رویای کینو

Chapter four

Kino’s Dream

People do not know how news travels through a town, but it travels very fast. News travels faster than small boys can run. It travels faster than women can talk about their neighbours.

Kino and Juana and the other fishermen came to Kino’s little wooden house. The town was already full of the news that Kino had found the biggest pearl in the world. Mothers had heard the news before their little boys could tell them.

The news reached the little wooden houses and spread among the stone houses where the rich people lived. When the priest heard the news, he thought of the repairs that his church needed. The priest thought about the value of the pearl. He tried to remember if Kino had ever brought Coyotito to the church. The priest tried to remember if he had married Kino and Juana. The news came to the shopkeepers and they looked at the things that they had not sold.

The news reached the doctor, too. He was sitting with a very old woman. The woman’s only sickness was old age, but the doctor would not tell her because he wanted her money. When the doctor heard about Kino’s pearl, he thought for a long time.

‘I am looking after his son,’ the doctor said. ‘I am giving the child medicine for a scorpion bite.’

The news about the pearl came to the beggars in front of the church. The beggars laughed with pleasure. They knew that a poor man who suddenly becomes rich always gives money to beggars.

The men who bought the pearls from fishermen were called buyers. These buyers sat in their little offices in the town. When a fisherman brought in some pearls, the buyers argued and shouted until the fisherman took a very low price. When the buyers had bought some pearls, they sat alone. Their fingers touched the pearls and played with them. But the buyers did not really own the pearls. There was only one rich buyer and he paid the other buyers to work for him.

The news about Kino’s pearl came to these men. Their eyes became thoughtful and they dreamt of owning this large pearl. Each man thought that the rich buyer would not live forever. When the rich buyer died, someone had to take his place. Each man thought that if he had enough money, he could become a rich buyer, too.

Many people were interested in Kino now. Something strange happened to each person when they heard about Kino’s pearl. The pearl became a part of everyone’s dreams.

It became part of their hopes and part of their plans for the future. The pearl became part of everyone’s wishes and needs.

Only one man stopped these people from having the pearl. That man was Kino. And so Kino became everyone’s enemy.

The news of the pearl brought something black and bad to the town. This black and bad thing was like a scorpion. The town seemed to have become full of poison.

Kino and Juana did not know these things, because they were both so happy and excited. Kino and Juana thought that everyone was happy and excited. In the afternoon, when the sun had gone over the mountain into the sea, Kino sat in his little wooden house. Juana sat beside him. The house was full of neighbours. Kino held the great pearl in his hand and the pearl felt warm and alive. The neighbours looked at the pearl in Kino’s hand. They asked themselves how such luck could come to any man. Kino’s brother, Juan Tomas, sat beside Kino.

‘What will you do, now that you have become a rich man?’ he asked Kino.

Kino looked at his pearl. Juana looked down and covered her face with her shawl so that the neighbours could not see her. Kino looked into the shining pearl and dreamt of all the things that he had always wanted to do. In the pearl, Kino saw Juana, Coyotito and himself in the church. Kino and Juana were being married because now they could pay the priest.

‘We will be married - in the church,’ said Kino softly.

In the pearl, Kino saw how they were dressed. He dreamt of their wedding. Juana was wearing a new shawl and a new skirt. Under the long skirt, Kino could see that Juana was wearing shoes. Kino himself was dressed in new, white clothes and he carried a new hat. Coyotito also wore shoes. He wore a blue sailor suit from the United States and a little cap. Kino saw all of these things in the shining pearl.

‘We will have new clothes,’ he said.

Then Kino dreamt of more things that he could buy with the pearl. Now that he was rich, he could buy a rifle. Kino saw himself in the pearl, holding a rifle. Everything that Kino saw was a dream, but it was a very pleasant dream.

‘A rifle. Perhaps,’ said Kino softly. ‘I will buy a rifle.’

The neighbours, who were listening in silence to Kino, nodded their heads. A man sitting at the back said softly, ‘A rifle. Kino will have a rifle.’

Juana looked at Kino. Her eyes opened wide at the things Kino had said. A new strength seemed to have come to him.

Kino looked again into the pearl, and had another dream. He saw Coyotito sitting at a little desk in a school. Kino had once seen a desk through an open door. Coyotito was dressed in a jacket and he had a white collar and a wide, silk tie. And Coyotito was writing on a big piece of paper. Kino looked at his neighbours.

‘My son will go to school,’ he said, and the neighbours were silent.

Juana looked up in surprise. Her eyes were bright as she looked at Kino. Then she looked down quickly at Coyotito in her arms.

Could all this be true? she thought.

‘My son will open books and read,’ Kino continued. ‘My son will learn to write and know about writing. Coyotito will learn numbers, too. These things will make us all free, because if Coyotito knows, then we will all know.’

Kino looked into the pearl again. He saw himself and Juana sitting by the fire in the little wooden house, while Coyotito was reading from a big book.

‘The pearl will do all these things,’ Kino said.

Kino had never spoken so many words in his life and suddenly, he was afraid of his talking. Kino’s hand covered the pearl because he was so afraid.

The neighbours knew that they had seen something great. They knew that they would talk about Kino and the pearl for many years. If Kino’s dreams came true, the neighbours would be able to say how Kino’s eyes had shone. The neighbours would say that some great power had entered Kino and that he had become a great man.

If Kino’s dreams did not come true, the neighbours would say something different. They would say that a foolish madness had entered Kino and that he had spoken many foolish words.

Kino looked down at his closed hand. The skin was white where he had hit the doctor’s gate.

The evening was coming and it was getting dark. Juana carried the baby in her shawl. She went and put some small pieces of wood on the fire. The fire burnt up and the flames shone on the neighbours’ faces. The neighbours knew that it was time to go home. But they did not want to leave. They stayed in the house until it was almost dark and Juana’s fire was making big shadows on the walls. Then they suddenly started to whisper to one another.

‘The Father is coming. The priest is here.’

The men took off their hats and stepped back from the door. The women covered their faces with their shawls and looked down. Kino and his brother, Juan Tomas, stood up. The priest came in. He was an old man with grey hair and sharp eyes. He thought that the people were like children and he spoke to them like children.

‘Kino,’ he said softly. ‘You are named after a great man, who was a great father of the Church.’

The priest made his words sound very important.

‘The man that you are named after taught the people many important things. Didn’t you know that?’ asked the priest. ‘It is written in books.’

Kino looked quickly down at Coyotito’s head. Kino thought that one day his son would know the things that were written in books. Kino did not feel so happy now. He looked at his neighbours to see what could have made him feel so different. The priest spoke again.

‘I hear that you have found a great pearl.’

Kino opened his hand and held it out. The priest breathed quickly as he saw the size and beauty of the pearl.

‘I hope that you remember to give thanks to God, who gave you this pearl,’ the priest said. ‘I hope that you will pray to God to help you in the future.’

Kino nodded his head without speaking, but Juana answered softly.

‘We will, Father, and we will be married now. Kino has said so.’

Juana looked at her neighbours and they all nodded their heads.

‘It is nice to see that your first thoughts were good thoughts,’ the priest said. ‘God bless you, my children.’

The priest turned and left quietly, and the people moved back to let him pass. But Kino’s hand closed tightly on the pearl and he looked around. He was beginning to be afraid again.

The neighbours went home and Juana sat by the fire. She put the pot of boiled beans over the little flame. Kino walked to the door and looked out. He could smell the smoke from all his neighbours’ fires. Kino could also see the stars in the sky. He began to feel cold, so he covered his nose with his blanket.

The thin dog came to him and shook itself. Kino looked down, but he did not really see the dog. He felt alone in the world and he did not feel safe. The night insects seemed to be singing about something bad. Kino shook a little and pulled his blanket more tightly against his nose. He still held the pearl and it felt warm and smooth in his hand.

Kino could hear Juana behind him. She was making cakes near the little fire. For a few moments Kino felt safe. Then, he felt afraid again. Kino was afraid of making plans. He knew that it was dangerous to make plans. Bad things happen to a man who makes too many plans.

Kino wanted the money that the pearl would bring him. He wanted to send Coyotito to school. He had so many plans. But it was dangerous to make plans and Kino was afraid of the danger. But he wanted the money. Kino stood at the door and looked out into the night.