Spiros, the second son: I saw him born as Cain to his brother Abel: At night he slept on the floor of Eleni’s shack, dreaming he heard his father’s voice; that he saw the wrinkled face turned to him with an expression of sudden hope. Spiros had seen that look the day Adam announced he was getting married. He remembered how it had vanished as quickly as it had come, and old jealousy stirred, followed by aching loss. Damn you Adam, where the hell are you? Awake, Spiros felt hal

What do you want in our country, you sons of Turks? Eventually Spiros was offered a part-time porter’s job at the docks. When not working, he fixed Eleni’s shack, began adding a room for himself. Evenings he dropped into Mr. Stavros’ pub where he drank, played cards, and joined in other men’s boasts about former glittering lives, until all subsided in drunken grunts. Spiros, still conscious of time passing, his father’s eyes on him, went hungry in order to save money. What he

Spiros will be his father's son at last. Having lived without routine, he learned its pleasures; when rain and wind beat at him, he prized the knowledge that he had somewhere to go each day, each one born in the hope of something better. To a frowning Eleni he said, “Look, soon this will add up to something big. You – you yourself should look outside. See, we live in a city three thousand years old. It’s got a castle and a theatre and a Roman fortress. From here we stare acro