The Secret of the River
Once upon a time there was a boy who lived in a country house. It was a small and white house with a very tall chimney through which the smoke of the fireplace would come out. In the winter it was always lit and it was used to cook and heat the house. Outside the house there was an orchard with a variety of fruit trees and, since there were many kinds of trees, there was always fresh fruit for most of the year. In the winter, the trees bore oranges and tangerines, in the spring it bore pears and apples; in the summer it was the time of the plums, cherries and peaches. When the summer was ending and in the fall, came the figs and the quinces and the big grapevine which gave them shade would be filled with grapes and, when the proper season for each fruit ended, you could eat the compotes the boy’s mother made and which she kept in clay bowls and in glass jars that always filled the entire house with a scented smell. Besides the orchard trees, the field around the house where the boy lived also had other very tall and thick trees so old that they had been there since before the boy's grandfather built the house. The chestnut trees bore chestnuts, the walnut tree bore walnuts, but, more than anything, the big and old trees, like the two oak trees in front of the house, gave shade and they looked as if they were protecting the house and keeping company. By the stream, that ran in front of the land there were tall and slim beeches and weeping willows. Their thick tops would fall to the ground and that was where the boy played with his friends and his two younger brothers, pretending the tops were shacks.
Nevertheless, the boy’s favourite place was the stream. The stream was a ramification of the river that ran far away in the village and it was the result of an abrupt separation from the main course. It meandered through the fields amid the rice fields and the corn fields in the summer, until both courses met again past the house. The stream made a curve and then dove in a small water fall made of rocks before broadening and forming a lake right in front of the house. The floor was made of sand and the water was clear and perfect for drinking. People who lived in that place and in the near village drank the water, cooked with it and fish on the river so they were all very careful not to pollute the river by throwing garbage or other things in there. People knew water is the most precious thing in life and a river that runs clean is a miracle of nature and it cannot be spoiled. There, on that small lake which the river formed, the boy had learned to swim when he was still very young and he spent all his summer days there bathing. He would swim with his eyes open under water, therefore he already knew almost the entire bottom of the lake, from the prettiest rocks to the many fish species that descended through the water fall and crossed the lake, go along the river towards the sea which was very far from there. There were also two or three fish that weren’t just passing by and lived in the banks of the small lake in hideouts made of rocks, covered with tree branches which dove in the water and hid its holes. Sometimes the boy would take a peek at them in their houses and when he couldn't see them he knew the fish had gone to the river to look for food.
Original:
Era uma vez um rapaz que morava numa casa no campo. Era uma casa pequena e branca com uma chaminé muito alta por onde saia o fumo da lareira que no Inverno estava sempre acesa e que servia para cozinhar e para aquecer a casa. À roda da casa havia um pomar com árvores de fruto e, como as árvores eram de várias espécies, havia sempre fruta fresca durante quase todo o ano. No Inverno, as árvores davam laranjas e tangerinas, na Primavera davam pêras e maçãs vermelhas, no Verão era a vez das ameixas, das cerejas e dos pêssegos. No fim do Verão e no Outono, chegavam os figos e os marmelos e a parreira grande, que dava sombra, enchia-se de uvas e, quando passava a estação própria de cada fruta, podia-se comer as compotas que a mãe do rapaz tinha feito e que guardava em tigelas de barro e boiões de vidro que davam sempre um cheiro perfumado a toda a casa. Mas, além das árvores do pomar, o campo à roda da casa onde o rapaz vivia, tinha também outras árvores muito altas e grossas e que eram tão antigas que já estavam lá antes de a casa ter sido feita pelo avô do rapaz. O castanheiro dava castanhas, a nogueira dava nozes, mas, acima de tudo, as árvores grandes e antigas, como os dois carvalhos em frente de casa, davam sombra e pareciam guardar a casa e fazer companhia. Junto ao ribeiro, que passava à frente do terreno, havia faias altas e esguias e chorões cuja copa densa caía até ao chão e debaixo das quais o rapaz brincava às cabanas com os amigos e com os dois irmãos mais novos.
Mas o sítio preferido do rapaz era o ribeiro. O ribeiro era um braço do rio que passava lá ao longe na aldeia e que de repente se separava dele e serpenteava pelo meio dos campos, entre os arrozais e os campos de milho do Verão, até voltar a encontrar-se outra vez com o rio principal já depois de passada a casa. O ribeiro fazia uma curva e depois mergulhava numa pequena cascata de pedras antes de se alargar e formar um lago mesmo em frente da casa. O chão era de areia e pequenas pedras que se chamavam seixos e a água era transparente e óptima para beber. As pessoas que moravam naquele lugar e na aldeia próxima bebiam daquela água, cozinhavam com ela e pescavam no rio e por isso todos tinham muito cuidado para não sujar o rio deitando lixo ou outras coisas lá para dentro. As pessoas sabiam que a água é a coisa mais preciosa da vida e que um rio que corre limpo é um milagre da natureza que não pode ser estragado. Aí, nesse pequeno lago que o ribeiro formava, o rapaz aprendera a nadar ainda muito pequeno e passava lá todos os dias de Verão a tomar banho. Debaixo de água nadava com os olhos abertos e por isso conhecia já quase todo o fundo do rio, desde as pedras mais bonitas até às várias espécies de peixes que desciam pela cascata e atravessavam o lago, continuando pelo rio abaixo, em direcção ao mar, muito longe dali. Havia também dois ou três peixes que não estavam de passagem e moravam nas margens do pequeno lago entre esconderijos de pedras cobertos por ramos de árvores que mergulhavam sobre as águas e escondiam os seus buracos. Às vezes o rapaz ia espreitá-los nas suas casas e, quando não os via lá, sabia que os peixes tinham ido nadar ao longo do rio à procura de comida.
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