(On the island… 1934, Maria finishes the Second Grade of Primary School. Meeting of her father with her teacher)
“Mr. Giannis! At last, you came… I’ve called you so many times, I wanted to talk to you about your daughter, Maria…”
“Work, you see, Mrs. teacher… The field and the sea want you to be a slave from dawn to dusk – even more than that – to give you the good stuff. And don’t picture much; we’re just talking about bread and onions. The letters you put in the children’s heads don’t make the cauldron sing nor fill the bellies of seven people, bless their heart… So? What’s going on?”
The teacher observes him speechlessly. Neither is he like the “tender and sensitive” islanders that people had described to her before she settled on the island. The man across from her plays with his fa
