First published in Great Britain in 2004 by

Canongate Books Ltd, 14 High Street,

Edinburgh EH1 1TE

Originally published in Brazil in 2000

by Companhia das Letras

This digital edition first published in 2012 by Canongate Books

Copyright © Bernardo Carvalho, 2000

English translation copyright © John Gledson, 2004

The right of Bernardo Carvalho and John Gledson to be identified as respectively the author and translator of the work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available on request from the British Library

ISBN 1 84195 496 9

eISBN 978 1 78211 083 5

Typeset in Van Dijck 12/18 pt by

Palimpsest Book Production Limited,

Polmont, Stirlingshire

Design by James Hutcheson

www.canongate.tv

For Henrique

CONTENTS

ACT ONE

ACT TWO