...And Dreams Are Dreams

“I went uptown. The people, looking solemn, are hurrying around the markets.” (That is to say they were stocking up on groceries.) “Opinions differ. Some speak of treason, others say it is a ruse, still others say it is a disciplinary action. But everyone agrees that the English are most violent. They insult, they besiege, they obstruct, they trample on the rights of Greece.

And meanwhile we expect help from Russia and France. Presently, perhaps we will see the English at the gates of the capital, and we will still be expecting help from Russia and France.”

Nowadays we say: “the blockade lasted forty-two days.” But with every day that passed, the people’s anxiety grew stronger and their desperation deeper.

“Oh, if only Greece were a great nation! If only we could put forward a Greek breast against the violence and, sword in hand, take revenge upon those who insult us! But alas! Greece is too small for that.

That is why, in 1832, it was enclosed within such narrow borders. We are therefore forced to swallow our indignation. Goddesses of justice and liberty, look over this unfortunate nation. Let Greece survive and may we all die. Let the independence of our homeland be preserved, and may we all be sent in chains to the English penal colonies….”

The blockade lasted into the harsh winter.

February is always the worst time of year. It is a month that represents a certain blocking of the economy. But to have a second blockade on one’s hands was too much. What was going to happen? The cold was becoming more intense. The people were beginning to suffer from hunger.

“To put our faith in Europe or to wait for Russia and France to come to our defense is consoling and heartening; however, it does not diminish the imminent danger. By the time Europe speaks up, by the time Paris and Saint Petersburg exchange notifications, and by the time the matter is brought to the Council of London, our commerce will have been lost and our shipping annihilated.”

And even so, a forty-two-day blockade isn’t such a big deal, compared to other national catastrophes: wars, epidemics, civil strife. Compared to what had preceded and what succeeded it. However, it remains a question in need of an answer.

“The French steamship is expected like a Messiah. Everyone’s eyes are turned to Piraeus and people keep asking: ‘Has the steamship arrived? It will tell us the wishes of France. It will tell us how the action of England was received by Europe. It will tell us whether Palmerston has agreed to the two protective powers being arbitrators.’ One can easily imagine with what wildly beating hearts we are all waiting for the fire vessel from France.”

Because there are fire vessel dreams, and

pyromaniac dreams, and self-igniting dreams, blocks of dreams and dreams of blockades, and Holocaust dreams….