CONTENTS

BOOK I
[I]THE KINGDOM[3]
[II]THE DYNASTY[26]
[III]THE ENEMIES[57]
[IV]THE TREATY[74]
[V]THE ABDICATION[94]
BOOK II
[I]THE PICTURES[109]
[II]THE DESIRE[134]
[III]THE DISCOVERY OF THE EARTH[149]
[IV]THE CAFÉ OF THE NAVIGATORS[170]
[V]THE RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY[186]
BOOK III
[I]POLITICS[203]
[II]THE CIRCUS[228]
[III]THE PLOT[244]
[IV]MY BETRAYAL[259]
[V]THE DOUBLE LIFE [282]
[VI]A WALK WITH FATHER[298]
[VII]THE FIRST DEPARTURE[317]
BOOK IV
[I]THE EPIDEMIC[337]
[II]THE ALPETTE [358]
[III]THE END OF A REIGN[378]
[IV]THE HEIR[401]

BOOK FIRST

THE HOUSE

I
THE KINGDOM

“WHERE are you going?”

“Oh, up to the house.”

Put this question to little girls and boys that you see along the country roads, on their way from school or coming in from the fields, and you will get this answer.

Their bright eyes glisten like grass after a shower; their speech, unless they are timid, shoots straight out, like plants that claim all space to grow in undisturbed.

“Where are you going?”