The Lusiads Told to Children and Remembered by the People

Recommended book for the 8th year of schooling, intended for guided reading.

Once upon a time there was a people of sailors and heroes, the Portuguese people, our people, who many years ago — more than four hundred — wanted to discover the sea route to India. India then appeared, in the eyes of all Europeans, as a land of splendour and wealth, which all men desired, but where it was difficult, almost impossible to reach. Four small ships — so small on the immense, unknown Ocean! — Four carracks commanded by the great captain Vasco da Gama set out across the Atlantic, known only up to the Cape of Good Hope, rounded that Cape and set sail for the region they sought.

The wind was gentle, the sea calm. Until then the journey had been peaceful. But the dangers would be constant, the crossing risky, the journey long. And no one knew for sure which course to follow, for no other people had ever dared even to attempt such a long and arduous voyage.

Only the courage and boldness of the Portuguese would be capable of such a heroic feat! Thus João de Barros begins his prose adaptation of Os Lusíadas, the Portuguese epic poem. In this work, the author condenses and simplifies the reading of this jewel of national literature, making it accessible to a younger audience, but interested in knowing its History and its Origins.