"I’m sorry, sir," the owner replied calmly, "I don't have change for such a large bill. But I have an important customer over there who might help".
Feeling small and embarrassed, the granfino asked where he could find such a "hidden treasure." The farmer simply pointed toward the fields of Paraná. "It's no secret," he said. "If you're strong enough to swing a hoe, that earth is worth its weight in gold". Terra Roxa - Tião Carreiro e Pardinho - LETRAS.MUS.BR
The worker smiled. "It wasn't buried. This red dirt is the 'Terra Roxa'—the fertile soil where I planted 280,000 coffee trees seven years ago". He explained that while the city elite drove imported Cadillacs and Fords, it was the sweat and the "red earth" of the farmers that kept the country standing. tiao_carreiro_pardinho_terra_roxa_modao_sertane...
He peeled them off one by one, laying them on the table. "Forgive me for not having your change earlier," he said softly.
"You must be joking," the granfino told the owner. "You think that 'poor wretch' has a thousand cruzeiros? If a man like that is anyone in this world, then I’ll be the Governor of the state!". He assumed that because the man looked like a drifter, he was penniless. "I’m sorry, sir," the owner replied calmly, "I
The granfino looked around with a sneer. He passed several tables until he came to a man sitting alone, quietly eating his lunch. This man was Black, wearing worn, rumpled clothes that looked as though they had seen years of hard labor. The granfino didn't even stop; he simply laughed with contempt.
But the man in the rumpled clothes had heard every word. With a polite and steady voice, he called the young man over. He reached into his belt pouch and pulled out a thick bundle of "orange-colored" bills—notes worth far more than what the granfino was carrying. "It's no secret," he said
The granfino’s face turned pale. "You... you must be a politician," he stammered, looking at the reddish dirt staining the bills. "That money looks like it was buried in the ground".