Page 124 - GREC14N_RHO_03

marble! No really, we weren’t scared at all by
those graves, we just tried to guess the gender
and the rank of the dead officials.
So, I’m writing to you to tell you that the
descriptions of Rhodes that you wrote,
puzzled me when I read them, thinking that
you were talking about some other place.
Another country even. I could never have got the same name, that must count for something.
imagined that Indian and foreign soldiers A few years ago, a homeless man, a street seller named Kostas,
patrolled the streets of the town. About after travelling in Greece and Europe, had found shelter
that quiet seaside section of the centre in here and at night when everything quieted down, would
which today retirees and idle tourists stroll, sneak in your house and lie down in a corner. At dawn he
you write that it was protected by stakes would disappear so as not to be seen. The only reminder
and barbed wire, leaving no doubt about of his presence, a torn plastic bag with his few possessions
the enemy’s initial determination. That scattered inside. The same thing every night, for quite some
bombs had hammered the buildings and time. I’m sure you wouldn’t have minded, at least not as
mutilated the sad row of bronze Caesars much as it annoyed the employees of the municipality and
that the Italians had thought to decorate the the archaeological service, who threw him out with his torn
harbour with! I didn’t know that my town bag one day. That was it, since then it hasn’t been occupied,
had that appearance after the war. Nor that as far as I know. In recent years, next to the sign saying that
there was an enemy that attacked this idyllic you lived there, they put up another one saying it is the offices
Mediterranean town with such ferocity! of the “Dodecanese House of Arts and Letters”. That must
Terrible! count for something, at least it’s not deserted.
I thought you might like to know how the It’s night as I’m writing to you. It must be night where you are
house you lived in is now, after all the years too. Or maybe I’m mistaken? You’ve no way of telling me. It’s
that passed since that war ended. I say that better if you just let me imagine that it’s so.
war, as there have been many others since Now that I’m finishing the letter, I think I’ll just drop by your
then all across the world, although none house, slip it through the mail slot, as you’re so near. So near
have surpassed the one you lived through in in space, so far in time.
ferocity. Although, come to think of it, I’m With all the love for those I deeply appreciate.
not completely certain.
Anyway, your house is deserted, with several
cats roaming in the abandoned garden. In the Αγαπητέ Σας γράφω πολλά χρόνια
summer you can see tourists feeding them αφότου πάψατε πια να
through the rails, but in the winter they must κύριε υπάρχετε σε αυτόν τον κόσμο
be starving I guess. The eucalyptus trees have και ακόμα περισσότερα
grown tremendously, a dense thicket of trees Ντάρελ, αφότου φύγατε από τη Ρόδο.
at the edge of the town. As I’m writing, the Στην πραγματικότητα, σας
bougainvilleas are in full bloom and even γράφω όχι μακριά από το
without any trimming, really beautiful. You σπίτι που ζήσατε. Αν δηλαδή
would like them, I’m sure of it. Their colour βγω στο μπαλκόνι, μπορώ
is the same as then, just as you too describe να δω καθαρά τις κορφές των ευκαλύπτων που ραντίζουν
them. με ανθάκια σαν λεπτό ψιλόβροχο τη στέγη και την αυλή
Before I forget, they’ve put up a sign outside σας κάθε τέτοια εποχή. Αν φυσήξει βοριάς, τα ανθάκια θα
saying you lived there. Were you ever φθάσουν έως εδώ, στο δρόμο που μένω.
informed of this? You couldn’t have imagined Κανονικά, αν δηλαδή εσείς ήσασταν ζωντανός κι εγώ
it then, as you weren’t a famous writer yet. αποκτούσα το θάρρος, θα μπορούσα να πεταχτώ μέχρι το
Today though, people strolling by can read σπίτι σας μέσα σε λίγα λεπτά και να σας δώσω τούτο το
it, if they’re not in a hurry. Right opposite, γράμμα αυτοπροσώπως ή να το περάσω από τη σχισμή
they’ve put up a bigger sign, actually not just της ξύλινης πόρτας. Εσείς τότε θα το βλέπατε και όταν
bigger, but huge, with the name of the hotel το ανοίγατε, θα διαπιστώνατε ότι σας γράφει κάποια
that you liked, with its old name: Albergo που είναι γειτόνισσά σας. Δεν με ξέρετε, εγώ όμως σας
delle Rose. But now, it’s not the same majestic γνωρίζω εδώ και χρόνια. Όλοι σας γνωρίζουν! Μπορείτε
hotel it was then, but a casino. Anyway, it’s να φανταστείτε πως οι περισσότεροι άνθρωποι σήμερα

124 GREC14N S/W 2018-19