Lay / José Antonio Ramos Sucre

Lay

The king permitted the beggars to make themselves comfortable at the foot of his throne, on the steps of a staircase. He attended to their requests and was pleased to discover the veiled interest in their absurd stories.
     The natives of the kingdom lived disseminated in the countryside or gathered in their humble villages. The battle crow had suspended its flight in the tarnished atmosphere. It reminded the new generations of the greatness of Artus.
     The clement king had regretted consenting to the refuge of the miscreants in the churches and cemeteries. They were using the guarantee of asylum to steal. He ordered their exile through the closes port and they departed, humiliated to the point of imploring charity, each of them carrying crosses.
     The king was rarely mistaken in tasks of governance when he observed his own discernment. He would become delirious when he incurred in the weakness of consulting a voice born in the heart of a mausoleum. He dared not emancipate himself from Merlin’s command.




Las formas del fuego (1929)




{ José Antonio Ramos Sucre, Obra completa, Caracas: Biblioteca Ayacucho, 1989 }