One of my short stories. Second Prize at the Blue Spring Festival 2009. Translation - Letitia Goia, my very precious friend.
CARNIVAL
The month of August. Three days of carnival in Sighisoara. The drummer utters his callings among the milling crowd. The market of the fortified town is full of minstrels and profets, monks and clowns, knights and astrologers, soldiers and wizards, mimes and fortune-tellers, ghosts and apprentices, they all pack in front of the stands full of glass, jewellery, paintings and bric-a-brac, accompanied by the shrill sounds of lutes, whistles and the bagpipe.
Jupiter comes out of teh Clock Tower holding a golden lightning. The market is so packed and still people are dancing.
The marked place is packed and still a Turkish pasha wanders around on a white elephant. Nobody notices him. An emerald the size of a pigeon egg on his white turban lightens the way.
14 people sent by the 14 guilds keep watch from the 14 towers.
The pasha in shining white silk bends over a face in the crowd:
‘What is your name?’
‘Apprentice’, he answers, with his mouth open wide.
The pasha casts an evil eye and the apprentice falls. The white elephant turns around idly and carries on. It stops in front of Dracula’s mint where the pasha receives a silver coin. The white elephant starts climbing the 175 steps of the Scholars’ Stairs. The way is long and dark and takes them to the Church on the Hill. The egg-sized emerald tied to the white turban lightens the stairs. Nobody else climbs this road.
One of the 14 towers of the fortress falls, but the crowd dance in the carnival frenzy.
An apprentice discovered without nose and ears is taken away and pillored.
This is the second day of the carnival.
Jupiter comes out of the Clock Tower holding a golden lightning. The market is so packed and still people are dancing.
The marked place is packed and still a Turkish pasha wanders around on a white elephant. Nobody notices him. An emerald the size of a pigeon egg on his white turban lightens the way.
13 people sent by the 13 guilds keep watch from the 13 towers.
The pasha in shining white silk bends over a face in the crowd:
‘What is your name?’
‘Craftsman’, he answers, with his mouth open wide.
The pasha casts an evil eye and the craftsman falls. The white elephant turns around idly and carries on. It stops in front of Dracula’s mint where the pasha receives a silver coin. The white elephant starts climbing the 175 steps of the Scholars’ Stairs. The way is long and dark and takes them to the Church on the Hill. The egg-sized emerald tied to the white turban lightens the stairs. Nobody else climbs this road.
One of the 13 towers of the fortress falls, but the crowd dance in the carnival frenzy.
A craftsman discovered without tongue is taken away and pillored.
This is the third day of the carnival.
Jupiter comes out of the Clock Tower holding a golden lightning. The market is so packed and still people are dancing.
There are so many people and still a Turkish pasha wanders around on a white elephant. Nobody notices him. An emerald the size of a pigeon egg on his white turban lightens the way.
12 people sent by the 12 guilds keep watch from the 12 towers.
The pasha in shining white silk bends over a face in the crowd:
‘What is your name?’
‘Artisan’, he answers, with his mouth open wide.
The pasha casts an evil eye and the craftsman falls. The white elephant turns around idly and carries on. It stops in front of Dracula’s mint where the pasha receives a silver coin. The white elephant starts climbing the 175 steps of the Scholars’ Stairs. The way is long and dark and takes them to the Church on the Hill. The egg-sized emerald tied to the white turban lightens the stairs. Nobody else climbs this road.
One of the 12 towers of the fortress falls, but the crowd dance in the carnival frenzy.
An artisan lacking an eye is taken away and pillored.
The crowd pours dancing beyond the city walls.
The drummer stops uttering his callings. He beats his drum. Following the rhythm, a Turkish pasha on a white elephant, as if sewn by patches, passes by the Church on the Hill. An elephant made by bits: ears, noses, eyes or human tongue.
CARNIVALThe month of August. Three days of carnival in Sighisoara. The drummer utters his callings among the milling crowd. The market of the fortified town is full of minstrels and profets, monks and clowns, knights and astrologers, soldiers and wizards, mimes and fortune-tellers, ghosts and apprentices, they all pack in front of the stands full of glass, jewellery, paintings and bric-a-brac, accompanied by the shrill sounds of lutes, whistles and the bagpipe.
Jupiter comes out of teh Clock Tower holding a golden lightning. The market is so packed and still people are dancing.
The marked place is packed and still a Turkish pasha wanders around on a white elephant. Nobody notices him. An emerald the size of a pigeon egg on his white turban lightens the way.
14 people sent by the 14 guilds keep watch from the 14 towers.
The pasha in shining white silk bends over a face in the crowd:
‘What is your name?’
‘Apprentice’, he answers, with his mouth open wide.
The pasha casts an evil eye and the apprentice falls. The white elephant turns around idly and carries on. It stops in front of Dracula’s mint where the pasha receives a silver coin. The white elephant starts climbing the 175 steps of the Scholars’ Stairs. The way is long and dark and takes them to the Church on the Hill. The egg-sized emerald tied to the white turban lightens the stairs. Nobody else climbs this road.
One of the 14 towers of the fortress falls, but the crowd dance in the carnival frenzy.
An apprentice discovered without nose and ears is taken away and pillored.
This is the second day of the carnival.
Jupiter comes out of the Clock Tower holding a golden lightning. The market is so packed and still people are dancing.
The marked place is packed and still a Turkish pasha wanders around on a white elephant. Nobody notices him. An emerald the size of a pigeon egg on his white turban lightens the way.
13 people sent by the 13 guilds keep watch from the 13 towers.
The pasha in shining white silk bends over a face in the crowd:
‘What is your name?’
‘Craftsman’, he answers, with his mouth open wide.
The pasha casts an evil eye and the craftsman falls. The white elephant turns around idly and carries on. It stops in front of Dracula’s mint where the pasha receives a silver coin. The white elephant starts climbing the 175 steps of the Scholars’ Stairs. The way is long and dark and takes them to the Church on the Hill. The egg-sized emerald tied to the white turban lightens the stairs. Nobody else climbs this road.
One of the 13 towers of the fortress falls, but the crowd dance in the carnival frenzy.
A craftsman discovered without tongue is taken away and pillored.
This is the third day of the carnival.
Jupiter comes out of the Clock Tower holding a golden lightning. The market is so packed and still people are dancing.
There are so many people and still a Turkish pasha wanders around on a white elephant. Nobody notices him. An emerald the size of a pigeon egg on his white turban lightens the way.
12 people sent by the 12 guilds keep watch from the 12 towers.
The pasha in shining white silk bends over a face in the crowd:
‘What is your name?’
‘Artisan’, he answers, with his mouth open wide.
The pasha casts an evil eye and the craftsman falls. The white elephant turns around idly and carries on. It stops in front of Dracula’s mint where the pasha receives a silver coin. The white elephant starts climbing the 175 steps of the Scholars’ Stairs. The way is long and dark and takes them to the Church on the Hill. The egg-sized emerald tied to the white turban lightens the stairs. Nobody else climbs this road.
One of the 12 towers of the fortress falls, but the crowd dance in the carnival frenzy.
An artisan lacking an eye is taken away and pillored.
The crowd pours dancing beyond the city walls.
The drummer stops uttering his callings. He beats his drum. Following the rhythm, a Turkish pasha on a white elephant, as if sewn by patches, passes by the Church on the Hill. An elephant made by bits: ears, noses, eyes or human tongue.
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