Võlurpoiss

Then Jorge told him not to talk such nonsense, because people who can’t read don’t get anything. Daniel stubbornly insisted that he wasn’t going to learn anything, because he wanted to be a soldier, and a soldier didn’t need to know how to read. It was enough if you could shoot a rifle, throw a hand grenade, drive a jeep, and walk straight in line. Ah, but Jorge said that if he wanted to be an officer, he had to learn to read, do arithmetic, and a lot of other things. Well, who was talking about becoming an officer? Daniel wanted to be a private. The officer only had a revolver, but he wanted a rifle with a bayonet attached.

After the argument died down, they both started looking at the ads again. Daniel just listened to Jorge mutter the prices—so and so many new cruzeiros for this, so and so many new cruzeiros for that—if he won the prize, there would be plenty of money! He should even get himself a new savings box, because his own wouldn't hold that many bills at once!

Daniel was indifferent to money. When he wanted ice cream, he would ask his mother for money and she would give it to him; when he took the bus or taxi, someone else always paid.