Sardines and Acorns

Sardines, a painting by Gabriela Denny Segura

Sardines and Acorns is the fifth short story in Paulo da Costa's book, The Scent of a Lie.
Summarizing, the story tells us of a moment in the life of Afonso and Eulália in the small village of Comba, Portugal.

Eulália was once proposed to by  , the village wealthiest man, but she turned him down to marry Afonso, who promised her "she would never have to worry about the future". The promisse has been broken and the humiliated Afonso stays in bed, day after day, not having the courage to face his wife and the village.

One day, Rosália Cardo, the remote village's only contact with the outside world, comes and announces that the country's dictator, Salazar, has asked for all men to enlist in the army to fight insurgents in the Portuguese colonies in Africa (the story obviously takes place in the 1960s). The story takes a detour here and becomes a debate over the military: Eulália wants Afonso to join the army to save face ("At least if you returned wounded you would gain the respect of our neighbours"); Afonso does not agree that he needs to leave for Africa to be a man. Instead he tries to persuade Eulália to leave and start a new life in a coastal, more prosperous town. To Afonso, as well as for any Portuguese alive, the ocean stands for freedom, a new life, a window to our dreams.

Sardines symbolize that vast ocean of promisses, acorns symbolize the grip of the powerful on the poor... but you'll have to read the book to figure out why!

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