One and a half horses

I went out into the the back of beyond around
Campinha Grande do Sul (PR.BR) one Sunday when
I had been in Brazil for a month or so, in order to visit
the six new hives of bees I had set out to catch honey.

It had been raining. you know that heavy tropical rain
that washes out bridges and removes roads.

Anyway the road I wanted to follow had lost its bridge
so I was looking for an alternate route.

Aside, if you drive around in England and one road is
blocked you can usually find another way round.
Using this attitude in Brazil has led me to many wrong
destinations as there is usually only one road option.

However, to cut a long story down to a reasonable size my
Kombi got stuck in the mud and was slipping ever nearer to
the precipice so I gave up and went in search of help.

In very broken Portuguese and hand signals I asked for help
at the first house I found. The man in his Sunday best asked
"How many horses?" I calculated the engine capacity of 1500cc
of the Kombi engine and replied, "One and a half".

We repeated the same question and answer a few times until he
gave up. He told me to sit on the veranda and have a cup of coffee,
then his three sons appeared leading two horses to pull the Kombi
out of the mud.

Can't help wondering what he thought about my 'One and a half horses'

James H Phillips

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