Report to Grego Read Free

Blood flowed and the deacon was immediately struck blind, but the Virgin eventually forgave him and restored his sight. The transgressing hand, however, was condemned to be sent to hell at the Second Coming. When the deacon’s bones were disinterred, this hand was discovered still intact. A certain pilgrim, assuming that the hand’s preservation indicated its holiness, bit off a piece in order to profit therefrom, and straightway fell down dead. The other icons are equally wonderworking.
    passatempo. Salted, lightly roasted pumpkin seeds, munched for the purpose indicated in the name.
    Prodromos . Theodore Prodromos, called “Prodromos the Poor,” was a Byzantine poet (died 1160). The Comneni patronized him for a time, but then their support was withdrawn, and Prodromos died as a monk in great poverty.
    Psiloríti. Mountain not far from Iraklion. The ancient Mount Ida.
    Stournaras, Nikólaos . Military leader in the Greek War of Independence. He fell at Missolonghi in 1826.
    vrakes . Jodhpur-like trousers worn until recently by Cretan men. They are extremely baggy above the knees, being made from an immense amount of material which hangs down loosely.
    Zálongon . A cliff in Epirus, famous in Greek history. It was here, on Dec. 18, 1803, that 57 Greek women chose death rather than capture by the Turks. After hurling their babies over the cliff, they formed a circle and danced until each had leaped to her doom.
    This translation is in many ways a collaboration, and I wish to record here my indebtedness and sincere thanks to my many fellow workers. Above all to my wife, who with her accustomed patience and good humor answered my endless queries. I am also indebted to Helen Kazantzakis, the author’s widow; Nikos Saklambanis of Iraklion, the author’s nephew; Pandelis Prevelakis, who carefully checked my rendering of the Terzina in the Epilogue; Emmanuel Kasdaglis, who with infinite care and dedication prepared Kazantzakis’ original manuscript for publication; Stephen Mavroyiannis, icon painter; Boule Prousali; Lola Sphairopoulou, and various waiters, fishermen and vineyard- keepers of the village of Aghia Triadha. Lastly, I would like to record my thanks here to Professor Kakridís, Kimon Friar, George Sabbides, Mrs. Chatzidakis of the Benaki Museum, Theodora Koumvakali, Alexander Segkopoulos, Evro Lay ton, Dr. and Mrs. Atlas, the Yian- nakoses, Katherine Kakouri, Michael Antonakis, and Jeff Amory, all of whom in one way or another made my stay in Greece more enjoyable than it otherwise would have been.—P.A.B.
    August 28, 1964
    Aghia Triadha, Macedonia

AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION
    M Y Report to Greco is not an autobiography. My personal life has some value, extremely relative, for myself and no one else. The sole value I acknowledge in it was its effort to mount from one step to the next and reach the highest point to which its strength and doggedness could bring it: the summit I arbitrarily named the Cretan Glance.
    Therefore, reader, in these pages you will find the red track made by drops of my blood, the track which marks my journey among men, passions, and ideas. Every man worthy of being called a son of man bears his cross and mounts his Golgotha. Many, indeed most, reach the first or second step, collapse pantingly in the middle of the journey, and do not attain the summit of Golgotha, in other words the summit of their duty: to be crucified, resurrected, and to save their souls. Afraid of crucifixion, they grow fainthearted; they do not know that the cross is the only path to resurrection. There is no other path.
    The decisive steps in my ascent were four, and each bears a sacred name: Christ, Buddha, Lenin, Odysseus. This bloody journey from each of these great souls to the next is what I shall struggle to mark out in this Itinerary, now that the sun has begun to set—the journey of a man with his heart in his mouth, ascending the rough, unaccommodating mountain of his