“Enianta de su mari, is faccis nieddas a conca serrada ...”1 , so the gray-clad man started out, as if he were singing a sad song “enianta de su mari, they came from the sea with s’inzoga2 and the sword, with bows and arrows, su fogu e sa mutria mala3 … people that come from the sea, never good news for our land and our people … s’inzoga2 for men and women, children and old people, good for them only as pack animals, to be used for work and driven with lashes if it needs, accappiaus a sa mol’e tzugu4, their neck tied, carrying a sheep bell so they are heard and easily caught if they try and run away, just like sheep … they came from the sea from Thuniss and Catthraxene, there were more of them than su pipizziri5 in August and there were so few of us … and after the inzoga, the sword for those who didn’t submit, and the fire and su presoni6.” The eyes of the gray-clad man sparkled, the old man listened intently as if searching for a secret rhythm in that harsh tune, so distant from the harmony of the oft-recited suras.
“Ma s’agatta sa borta, but sometimes” the gray man went on after a short pause “sometimes the sheep too have enough of it, they see too many slaughtered lambs, too much milk drained away with trickery and treason and inzà cumprendinti ki no tenent pastori7, they understand then that there is no shepherd caring for them and they are at the mercy of thieves and murderers. This happened in my land, when the Ceasars had to give up control of the seas … and they started up coming from the seas, is istrangios8, first the Goths, then the Vandals and then is faccis nieddas9 … and we found out we were sheep without shepherd and that the sheep could not take it much longer. Just as when Is Arrubios10 came, a long time ago, to plunder and round up new slaves, Babbu Mannu11 put swords and arrows in our hands … and new weapons, as the times had changed, and the balentes12 alone were not enough. And we put then black-sailed ships in the sea, in front of the ghost city of the Ceasars, in the lagoon and in front of the walls of the village of Stampaxi13 and rowed them to the open sea, together with the fishermen, just like fishermen, and stopped them there, still, with the oars in the water and with lowered sails. When we then saw a ship with armed men coming in the still faint dawn light, ready with the intzogas2 to grab people as slaves from our houses, our churches, our fields, … with their weapons, their armours, their swords, … and so many, as fleas on a dog … and tell me old man, what do sheep do when so many wolves are around? Even if the sheep grew teeth, they know wolves have a bigger mouth … it does not help trying to bite them at their throats … sa berbeghe no abbrancara sos canes14 … better letting the wolves think they are safe and they have to worry about nothing else as plundering … otherwise wolves join forces, come in a big group, and for the sheep it’s over … so every now and then some ship ended up on a sandbank … because the sea signals had been moved around … we then jumped on the ship, and we killed every single one of them, conca a pari15, homines et juvenes16 and all of them into the sea with a stone tied to their feet or their neck, food for the fish … sometimes we let them put their feet on ground … then an arrow on the back every ten steps, from the shore till the hill … and then the knife under women’s garments, in market baskets, among children’s toys … the knife slashing the throats of the faccis nieddas9, while waiting for the balentes12 to come, ever too few, to fight them … some other times we retreated in our towers and down arrows and Greek fire, stones and heads cut in past bardanas17, and fire on their ships, and underwater swimmers holding knives between their teeth in the praniggiu18, smooth as a millpond … some other times, is faccis nieddas9 who came to sell, sold their stuff, those who came to buy, bought what they wanted, those who came to steal, stole, and those who came for slaves, grabbed them … but this particular time something else happened …”
“Ma s’agatta sa borta, but sometimes” the gray man went on after a short pause “sometimes the sheep too have enough of it, they see too many slaughtered lambs, too much milk drained away with trickery and treason and inzà cumprendinti ki no tenent pastori7, they understand then that there is no shepherd caring for them and they are at the mercy of thieves and murderers. This happened in my land, when the Ceasars had to give up control of the seas … and they started up coming from the seas, is istrangios8, first the Goths, then the Vandals and then is faccis nieddas9 … and we found out we were sheep without shepherd and that the sheep could not take it much longer. Just as when Is Arrubios10 came, a long time ago, to plunder and round up new slaves, Babbu Mannu11 put swords and arrows in our hands … and new weapons, as the times had changed, and the balentes12 alone were not enough. And we put then black-sailed ships in the sea, in front of the ghost city of the Ceasars, in the lagoon and in front of the walls of the village of Stampaxi13 and rowed them to the open sea, together with the fishermen, just like fishermen, and stopped them there, still, with the oars in the water and with lowered sails. When we then saw a ship with armed men coming in the still faint dawn light, ready with the intzogas2 to grab people as slaves from our houses, our churches, our fields, … with their weapons, their armours, their swords, … and so many, as fleas on a dog … and tell me old man, what do sheep do when so many wolves are around? Even if the sheep grew teeth, they know wolves have a bigger mouth … it does not help trying to bite them at their throats … sa berbeghe no abbrancara sos canes14 … better letting the wolves think they are safe and they have to worry about nothing else as plundering … otherwise wolves join forces, come in a big group, and for the sheep it’s over … so every now and then some ship ended up on a sandbank … because the sea signals had been moved around … we then jumped on the ship, and we killed every single one of them, conca a pari15, homines et juvenes16 and all of them into the sea with a stone tied to their feet or their neck, food for the fish … sometimes we let them put their feet on ground … then an arrow on the back every ten steps, from the shore till the hill … and then the knife under women’s garments, in market baskets, among children’s toys … the knife slashing the throats of the faccis nieddas9, while waiting for the balentes12 to come, ever too few, to fight them … some other times we retreated in our towers and down arrows and Greek fire, stones and heads cut in past bardanas17, and fire on their ships, and underwater swimmers holding knives between their teeth in the praniggiu18, smooth as a millpond … some other times, is faccis nieddas9 who came to sell, sold their stuff, those who came to buy, bought what they wanted, those who came to steal, stole, and those who came for slaves, grabbed them … but this particular time something else happened …”
(continues)
(previous)
1 “Enianta de su mari, is faccis nieddas a conca serrada ...”: they were coming from the sea, the blackfaces in helms
2 s’inzoga: the rope
3 su fogu e sa mutria mala: the fire and the evil ways
4 accappiaus a sa mol’e tzugu. tied to the grindstone
5 su pipizziri: locusts
6 su presoni: the prison
7 inzà cumprendinti ki no tenent pastori: they then understand there is no shepherd caring for them
8 is istrangios: strangers
9 is faccis nieddas: blackfaces
10 Is Arrubios: the Red People
11 Babbu Mannu: the Great Father
13 balentes: valiant men
13 Stampaxi: one of the city boroughs of Cagliari, a village at the time of the story
14 sa berbeghe no abbrancara sos canes: sheep do not grab the neck of dogs
15 conca a pari
16 homines et juvenes: men and youngsters
17 bardanas: task force missions
18 praniggiu: low waters
