Read Online The Athenian Murders by José Carlos Somoza - Free Book Online
Authors: José Carlos Somoza
Tags: Mystery
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spoke to her, but she knew very well that his father died in disgrace ...'
'No. She knew only that he was dead.'
18 Dictatorship established in Athens, under Spartan supervision, after the Peloponnesian War, made up of thirty citizens. The reader should note that the word 'danger' seems to have left a sort of eidetic 'echo' since its first appearance (the same happened with 'help'), indicating that its presence is important. (T.'s N .)
'Not at all! As I've explained, Diagoras, I decipher only what
I can see. But I see what someone says as clearly as I'm now seeing the torches at the City Gate. Everything that we do or say is a text that can be read and interpreted. Do you recall her exact words? She didn't say "His father is dead," but "He had no father" - wording we would usually use to deny the existence of someone we didn't wish to recall . . . The kind of expression Tramachus would have used himself. Now, if Tramachus mentioned his father to a hetaera from Piraeus, a matter so intimate that he didn't even wish to share it with you, why did she tell us he hardly spoke to her?'
While Diagoras was pondering the question, Heracles added: 'And there's something else: why did she run away when we asked for her?'
'I'm sure she had plenty of reasons,' answered Diagoras. 'What I still don't understand is how you knew she was hiding in the tunnel.'
'Where else? I knew we'd never catch her - she's young and agile, whereas we're old and clumsy ... I refer mainly to myself, of course.' He quickly raised a fat hand, forestalling Diagoras' objection. 'So I deduced that she wouldn't need to run far. She simply had to hide somewhere until the danger was past. And what better place than a dark tunnel close to her house? But why did she flee? Now that's what I don't understand. She earns her living precisely by not fleeing from any man ...'
'More than one dangerous crime must weigh on her conscience,' said Diagoras gravely. 'You may laugh, Decipherer, but I have never seen such a strange woman. The memory of her gaze still makes me shudder . .. What's that?'
A procession of torches was running through the streets near the City Gate. The participants wore masks and carried tabors.
'The start of the Lenaea,' said Heracles. 'The time is upon us.'
Diagoras shook his head disapprovingly. 'Always in such a hurry to amuse themselves ...'
Having identified themselves to the soldiers, they went through the Gate and headed towards the centre of the City. Diagoras asked: 'What do we do now?'
'We rest, by Zeus. My feet ache. My body was made for rolling from place to place, not walking. Tomorrow we'll talk to Antisus and Euneos. I mean, you'll talk and I'll listen.'
'What am I to ask?'
'Not so fast. Let me think about it. I'll see you tomorrow, good Diagoras. Relax, rest your body and your mind. And may anxiety not rob you of sweet sleep: remember that you have engaged the best Decipherer of Enigmas in all Hellas.' 19
19 I managed to speak to Helena during one of her breaks this afternoon (she teaches Greek to a class of thirty). I was so agitated that I told her immediately what I'd found out: 'There's a new image in Chapter Three, in addition to the stag: a young girl holding a lily'
Her blue eyes widened. 'What?'
I showed her the translation. 'She appears mainly in the visions of one of the central characters, a Platonist philosopher called Diagoras. But she manages to enter reality in one scene. It's a very powerful eidetic image, Helena. A girl holding a lily calling for help and warning of danger. According to Montalo it's a poetic metaphor, but it's obviously eidetic. The author gives us a description - golden hair and eyes as blue as the sea, a slender body, dressed in white -dispersed throughout the chapter. See? Here he mentions her hair ... Here her "slender figure dressed in white"—'
'Wait a minute’ interrupted Helena. 'The "slender figure dressed in white" in this paragraph represents Prudence. It's a poetic
'No. She knew only that he was dead.'
18 Dictatorship established in Athens, under Spartan supervision, after the Peloponnesian War, made up of thirty citizens. The reader should note that the word 'danger' seems to have left a sort of eidetic 'echo' since its first appearance (the same happened with 'help'), indicating that its presence is important. (T.'s N .)
'Not at all! As I've explained, Diagoras, I decipher only what
I can see. But I see what someone says as clearly as I'm now seeing the torches at the City Gate. Everything that we do or say is a text that can be read and interpreted. Do you recall her exact words? She didn't say "His father is dead," but "He had no father" - wording we would usually use to deny the existence of someone we didn't wish to recall . . . The kind of expression Tramachus would have used himself. Now, if Tramachus mentioned his father to a hetaera from Piraeus, a matter so intimate that he didn't even wish to share it with you, why did she tell us he hardly spoke to her?'
While Diagoras was pondering the question, Heracles added: 'And there's something else: why did she run away when we asked for her?'
'I'm sure she had plenty of reasons,' answered Diagoras. 'What I still don't understand is how you knew she was hiding in the tunnel.'
'Where else? I knew we'd never catch her - she's young and agile, whereas we're old and clumsy ... I refer mainly to myself, of course.' He quickly raised a fat hand, forestalling Diagoras' objection. 'So I deduced that she wouldn't need to run far. She simply had to hide somewhere until the danger was past. And what better place than a dark tunnel close to her house? But why did she flee? Now that's what I don't understand. She earns her living precisely by not fleeing from any man ...'
'More than one dangerous crime must weigh on her conscience,' said Diagoras gravely. 'You may laugh, Decipherer, but I have never seen such a strange woman. The memory of her gaze still makes me shudder . .. What's that?'
A procession of torches was running through the streets near the City Gate. The participants wore masks and carried tabors.
'The start of the Lenaea,' said Heracles. 'The time is upon us.'
Diagoras shook his head disapprovingly. 'Always in such a hurry to amuse themselves ...'
Having identified themselves to the soldiers, they went through the Gate and headed towards the centre of the City. Diagoras asked: 'What do we do now?'
'We rest, by Zeus. My feet ache. My body was made for rolling from place to place, not walking. Tomorrow we'll talk to Antisus and Euneos. I mean, you'll talk and I'll listen.'
'What am I to ask?'
'Not so fast. Let me think about it. I'll see you tomorrow, good Diagoras. Relax, rest your body and your mind. And may anxiety not rob you of sweet sleep: remember that you have engaged the best Decipherer of Enigmas in all Hellas.' 19
19 I managed to speak to Helena during one of her breaks this afternoon (she teaches Greek to a class of thirty). I was so agitated that I told her immediately what I'd found out: 'There's a new image in Chapter Three, in addition to the stag: a young girl holding a lily'
Her blue eyes widened. 'What?'
I showed her the translation. 'She appears mainly in the visions of one of the central characters, a Platonist philosopher called Diagoras. But she manages to enter reality in one scene. It's a very powerful eidetic image, Helena. A girl holding a lily calling for help and warning of danger. According to Montalo it's a poetic metaphor, but it's obviously eidetic. The author gives us a description - golden hair and eyes as blue as the sea, a slender body, dressed in white -dispersed throughout the chapter. See? Here he mentions her hair ... Here her "slender figure dressed in white"—'
'Wait a minute’ interrupted Helena. 'The "slender figure dressed in white" in this paragraph represents Prudence. It's a poetic
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