Slaves, Lorenzo

Malga Movlina

“When they say that to live in the mountains is to live freely, they are gravely mistaken. You get up at half past four in the morning and milk the goats, then the cows. Take the animals to pasture, go back and make the cheese. Then, if the animals don’t come back by themselves you go and get them, take them back inside and in the evening, milk them again. If by chance one of them ends up in a ravine or gets eaten by a bear, you have to go out at night and look for it, lantern in hand. And, at the end of the day you know that the next morning you have to wake up, at the same time, to start all over again. There are no holidays, or days off. My wife is in the valley, she’s about to give birth to my first child; and I am here, guiding the cows to pasture. I’m telling you, we are slaves to the animals, not free at all. Wilful slaves and sometimes even happy ones, it’s true, this job is a hundred times better than being behind a desk and smiling on demand; but we’re slaves nonetheless.”