The Mystery of Rio (27 page)

And the old man, sensing exactly what the expert was about to ask, went on:

“Aniceto was vain. He wanted to be the best of men. He was the first, though, ever to want to come back. None of them ever wanted to before. Not one.”

 

Rufino never mentioned the old African traditions linking man to light, to odd numbers, to forests, and to the right side. Women are therefore the night, even numbers, deep water, and the left side. They are, as we can see, two completely incommunicable worlds.

In primordial times, however, there was one exception: a hunter, a kind of
oxóssi
, a cruel and powerful sorcerer, who made a pact with the Night Women and acquired the ability to transform himself into a woman, hence adopting the emblem of the seahorse.

This deity inhabits the forest but also the rivers, particularly the flooded banks, the areas where the waters mix with the forest.

And Rio de Janeiro—a city built on swamps and mangroves, from the early shell mounds of the Itaipus to the crude palisades of Estacio de Sá—was fated to belong to this sorcerer, this hunter. So the same adventure is endlessly played out: the ageless struggle of humanity to control one another by controlling the orgasm—which, we now know, is the greatest power of all.

There is a scene from the novel that I have not narrated: when Rufino finished recounting his story, knowing that Baeta sought the same gift that Aniceto once possessed, he offered him that possibility. He asked whether he would like to go through the same experience. However, before Baeta responds, this book will have ended.

And the reason is, since I myself am Baeta, I will not allow the character to venture beyond these our cramped circumstances.

Therefore, all that is left to do is to thank the city and its god, which have allowed me to live, and especially to imagine, which is the most dangerous form of experiencing life.

And if I am granted one last wish, it is that my body remains and dissolves in this fabulous soil, which is that of all of the
oxóssis
, the
caboclos
of the forest, and of Saint Sebastian.

 

Rio de Janeiro,

March 1, 2010, to January 20, 2011.

 

Thanks—

to Joãozinho, the first to hear and discuss with me the story in this book, before I even started writing it;

to Elaine, for her constant and engaging inspiration;

to Nilton da Silva Nascimento, a model public servant, who was my guide through the House of the Marquise de Santos, today The Museum of the First Reign;

to José Minervino, who led me through the fascinating gravestones and tombs of the English Cemetery, where I intend to be buried one day;

to Edu Goldenberg and Paulo Klein, for all of the information and resources they shared with me concerning the administrative history of the civil police of Rio de Janeiro (they should not, of course, be held accountable for my small fictional liberties);

to André Luiz Lacé Lopes, for his bibliographical suggestions and for having revived in me memories of capoeira from my adolescence;

to Fred Mussa, an
angoleiro
master and a dear brother, for sharing with me his intellect and his wealth of resources concerning the history of capoeira;

to Luiz Carlos Fraga and Ronald Cavaliere, whose deep literary knowledge and whose immense enthusiasm for crime fiction I have found very inspiring;

to Miguel Sanches Neto, for his striking critical abilities and his profound literary knowledge;

to Stéphane Chao, for his indispensible erudition on all things mythological;

to all the people who directly, indirectly, and emotionally contributed, and will continue to contribute, to this adventure: Adriana Fidalgo, Ana Lima, Ana Paula Costa, Andréia Amaral, Beatrice Araújo, Bruno Zolotar, Camila Dias, Carolina Zappa, Cecilia Brandi, Cécilia Maggessi, Elisa Rosa, Fátima Barbosa, Gabriela Máximo, Guilherme Filippone, Ivanildo Teixeira, Juliana Braga, Leonardo Figueiredo, Leonardo Iaccarino, Livia Vianna, Magda Tebet, Márcia Duarte, Maria da Glória Carvalho, Regina Ferraz, Sérgio França, Tatiana Alves, Vivian Soares;

and to Luciana Villas-Boas, as always, for everything.

 

 

agremiação
: literally, “guild.” In Rio, a precursor to today's samba schools

batuque
: a musical rhythm of African origins

caboclo
: an ancient indigenous spirit, also a Brazilian of mixed white and native or native and black ancestry

Caboclo das Sete Encruzilhadas
: the name of a Brazilian native spirit

cachaça
: a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane

Candomblé
: a religion of African origins

Candomblé de Inquices
: a tradition of Candomblé typical of Angola

capoeira
: a Brazilian martial art of African and native roots; one who practices that art

carioca
: a person or thing from Rio de Janeiro

Casa da Pedra
: the first stone building erected in Rio de Janeiro

Chica da Silva
: Francisca da Silva de Oliveira (1732-1796). A real historical figure, she began life as a slave but became a renowned society lady.

Colégio do Castelo
: a Jesuit school on Castelo Hill, Rio de Janeiro

corpo fechado
: literally, “closed body”; a body that is immune to harm as a result of magic

Iansã
: a female deity in the Candomblé religion

jogo do bicho
: literally, “the animal game”; an illegal lottery popular in Rio de Janeiro

Macumba
: a spell; a religion of Angolan and Congolese origins

mãe-de-santo
: literally, “mother of the saint”; a female religious leader who oversees
Candomblé
ceremonies (see
pai-de-santo
)

malandro
: a streetwise Rio de Janeiro archetype who lives by his wits and avoids work

mameluco
: a person of mixed native and white ancestry

mandinga
: a spell; or behavior typical of a
malandro

Mina
: a reference to the Mina Coast in Africa, a region that was the birthplace of many of the enslaved Africans brought to Brazil

pai-de-santo
: literally, “father of the saint”; a male religious leader who oversees Candomblé ceremonies

pernada
: a primitive type of
capoeira

porta bandeira
: literally, “flag-bearer”; the dancer who carries the flag representing an
agremiação

preto velho de quimbanda
: ancesteral spirit of an African slave

puíta
: the original name for a
cuíca
, a friction drum

quilombo
: a village made up of runaway slaves

Rancho das Sereias
: literally, “Ranch of Mermaids”; the name of a carnival
agremiação

roda
: literally, “wheel”; a gathering of
malandros

rodas de fundanga
: circles made of gunpowder, used in sorcery

Saci Pererê
: a mythical one-legged trickster and an important figure in Brazilian folklore

São Sebastião
: Saint Sebastian, the patron saint and protector of Rio de Janeiro

xaréu
: a type of saltwater fish

 

 

 

Alberto Mussa was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1961. His father's family originated from Lebanon and Palestine, and he explores Arab-Brazilian identity in his works. In addition to translating poetry and short stories, Mussa has written several novels about the history of Rio de Janeiro. He has won numerous awards, including the Premio Biblioteca Nacional for
Queen Jinga's Throne
(1999) and the Casa de las Américas and APCA prizes for
The Riddle of Qaf
(2004).