HESPERUS

In the wide Paradiso valley, enclosed in a basin surrounded by mountains, we discover a large lake which occupies its easternmost part touching the slopes of the mountains, the Millecolori lake, so called not only for its seabed which, through the clarity of its waters, show vegetables and minerals of a great variety of colors but also because at sunrise its waters are colored like the iris in a glimmer of the most varied hues; on the western shore of the lake stands a charming town with a particular shape; seen from the top of the mountains it appears like a semicircle, the ends of which reach up to the lake, which embraces a large green meadow; the houses, not too high and surrounded by greenery, are arranged in concentric arches similar to the steps of an amphitheater along not very wide stone-paved streets, which do not allow the circulation of large vehicles and can only be traveled by bicycles, mopeds and small electric cars; cars, trucks and buses are parked in large spaces on the edge of the city; a wide asphalt road runs along the perimeter of the city from the center of this arch starts the main street of the valley which crosses it towards the west until it gets lost in a large tunnel that crosses the mountains. In the valley you can see farms, farmhouses and large expanses of cultivated fields; in the meadows at the foot of the mountains and along the first gentle slopes you can see numerous wild cattle farms. The sun, which illuminates the lake with a thousand colors at rising, dyes it with a warm golden light at sunset.

On the north side of the city in a large space on the lake shore you can see parked campers, caravans, trucks and trailers of a large circus which has erected two large tents in the center of the large grassy area from which numerous families can be seen coming out with running children. and they chatter happily and head towards the parking spaces to collect their cars and return to their homes; slowly that space empties, the morning show is over, we are almost at noon.

At the edge of that space, under a small roof overlooking a bar, two men meet, the first who, given his clothing, must have been the director of the circus, is a plump character with a top hat sitting on imposing, colorful curly hair. of copper his chubby face, which shows two red knobs under the eyes of a beautiful sea green color, is adorned with a nice pair of handlebar moustaches, two long sideburns and a goatee under the chin, his always smiling mouth shows a set of teeth shining white, most likely the work of a good dentist; he is dressed in a pair of light blue trousers with gold stripes tight at the calf, a cream colored shirt studded with sequins and tied at the neck by a showy red bow tie with blue polka dots and a tailcoat type jacket of the same color as the trousers with lapels collar and cuffs adorned with a golden Greek pattern, on his feet he wears a pair of white shoes with slightly raised heels and black toes, his hands are covered by white gloves, one of which he has just taken off, he holds tightly in his hand left where he holds a bamboo walking stick decorated with a silver dog's head;

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The complete story in the book DREAMS OF SUMMER NIGHTS