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#104
- January 31, 2008
- story coming up -
Rai summary:
- "Blue Coral" - Sandokan chases the snake "blue coral" until
under the palm of the oracle of Mompracem. Verdeluna would like to talk to the
oracle
to get to know many things in her future...
- "Corallo blu" - Sandokan insegue un serpente "corallo blu" fino
alla palma dell'oracolo di Mompracem. Verdeluna vorrebbe parlare con l'oracolo
per conoscere molte cose del suo futuro...
#103 - January 30, 2008
Tonight, Mompracem has one of its most beautiful nights ever.
The stars
seem to touch the ocean, and it is almost as if Sandokan could sail straight
onto the moon.
Stand by for the Northern Lights in the skies over Malaysia!
Verdeluna
is a liiiiitle confused (and we don't blame her): is this Sandokan talking, or
Baron von Munchhausen, on his epic journey around the world? Will he jump onto
the moon and be unable to come down again?
Verdeluna's been there. Not on the moon, but in the impossible tales department;
she too has a story or two to tell.
One scorching summer afternoon, when the city had emptied itself onto the beaches
and into the mountains, Verdeluna's brothers were kicking a football, and she
was watching them. Getting bored, she wanted to join the boys, but Christian,
Vittorio and Walter said she was too little to play football with them. She would
have to endure the Test of the Tube, and that wouldn't do for a girl.
And that's
when Verdeluna got seriously angry, and taunted her brothers: "Where's this
tube of yours? You're just too scared to take me there! You're a bunch of cowards!"
So they took her to The Tube... It was a fearsome thing, attached to a rock face
just out of town, some 60 centimetres across and at one point suspended in the
air about 100 metres above the ground.
- "Wait for us here," the brothers said. "We'll walk across the tube,
just like all the boys." Petrified, Verdeluna watched. Walter got to the
other side safely, and then it was Vittorio's turn, always the more vulnerable
of the two...
Vittorio started walking full of confidence. Perfectly balanced, he struck up
a song to celebrate his high spirits. And when he got to three metres before
the end, he slipped and started screaming. He was clutching the tube as his brothers
tried to get close, but was too terrified to move. Eventually, Christian ran
home to get their father, and torch in hand as darkness had fallen, Dad convinced
Vittorio to move slowly to safety.
What did their father say to Vittorio?
Who knows. What would Sandokan have said?
Give me your hand, because now that
I'm here, I see it's very high, and I need
your help.
We all need one another. That's the secret of true love. Always communing, like
the fish do with the sea, the birds with the sky... and Sandokan with his galleon!
Come aboard my galleon tonight, and in this wonderful night we will sail to the
moon together...
Rai summary:
- "The Tube" - Verdeluna recalls the incident when her brother Vittorio
got stuck hanging on to a tube suspended above a precipice.
- "Il tubo" - Verdeluna racconta di quando suo fratello Vittorio rimase
appeso a un tubo sospeso su un dirupo.
#102 - January 29, 2008
- story coming up -
Rai summary:
- "Confessional" - Sandokan, in view of the voyage to Australia talks
about the film "Priscilla, the Queen of the Desert". Verdeluna takes
Vittorio to the church to talk to her brother Walter.
- "Confessionale" - Sandokan, in vista del viaggio in Australia racconta
del film "Priscilla, la regina del deserto". Verdeluna porta Vittorio
in chiesa a parlare con il fratello Walter.
#101 - January 28, 2008
- story coming up -
Rai summary:
- "The Varieties of the Bird Songs" - Vittorio, drunk again, ends
up
with
the car against a plane tree in a public park. Yanez asks Sandokan to accompany
him
to Australia to conquer a slice of the market with his coffee.
- "Le vie dei canti" - Vittorio, di nuovo ubriaco, finisce con la macchina
contro un platano di un giardino pubblico Yanez chiede a Sandokan di accompagnarlo
in Australia per conquistare una fetta del mercato con il suo caffè.
#100
- January 25, 2008
- story coming up -
Rai summary:
- "The Forest" - Verdeluna recalls Anselmo, a child
who knew to listen to the music of trees.
- "La foresta" - Verdeluna ricorda Anselmo, un bambino che sapeva ascoltare
la musica degli alberi.
#99 - January 24, 2008
An adventure without end, or an adventure with a happy
end? Which would Verdeluna prefer to have with her pirate?
A happy end might cut it short, and an endless adventure that's
boring isn't really an adventure at all any more.
- "Non sara' un' avventura," Verdeluna
sings. It can't just be an adventure. But what's that? Ahhhh,
a song by Lucio Battisti,
from way back when she was a girl and used to bellow out her
favourite songs under the shower!
And of course the great Italian singer was once on the Mompracem
guest list too, along with his songwriter friend Mogol.
Were
they famous even in Malaysia?
Well, in fact no one had ever
heard of them. But they were on the island to overcome a creative
crisis, and find some inspiration. Yanez took the pair for
long walks on the beach, and made them many an exquisite coffee.
And then one day, an oil tanker got into trouble off the shores
of Mompracem, and an oil slick headed straight for the island's
delicate coral reef. Sandokan and Yanez immediately set sail
to avert the impending disaster, but were startled to see Mogol
and Battisti swimming like crazy to get to their galleon. And
so a few minutes later, the four of them were on their way.
Mogol and Battisti worked like crazy to stop the oil slick,
and together the four friends succeeded in saving the planet,
errrr, well the Mompracem coral reef.. The two artists were
delighted when they saw the coral in all its pristine natural
splendor, and over an exquisite coffee that evening, confessed
they would never have been able to express such beauty in their
own music.
They left soon after that, but not before giving a concert
outside Yanez' kiosk, with hundreds of candles lighting up
the beach and a crowd of onlookers curious to hear the two
musicians from overseas.
Which Mogol and Battisti song does Verdeluna like best?
Well...
she's always had a weakness for "La Luce dell'Est' The
Light from the East...
The light from Mompracem!
At school, Verdeluna knew a boy who sent her dozens of little
notes with the most poetic of phrases on them. She didn't much
fancy him, but she did like the poetry. Then one day, she found
out about Lucio Battisti and knew where all the wonderful words
came from...
And when she herself fell in love with a boy in
her class, the Mogol and Battisti songs became the soundtrack
of her infatuation...
Sandokan?
What's our soundtrack?
It's the night itself, clear
and starlit.
And the sea, and the earth, and the stars themselves...
Rai summary:
- "Mogol and Battisti" - The famous Italian duo,
songwriter Mogol (Giulio Rapetti) and singer Lucio Battisti,
are on Mompracem
to save
the island from an environmental disaster.
Verdeluna recalls the soundtracks of her favourite stars when
she was in her early teens at school.
- "Mogol e Battisti" - Mogol e Battisti a Mompracem per salvare l'isola
da un disastro ambientale. Verdeluna ricorda la colonna sonora delle infatuazioni
al tempo delle medie.
#98 - January 23, 2008
- story coming up -
Rai summary:
- "The Cow" - Verdeluna returns to the creche and
reads a newspaper article to little Roberto that seems just
a fairy tale...
- "La mucca" - Verdeluna torna nella casa famiglia e legge al piccolo
Roberto un articolo di giornale che sembra proprio una favola...
#97 - January 22, 2008
- story coming up -
Rai summary:
- "Caterina" - Sandokan recalls his encounter with Robbie Williams
at Mompracem; Verdeluna talks of her brother Vittorio who has fallen in love
with Caterina...
- "Caterina" - Sandokan racconta dell'incontro con Robbie Williams
a
Mompracem; Verdeluna del fratello Vittorio che si è innamorato di Caterina...
#96
- January 21, 2008
The night is like a game of chance. Place your bets, ladies
and gentlemen, and wait for the little ball to drop into the numbered
slot... Connecting... Connecting... When you invite me to come and
play, I'll never say no, Verdeluna!
Verdeluna is a little agitated, because she has had another mysterious
SMS message from the stranger wanting to meet her in the middle of
town, just like a few months ago. And just like the other time, she
went to the Sailor's Monument to see what would happen. And just
like the other time, the local pharmacist walked by, Dr. Umberto
Bonchielli, as he does every evening. He's a very nice man, and always
gives Verdeluna a discount.
But Sandokan isn't pleased.
A man called
Bonchielli can only be a little awkward, a little gauche...
But he's
got a very sexy black Harley Davidson!
And did anyone else turn up? Yes, the owner of Pagine, a very old
local bookshop. Aaaah, an elderly gentleman! No. It's the shop that's
old, ancient even. The owner is Verdeluna's age. And he inherited
the shop when his parents were killed in a road accident. Oooh,
how tragic, Sandokan commiserates. Does she go to the shop often?
No,
only once a month, but Marcello is always ever so nice. Marcello...?
You're on first names..? Ahhh yes, but don't worry, he's no Adonis!
The Pirate isn't the kind of man to send anonymous SMS messages.
Instead,
he spelled out Verdeluna's name with hundreds of candles on the beach
last night!
Patrizia has talked with the prison governor about her creche project.
They don't quite see eye to eye: Patrizia wants to spend lots of
money on toys and games for the children, while the governor wants
to do structural work, like enlarging the tiny windows.
If only Patrizia could be more rational, like her mother, who runs
after every SMS message on her telephone... But don't worry Verdeluna,
tonight I'll light the candles on the beach, and we'll be closer
together than ever!
Rai summary:
- "Candles" - Verdeluna receives another anonymous SMS
that invites her to a date. It's the same one as some months ago,
to the "Sailors Square"...
- "Candele" - Verdeluna riceve nuovamente un sms anonimo che la invita
ad un appuntamento. Lo stesso di alcuni mesi prima a "Piazza dei navigatori"...
#95 - January 18, 2008
Verdekan and Sandoluna log on in unison, both of them right on time!
They are like a pair of lungs, breathing a single breath, warm like the breeze
of the tropics...
Verdeluna has just seen American Beauty, a movie about... a twit who falls in
love with his daughter's classmate. She's worried about the impact Renato's affair
with Vanessa Paradiso is having on Patrizia, but the girl's never shown any emotion
whatsoever about it all.
And Sandokan?
He's been counting shells on Shelly Beach, as a favour to the Jungle
Oracle of Mompracem. So how many did he count? Yes, it's that number again...
Six thousand, eight hundred and forty-two...
He got as far as 6,841 and waited
to see what would happen. Absolutely nothing. That is - the ocean didn't make
a sound, the wind stopped blowing, and it was as if the whole world had come
to a standstill.
Sandokan then looked toward the Oracle's perch atop a palm tree, and... the Oracle
had fallen asleep! And when Sandokan counted shell number 6,842, the Oracle suddenly
woke up...
Verdeluna, who is becoming terrified with her own obsession about the number
6,842, has ripped up her old Malaysian Airlines ticket for flight MH6842 to Kuala
Lumpur. That's a good thing, says Sandokan. It leaves room for you to buy a new
ticket. Never get attached to the things of the past.
And how's Patrizia? She's full of energy, ready to defy the doctor's orders and
go back to school. Verdeluna is determined to stop that, even though she'd be
more than happy. For who has muscled herself into the Verdeluna home, using Patrizia's
injury as a pretext? None other than... Verdeluna's dreaded mother-in-law!
Is
she really worse than an English colonialist, asks Sandokan sympathetically?
Oh
much worse, much worse.
Well then: all'assalto!!
Sandokan's experience with in-laws is limited to Marianna's uncle, a bewafaa,
a cursed cojone... colone... colonialist.
But talking about that now would make
him too angry!
So let's continue counting. 6843, 6844... the Oracle still needs to know exactly
how many shells there are on Shelly Beach...
Rai summary:
- "American Beauty" - Verdeluna and Patrizia watch "American Beauty" on
TV; Sandokan counts the shells of Shelly Beach: 6842...
- "American Beauty" - Verdeluna e Patrizia guardano "American
Beauty" in tv; Sandokan conta le conchiglie di Shelly Beach: 6842...
#94 - January 17, 2008
Sandokan has been talking with the Oracle of the Jungle, perched atop
his palm tree, the tallest on Mompracem. He wanted to know when he would finally
get to meet Verdeluna! The Oracle went on watching the latest episode of Desperate
Housewives on one of the several TV sets that surrounded him. And being an oracle,
he is already well into the fourth series while the rest of the world is still
enjoying series three...
- "Take note," the Oracle said, "that when the numbers six, eight,
four and two come together, that's when your wedding will also be celebrated." And
couldn't Sandokan just ask for an explanation? Not really, because after Desperate
Housewives, there was a program about bee-keeping, and the Oracle became utterly
silent and impenetrable.
But hang on, says Verdeluna, did the Oracle mention the word "edding"?
How do you mean "bedding"?
Shut up! Not "bedding" - "wedding" WEDDING!!!
Well, actually, the Oracle likes to use the word "wedding" to mean "meeting".
It just makes it sound a little more mystical. Over the years, the islanders
have become used to deciphering some of the Oracle's words. But not everything,
not quite everything...
But do you really love me, Sandokan?
Yes, I love you.
There can be no other way.
The Pirate truly loves you.
How wonderful to hear those words, Sandokan.
And I truly love you too.
- 6842 - Sandokan, we have to decode that number.
I think we choose the number, the number doesn't choose us.
And so why did you go and see the Oracle? Because it brings good fortune. Ahhh
good fortune, that's the best thing to have. If you have good fortune, all else
will follow. Even love? Even the love that makes you suffer? Yes. Because in
love, it's worth taking any kind of risk!
Al''assalto!!!
We are pirates of love, and at the bottom of the ocean is the source of our passion.
And Verdeluna is even happier because Patrizia has come home. It does mean more
work, because her daughter normally helps around the house, and now needs lots
of attention herself. Also the DJ walked in singing as usual. Patrizia can't
wait to get back to school, and to return to work redecorating the creche...
She wants to make the place so welcoming that the children will never want to
run away, like Verdeluna and her brother Valerio used to when they were
toddlers!
Rai summary:
- "Bundle of Joy" - Sandokan turns to the jungle oracle
to
get
to
know
if he will ever see Verdeluna. Patrizia returns to her home and Aldo dedicates
a song to her.
- "Zuzzurellone" - Sandokan si rivolge all'oracolo della jungla per
sapere se mai si vedrà con Verdeluna. Patrizia torna a casa e Aldo le
dedica una canzone.
#93 - January 16, 2008
Sandokan has followed a flock of red robins into the jungle, heaving
a sigh of happiness as he saw them cavort among the brush. Robins should be provided
in every city, by law. Verdeluna's aunt Assunta had a tame robin, called Buenos
Aires, with whom she spoke about her memories of Argentina. The bird died a few
days after Assunta did. Robins are the cherubs of love...
Oh to fly through the air, pure and simple like a robin!
Verdeluna, too, has always dreamt of being able to fly, and of being invisible.
She'd have given flying lessons to her friends, jumping off a wardrobe onto her
bed, convinced that one day they'd succeed. Did she teach invisibility as well?
Oh no! She kept that one to herself!
And what was Verdeluna's secret? Keeping a very strict diet, to be as thin as
possible.
And what would she have done if she managed to be wholly transparent? Well, come
to Mompracem, for instance, and spy on the pirate in secret.
No, don't open that wound again. It's still fresh. And what if in fact I had
come after all, and you couldn't see me?
That's impossible.
I would have felt your warmth, your breath, your love.
You're a courageous woman, and pirates go mad for a courageous woman.
NH6842... Patrizia's hospital room is number 42, and Verdeluna takes the number
68 bus to get there... Oh Sandokan, this number is driving me crazy and I can't
sleep!
Sandokan, the pirate, doesn't quite believe in numerology - but he would like
to help Verdeluna solve the mystery, at least so she can get a good night's sleep.
Last night, she fell fast asleep in the shop's store room, unpacking a boxful
of dresses. 6842, don't tell me that has some special meaning in the Kamasutra?
Sandokan doesn't know, but promises to find out rightaway.
Meanwhile, Verdeluna found another book in the local "free book exchange".
Like the one she found at the bus stop, this book, left on top of a letter box,
was signed by one Marino S. This one's by E. T. A. Hoffmann, "The Devil's
Elixirs." When she's read it, Verdeluna will finally know how to make herself
invisible, and sneak up behind Sandokan outside Yanez' kiosk.
Maybe you really
are the devil, says Sandokan.
Poor Sandokan...
Rai summary:
- "Sighs" - Verdeluna and Sandokan talk about robins; Verdeluna continues
to try to find a symbolic meaning in the number of aerial flight 6842 and finds
an abandoned book: "The devil's elixir".
-
"Sospiri" - Verdeluna e Sandokan parlano di pettirossi; Verdeluna continua
a cercare simbologie nel numero del volo aereo 6842 e trova un libro abbandonato: "Gli
elisir del diavolo".
#92 - January 15, 2008
Sandokan is exactly on time tonight. Is he changing
his old ways? No, he says it will only be the exception that
proves the rule!
Verdeluna is worried that things might have changed since their
encounter failed to go through, and yes, says Sandokan, it
has: my longing for you has only grown stronger!
Your skin
is like a peach...
You're my scented island, my Ithaca!
But
I promise I will never make you wait 20 years, like Ulysses
made his Penelope wait for him. All you'll have to endure most
evenings is a small delay...
But if you add up every time you're late, Sandokan, that's
still 20 years.
You're my Ulysses in instalments!
Verdeluna relates the hospital serenades given by Aldo, the
DJ, to his injured girlfriend, with the aid of a small electronic
keyboard. Even the staff and the other patients are enjoying
his performances. Aldo is a bit shy, but he becomes another
man when he is singing!
And that's what you should do too, Verdeluna, and turn your
shop into a cabaret shopping experience. The customers will
love it! And what could she sing? Anything from Yanez' classical
jazz, to German cabaret, to the French existentialists! She
could be like Marlene Dietrich... And she would sell her customers
anything she wanted...
Ich bin die Liebling der Saison...
...Keep going!
Ich hab' ein Pianola zu Hause in mein Salon, ich bin die freche
Lola...
...Exquisite, wonderful, I can just see you in a red spotlight!!!
Verdeluna, have you ever crossed a desert? It's the best place
imaginable for finding your true self. And in a desert, Verdeluna
would even dare to sing. Unlike the festival of Cantabimbi,
an event for children held when she was a little girl. Her
mother made her wear a skirt that was too short for her, so
people could look straight at her underwear when she stood
on the stage and sang...
Rai summary:
- "Ithaka" - Sandokan proposes to Verdeluna to open
a cabaret and prompts her to sing a song of Marlene Dietrich;
Verdeluna remembers the "Cantabimbi" [popular
Italian childrens choir and also a music festival].
- "Itaca" - Sandokan propone a Verdeluna di aprire
un outlet-cabaret e la induce a cantare una canzone di Marlene
Dietrich; Verdeluna ricorda il "Cantabimbi".
#91 - January 14, 2008
Sometimes it's better not to worry about your future.
Sometimes it's better just to let life decide what happens
next.
Verdeluna is desperate to get in touch with Sandokan, and he
is in a philosophical mood, and late, as usual...
She never made it to Kuala Lumpur, because Patrizia broke her
arm and needs her mother to look after her... Of course Sandokan
feels disappointed. His passion was all fired up and he was
getting ever more impatient to meet his virtual friend. But
the pirate can forgive the mother of a daughter in need...
So what happened?
Remember the "sexy" calendar that Verdeluna was going
to sell for charity?
Well, it was a roaring success. They sold the entire print
run, and there are still people clamoring for more! And the
proceeds: 15,000 euros!
So an overjoyed Verdeluna rang Patrizia to tell her the good
news. After all, the money was earmarked for the decoration
of the prison creche where she works.
And Patrizia ran straight to the prison, to tell the director,
and make plans for her big project. But she failed to see the
plateful of soup that somebody had dropped on the floor and
that hadn't yet been cleaned up... She made a most spectacular
fall and landed with all of her weight on her arm! They had
to take her to hospital for an operation...
So was Sandokan really going to meet flight NH6842?
His galleon was about to set sail when he got Verdeluna's message...
Verdeluna feels utterly trapped and hopeless, and Sandokan
tells her the story of the little centipede that has to learn
to walk. The poor creature just stood there agonising over
which foot to pur forward first. The first, or the last, or
maybe number 50 in between? It counted all its 100 feet, and
even that didn't solve the problem. And so it began all over
again... Now, the little baby centipede is a grown-up, but
in its entire life it still hasn't made a single step.
And the moral is?
That Verdeluna has been very courageous in taking the first
step by booking that plane ticket, and that love overcomes
all obstacles.
But why doesn't Sandokan come to Italy?
No, that's not the idea, says Verdeluna.
We have talked for months about the sunset on the island, of
dolphins and galleons, of exquisite coffee made by Yanez...
Lots of people have come to visit Patrizia in hospital, even
her father!
He may be a Twit, but he's no monster.
You will have to forgive him if you are ever to start a new
life, says Sandokan.
How high the moon is tonight...
It looks all red and unreachable...
Give me your hand, Sandokan, and help me aboard your galleon.
You conquered me the at the very first instant.
Our kisses are burning, and they consume us with the fire of
love...
What a shame that chat's all make-belief.
Not all of it, Verdeluna, not quite all of it!
Rai summary:
- "The Centipede" - Verdeluna apologizes to
Sandokan for not having gone to Mompracem: Patrizia has broken
an arm. The sale of the "risqué" calendars
with the traders has turned out very well, the proceeds will
be
given to charity, for the renovation of the jail's crèche.
- "Il millepiedi" - Verdeluna si scusa con Sandokan
per non essere
andata a Mompracem: Patrizia si è rotta un braccio. La vendita dei calendari "osè" con
le negozianti ha reso molto bene, i soldi saranno dati in beneficenza per la
ristrutturazione dell'asilo del carcere.
#90
- January 11, 2008
Verdeluna is a little sad.
She's kissed and had a good time with everyone over the holidays:
Patrizia, Valerio, Pedro Miguel, Christian and Vittorio, and she's
even sort of made up with The Twit. But where was the most important
man in her life?
Where was Sandokan?
So she went and bought a plane ticket.
To Mompracem.
Ok, says Sandokan.
ERR - TO WHERE???
Well, to Kuala Lumpur really. I couldn't find Mompracem on the map.
Do you realise what I am saying?
Why don't you say anything?
There's only one thing to say, says Sandokan: All'assalto!!!
Verdeluna's off on Sunday, on flight NH6842 to the Malaysian capital.
And just think, we counted six thousand eight hundred and forty-two
stars the other night! It's the same number!
Say something Sandokan, I am trembling!!
But who will look after the shop when you're away? Sir Hugo is in
Amsterdam!
Martina can do that. BUT WHY ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT THE SHOP? THAT'S
MY BUSINESS!? SANDOKAN, DO YOU HEAR WHAT I'M SAYING? I'M COMING TO
SEE YOU!!
Verdeluna, with you at my side I won't need to know if there is a
paradise. I'll be in paradise already! I am nervous too, I wish it
were already Sunday! My heart's never beaten faster, not even in
the fiercest battle! Time is mankind's ugliest invention, when two
hearts are beating, waiting to finally get together...
So what made Verdeluna make up her mind?
A few days ago, she took her Land Rover for a drive, and had to slow
down at a bridge for a group of teenagers standing around. And what
did she see? Her own daughter, Patrizia, jumped off the bridge, into
the void below - and poor Verdeluna's blood froze in her veins. She
had the worst shock in her life. Then - Patrizia's voice brought
her back to reality... "It's soooooooooooooo beautiful!!!!"
Patrizia and her beau, Aldo the DJ, were suspended from the bridge
on a long elastic rope.
Bungee jumping, that's what they call it.
That evening, Verdeluna and her daughter had a big confrontation.
The bungee jump was Aldo's Christmas present for his girl, and Patrizia
didn't have the courage to tell her mother, thinking she would have
been forbidden to go ahead with it. You're right you would, growls
Verdeluna...
Ahh, it's hard being a parent, intones Sandokan. And that night,
Verdeluna thought long and hard about what could have prompted Patrizia
to have made that jump. And would Verdeluna have been able to do
it herself. Yes, she would. She could have jumped from the highest
point of the world, from the summit of Mount Everest.
And that's when you decided to buy the plane ticket. Exactly, Sandokan.
And you, will you jump with me? We're already flying Verdeluna, hand
in hand, our hearts racing.
Will you come and meet me at the airport? NH6842!
I'll be there, Verdeluna, and I'll know who you are even if you don't
tell me what you're wearing...
Malaysian Airlines, 6842 - it's our number... I am standing on top
of that bridge Verdeluna, and my heart is bursting...
And together they count down to the jump. One, two, three - all'assalto!!!
Rai summary:
- "Bungee Jumping" - Verdeluna buys a plane ticket to Kuala Lumpur,
to meet Sandokan and recalls to have seen Patrizia 'flying' down from a bridge
at a bungee jumping event.
- "Il Bungee Jumping" - Verdeluna compra un biglietto aereo per Kuala
Lumpur, per raggiungere Sandokan e racconta di aver visto Patrizia volare giù da
un ponte col bungee jumping.
#89
- January 10, 2008
Sandokan is suffering from a change of the wind on Mompracem. He hasn't
slept for several nights. He even woke up Yanez to ask for an exquisite... camomile
tea!
Yanez brewed an industrial-sized pot, and drank three or four cupfuls himself,
just to calm down. But although the tea was strong enough to put an elephant
to sleep, Sandokan still stayed awake, counting the waves as they broke on the
rocks of the Mompracem shoreline. How many did he count?
Six thousand eighthundred
and forty-two!
But Verdeluna, too, one night, after countless hours of tossing and turning in
bed, struck up a conversation with her Land Rover. "Oh Rover, dear Rover,
how lucky you are. At the very worst, you have problems with your carburettor,
with your clutch. But you don't have any of these inexplicable afflictions that
even on the most wonderful of days knock on the doors of your soul - you don't
know why or how - to gain entrance and act like dark and malign shadows inside
you."
And then, she too counted the stars above.
Six thousand eighthundred and forty-two!
Now that wouldn't be some nasty lottery
number that creates all kinds of problems, like making us fall from an aircraft
to land on some mysterious and dangerous
island? But Verdeluna, we already have a mysterious island, although it's not
that dangerous...
As she was counting the stars, Verdeluna got tired and sat down on her bed. And
then she noticed a large bird inside her bedroom. Verdeluna was frightened, and
tried to scare it away. But it wasn't at all impressed. And when it did finally
fly away through the open window, the bird - a magpie - left a small object on
the table - a ring!
But I promised you, Verdeluna, and I do keep my promises! And that's what worries
me Sandokan! Where did that magpie come from, or rather: where did YOU come from?
The
ring is beautiful, but it is a ring. I can touch it, I can put it on my finger.
And you don't give rings to each other in the chatroom. You don't even know my
address, and you can't have sent that magpie!
The heavens are friendly to us, Verdeluna.
We wish gifts upon each other, and
the gifts arrive.
We should be happy - these things don't happen to everyone.
Verdeluna tells the story of her black-and-white cat, who fell desperately in
love with the red tom that sang serenades to it in the courtyard every night.
Frank Sinatra, Verdeluna's mother called the suitor. Until one night, Vittorio
convinced her to open the door. I know you're sorry to see her go, he said, but
if a person, or a cat, is desperately in love, there's nothing you can do to
make her stay.
Sandokan, you're not the tenant who lives upstairs, are you?
Why, is he that
ugly?
No but he's insignificant. He could never invent such a character as you.
But I'm not a character, Verdeluna. I'm Sandokan, and I live on Mompracem. I
swear...
Swear that you're not the tenant upstairs. But I could be the tenant downstairs.
Do you want me to swear an oath on every floor of the building? No, we'd spend
all night swearing useless oaths...
Then hold tight onto your ring, Verdeluna.
It's a magical ring, that holds all
my love.
Ohhhh Sandokan, what a shame that chat's all make-belief.
But not all of it,
Verdeluna. Not all of it...
Rai summary:
- "The little ring" Verdeluna "finds" the little ring which
Sandokan promised to her, brought by night by a thieving magpie into her bedroom.
- "L'anellino" - Verdeluna "trova" l'anellino promessole
da Sandokan, portato da una gazza ladra di notte nella sua camera da letto.
#88
- January 9, 2008
Bling!
Enter Sandokan, raging against women.
They are witches, out to seduce us; sirens, bent on our destruction:
Look,
look what they're like!
Look what they're like!
Look!
But by now, Verdeluna is used to the pirate's theatrical antics.
And sure enough, he is memorising his lines for Le Nozze di
Figaro, Mozart's opera and Yanez' latest Mompracem stage production.
And Sandokan's as tone deaf as a hippo, although - as Verdeluna
observes - at least that makes him a deep bass. Nope, Figaro's
a baritone, and Sandokan has a little trouble hitting those
high notes...
Verdeluna once saw a production of La Boheme by her friend
Olivia, starring the yodelling kickboxer as Mimi in the lead
role, dressed in a dirndl in true Tyrolean fashion, and the
men all in lederhosen. The audience was in stitches, and couldn't
even stop sniggering during Mimi's dying scene.
The other day in the gym, Olivia got a little carried away,
and floored Verdeluna with a right, a left and two kicks. Porzellana,
maybe I hefff exxxacherated! Verdeluna realizes that the punishment
even has a beneficial effect. It's as if someone has pressed
the "reset" button in her brain...
And to make up for her excessive behaviour, Olivia offers Verdeluna
a trip to the circus. Ever since she was a little girl, Olivia
has wanted to be... a trapeze artist! Like Alexander the Romanian
circus artist, and Ramona from Ukraine, two trapeze artists
who came to train on... you guessed it, Mompracem. They had
got to know each other in a beer parlour in Odessa, where she
was a barmaid. Little did he know that she used two false legs
and crutches to get around, and when he did find out, Alexander
fell madly in love with her because of the grace and the balance
with which the handicapped girl got around. Every night for
a whole week she came to see him perform. And when the circus
left town, she just followed him. Five years later, the circus
returned to Odessa, and the posters proudly announced Ramona
and Alexander, the Angels of the Trapeze!
And what could Verdeluna do as part of a circus troupe?
Maybe she could be the lady on the wheel in the knife-throwing
act? Ah no, she has a better candidate for that: Vanessa Paradiso,
The Twit's young-enough-to-be-his-daughter sweetheart.
Nope, her favourite act would be to crack the whip at... the
tigers!
How would you handle that, oh Tiger of Malaysia?
I am a master illusionist, and I would simply make you disappear!
All is fair in love and war...
Rai summary:
- "Trapeze Artists Angels" - The "Nozze di Figaro" is being
rehearsed on Mompracem; Verdeluna recalls a "Bohème" in a Tyrolean
setting and Sandokan recalls his encounter with the two "trapeze artists
angels" Ramona and Alexander.
- "Angeli trapezisti" - A Mompracem si provano le "Nozze di Figaro";
Verdeluna ricorda una "Bohème" con ambientazione tirolese e
Sandokan l'incontro con i due "angeli trapezisti" Ramona e Alexander.
#87
- January 8, 2008
- story coming up -
Rai summary:
- "Jaws - the shark" - Sandokan swims with the white shark, while Verdeluna
- dumbfounded - witnesses an "invasion" of giraffes, elephants and
parrots out on the streets of the town: they are circus animals which escaped
from their cages.
- "Lo squalo" - Sandokan nuota con lo squalo bianco, mentre Verdeluna
assiste sbigottita alla "invasione" di giraffe, elefanti e pappagalli
a spasso per le vie della città: si tratta degli animali del circo usciti
dalle gabbie.
#86
- January 7, 2008
- story coming up -
Rai summary:
- "The Mammoth" - Sandokan talks about the lives of his friends on
Sri Lanka, Verdeluna recalls how she spent the entire evening locked up in the
pizzeria below, for a brawl broke out on the road after a football match.
- "Il mammuth" - Sandokan racconta le vite delle sue amiche dello
Sri Lanka, Verdeluna di aver passato l'intera serata rinchiusa nel pizzeria sottocasa,
per dei tafferugli scoppiati sulla strada dopo una partita di calcio.
#85
- January 4, 2008
Inspired by a visit to Mompracem by cycling ace Francesco Moser, Yanez
has been building a race track on the island's beach, aided and abetted as usual
by his old buddy Sandokan, who therefore is late for his nightly chat with Verdeluna.
The Italian housewife, meanwhile, is getting ready for Epiphany, and has caught
her traditional mid-winter cold.
Achoo!!!
She is going to spend a few days with
friends near Venice, where she will join in the local celebrations. Of course,
Sandokan knows the area well: he's travelled there with Yanez, who was setting
up an import-export business for the local prosecco...
The festivities will involve burning a large pyre, and if the smoke blows west,
that year's harvest will be bountiful. If it blows east, however...
Verdeluna, if you had to do without anything you were used to, except for three
things, what would you keep? I'd keep water, bread, and my computer, and you?
Sandokan would keep water, bread and... his galleon!
All'assalto!!!
Damn you,
pirate, where does that leave me and my computer?
No problem - with my galleon, I could always go to sea and come and get you!
Meanwhile, Verdeluna has heard her brother Vittorio is planning to spend a few
days away with his... girlfriend! She's amazed - it's been years since Vittorio
was in a relationship! She's also admired the paintings he's made as part of
the art course that he is taking to put his drink problem behind him. They're
all... quite rich in detail. Of the female kind. Of the nude female kind, to
be more precise. So who is the lovely lady in all the pictures? Ohhh, said Vittorio,
she's the model who posed for all of us on the course.
But Verdeluna knows her brother better than that. So after a little more prodding,
he admitted the art school model was in fact - his new belle. Verdeluna is a
little concerned. Vittorio is smitten, that's clear. But what if the girl isn't
serious, and her brother gets hurt in love and hits the bottle again?
Do you think you can get smitten in a chatroom?
Of course, Verdeluna, I think
it's already happened to the two of us.
Too bad it's all in the imagination...
Not everything, Verdeluna, not everything!
Achoo!
Rai summary:
- "Epiphany" - Verdeluna relates to Sandokan the rituals and celebrations
associated with Epiphany, then she talks about her brother Vittorio and his fiancèe:
the model of his painting class.
- "Epifania" - Verdeluna racconta a Sandokan i rituali e le feste
legati all'Epifania, poi del fratello Vittorio e della sua fidanzata: la modella
del corso di pittura.
#84
- January 3, 2008
- story coming up -
Rai summary:
- "King Kong" A photo from New York arrives from Valerio and
Sandokan regrets not having had the opportunity to know King Kong, and
they
talk
about
September
11 and Ground Zero.
- "King Kong" Arrivano foto da New York di Valerio e Sandokan rimpiange
di non aver potuto conoscere King Kong, si parla dell'11 settembre e di Ground
zero.
#83
- January 2, 2008
- story coming up -
Rai summary:
- "InterRail" - Sandokan incites Verdeluna to take "the train
of desires" for Mompracem, while she talks about her experience with InterRail
in her school days.
- "Inter-Rail" - Sandokan incita Verdeluna a prendere "il treno
dei desideri" per Mompracem, mentre lei racconta la sua esperienza in inter-rail
ai tempi della scuola.
#82
- January 1, 2008
- story coming up -
Rai summary:
- "I'm starting all over again" - Verdeluna and Sandokan take
stock of last year and they wonder which day of the year 2007 would have been
best to relive, perhaps even to change things.
- "Ricomincio da capo" - Verdeluna e Sandokan fanno bilanci dell'anno
passato e pensano a quale giorno dell'anno 2007 sarebbe stato bello poter rivivere,
magari per cambiare le cose. |