It was raining cats and dogs outside and Portugal already had plenty of those ( but that's a story for another day ).
In a small, somewhat hidden bar, dark and a little filthy, usually filled with locals and an occasional estrangeiro and, on this day, three locals and at least a hundred flies, two old men were sitting at the one and only table, sharing a bottle of vinho tinto and some of yesterday's bread.
When a handsome, relatively young looking man entered the place, the topic of flies came up.
The talk of the town, these days.
In fact, it was the first thing the barkeeper pointed at:
'(as) moscas'
One of the old men muttered that he had never seen this many of them, ever before.
The young man observed the old geezers and asked the friendly, bespectacled barkeeper for a glass of vinho tinto
and not because he wanted to copy the locals.
Good against constipation
one of the old men said, in Portuguese.
( a nice ice breaker, don't you think? )
The young foreigner smiled politely at the two men.
He amused himself with the thought of old men drinking red wine as a remedy for bowel issues ( and probably as the cure for basically anything). He concluded that, with slower bowel movement, the flies would have less shit to eat. Vice versa, drinking more red wine would lead to more shitting and thus more flies.
Did the old men even realize that?
He was about to share his wisdom with them and then it hit him that 'constipação' usually meant a head cold/ stuffed nose, unlike the English constipation - a lesson he had actually learnt in the bar/restaurant of a Portuguese mountain hamlet, years before.
So, instead, he decided to stay quiet and take another sip of his red wine.
This was my 4th post in a row about flies ( an interesting muse to pick ), following, from most recent to oldest: Fun Facts about (Portuguese) Flies,Time Flies and Like Swatting Flies.
I won't promise that this was the last write up about what is probably the favorite animal of no one on this planet. In fact, if I feel like it, I will convinue this. The story that I shared today might very well become an international bestseller. Ever read The Old Man and the Sea or Lord of the Flies? ;<)
