Book 144: Panama (Spanish) – Roberto por el buen camino = Roberto Down the Right Track (Rose Marie Tapia R.)

There was once a peasant’s donkey which fell into a well. The animal cried for hours, while the peasant tried to somehow rescue it. Then, the man decided that the donkey was already old; what’s more, the well was dry and needed to be covered somehow, so he decided not to get the donkey out. He invited all his neighbours to come and help him. Each grabbed a shovel and they began to throw earth into the well, one shovelful after the other.

The donkey realised what was happening and cried. Then, to everyone’s surprise, it calmed down after a few shovelfuls of earth. In the midst of its misfortune it had seen a glimmer of hope.

When the peasant, finally, looked down at the bottom of the well, he was surprised to see that with every shovelful that fell onto his back, the donkey shook itself and stepped up on the earth which was accumulating under its feet.

It was in this way that, very soon, to their great surprise they all saw the donkey getting higher and higher, until it made it to the mouth of the well. When there were only a few centimetres left, the little animal gave a graceful leap and trotted off towards the grass, to the admiration of the peasants, who thus received an unexpected master class.

[my translation]

That little story was actually my favourite part of this short novel! (My insincere apologies for sharing it here). For someone billed as Panama’s best-selling author, I found this book a bit disappointing. It’s the story of how the gangs recruit youths, and how Roberto (renamed from Tuti), with the help of the mother of one of his victims, escapes them and finds redemption. Which is great, of course. And I’m as much a sucker for a happy ending story as anyone. So what’s not to like? I suppose it came across as a little too goody-goody with a maybe too obvious preachy undertone.

Basically, the gangs take the under-aged because if they kill someone they only get a slap on the wrist from the law.

The story starts dramatically enough with a robbery, including a murder. Since the legal response is too weak, one of the victims’ parents goes with a bunch of assassins to wreak revenge on one of the perpetrators, but pauses when she sees he’s only a boy. The rest of the story consists of the rescue of Tuti/Roberto from his life of crime.

It reminded me of the Bible’s story of the Prodigal Son which – I’m sorry – has always troubled me. I get the message of forgiving those who have wronged you and giving them a chance for a new start, but why should they be favoured over those who have never sinned in the first place?

As a suggestion for helping those living in poverty, I think Luis Carlos’ idea of getting poor mothers sterilised will horrify many readers. I suppose that’s one way of stopping children getting into gangs, if they’re not even born…

Basically, I felt that the scenario was unrealistic (for example, that the gangs didn’t fight back), and I doubt that the legal situation would even permit what happened in the story.

The author is one of the best-selling authors of Panama. From this novella, I can’t really see why. It’s really a children’s book, with simple themes and language and healthy morality, and in that role would no doubt work well. I did enjoy the fact that the Spanish was easy to read!

TAPIA RODRIGUEZ, Rose Marie (1945 – ), Roberto por el buen camino, Mazon Edition (self-published), 2004, ISBN 978-9962-00-801-9Translated into English