Cartas à restinga 57Visão dentre frestas
View through cracks
Foto: Geisa Márcia
Not having the aristocratic flowers from the city, the wild seedlings highlighted.
We used to pay attention and to taste fine things which would have been minor in a place
where there were a huge and exciting variety of attractions.
And that was the same at any direction. There is too much philosophical conclu-
sion to get from this: childhood has an extraordinary inclination to happiness; children
become charmed by so little. The wild environments, mainly, touch children’s nature to
a point that although grown in small farms, that little rustic lifestyle of Grussaí before
1924 was a small world of too many charms for us – me, Dulce, and especially for Ruy,
because you, who were born later, especially the latter two, haven’t got that life and its
completeness.
This seems to indicate that the hard mechanization of the modern urban life is
poorly suited to the spirit of childhood. Climbing trees, being in touch with fruit trees and
with the widest range possible of animals seem necessary for a complete childhood.
Here’s a concept of a puny guy who, since the early times, used to enjoy rea-
ding very much. For the powerful and less intellectual kids, which is most common, this
should be missed even more clearly, the amount they didn’t have at all.
- Letter from Manoel Joaquim da Silva Pinto to his sister Judith Torres da Silva Pinto.
Text extracted from the book “Green and Blue: Meninice à Beira-Mar” / Manoel Joaquim
da Silva Pinto; organizers: Fernanda Pacheco da Silva Huguenin, Helvia Pereira Pintos Bastos, Rita
Maria de Abreu Maia. – Campos dos Goytacazes (RJ): Essentia Editora, 2009.