A bird is dead

Sunday afternoon, same spot, same time.

I like to go to the usual places and order the usual thing. My Sunday afternoon spot is called: Cafe De Jassir. I sit on the terrace, at a table where I can observe the entire place. I always order a cappuccino and a bottle of water and the first thing that I do when I sit at my table is to put my cigarettes in a visible place so the people who are bothered by smoke see them and do not sit near to me.

It's 16:33.

I´ve been looking all day for a story that I read yesterday in The Book of Sand but I can't find it.

Is the story of a barbaric king who discovers that his sister-in-law is cheating on his brother. Later he finds out that his wife is even worse and has been cheating on him with many men's many times. The two brothers execute their wives following the law, and both of them, disappointed by life, decide to go on a trip through the desert. After days of riding their… some magical animal —I do not remember the name of the animal, is not a horse nor a camel— they find a clear, an oasis, and they stop to rest. In that place, they met a magical being, a sort of Genie or Ifrit that captures them. Then the woman ¿wife? of the genie releases them with the condition that they sleep with her. They do it. Afterward, already in home, the barbaric king has the realization that if one of the most powerful creatures in the world is a cuckold they have nothing to worry about, because there is nothing that they could do.

I want to read that story again but I'm unable to find it. It's really interesting how the author shows those men powerless (Including the Ifrit), they are supposed to be the embodiment of power but they can't control their wives. It reminds me of Napoleon, the greatest man of his time, and also a cuckold.

Anyway, I could not find the story so I closed the book and looked at the beautiful engraving again. I touch it: a half-moon lying down with a bird on top. Toth, is the supposed god of the magic arts, inventor of writing, in charge of the judgment of the dead and arbiter of godly disputes. I think I like the guy, at least he has good taste for his symbols. When I´m thinking about that I realize that I have not marked the book like I always do, so I take my pen and write in the first page:

A. Bird.

3|/Oct/2021

I close the book again and decided to go to the movies. I take the usual road and stop for beer before the movie at the usual bar.

After a few beers on my way to the movies I'm crossing the street. On the other side of the road I see this girl walking, she is gorgeous: black summer dress, hair to the shoulders. I want to say something to her, that gothic vibe is my weakness, but at that moment I get hit by a truck.

A. Bird. is dead.

The contract with Toth goes into effect.