1900 (Carta A Anton Tchekhov)-José Mário Branco

I was riding on the Mayflower When I thought I spied some land I yelled for Captain Arab I have yuh understand Who came running to the deck Said, "Boys, forget the whale Look on over yonder Cut the engines Change the sail Haul on the bowline" We sang that melody Like all tough sailors do When they are far away at sea "I think I'll call it America" I said as we hit land I took a deep breath I fell down, I could not stand Captain Arab he started Writing up some deeds He said, "Let's set up a fort And start buying the place with beads" Just then this cop comes down the street Crazy as a loon He throws us all in jail For carryin' harpoons Ah me I busted out Don't even ask me how I went to get some help I walked by a Guernsey cow Who directed me down To the Bowery slums Where people carried signs around Saying, "Ban the bums" I jumped right into line Sayin', "I hope that I'm not late" When I realized I hadn't eaten For five days straight I went into a restaurant Lookin' for the cook I told them I was the editor Of a famous etiquette book The waitress he was handsome He wore a powder blue cape I ordered some suzette, I said "Could you please make that crepe" Just then the whole kitchen exploded From boilin' fat Food was flying everywhere I left without my hat Now, I didn't mean to be nosy But I went into a bank To get some bail for Arab And all the boys back in the tank They asked me for some collateral And I pulled down my pants They threw me in the alley When up comes this girl from France Who invited me to her house I went, but she had a friend Who knocked me out And robbed my boots And I was on the street again Well, I rapped upon a house With the U.S. flag upon display I said, "Could you help me out I got some friends down the way" The man says, "Get out of here I'll tear you limb from limb" I said, "You know they refused Jesus, too" He said, "You're not Him Get out of here before I break your bones I ain't your pop" I decided to have him arrested And I went looking for a cop I ran right outside I hopped inside a cab I went out the other door This Englishman said, "Fab" As he saw me leap a hot dog stand And a chariot that stood Parked across from a building Advertising brotherhood I ran right through the front door Like a hobo sailor does But it was just a funeral parlor And the man asked me who I was I repeated that my friends Were all in jail, with a sigh He gave me his card He said, "Call me if they die" I shook his hand and said goodbye Ran out to the street When a bowling ball came down the road And knocked me off my feet A pay phone was ringing And it just about blew my mind When I picked it up and said hello This foot came through the line Well, by this time I was fed up At tryin' to make a stab At bringin' back any help For my friends and Captain Arab I decided to flip a coin Like either heads or tails Would let me know if I should go Back to ship or back to jail So I hocked my sailor suit And I got a coin to flip It came up tails It rhymed with sails So I made it back to the ship Well, I got back and took The parkin' ticket off the mast I was ripping it to shreds When this coastguard boat went past They asked me my name And I said, "Captain Kidd" They believed me but They wanted to know What exactly that I did I said for the Pope of Eruke I was employed They let me go right away They were very paranoid Well, the last I heard of Arab He was stuck on a whale That was married to the deputy Sheriff of the jail But the funniest thing was When I was leavin' the bay I saw three ships a-sailin' They were all heading my way I asked the captain what his name was And how come he didn't drive a truck He said his name was Columbus I just said, "Good luck."