The Little Sergeant at Versailles

                                                                                                   Read Spanish Version

The
idea for this caricature and this tale about The Little Sergeant came
from one of our readers.

Outside
the Versailles Restaurant, in the heart of Little Havana, a statue
has just been raised in honor of "The Little Sergeant."
With tax money, of course. Without the knowledge of the taxpayers,
who have been deceived so often before.

Actually,
at first the idea was to erect an image of the Holy Father, but
because he didn’t come to the restaurant (Cuban coffee is not good
for his ulcer) it was decided to put up whatever was at hand. Nobody
knows who the sculptor was. It is said that when he started to make
the statue he had in mind an angel — he had even made a couple of
wings — but his ladder broke and he couldn’t chisel out the
protuberances on the head of the statue. And he couldn’t make a small
nose, and that’s how "this" came to be. A name was needed
and a name was found. An homage to The Little Sergeant, who was going
to serve his last term and deserved going into posterity somehow or
other.

In
his right hand, he holds his bible: Machiavelli’s "The
Prince," of
course. In the other, he holds a crucifix, lest anyone becomes
suspicious. What’s amazing is that, as in other icons in our Church,
the statue bleeds. People say it’s a miracle. Moreover, the Church
has ordered an investigation of the phenomenon. What’s odd is that
the blood flows not from his hands, or his heart, or his crown of
thorns but from his huge tusks. There are rumors that this may be the
curse of the Chupacabras, who most likely is a relative of this
personage.

Day
after day, the regular customers at Versailles walk over to look at
the statue, after sipping their last cup of Cuban coffee. And there’s
always someone who says something in amazement, like the gentleman on
Friday afternoon who said he thought he saw a saint there. I say "he
thought he saw" because he didn’t see very well, after being
operated on for cataracts last month. Well, he thinks he can drink a
great many Cuban coffees with the money he’ll make if he wins the
lawsuit he slapped on the surgeon who operated on his eyes.(see gallery)