The magic of Almourol

A young girl living in a village located around the castle of Almourol admired the small castle of Almourol, and she saw in this little gem lost in the middle of the Tagus, something inexplicable favoring luck.

Contenus

On many occasions, in fact, she had noticed that by first going to the banks of the Tagus in order to contemplate the castle for a few minutes while thinking of a wish, her desires then seemed favored and for the most part came true in a positive way. .

She had certainly not been demanding in her wishes and never asked for anything really impossible, but these little things of everyday life that she wanted to see evolve in a positive way, went rather well when she first took worth going to contemplate the castle for ten minutes. We cling to what we can.

The castle fascinated her to the point that she went as soon as she could on the banks of the Tagus, and spent long moments contemplating the little gem of stones containing part of the history of Portugal.

One evening, while she remained peaceful on one of the banks of the Tagus contemplating Almourol for ten minutes, an old lady seeming to come from nowhere approached her. And without the young girl having been able to utter the slightest word, the newcomer suddenly launched a sentence: "Why do you want him with green eyes?"

Taken aback, the young girl immediately understood that the old lady was reading her thoughts, since precisely, while looking in the direction of the castle, she was imagining the outlines of her future lover, and she imagined him having green eyes. Miracle? Clairvoyant?

No, replied the old lady, whose features reflected enormous wisdom were reassuring. No, I am not sighted, my little girl. I simply inherited "the magic of Almourol". You too will inherit it one day too if you continue to watch it so much and so often. It is not a bad thing, but the magic of Almourol makes it possible to see the future, and this is not necessarily desirable, because the magic of knowledge reduces the spice of life. It is better to rely on chance and the normal course of things rather than on the certainty perceived in advance.

The young girl seemed to have understood only half the words of her interlocutor, but had nevertheless understood that Almourol could bring her the vision of the future. At her age, however, was she going to "swallow" that? she said to herself, however.

If I inherited the magic of Almourol, then I could know my future? she asked the old lady.
Of course, my little girl. But don't think it's a good idea to know everything in advance.
Yet I would dream of it, replied the young girl, who basically only asked one day to possess the power allowing her to see the future as clearly as she sees the castle of Almourol at this precise moment. What a godsend that would be ...
I suspect it. Said the old lady, obviously reading minds. All humans would dream of that. But believe me, do not seek to possess the magic of Almourol, and prefer to let life take place.

Good, she adds immediately. I realize that whatever I say to you you will seek to acquire its magic and you will do as you see fit. I see that your greatest desire now is to know if one day you will have a lover, a real one, and what he will look like? That's right ? She finally asks.

Yes, that's exactly that answers the young girl. Basically, I don't care about the future. But what I would like is only to know in advance how my lover will be, the man who will really love me and with whom I can share my life.
Either way, answered the lady tit for tat. And if I allowed you to know this aspect of your future, would you promise to give up definitely to acquire the magic of Almourol?
Promised in advance! Said the young woman, with an air of confidence. Life is long and I believe you are right that it is better not to know the route in advance. But concerning my future love, that yes, I would really dream of knowing.
Very well. In this case I'll explain how to go about it and let you know what you want to know, and just that. But tell yourself that for your own good, you will never have to betray the promise you just made to me. From now on, you will only come back to see the castle for your pleasure, or for it to bring you luck, but never to try to acquire its magic. Is that well promised?
Promised and promised again! The young girl answers with a serious air. I have never broken a promise and I intend to keep this line of conduct for my entire life. And anyway I can confess that I did not even know that Almourol could transmit the magic allowing to see the future. I just contemplated it from time to time because I noticed that it brought good luck when you come to look at it.
Perfect. The old lady answers. Know that it is only for your own good that I ask you this. Almourol brings good luck when you contemplate it, it's true and I'm probably the only one who knows why. But I know from experience, however, that acquiring one's magic, and therefore knowing the future in advance, does not actually bring anything and does not make you happier. So, since you agree, listen to me carefully ...

Preferably choose an evening when the weather will be fine, cross the Tagus and go to the castle grounds just before the sun goes down. Then enter through the front door, thinking very hard about what you want to know.

Then climb slowly to the top of the dungeon and wait for the exact moment when the sun goes down. Open your eyes wide, and the truth will emerge. Do not ask me more because you will understand for yourself.

The young girl followed the advice of the old lady and went to the castle a few days later. She was jubilant while being intrigued by what might lie ahead. What will she see? What will the near future hold for him? Near or far, by the way? How to know ? What would she learn? Would there be a special technique for "catching a glimpse" of what she is looking for?

All these questions allowed him to climb to the top of the dungeon without even realizing it. Once upstairs she began to look around, opening her eyes wide. The sun would soon fall and there was no question of missing "the truth", her truth, or in any case the answer she was waiting for concerning her future in love.

The sun was setting over the immensity of the Tagus, bringing to the sky a reddish flamboyance of breathtaking beauty. It looked like the Princes of Infinity had given themselves the word to build an unreal setting just that evening. The context and the surrounding landscape seemed imbued with magic. The colors danced around this green valley of the Tagus.

The young girl was more and more feverish and watched for the exact moment when the sun would deign to put on her pajamas. Her magnificent eyes had matched the hue of the clouds, now painted by the intrepid brushes of the rays of the setting sun.

Suddenly, she feels curiously weakening. Her legs seem to be unable to hold her upright anymore. She clings to the walls around her to manage to keep herself upright. The sun is fading as she inexplicably flickers.

What's happening to him ? This moment of great weakness is very badly chosen, she thinks thanks to her brain resources which have now become very fragile. She doesn't understand what is happening to her but is still aware that she is missing the crucial moment, the fabulous moment when the truth will emerge from who knows where ...

She now struggles to keep her eyes open but her legs don't hold her anymore. She puts one knee on the ground, and the second does not take long to follow suit. His vision dims over the seconds. She capitulates and collapses to the ground, inert.

What is your name ? What happened to you ?

The young girl lying on the ground opens her eyes slowly when she hears this man's voice whispering these questions to her.

What is happening to me? She asked. Where am I ? Who are you ?

I found you there, inert. answers the young man touched by the context, but reassured as to the condition of the young girl, who little by little regains all her senses, to the point moreover that she decides to get up suddenly, but it is bad for her. because her strength is not yet intact, she finds herself in the arms of the young man who fortunately hardly took any help.

A common burst of laughter tore the sky and this magnificent green valley of the Tagus, now plunged into almost half-light, since the sun has offered itself the luxury of going down.

The young man explains to him the reason for his presence in Almourol, "finally", he says, "very useful in view of the circumstances".

Constance! exclaims the young girl. Constance is a word that resonates like a smile in my head. I love the village of Constance (Constancia). It is a village conducive to love. There seems to be fullness and serenity. I am from there. She adds with a smile, “it looks like I'm talking about a faraway place when Constancia is only a few kilometers away. I no longer live there but I was born there, ”said the young girl.

It's funny because I am also from Constancia. But my parents left when I was ten, said the young man.

Ten years ? Did you leave Constancia at the age of ten? Questions the young girl who curiously starts to talk to her interlocutor.

Yes, ten years. The exact day of my tenth birthday, moreover. The young man answers.

Joao! Shouts the young girl as if she had just found the answer to a riddle of capital importance! You are Joao Alves, she finished saying with certainty in her eyes, not suffering the contradiction.

It's been twelve years since you left Constancia, haven't you? she asks the young man who now feels his face gradually turning pale. The bright green color of her eyes contrasts with the sudden paleness of her face. Puzzled, he pauses and answers ...

Yes that's it. Twelve years since I went to another city in Portugal, far from here, and… - after three seconds of silence he continues -… Twelve years that I think of you night and day, Anabela! he finished throwing, practically tears in his eyes.

Silence has now become the sole master on board Almourol, this castle suddenly become much more magnificent than usual, more precious than anything in the world, more magical than the infinity of nothingness and the uncertainty of existence .

The grandiose struggles against the marvelous in this place transformed into a sumptuous lair of splendor. A subtle fragrance of tenderness invades the keep of Almourol and probably deeply permeates the history buried in these stones which have managed to stand the test of time and preserve mysteries in this decidedly fabulous castle.

Almourol has become more beautiful than a child's poem, that kind of poem that a nine-year-old girl writes for an entire night in the ink of her tears, in order to offer it to her little lover on the day of his ten years, the very day he separates from her probably forever, being obliged to follow his parents to an elsewhere that will keep them away forever.

Certainly a ten year old boy is a man, a real one, a big one. He therefore knows how to refrain from crying in this heartbreaking moment of farewell, when without having the choice, he is forced to leave his little fiancée, his accomplice in games, his confidant since always, the one with whom they had together promised not to never separate ...

Childhood recklessness and the utopias of innocence thwarted by unjust restrictions on life.

But at the height of his ten years, this great man who managed to play adults the time of his departure, once he left for the destiny that life dictated to him, had stopped living, keeping buried in him this great eternal love but impossible because of the distance that separated them. How many nights and pillows were silently inundated by the sadness that came out of his child's eyes ...

What suffering in secret, what injustice felt ... to be thus by the force of things separated from this little princess for whom he felt feelings of an incredible force - stronger than the love of the big ones, liked each other - they told each other at the time… him and this little girl he loved so much…

This little girl, who for her part had ceased to live on the day of her little Prince's departure, the one who thought of him every day that God made, who had lost all trace of her lifelong accomplice, and in whom remained a kind of secret hope destined to haunt her until the end of her days.

They are there, both face to face and kneeling on the floor of this magical dungeon of Almourol, hand in hand, bodies trembling, and not really understanding the reality of this moment that they would no longer have believed possible. even in their fuzzy dreams. Their gazes shine with an intensity stronger than the most beautiful of fireworks. A tender smile unites them in a rediscovered complicity that time has obviously not succeeded in destroying, and which they know will henceforth be more intense than ever, and more beautiful than the absolute.

Words are useless at this moment because the images parade from all sides in the heads of these two young birds taken aback by the incredible context in which they bathe with delight. They now only ask life never to separate them again.

A benevolent tranquility hangs over Almourol while their lips will soon meet… They come closer, brush against each other, gently… slowly… an intense and subtle tasting of a moment that is worth much more than gold…

The magic of the castle has not missed its rendezvous. Almourol is indeed a lucky charm, undoubtedly even the symbol of absolute luck. In any case, no one will ever be able to convince the two young lovers of the contrary, who are now leaving the islet of Almourol and returning to the shore in the small boat that the young girl had taken to get to the castle.

The small boat glides over the still visible reflections of the Tagus despite the twilight.

In the distance, on the opposite bank, a shadow seems to be making a friendly sign to them, to which the two lovebirds respond in the heart with a "Thank you" out of their mouths, who knows why, exactly at the same time. This astonishing reaction, and which is moreover simultaneous, does not seem to surprise them. A common and amused burst of laughter ensues, marking the beginnings of a new beginning, the true one, and of a great and radiant story of Love, which, no doubt, already has a scent of eternity.

“We can only believe that the magic of Almourol as well as this story have a scent of eternity.

We have been living an extraordinary love story for fifteen years now. And our feelings as well as our bond not only remain intact, but we both even feel like it is increasing over time. It is magic.

We live… Guess where? In Constancia, a few kilometers from Almourol castle. We have two children, who one wonders why, have come to love the castle and have moreover made it their mascot without even knowing our history, which we will undoubtedly reveal to them one day ...

… So that they know that Almourol is magic, but also and above all so that they imbibe the idea that in life nothing is ever definitely impossible ”.