road to that Land?

But the people did not think that the father  was right. He argued and even got angry - he made a rally and confusion: Who will look for the Future that ran away and went far away?  

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-  Leave it alone! some said - where he went is safe. In the TERRAS-DO-AMANHAN, in the places of FREEDOM, there is no cacimbo or fire, nor is there any danger of having a deep sea.

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-  In the end?! you forget where FREEDOM lives, the reaction appears - kazukuta mosquito, bourgeois malaria, and other diseases, ready to wipe out the Future at once?

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-  But the future doesn't die! ...

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-  But you can get sick.  And if the future gets sick, it's the people, it's really the people who die,  suffer and suffer.

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And they discussed, talked, with each other in the village. And everyone, everyone arrived, always and always at the same idea:  it is necessary to look for  the Future at once?

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And who goes? This was the case.

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And so they decided - the people, the son and the old man - to take this discussion to the chief who had a reputation as a man of good advice.

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People came - and there were a lot. People, sun, dust, shadow (under the mulembeira, where the soba sat)... The people in the circle listened. He only listened, did not speak.

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-  Who will seek the Future? Only the grandfather Formerly knows where  this land remains.  But he's old and sick.  It will take so long that it still dies first. Alone, with Formerly, you never reach the Future. let it go  the son who is young, look for the pioneer.

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-  I don't agree - the Future is not just for nothing. It is necessary to know (and choose) which is the bad way and which is the good way. Alone and without experience, youth is not enough. Patience! So let the old man go - limping, slowly, without mistake on the way, it takes time, but he will arrive.

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The discussion increased. Each wanted to speak - give their opinion. Angry the soba cut:

-   This is no longer possible!  This is confusion! Let's get back to talking one on one. Where everyone talks, you never hear any.

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And respect returned.  Another kota said:

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-   If the old man can't walk, if the son is going to get lost, let's put the two together. Because one can advise and the other can learn, and thus (without being mistaken) reach the lands and the Future that we all want to see.

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-   And that's right, Elder, shouted the happy people.  

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But someone got up. The maruvo seller was also there. I wanted to talk. Soba left. The people did not like him, but they listened serenely.

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-  If the old man goes alone, he can't stand it and dies. If the son does not take the father, he takes the wrong path and is lost. If the grandfather goes on the son's back - he is late and arrives late.

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-   It's never too late to arrive and find the Future, shouted the angry people.

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-   Even now it's too late. Because the road has jaguars. There in the forest there is a lion. Even in chana there are snakes... At this time, the pioneer died... either from the cold of the cacimbo, or fear of the dark.

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-  You don't like the Future, said the soba to the salesman, because where the Future grows, exploitation dies and soon disappears. But you're right about one thing: anyway, you're late for the Future if it's just the son and the old man. Let all the people go. This is what I advise.

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And in that upstairs in the WORLD that had a village called TIME, and an old man who had a son and a grandson too...

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  In that townhouse in that shantytown, there's really nothing left - no house, no people, no wall.

It's just that the whole people were looking for the Future... Men, women and children. Embabas from the houses and chickens of the terreiro. Pigs, goats, oxen. Cassava farms, school books, teachers and nurses...

And the maruvo seller?

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This one stayed. Then he was late. With no people to buy, the whole maruvo was ruined.  laid the  gourds out which was a pointless weight. Took  on the hoe and dug. Whether you liked it or not - I don't know. But he learned the law: THE FUTURE NEVER DIE. Nobody can kill you.

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And who finds the Future?

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The old blind and sick (Formerly)?

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The strong, healthy son (who was young)?

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Neither.  Certainly, the FUTURE can only be reached with the PEOPLE.                                

  DARIO DE MELO

1st edition INALD 1982

Piô-Pio collection nº1

Print run: 5000 copies 

Cover and Illustrations: ANTÓNIO DOMINGUES

2nd edition INALD / Dec.1986                              

Miruí Collection  -  #7

  Illustrations: Carmelo González