Parallelism

"Ibni, l-arti ma tqallgħekx flus. Agħżel kors sura ta' nies, ta' sinsla li wara snin ta' studju jkun jista' joffrilek karriera fuq platt tal-fidda li tqallgħek il-flus. Jien naf... forsi... tabib? perit? inġinier? avukat? U le x'avukat, dawk hawn ħafna minnhom u tispiċċa l-qorti tikkustinja fuq xi ħadd li seraq kwart perżut. Jew forsi accountant jew kaxxier. Jien naqrahom kuljum il-gazzetti u dejjem insib li jridu jdaħħlu n-nies biex joqogħdu jgħoddu l-flus. Ma nafx x'għerf trid biex tgħodd il-flus! Jien kont nagħmilha kull l-aħħar Ġimgħa tax-xahar meta kien jasal dak l-imbierek ċekk. Qatt ma fdajthom lill-banek u tarraft lill-imgħallem biex il-paga jtijieli flus f'idi, waħda fuq waħda. Imma ħabba li kienu serquh xi żewġ briganti, iddeċieda li jibda jħażżeż ċekk bil-pinna tad-deheb finta li kellu. U kont infekren lejn dak il-bank ta' ħdejn Wenzu l-Imballat fis-sigħat bikrin ta' filgħodu biex żgur inkun ma' tal-ewwel. Imma ja mgħallqa 'l huma, dejjem kont insib xi żewġt iġrieden li jsebbħu hemm qabli li ħlief jisħtu l-gvern u jgergru mal-ħaddiema tal-bank ma kienux jagħmlu. Imbagħad meta kien imissni jien għajnejja kienu jixgħelu u meta nirċievi l-flus f'idi noqogħod ngħoddhom bil-mod, waħda, waħda. B'hekk tgħallimt ngħodd! Qatt ma mort universitajiet u prim'awli u x'naf jien! Dan kollu nejk.

Imma insomma, ara x'għidtlek, għażel xi ħaġa li toffrilek ħobżok ta' kuljum..."

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Maestro Antonio Salieri, now confined in a hospital for the mentally ill, re-tells some memories from his childhood and how he idolized Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. At the time everyone loved Mozart, even in the remote parts of Europe.

He admits he was jealous when he heard the tales they told about Mozart. Not of the brilliant little prodigy himself, but of his father, who had taught him everything.

Salieri's father did not care for music. He wanted him only to be a merchant, like himself. As anonymous as he was. When he told him how he wished he could be like Mozart, he would raise his eyebrow and say: "Why? Do you want to be a trained monkey? Would you like me to drag you around Europe doing tricks like a circus freak?"