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144 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 1959
“I’m talking to you, paladin!� insisted Charlemagne. “Why don’t you show your face to your king?�
A voice came clearly through the gorge piece. “Sire, because I do not exist!�
“This is too much!� exclaimed the emperor. “We’ve even got a knight who doesn’t exist! Let’s just have a look now.�
Agilulf seemed to hesitate a moment, then raised his visor with a slow but firm hand. The helmet was empty. No one was inside the white armor with its iridescent crest.
The whole Imperial army coughed and shook in its armor, quivering and shaking as it raced towards the Infidel dust, hearing more coughing getting nearer and nearer. The two dusts fused, and the whole plain rang with the echo of coughs and the clang of lances.
“Knight,� says he, panting, “at last I’ve found you! Now I want to be a paladin too! During yesterday’s battle I had my revenge� in the mêlée� then I was all alone against two� an ambush� then� now I know what fighting is, in fact. And I want to be given the riskiest place in battle� or to set off on some adventure that will gain glory� for our holy faith� to save women and sick and weak and old� you can tell me…�
“You come too late, noble knight,� said an old man. “These valleys still resound with the cries of those poor women. A short while ago a fleet of Moorish pirates landed on this coast and sacked the convent, bore off the nuns as slaves and set fire to the walls.�
📑 Nel Cavaliere inesistente, come nei miei due precedenti romanzi fantastico-morali o lirico-filosofici come si vogliano chiamare, non mi sono proposto alcuna allegoria politica, ma solo di studiare e rappresentare la condizione dell’uomo di oggi, il modo della sua “alienazione�, le vie di raggiungimento d’un’umanità totale. 📑