The Legend of the Fishermen of Sicily

After returning the cups to the coffee shop, the villagers left one after another. They had only lingered there to pass the time while waiting for the fishing boats to return.

Including Leo, only three customers remained in the café.

One was Andrei, a grumpy old man with gold-rimmed glasses, who gave the young fisherman Salvatore a severe dressing-down.

The elderly gentleman sitting opposite him, Nino, was one of those who spilled his coffee in fright at the first scream... Even in the quiet surroundings, his hands were trembling slightly.

Leo secretly listened to the two old men's conversation for a while and found it quite interesting.

It wasn't really eavesdropping, because Andrei always spoke very loudly:

"Nino, have you noticed that the catch has been getting smaller and smaller lately? I couldn't find anything I wanted to eat this morning!"

Mr. Nino, sitting opposite him, shakily put down his coffee cup:

"The catch will only be less in the next few days because my knee is aching, you know, my knee is more accurate than the weather station's satellite."

Andrei looked over his reading glasses:

"Speaking of which, do you know why your knees can predict the weather?"

Nino gave a self-deprecating laugh:

"Because I'm old."

Andrei's head shook violently:

"No, no, it's because of our ancestors—I'm talking about our ancestors from over two thousand years ago, not Arabs or Greeks, not Romans, but Carthaginians—their bones were extremely sensitive to changes in humidity and air pressure fluctuations, and these things are written into our genes—"

Nino slightly swung his hand, interrupting Andrei:

"My knee just hurts—"

Andrei interrupted him with an even louder voice:

"History is humanity's most precious treasure. The answers to all mysteries can be found in the long river of history, and we must not forget the past!"

Nino protests:

"But what does history have to do with my knees?"

"Good question!" Andrei's eyes lit up, as if he had been waiting for this question for a long time. "This goes back two thousand years—"

Nino stood up cleanly and nimbly, as agile as a young man, and then stormed out the door without looking back.

Before leaving, he hurriedly said to Marco:

"Keep the expenses in the book, and settle everything at the end of the month!"

Even after the man left, Andrei still wouldn't let old Nino go, shouting at the top of his lungs to the people outside:

"I saw your wife bought sardines this morning. When you cook them, absolutely do not add lemon, according to Greek custom—"

After muttering a few more words to himself, Andrei told Marco to "put it on the tab" and left the café.

"Who was the last person to leave?" Leo asked Marco after the person had gone some distance.

At the fish market that morning, Leo sensed a kindness emanating from Marco, though it was subtle... He was probably the only villager in Malzamemi who was willing to talk to him.

Marco had just returned from taking the fish and the child home, and immediately started rummaging through the area behind the bar without even looking up.

"André Rinaldi, a retired history teacher."

"He seems to know a lot, not just history," Leo said, looking at the figure's back.

Marco, sticking his butt out, said:

"He is the most learned man in Marzamemi, he knows everything, but if you want to learn from him, you have to listen to him recite scriptures for hours."

"Found it." He pulled out a small notebook, straightened up, and asked Leo, "I need to call Solberto to let him know you're here. What's your name?"

.......

Leo has been feeling uneasy these past two days.

He had no impression of the "best friend of his father" that his uncle mentioned. In his memory, his father had many friends, but young Leo couldn't tell them apart or remember their names.

However, when Marco handed over the phone and they only exchanged a few words, Leo remembered the man and was deeply impressed by his personality.

Uncle Panini had prepared many reasons for Leo beforehand to make the job application seem less abrupt.

For example, I'm just here for tourism in Sicily, but I see your shipyard is quite nice. Why don't I stay and help you?

Or perhaps, I've had a dream of becoming the ruler of the sea since I was a child. I wonder if Uncle Solberto could help me realize that dream?

What else? I had a dream that my future wasn't in the Apennines, but in faraway Sicily...

In short, Panini made up dozens of similar excuses for Leo that night. Whenever Leo recalled them, he would think that his uncle was wasting his talents as a shoemaker and that he could have made a fortune by writing stories.

Leo, of course, wouldn't listen to his uncle's advice and come up with such absurd reasons, but he didn't directly state his purpose either. Instead, he started talking about his recent life.

But when he mentioned that the newspaper went bankrupt not long after he graduated from university and joined the company, before he could even recount his several legendary experiences of unemployment, Solberto guessed Leo's purpose and asked the pointed question.

Are you here looking for a job?

"Yes, I wanted to see if your shipyard was short-staffed." Leo made no attempt to hide anything.

In my memory, Solberto had exceptionally sharp eyes. He liked to squint and scrutinize the people around him, and no lie could escape his notice.

When they were kids, they were most afraid of this uncle because Solberto could always see right through their hidden thoughts.

"The shipyard is going out of business; nobody's buying wooden boats anymore," came Solberto's emotionless voice from the receiver.

Leo already knew the answer, but he couldn't bear to leave his excellent "base." However, the other person spoke up again:

"But it's easier to support yourself in Marzamemi than in the city. If you really have nowhere to go, you can stay in the shipyard temporarily."

Leo was overjoyed; his 'base' was temporarily saved!

Moreover, he also gleaned another piece of good news from that sentence and asked curiously:

How do I support myself?

Solberto answered without hesitation:

"Those who live near the mountains live off the mountains, and those who live near the sea live off the sea. In Marzamemi, of course, one goes fishing."

Coincidentally, this is also one of the ways Leo wants to make a living.

First of all, Leo in his previous life was very passionate about outdoor activities and enjoyed studying related knowledge, so he had a certain foundation in the subject.

Secondly, fishing is a relatively good option under the current circumstances.

It's important to know that according to what Mexico saw and heard along the way in Marzamemi, prices in Sicily are much lower than in big cities, which means that the income of local residents is also much lower than that of people in big cities.

However, Salvatore said that a tuna could easily sell for 35 lira.

This shows that fishermen are a "high-income group" in Sicily.

Leo brought advanced ideas from the future, and he could do much more than just fish. With the Mediterranean Sea, a rich and fertile fishing ground, he could do just about anything.

The next second, a bucket of cold water was immediately poured over his head, and Solberto continued:

"But without anyone to teach or guide you, you can't do any complicated fishing work. You can only guarantee that you won't go hungry. So you need to think about where to go next. Staying in Marzamemi is not a long-term solution."

"Is there no one I can ask for advice?" As soon as he asked the question, Leo immediately guessed the possible answer.

"There's no way anyone would pass on the experience accumulated by their ancestors to a stranger," Solberto replied decisively, even more ruthless than the answer Bilio had anticipated.

"However—" After a deep breath, Solberto pulled Leo's sinking heart back up, "I will return to Marzamemi in three months. If you are still there then, if you are still passionate about the sea, if you are not afraid of its ruthlessness after witnessing its multifaceted nature... I can teach you."