The Curse of the Dervish

The story you will read here is extraordinarily up-to-date, which the reader will observe when he learns the nature of the ultimate curse of the dervish. It happened long ago, a very long time ago in a place of this region whose name has been erased from the annals of La Mancha in order to avoid the shame of those who lived there. In those days, the place belonged to the Kingdom of Al Andalus, where Christians, Moors and Jews all lived together and in peace. No one cared what beliefs one might have, how he prayed or when or where he might do it. People got up very early in the morning and before starting their work of the day, they recited their prayers before daybreak, each one according to his custom. Some prayed looking towards Mecca, others towards the celestial Jerusalem and the rest kneeling before a cross, although they all coincided in intensifying their prayers looking towards the sky for rain to fall, as it was much needed in the fields, and if the wheat was mature, so that hail would not fall and damage the harvest.