Two friends, whom we shall designate by the initials E. L. and Mr S. = the latter very well known for his financial vision and highly cultivated intelligence in banking matters = made the long trip to Fatima.
Dois amigos, que designaremos pelas iniciaes E. L. e o sr. S.,= este muito conhecido pela sua visão financeira e educadissima intelligencia em assumptos bancarios = foram, de longada, até Fatima.
Mr S is Portuguese, but of foreign origin. A very serious man, he is not, so it is said today, much given to believing in miracles.
O sr. S é portuguez, mas de origem estrangeira. Homem muito serio, não é, ao que se diz hoje, muito affeito a crêr em milagres.
The two friends went in the same motor car, and went along for the ride, laughing in advance at popular credulity. On the way they talked about the miracle and made fun of it.
Foram os dois amigos no mesmo automovel, e foram pelo passeio, rindo antecipadamente da crendice popular. Pelo caminho fallavam no milagre, e commentavam-o, rindo.
At a certain point the petrol they were carrying caught fire. And it caught fire, say the experienced motorists, with nothing to explain the fire: it was pouring with rain, there was no collision, no spark, nothing that would apparently explain the phenomenon. It was near a hut: they faithfully obtained water and put out the fire.
A certa altura, a gazolina que levavam, incendiou-se. E incendiou-se, dizem os experimentados automobilistas, sem nada que explique o incendio: chovia a cantaros, não houve choque, nem fagulha, nada, que apparentemente explique o phenomeno. Era ao pé d'um casebre: obtiveram fielmente agua, e apagaram o fogo.
The journey resumed.
Recomeçou a marcha.
A few kilometres further on, the windscreen — without any collision, without a stone — shattered into thousands of pieces, and the hood of the car was torn off as if by a Herculean hand.
D'ahi a alguns kilometros, o parebrise, — sem um choque, sem uma pedra — fez-se em milhares de bocados, e a capota do carro foi arrancada como se mão herculea a tivesse arrancado.
They stopped the car and went back over the road where the mishap had occurred, looking for some wire or tree branch that would explain the case.
Pararam o carro, percorreram o caminho onde succedera o desastre, á procura de algum arame ou galho d'arvore que explicasse o caso.
No tree at all! Not a shadow of a wire!
Arvore nenhuma! Arame nem sombra!
And today Mr S. declares that he will not even allow the apparition of Fatima to be spoken of in front of him, because he considers that what happened to them was a punishment for going along laughing at the miracle
E hoje, o sr. S. declara que nem permitte que deante d'elle se falle na apparição de Fatima, porque considera que foi castigo, de irem a rir do milagre, o que lhes aconteceu