Sand Captains author. Book: Captains of the Sand - Jorge Amadou. Starring Blond Americans

21.06.2020

Sandy Captains is a book that I read at an extremely tender age (at the age of 8), in connection with which all the dirt (and it is there) flew past my ears. In hindsight, awareness did not change anything. This world clicked somewhere next to "Urfin Deuce" and "The Legend of Ulenspiegel" - so that Skinny, who stole the thin baby Christ, Pungent, who did not rob only one of many houses, and the Cat, which all whores loved, and he called a 16-year-old girl, also my childhood comrades, as a mother. I cannot say that this is a bad company. I didn’t watch the movie, but, of course, everyone heard the song (... and I didn’t hear any kind words) - I don’t think that those guys would approve of this song. Well, perhaps play with pity. They would have sung better than obscene ditties - to live more and more cheerfully. And into the soul - no need to climb. You will be more whole, senor.

A piercingly sad story that children remain children, even armed to the teeth and having mastered all possible fraudulent technologies. About what orphanhood does to a person. About the sea, about capoeira, which is a dance and which is a struggle, and that life is an extremely tenacious thing.

Score: 10

Jorge Amadou did not become a Nobel laureate because he refused, and not because he lacked talent or fame.

In fact, in the work of the Brazilian there is everything for which usually a "Nobel" is given - confident psychologism, realism, so condensed that sometimes tends to the magic, ethnographic exoticism, indispensable humanism towards the little things of this world and (left) ideological charge.

Not that the Nobel was given for bad books, my God, but this prize has a standard, just like the Oscar, for which it is necessary to shoot “correct” films, with humanism and morality.

All of the above does not mean that Amadou is a bad writer. He, of course, is by right a classic, and to some extent the father of the founder of Latin American Great Literature. Without him, there would be no Marquez and Llosa, or rather, they would be different. The intonation that determined the uniqueness of the Latin school sounds very strong in his work.

Amadou put his homeland on the world map. Painted and revived. To this day, they write and shoot films about South America according to his templates.

The book, which tells (sometimes with extreme naturalism) about the dirty and cruel life of a gang of underage street children, simply seethes with joy of life! One feels that the author loves his heroes, loves his country, its people.

Even such scary people as juvenile "sand captains". Amadou's homeless children are not meek sufferers, but an unthinkable punks for whom the prison cries. But they are also victims of social injustice (orphans or children of drunken people who have sunk to the bottom of their parents), and they are the only truly free people in the world.

How much the author romanticized and whitewashed his heroes, I will not judge. Sometimes before us are almost Krapivinsky kids, sometimes complete criminals. But maybe this is the case with youngsters? After all, the criminal way of life has a certain appeal, otherwise it would not have been so tenacious at all times on all continents.

This honesty in the portrayal of punks, who, for all her cruelty, meanness and cynicism, is capable, oddly enough, of a beautiful gesture and knows how to take everything from life, is definitely one of the strongest sides of the book.

"Captains of the Sand" is a harsh book, but southern vitality wins and breaks to the surface. It has a lot of sea, sun, music, capoeira, strange religious beliefs and exotic rituals, eroticism "on the verge" of the background, dirty humor and unkillable vitality. For some reason, the heroes seem funny to me. Angry, spoiled and sometimes unhappy, but basically cheerful, dashing scoffers.

The natural-born leader Bullet, embittered with life Kolchenog, who retained the most humanity in himself, Big Joan, a charming cunning Cat, in which the Brazilian brother of Ostap Bender is mature, (only more successful among women), a lazy Doldon, who is also lazy to steal, religious Wick, they are all alive ...

Adult characters are presented more modestly, but they are also written out brightly and brightly. That Father Joseph, an almost saintly man who appropriates money from the church treasury to help his poor comrades, that the ever-drunk owner of the carousel, who appears for one chapter, remains in the memory for a long time. The image of the senior comrade of the "captains", Bogumil, is good, either a sailor or a swindler, but above all - a fighter, a master of folk wrestling.

But in the center of the story, of course, the "captains of the sand", the scum of life, punks in stolen jackets, who at the same time remain children in their souls. Today they whip with a knife in the face of a man in the street who clings too much to their wallet, tomorrow they cry to sentimental music from a broken-down jukebox ...

And yet most guys are not eager to pursue a criminal career.

A sprawling ending that describes adulthood, in which everyone more or less became what he wanted (who wanted - an artist, who wanted - a speculator, someone hired a sailor, and someone was lucky, and he remained a professional loafer with a guitar at the ready, not a musician, not then a gigolo ...), as if confirming that, for the tenacious, like weeds, children of the slums, a poor childhood is just a school of life.

They would only grow up, gain strength, and then they will take everything from life, and not necessarily in the gateway.

It seems that it would not have been possible to squeeze such a love of life out of the topic on Russian or American material.

But in Bayeux, scorched by the sun and blown by the sea winds, it’s just that.

The line of love between Pula and the "good girl" Dora, whom fate has thrown into the gang, may seem too romantic and pompous, too theatrical in its tragedy, but excess in everything is an indispensable feature of Latin culture. So this high passion in the low world did not jar me at all. The author knows how to be convincing. The sea full of stars, the wind whispers your name ... touching, what really ...

Only now, the communist propaganda sewn with white thread does not give an opportunity to give the highest score. Not that I think that ideologically charged literature is never good. Just for the time being, nothing at all foreshadowed the imminent invasion of "politics".

And then suddenly, SUDDENLY, it turns out that Bullet is the son of a trade union activist killed by police !!! Who the whole city knew! That's for sure “Brazilian passions”, because it turns out that the father’s comrades were there all this time and thoughtfully watched how the son of their leader was turning into a criminal authority, the leader of the gang ... to him who his father is and what happened to him.

Immediately, the figure of a "class-conscious worker" appears, and pages written in the language of agitation parodied back in the USSR in the 1930s fall on the innocent reader ("molokh" "baal" "blush", "applaud", etc.).

Surely left-wing forces played a big role in history Latin America... And the fact that the man whose father was shot by the cops, and he himself lived for a long time in an abandoned hangar, does not like the existing social order, it is not surprising. But the instant, under the influence of one (!) Conversation with a class-conscious student, the transformation of a shpanyuk into an ideological fighter for the happiness of the working class is somehow hard to believe. Clumsy, and it is written in the language of "Moloch" and "Baal" ...

Score: 8

From the film "Generals of the Sand Quarries" from childhood I have extremely bright and a little sad memories. And now, many years later, I came across the book "Captains of the Sand", according to which, in fact, a movie was shot, which has become a cult for a whole generation. I must say right away that the original source made a slightly different impression on me, completely different emotions and mood. But let's start in order.

The novel is divided into three parts.

In the first, we are shown several stories from the life of street children from one Brazilian city, at the same time introducing us to each of the heroes of the book. The language, at first, is unusual. The frequent transition to a third-person narration, in the present tense, creates the impression of presence or some kind of newspaper reportage from the scene, which slightly revives the monotonous story with lengthy, unhurried descriptions, with a large number of adjectives and frequent repetitions. In fact, the simple everyday life of unhappy children is described, the misadventures are sad, painful, they do not particularly cause outbursts of emotions. Jorge Amadou is sometimes ruthless in describing the life of abandoned adolescents, but this ruthlessness is not biting, but thick as molasses. There are moments that I wanted to scroll through and forget. For example, pederasty within the gang, which in me caused a feeling of dislike, if not disgust. It is clear that the author wanted to convey to us a painful longing for maternal love, forcing them to seek solace in the intimate caresses of their own comrades, but one, even two hints would be quite enough, why was it repeated more than once? ..

This part is the most voluminous in the book, but in it the plot has no desire to move on, well, at least in some direction. Children do not have a goal, they do not have the most important thing - hope. With them, I, the reader, also seemed to be marking time. Believe me, I really wanted to feel the whole darkness of homeless life, I wanted to see the overwhelming nervous breakdown from injustice towards the guys, but instead I had the feeling that I was stuck in a routine swamp of despair.

In the second part, the plot gets under way - a girl appears in the gang. The heroes' hearts begin to beat echoingly, they begin to show humanity, the characters play with new facets, and I timidly began to raise my head with them ... chapters blurred a little.

The final third of the novel looks like a protracted epilogue, but it is, in my opinion, the most successful. Firstly, I was already accustomed to the manner of writing to Amad, and I was also impressed by the previous story, yet it played its role and set the right tone. Secondly, here for the first time the children have a long-awaited goal and hope, the future peeps out from the horizon. We are told the further fate of the "Captains" in the manner of farewell to the heroes, and the author, we must give him his due, does it in such a way that we part with them as with relatives.

Reading this book, I remembered the wonderful work of Anton Semyonovich Makarenko "Flags on the Towers", written, by the way, at about the same time, about the same guys, but on the other side of the earth. I would have read it again, but "Captains of the Sand" is unlikely.

Score: 7

For the first time, I found myself in a situation where forcing myself to keep reading was more difficult than forcing myself to wash the dishes. This concerns the first half: it took many months to wade through the stably unattractive biography of the Brazilian veneer, page after page, month after month, little by little, enduring passed, no, endless hundred pages stretched out. So three months passed. Suddenly...

Starting from about the middle, the truly wonderful begins! It arises simultaneously with the appearance of Dora. And in an instant I forgot how boring the first half was, and colors began to play, emotions appeared, and the drama escalated to the limit. The author managed to pull the entire work out of a deep and viscous pit right up to the top of literary thought. And at the end of the dramatic line with Dora, I almost cried! Even in such simple language, even in spite of everything that came before Dora, it was beautiful. It was here that the denouement was supposed to be, it was here that the point should be put - on Dora and on Pedro's vocation and dream.

Eh, it would be like this. But the ending turned out to be much further than necessary. While it lasted, the drama managed to cool down, and history radically changes direction, turning into a parable about communism. If the ending of the story with Dora made you almost cry, then the real ending leaves you with the feeling that you are at a political presentation. Yes, at the end is waiting for us a happy ending, and the story with Dora did not seem to exist. Dora seems to have been an emotional filler to push her way through at the end. political view... It's a shame. Jorge, why are you doing this? I do not want to dream of a bright future!

For the drama and intensity of emotions with Dora - 10 points, for a tedious beginning and ending - 2 points. On average, six.

Score: 6

Sand captains

Letters to the editor

Children are robbers

The unbridled antics of the "Captains of the Sand" - the robbery children keep the whole city in fear - the urgent intervention of the Juvenile Inspectorate and the Chief of Police is necessary - another raid happened yesterday.

Our newspaper, invariably guarding the legal rights of the citizens of Bahia, has repeatedly reported on the criminal activities of the "Captains of the Sand", as the gang members call themselves, terrorizing the entire city. These adolescents, who at such a young age embarked on the dark path of vice, do not have a permanent place of residence - at least, it was not possible to establish it, just as it was not possible to find out where they hide the loot. Recently, raids have been occurring on a daily basis, and this requires the immediate intervention of the Inspectorate for Juvenile Affairs and the Police Department.

As it became known, the number of the gang exceeds one hundred people aged from 8 to 16 years. All these are children who have taken a criminal path because their parents, having forgotten about their Christian duty, did not engage in their upbringing. The juvenile delinquents call themselves "Captains of the Sand" because they have chosen the sandbanks of the Baiyan port as their headquarters. They are led by a fourteen-year-old teenager who enjoys the most notorious reputation: not only robberies, but also fights that entailed grievous bodily harm are listed for him. Unfortunately, it has not yet been possible to find out the identity of the leader.

Urgent intervention of the Inspectorate for Minors' Affairs and the city police is necessary so that the criminal activities of the gang that disturb the peace of the inhabitants of our city are suppressed, and the perpetrators are sent to correctional colonies or prisons. Below we present a report on yesterday's raid, the victim of which was the venerable merchant: the damage to his house is more than a million flights. In addition, a gardener was wounded while trying to detain the leader of the gang of juvenile delinquents.

In the house of the Commander1 Jose Ferreira

In the center of Corredor da Vitoria, one of the most fashionable quarters of our city, is the mansion of the Commander Jose Ferreira, the largest and most trusted businessman in Bahia. His shop is located on a Portuguese street. Built in a colonial style, the mansion, surrounded by a lush garden, involuntarily attracts attention and pleases the eye. Last night the house of Jose Ferreira - this abode of peace, tranquility and honest labor, was raided by the "Captains of the Sand" and for a whole hour was engulfed in indescribable confusion.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, when the city was exhausted from the heat, the gardener Ramiro noticed several ragged teenagers who were spinning at the gate, and drove away the intruders, after which he returned to his duties. Started very soon

Plaque

About five minutes later Ramiro heard loud screams coming from the house - only people who were seized with mortal horror could scream like that. Armed with a sickle, Ramiro ran into the house, from the windows of which "like devils" (in his own words) were already jumping out of the boys with the things stolen from the dining room. The maid, screaming heart-rendingly, was bustling around the gunman's wife, who had fainted from a completely understandable and excusable fright. Ramiro hurried to the garden, where it happened

Fight

In the garden, at the same time, the eleven-year-old grandson of the comendor - adorable Raul Ferreira, who had come to visit his grandfather, was talking with one of the intruders, who turned out to be the leader of the gang (this was established because the criminal had a scar on the face of the criminal). The innocent child, suspecting nothing bad, had a merry talk with the villain, while the gang robbed his grandfather. The gardener rushed at the robber, not expecting that he would show such resistance and show such extraordinary strength and dexterity. Grabbing him, Ramiro was immediately stabbed in the shoulder, then in the arm and was forced to release the criminal.

The police were immediately notified of the incident, but so far have not been able to track the gang. The comendador told our reporter that the damage he has suffered exceeds a million flights, as the watch stolen from his wife alone is worth 900 cruzeiro.

Urgent action needed

The inhabitants of the aristocratic quarter of Corredor da Vitoria are in great anxiety, fearing that they will become new victims of the bandits, since the raid on the mansion of the Commander Jose Ferreira is far from their first crime. Urgent measures must be taken to ensure that the villains are punished and the peace of Bahia's most prominent families is no longer disturbed. We hope that the Chief of Police and the Juvenile Inspector will be able to curb juvenile but experienced criminals.

Children are robbers

Urgent action needed

"Through the mouth of a baby ..."

Our correspondent also spoke with Raul Ferreira. As already mentioned, he is eleven years old and is one of the best students of the Antonio Vieira College. Raul showed enviable courage and told us about his conversation with the leader of the gang the following:

He said that I was a fool and had no idea what interesting games there were. And when I said that I have a bicycle and many different toys, he laughed and replied that he did have a street and a port. I liked him, he is just like from the movie: remember that boy who runs away from home in search of adventure?

His words made us think about such a complex and delicate problem as the detrimental effect of cinema on immature souls. This problem also deserves the attention of Mr. Inspector for Juvenile Affairs, and we are going to return to it again.

Letter from the secretary to the chief of police

to the editorial office of the Jornal da Tarde newspaper

Dear sir editor!

Due to the fact that yesterday in the evening edition of your newspaper there were materials concerning the criminal activities of the gang "Captains of the Sand", as well as the raid it committed on the house of the Commander Jose Ferreira, the chief of police is in a hurry to notify you that the solution to this problem depends in the first place. turn from the Inspectorate for Minors' Affairs, and the police can take any steps only after the Inspectorate contacted them. Nevertheless, all measures will be immediately taken to exclude such incidents in the future and so that the perpetrators of the incident are identified, arrested and punished.

We consider it necessary, however, to declare with all frankness that the police did not deserve the slightest reproach: they did not take effective enough measures, since they did not receive permission from the Inspectorate for Minors.

Sincerely

Secretary to the Chief of Police.

(A letter printed on the front page of the Jornal da Tarde, along with a photograph of the chief of police and lengthy compliments to him.)

My love story for Brazil began because Captains of the Sand, perhaps the most famous work of Jorge Amado, was not translated into Russian on time.

The film adaptation sparked interest in the book.

In the Soviet Union with "Captains" it turned out interesting story... The whole country saw and fell in love with the film adaptation of the book - the film "Generals of the Sand Quarries" by the American director Hall Bartlett, created in 1971 and released in the USSR in 1974. Soviet viewers rushed to the libraries for the primary source, but it was not there. And if not for this film, it is not known when the book would have been translated into Russian. It looked all the more strange because in 1973 two books of the first Baiyan cycle of the writer had already been published in Russian - "Zhubiab" and "The Dead Sea". It is difficult to say now why the entire trilogy has not been translated. Perhaps it was due to the fact that the translation of a small excerpt from the book, published in the 18th issue of the magazine "In Defense of the World" in 1952, was of very low quality and did not evoke a great readership. The translator's name was not indicated, and by some indications it is clear that the translation was made from Spanish. Written in dry language, it did not convey either the beauty or the power of the prose of the Brazilian writer Jorge Amado.

After the film, I so wanted to read this book that I wrote to Jorge Amada about my impression of the film adaptation, about my love for his work and Brazil. And a few months later, I received from Brazil the much-desired book autographed by the author. To read it, I started learning Portuguese. You can say that I learned Portuguese from the letters of Jorge Amadu and Captains of the Sand. Soon I began to send the author a translation of his book by chapters. A new translation of "Captains of the Sand" was made by Yuri Aleksandrovich Kalugin in 1976 and published in a much abbreviated version in the magazine "Young Guard". My translation was published after Kalugin's death, in 2000.

Starring Blond Americans

In Brazil, "Generals of the Sand Quarries" were banned by the censorship during the military dictatorship. The film was shown only once in 1987 at a special screening in the city of Salvador, organized in honor of the 75th anniversary of the author of the book. Before that, no one had seen the film in the writer's homeland, but everyone condemned it for the fact that the leading actors were blond Americans.

However, it is enough to open the book to understand how exactly Hall Bartlett found the actors that fit the description. The main character Dora - "the granddaughter of an Italian and a mulatto, was very beautiful: huge eyes, golden hair, she all went to her grandfather, a blond Italian." Pedro Bullet - "sunburned strongly in the sun, long blond hair carelessly fell on his forehead in recalcitrant waves", he is very similar to his father, who had the nickname Blondin. Another character, the Cat, was white-skinned with a delicate blush. The professor is thin white.

In the new film adaptation of 2011, there is no question of the similarity of characters with literary heroes. The “blue-eyed” Dora's iris does not differ in color from the pupil. All other actors also do not have the slightest resemblance to literary heroes. The filmmakers corrected Jorge Amado's work on the grounds that in the minds of Brazilians, street children are always blacks or mulattos.

Young Georges Amadou in Moscow © Iakov Berliner

This prejudice is refuted by the facts of the not so distant past. In July 1993, in the very center of Rio de Janeiro, near the Candelaria Church, a massacre of street children who spent the night on the street was committed. One of them was blond and nicknamed Russian. Probably, it was not by chance that Jorge Amadou made his heroes white, he wanted to emphasize that the problem of homelessness is not racial or national, but social and class.

Soviet roots of the book

When critics talk about Captains of the Sand, they always note the influence on Jorge Amada of the classics of Soviet literature - Gorky and Makarenko. However, there is a book that has had a direct impact on the author and his work. Here I boast of my little philological discovery. In one article dedicated to the 75th birthday of Jorge Amadou, it was said that the writer in his youth read the "Republic of SHKID" and even translated the book into Portuguese. This information interested me very much. If he translated, then from what language (Jorge Amadou did not know Russian) and what is the fate of the translation? There was no proof of the existence of the translation; it was not listed in any of the writer's bibliographies.

I managed to find the information I needed during my trip to Brazil in 2010. They began to look for traces of translation in the National Library of Brazil. Since there was no information about the title of the translation, we decided to start a search by the names of the authors. And the book in translation by Jorge Amadou was found - Belyk e L. Panteleev "A República dos Vagabundos". From what language the translation was made was not indicated anywhere, but I assumed that if Jorge Amado translated Romulo Gallegos' Donna Barbara from Spanish in 1934, then he could also translate the Republic of SHKID from Spanish. All that remained was to find out if a Spanish translation of this book existed in the 1930s. Fortunately, the Internet has provided an answer to this question: the Madrid publishing house "Cenit" in 1930 published a book by Belykh and Panteleev entitled "Schkid: La república de los vagabundos". Jorge Amado actually read this book in his youth and translated it into Portuguese.

The writer was so inspired by the work of Soviet authors that he decided to write something similar about the street children in Bahia, his home state. He wanted the heroes of his book to become not thieves and bandits, but scientists, engineers, artists, like the heroes of the "Republic of SHKID". Naturally, under the conditions of Brazil in the 1930s, such an ending was impossible for a realist writer, so the arrival of the heroes in the Communist Party was the most realistic of all the optimistic endings.

The revolutionary activities of Jorge Amado

For Jorge Amadou, revolution and creativity were inseparable - at the age of 20 he became a professional writer and professional revolutionary. By 1937, when he was 25 years old, he had published five books: Carnival Country, Cocoa, Pot, Jubiaba, and The Dead Sea. Amado was an activist of the Brazilian Communist Party: in 1934 he leads the First Congress of Working and Student Youth in Brazil, and in next year takes an active part in the work of the National Liberation Alliance, created by the Communist Party to unite the opponents of the existing regime.

The alliance's program included the liquidation of the latifundia, the nationalization of large industrial enterprises, the democratization of public life, the prohibition of the fascist organization, and the creation of a people's revolutionary government. This program received popular support and frightened the pro-fascist government of Getulio Vargas, so on July 11, 1935, Vargas issued a decree banning the alliance. Terror began against his supporters. The activists of the National Liberation Alliance were forced to go into an illegal position, but did not give up. In response to the terror, armed uprisings broke out in several cities in Brazil in November 1935, the most serious of which was the uprising in Natal, the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Norte. On the night of November 24, the rebels seized power in the city and created the People's Revolutionary Government, which nationalized the banks, post office and telegraph office, formed detachments of the people's militia, and freed political prisoners. The rebels held out for only four days, after which the uprising was brutally suppressed. Repressions began in the country, primarily against the communists. You can read about these tragic events in the book "Red shoots" by Georges Amado.

Jorge Amadou and his second wife Zelia Gattai

For participation in the uprising in Natal, the writer was arrested for the first time. After his imprisonment, he was forced to emigrate to Mexico. In May - June 1937, Jorge Amadou wrote his new book Captains of the Sand. This work reflects his personal experience a revolutionary who went through an uprising, underground and prison. The writer sent the manuscript to the publisher Jose Olympique in Rio, and in September of the same year the book appeared on the shelves of bookstores.

From Mexico, Jorge Amado travels to the United States and from there returns to Brazil. He got off the ship in Manaus on November 6, 1937, and was arrested again right at the gangway. In the same month, in his home state of Bahia, in one of the city squares, his books were publicly burned for 19 days - everything that could be removed from libraries and bookstores. During these days, 1,694 books were burned: 808 copies of Captains of the Sand, 267 copies of Jubiaba, 223 copies of The Dead Sea, as well as editions of Cocoa, Sweat and Carnival Lands.

Years passed, and the period of military dictatorship ended in Brazil. Brazilian readers, who immediately fell in love with "Captains of the Sand", until now, when it comes to the most popular books by Jorge Amado, it is this work of the famous Brazilian author that is most often called.

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Sand captains

Letters to the editor

Children are robbers

...

The unbridled antics of the "Captains of the Sand" - the robbery children keep the whole city in fear - the urgent intervention of the Juvenile Inspectorate and the Chief of Police is needed - another raid happened yesterday.

Urgent intervention of the Inspectorate for Juvenile Affairs and the city police is needed so that the criminal activities of the gang that disturb the peace of the inhabitants of our city are suppressed, and the perpetrators are sent to correctional colonies or prisons. Below we present a report on yesterday's raid, the victim of which was the venerable merchant: the damage to his house is more than a million flights. In addition, a gardener was wounded while trying to detain the leader of the gang of juvenile delinquents.

In the house of the Commander 1 Jose Ferreira

Plaque

Fight

Urgent action needed

"Through the mouth of a baby ..."

...

Our correspondent also spoke with Raul Ferreira. As already mentioned, he is eleven years old and is one of the best students of the Antonio Vieira College. Raul showed enviable courage and told us about his conversation with the leader of the gang the following:

- He said that I am a fool and have no idea what interesting games are. And when I said that I have a bicycle and many different toys, he laughed and replied that he did have a street and a port. I liked him, he is just like from the movie: remember that boy who runs away from home in search of adventure?

His words made us think about such a complex and delicate problem as the detrimental effect of cinema on immature souls. This problem also deserves the attention of Mr. Inspector for Juvenile Affairs, and we are going to return to it again.

...

Letter from the secretary to the chief of police

...

Dear Mr. Editor!

Due to the fact that yesterday in the evening edition of your newspaper there were materials concerning the criminal activities of the gang "Captains of the Sand", as well as the raid it committed on the house of the Commander Jose Ferreira, the chief of police is in a hurry to notify you that the solution to this problem depends in the first place. turn from the Inspectorate for Minors' Affairs, and the police can take any steps only after the Inspectorate contacted them. Nevertheless, all measures will be immediately taken to exclude such incidents in the future and so that the perpetrators of the incident are identified, arrested and punished.

We consider it necessary, however, to declare with all frankness that the police did not deserve the slightest reproach: they did not take effective enough measures, since they did not receive permission from the Inspectorate for Minors.

Sincerely

Secretary to the Chief of Police.

...

(A letter printed on the front page of the Jornal da Tarde, along with a photograph of the chief of police and lengthy compliments to him.)

Juvenile Inspector Letter

to the editorial office of the Jornal da Tarde newspaper

...

His Excellency Mr. Editor-in-Chief Salvador, State of Bahia

Dear fellow countryman!

Looking through your wonderful newspaper at my leisure, which only occasionally gives me the varied and numerous responsibilities associated with the fulfillment of my most difficult mission, your wonderful newspaper, I drew attention to the letter of the tireless chief of the city police, where he sets out the reasons why law enforcement agencies have not been able to strengthen the much-needed fight against juvenile delinquents terrorizing our city. Mr. Chief of Police claims that he did not receive proper orders from the Inspectorate for Minors' Affairs, which should prompt him to take more active measures in relation to juvenile offenders. In no way wishing to somehow cast a shadow on the fruitful work of the city police, I nevertheless owe in the interests of truth - a truth that, like a beacon, illuminates my entire life path - to declare that I cannot accept these arguments convincing. The Inspectorate does not have jurisdiction to search for juvenile offenders; we are only obliged to determine in which correctional institution they will serve their sentence, and to appoint a representative of the Inspectorate to be present at the court, where the case against them will be considered. I repeat, the search and detention of juvenile offenders are not included in the circle of our prerogatives: the Inspectorate is concerned with their subsequent fate. Distinguished Mr. Chief of Police, you can be sure that I will continue to fulfill my duty as strictly as during all fifty years of my blameless service.

In recent months, I have sent to correctional colonies a significant number of minors who have violated the law or were left by their parents to fend for themselves, and it is not my fault that they run away from there, that they prefer to give up honest work, that they leave institutions where they are trying to be introduced to honest and a creative life and are surrounded by care and attention. Leaving the walls of the colony, they become even more dangerous criminals, as if the punishment they received was harmful to them. Why it happens? The answer to this question can only be given by specialist psychologists, but I, as an amateur philosopher, are baffled by it.

I want to state with all clarity and directness, Mr. Editor, that the Chief of Police can always count on the assistance of the Juvenile Affairs Inspectorate in the fight against juvenile delinquents.

Please accept, Mr. Editor, the assurances of my sincere respect and devotion.

Inspector for Juvenile Affairs.

...

(Printed in the Jornal da Tarde, with a photograph of the inspector and a brief but flattering editorial comment.)

Letter to the editorial office of the newspaper "Zhornal

da Tarde "of the poor seamstress, mother of the family

...

Dear Mr. Editor!

Sorry for the mistakes and bad handwriting, but I am not used to letters, and I undertook to write this letter because I want everything to be clear. I read in your newspaper how the "captains of the sand" steal, and then the police said that they would all be arrested, and then the senior inspector for minors said that they are not corrected in the colonies where he sends them. I’m about this colony and I decided to write to you, although I don’t know how to write well. I wish your newspaper would send someone to see how the unfortunate children from poor families are treated there, who, unfortunately, fell into the hands of the overseers there, whose hearts are harder than a stone. My son Alonso stayed there for six months, and if I hadn't been able to get him out of there, God knows whether he would have lived to see the deadline or not. They are flogged there two or even three times a day and that's good. The director walks around always drunk and beat the children with a whip. I myself have seen it many times, they do not pay attention if you say anything and say that it is so necessary for an ostracism so that others will be discouraged. Therefore, I took my son from there. Send the senior editor there a man, let him see what they are being fed there and what kind of work they are forced to do, that not every adult can cope and endure, and how they are beaten for work and without work. Just do not let him say that from the newspaper, otherwise they will deceive him. Let him come unexpectedly and then you will see whether I am right or not. Because of such colonies, there are gangs of thieves, and let it be better for my son to be there than in such an institution. Look senor what's going on there, your heart will freeze in your chest. Ask Padre Jose Pedro, he served there as a chaplain, he saw everything and knows everything. He will tell you everything and better than me.

I remain Maria Ricardinha, seamstress.

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(Printed on the fifth page of the Jornal da Tarde, among the announcements, without photographs or comments.)

Letter from Padre José Pedro to the editorial office of the Jornal da Tarde newspaper

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God bless you.

Dear Mr. Editor!

In one of the issues of your esteemed newspaper, I read a letter from Maria Ricardinha, in which she refers to me as someone who can shed light on the circumstances surrounding the lives of children who have ended up in a correctional colony, and I have to bother you with this letter, because everything, about what Maria Ricardinha told you, unfortunately, is true. The pupils of the aforementioned colony are in fact kept as wild animals. The administration of the colony, having forgotten the commandments of forgiveness and love for one's neighbor, not only does not try to attract the hearts of the inmates with kindness and affection, but, on the contrary, hardens them even more with incessant punishments and inhuman tortures. As a pastor, I was obliged to bring consolation and the light of true faith to lost children, but I see that the hatred that has accumulated in the souls of these unfortunates, more than anyone else worthy of pity, prevents them from taking my words with due confidence. I could write a whole book about everything that I see in the colony every day. Thank you for your attention.

Padre Jose Pedro, the humble servant of God.

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(Printed on the third page of Diario da Tarde under the heading "Is it really true?" And without any commentary.)

Correctional Director's Letter

colony to the editorial office of the Jornal da Tarde newspaper

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Dear Mr. Editor!

I watch with unflagging interest how one of the most brilliant representatives of the Bahian press, the Jornal da Tarde newspaper, under your wise leadership, is waging a campaign against the Captains of the Sand gang, which terrorize our city and disturb its inhabitants.

Among the materials devoted to this topic, I also got acquainted with two letters containing accusations to the address of the institution entrusted to my care. Only one modesty - only one modesty! - does not give me the right to call this institution exemplary.

I will not humble myself to refute, through your newspaper, a letter from this representative of the lower strata of our society, no doubt one of those who so interfere with us in the performance of our sacred duty - the correction of children who have gone astray. When children who were raised on the street and constantly had before their eyes examples of the unworthy behavior of their parents, come to us and we force them to join a normal life, these parents, instead of kissing the hands of those who do not spare efforts, transforming them with tears of gratitude children into useful members of society begin to complain. But I have already said and am ready to repeat that I am leaving this letter unattended. It would be ridiculous to expect that a dark, illiterate worker will be at the height of understanding the tasks that are performed by the institution I lead.

But the second letter struck me to the core. This priest, who has forgotten what duties his dignity and position impose on him, threw grave accusations at us. This holy father, who should justly be called a "damn son" (I hope you, Mr. Editor, forgive me this irony), took advantage of his special position in order to penetrate the boarding school during the hours that were not prescribed by the internal regulations. , incite children, given by the state under my care, to open disobedience and even rebellion. Since it appeared with us, cases of violation of discipline and disobedience to the established rules have become more frequent. Padre Jose Pedro is a vicious instigator, badly influencing children, who for the most part are already spoiled to the extreme. From now on, the doors of our boarding school are closed for him forever.

Nevertheless, Mr. Editor, on my behalf, I join in the request of Maria Ricardinha and I urge you to send an employee of your newspaper to us so that both you and the reading public can get a true and unbiased idea of how to re-educate juvenile delinquents Baiyan correctional colony. On Monday I will be waiting for your employee: admission of visitors on other days is prohibited by internal regulations, and I try not to deviate from them in anything. This, and only this, explains my desire to see him on Monday. I thank you in advance for this, as well as for the publication of this letter, and I hope that the unworthy clergyman will be put to shame. Accept and so on.

Director of the Baiyan correctional colony for juvenile delinquents and abandoned children.

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(Printed on the third page of the Jornal da Tarde, together with a photograph of the colony and a message that a reporter will be visiting it on Monday.)

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An exemplary institution where peace and work reign - not a director, but a friend - excellent cuisine - pupils both work and have fun - juvenile criminals on the way to rebirth - groundless accusations refuted - only one claim was expressed - incorrigible - the Bahian colony lives alone friendly family- the place of the "Captains of the Sand" - here

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Under the moon, in an abandoned warehouse

Children sleep under the moon in an abandoned warehouse.

Previously, the sea was very close. The waves, highlighted by the yellowish glow of the moon, gently splashed at the foot of the warehouse, rolled under the dock - just in the place where the children now sleep. Heavily loaded ships sailed from here - huge multicolored ships embarked on a difficult journey along dangerous sea roads. Here, to this pier, now eaten away by salt water, they pushed to fill the holds. Then a mysterious and boundless ocean stretched in front of the warehouse, and the night that descended on the warehouse was dark green, almost black, the color of the night sea.

And now the night was whitish, and the sands of the harbor lay in front of the warehouse. Waves do not make noise under the pier: the sand that took over the space was slowly but steadily advancing onto the warehouse, and the sailboats no longer approach the pier, do not stand for loading. There are no muscular black movers to be seen, reminiscent of the days of slavery. A foreign sailor does not sing on the dock, yearning for his native land. Whitish sands stretch in front of a warehouse that will never again be filled with bags, coolies, crates. Lonely he turns black among the whiteness of the sands.

For many years, only rats were the sovereign owners of it: they raced along its endless walls and gnawed at the heavy wooden doors. Then, fleeing the rain and wind, a stray dog wandered into the warehouse. The first night he did not sleep at all - he caught everything and tore to pieces the rats darting under his very nose. Then, for several nights in a row, it howled at the moon: moonlight penetrated unhindered through the dilapidated roof, flooding the floor made of thick planks. But the dog was a stray: soon he went to look for another refuge for himself - the dark opening of the door leading to the human habitation, the curved arch of the bridge, the warm body of a bitch. And again the rats took over the warehouse. So it was until the homeless boys stumbled upon him.

By that time, the gates had settled and flung open, and one of the "captains" who were bypassing their possessions (the whole port, as well as the entire city of Bahia, belongs to them) entered the warehouse.

The boy immediately realized that it was much better here than on the bare sand or on the docks at other warehouses, from where the tide would wash away. Since that very night, almost all the "captains" have moved to an abandoned warehouse and, under the yellow light of the moon, divided the company of rats. Endless sands stretched before my eyes. In the distance, the sea rolled onto the docks. Ships entered the harbor or went out into the open sea, and the light of their signal lights beat on the half-open door. Through the leaky roof one could see the star-studded sky and the moon.

Then the boys began to store their booty in the warehouse, and strange objects appeared there. However, on an outside observer an even stranger impression would be made by these boys of all colors and skin tones, of all ages - from nine to sixteen years old, who stretched out at night on a wooden floor or under the pier, not paying any attention to the wind, which was whining. around the warehouse, not in the rain, from which they were soaked to the bone. Their eyes fixedly followed the signal lights of the ships, and their ears keenly caught the sounds of songs flying from the decks ...

The ataman of their gang, Pedro Bullet, also settled there. He received this nickname from early childhood, from the age of five, and now he is already fifteen, and ten of them he wanders. He did not know his mother, his father had been shot long ago. Pedro was left alone in this world, began to explore the city, and now there is no street, no lane, no dead end, there is no such shop, a tavern, a board tent that would be unknown to him. That year, when he joined the "captains" (the newly built port attracted all the homeless Baiyan children), he was the leader of the gang Raimundo, a sturdy caboclo 2 with skin that shone red.

With the arrival of Pedro, power began to drift away from Raimundo's hands. Pedro Bullet scored him in all respects: he was both active and dexterous, he knew how to calculate everything in advance and give everyone a job to his taste and strength, he knew how to put himself, and in his voice and in the expression of his eyes there was something that obeyed unquestioningly. The day came when Raimundo and Pedro grappled. Raimundo, to his misfortune, pulled out a knife and slashed his opponent in the face, marking him for the rest of his life with a scar on his cheek. Pedro was unarmed, and therefore the rest of the gang intervened, stopped the fight and began to wait for revenge. Pedro was quick to take revenge. One evening, when Raimundo was about to beat the negro Barandan, Pedro stood up for him. Sandbanks have never seen such a fight. Raimundo was over the years taller, but Pedro Bullet, with flowing blond hair and a scarlet scar burning on his cheek, surpassed him in agility. Raimundo lost both power over the gang and the sandbanks. After a while, he got hired as a sailor on a ship and went off to sail.

Everyone unanimously recognized the new chieftain, and since then rumors about a gang of "captains" - about homeless boys who traded in robbery - have spread throughout the city. Nobody knew how many there really were, but there were about a hundred of them. About forty people, maybe more, constantly lived in a dilapidated warehouse.

It was they, the tattered, dirty, hungry boys, who screamed with selective abuse, tarred the cigarette butts picked up on the sidewalks, who were the true masters of the city and its poets: they knew it perfectly, they loved it with all their hearts.

ellesilver.ru

Children are robbers

In the house of the Commander 1 Jose Ferreira

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Fight

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