Antonio
dreams of the land which he works belonging to him, dreams that his sweat is
paid with justice and truth, dreams that there is schooling to cure ignorance
and medicine to scare off death, dreams that his house is lit and his table
filled, dreams that his land is free and that it is because of his people
governing and governing themselves, dreams that he is at peace with himself and
with the world. He dreams that he must struggle to have that dream, dreams that
there must be death for there to be life. Antonio dreams and wakes up… Now he
knows what to do and sees his wife squatting stoke the hearth, hears his son
cry, looks at the sun greeting the east, and sharpens his machete while
smiling.
A
wind rises and shifts everything about, he gets up and walks to meet up with
others. Something has told him that his wish is the wish of many and he goes to
look for them.
The
viceroy dreams of his land being shaken by a terrible wind that lifts
everything up, dreams of what he stole being taken from him, dreams that his
house is destroyed and that the kingdom which he governed collapses. He dreams
and does not sleep. The viceroy goes where the feudal lords are and they tell
him that they dream the same. The viceroy does not rest, he goes off with his
doctors and among all they decide that it is Indian witchcraft and among all
they decide that only with blood can one be freed from that spell, and the
viceroy orders to kill and imprison and builds more prisons and barracks and
the dream continues to keep him awake.
In
this country everyone dreams. It is now time to wake up…
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Originally
published on January 27th, 1994.
English translation
copyright © 2014 by Henry Gales. All rights reserved.
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