ENGLISH VERSION

THE PATH TO FREEDOM IN PORTUGAL

          "Afonso and the Beautiful Flower" 

                   by 2b, Middelfart Gymnasium, Denmark

                        and 3 kl. Båring Skole

Nine-year-old Afonso lived in a small house in Barrerio, Portugal. At Afonso's house, his dad was mad. For several years, an evil man had ruled over everyone. Afonso understood his father.

He didn't like it when his Dad was telling him what to do. Why would it be different for grown-ups, Afonso thought. Afonso's father often talked to his friends about the evil man.

They took to the streets to tell him that it wasn't okay for the man to be a dictator. Afonso was curious and followed his father. A lot of people came into the street. They were all angry with the evil man. Dad saw Afonso. "Afonso what are you doing here?", his father said. "Dad, Dad, why are we mad?" Dad said, "We want our freedom back." People were shouting and screaming. Afonso's father threw Afonso on his shoulders.

Here he sat well. He could see everything and further along he saw a flower. It was red. Alfonso picked it up and smelled it. He turned his head and saw that others were doing the same thing. Strong military men put the flowers in their rifles. It looked very nice. After a long walk, they finally reached the evil man's castle. Here they told him that things had to change. They said it wasn't okay for him to tell them what they could and couldn't do. Several of them said they wanted to decide for themselves.

Everyone was shouting very loudly and Afonso had a hard time understanding what they were saying. 

After a long day on the street, the bad man gave up. He promised that he would no longer control the people. Instead, everyone in Portugal got the ability to choose and decide for themselves. Even Afonso.

He just needed to be a little older. Afonso and his father were delighted with the victory, and returned home. When they got home, Afonso gave the beautiful flower to his mother. He proudly told her that they had defeated the evil man and that the future would be different. The flower reminded them of their hard struggle.

This is how Portugal achieved freedom on 25 April 1974.

DANISH VERSION

Afonso på 9 år boede i et lille hus i Barreiro, Portugal. Hjemme hos Afonso var far sur. I flere år havde en enkelt ond mand nemlig bestemt over alle i landet. Afonso kunne godt forstå sin far. Han kunne heller ikke lide når far bestemte over ham. Afonsos far snakkede tit med sine venner om den onde mand.

De gik på gaden for at fortælle at det ikke var okay, at manden bestemte. Afonso blev nysgerrig og fulgte efter sin far. Der kom mange mennesker med ud på gaden. De var alle sammen sure på den onde mand. Far så afonso. “Afonso hvad laver du her” sagde hans far. “Far, far hvorfor er vi sure”. Far svarede “Vi vil have vores frihed tilbage”.

Afonsos far smed Afonso op på skuldrene.

Her sad han godt. Han kunne se over alle hovederne og længere henne fik han øje på en blomst. Den var lyserød. Alfonso plukkede den, og rakte den i vejret. Han vendte hovedet og så at andre gjorde det samme. Stærke militærmænd puttede blomsten i deres gevær. Det så meget flot ud. Efter en lang gåtur nåede de endelig den onde mands borg. Her fortalte de ham at det ikke var okay det han gjorde. De sagde at det ikke var okay at han bestemte over dem. Flere af dem sagde at de også gerne ville bestemme.

Alle råbte meget højt og Alfonso havde svært ved at forstå det de snakkede om. Efter en lang dag på gaden, gav den onde mand op. Han lovede at han ikke længere ville bestemme over folket. I stedet for måtte alle i Portugal være med til at bestemme. Også Afonso får mulighed for at være med til at bestemme.

Han skal bare være lidt større. Afonso og hans far var glade for sejren, og vendte hjemad. Da de kom hjem giver Alfonso den flotte blomst til hans mor. Han fortalte stolt at de havde bekæmpet den onde mand. Blomsten mindede dem om den hårde kamp.

Sådan opnåede Portugal frihed den 25. april 1974.