Monday 1 February 2010

A history of two (twin) brothers

The history (fictional of course) of my great-great-great grandfather by my Argentinian friend Armand d'Arc

"We are now on the third year of the ‘Serenghetti War’, a conflict fought in Africa between the European powers with the help of their local allies.
The Spanish fleet has managed to break again the English blockade (the British ships have moved to fight in the North-American conflict) carrying the reinforcements sent by the French Empereur to the Spanish King, his main ally in the war on the ‘Black Continent’.
Whereas the men are crowded in the frigates and vessels following, like little bees, the trace of the ships of the line "Santa Maria" and "Madre de Dios", some important officers are travelling aboard these last. Colonel Rafael Pardo is one of them, and on the main deck of the ‘Santa María’ is trying to see through the fog, the African coastline, while thinks about his family assimilating the perturbing news that his father told him at the moment of the departure for African lands.
The old and proud hidalgo, Captain Emanuel Gilberto Ricardo Pardo de Villanueva, engineer officer of the King Guard, chose that moment to reveal him the bizarre and secret history of his marriage with an Otoman Princess as well as the existence of his twin brother.
Don Emanuel was married once with Jasmila, an Otoman Princess and the older daughter of the principal counsellor of the Pasha of Damascus, Hassan ibn Hamill Al Mundi. The youngs were in strong love, but both families were natural enemies, so they had to fought all time against them to be happy. From that marriage, the young and beautiful Jasmila give Emanual two twin sons, but all these happines finished abruptly when the war between Spain and the Moorish tribes of the North of Africa, began again.


The couple was obligated to separate and each one took one of the boys: Rafael went with his father and his brother Ayyub with his mother. Emanuel and Jasmila never meet again and both child grown up without knowing from each other.
And now, 30 years later, Rafael is trying to control his heart: he had a mother and a twin brother!
A familiar mew distracts colonel Pardo from his thoughts. It was Zeus, a fiery little cat, living in the ship, which only accepts his strokes.
"Well my friend... - says the colonel to his little cat- look at our destiny. We can found there my brother and mother or we can dead at the battlefield before. But we had to try it. Did you agree?" and the little "Zeus" move his head and send a happy mewing that Rafael knows it is his own way to say "yes".
The sound of a bell on board woke up both, man and cat, from their dreams. In a few minutes they will have a good lunch, the last on the ship before their arrival to Port "San Ildefonso", the larger Spanish town near the war frontline. "Zeus" jumped leading the way to the inferior deck and Rafael, with a little smile on his lips, followed him."

Se non è vero, è ben trovato... isn't it?

2 comments:

  1. Armand is a great writer... and his campaign, now running for 10 years or more, is full o similar histories

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