“Maybe this is what teaching is: making sure that the time to wake up strikes at every lesson.” These are words of Daniel Pennac that come to mind in the dialogue with Mario Vargiu, 85 years old, from Orroli, who was a primary school teacher for forty years. Not in the classroom, but among his students, using mainly the beloved Sardinian language with his, never forgotten, "piccioccheddus".
From Sulcis to Marmilla to Cagliari, a long journey in the world of education. The last school, before retirement, was the one in via Sant'Alenixedda in Cagliari, the culmination of an intense human and educational experience that remained in his heart. Surrounded by books, paintings and prints, in the study of his home, in front of the Parco della Musica, he sets his next goal. He, who translated the Gospels, the Book of Job, the Song of Songs, Pinocchio, Man and the Sea by Hemingway into Sardinian ("simple writer with the great merit of creating emotional tension"), now wants to find a home publishing company that can give new life to the Psalms already translated into “limba” and published in a limited edition several years ago (“opera numerada in cincuxentus copies”). He shows the drafts, the result of a long work of research and interpretation, and reads the Prologue with the musicality of the language of his land.
Books in the Sardinian language
“I have Sardinised the Psalms, they are thought and written in Sardinian. Now I'm looking for a publisher for this work that I care a lot about." Intellectual, writer, translator and poet. In 1979 he obtained the most coveted recognition at the Sarcidano prize for Sardinian poetry in Villanovatulo, the town where Benvenuto Lobina was born: “It still fills me with pride”. On the study wall there is the parchment that recalls that moment. At the University of Cagliari, before graduating in Pedagogy, crucial encounters: "I found great masters: Alberto Mario Cirese, Franco Epifanio Erdas, Antonio Sanna, Aldo Capitini, the Italian Gandhi, anti-fascist, poet, educator".
These are the theoretical bases for tackling the next chapter. “I collaborated with L'Unione Sarda and then immersed myself in the political and intellectual experience of Natzione Sarda. I proofread and wrote poetry. Extraordinary years with Eliseo Spiga, Elisa Nivola, Cicito Masala, Placido Cherchi, Antonello Satta. I remember the battles to defend the value and dignity of the Sardinian language. Sardinia has always been a colony. The winners imposed their language on us. But we must be able to make ours prevail. I tried to offer a contribution by speaking Sardinian with my students so as not to lose an extraordinary cultural heritage. We must not stop, young people must know our language, we hope to succeed. But, at 85 years old, from what I see, I'm skeptical. There is a lot of mistrust on the part of parents and many teachers do not have adequate preparation."
My thoughts return to the work of a translator: “You have to work on the texts and find the right terms. I don't use localisms, but a median Campidanese. Whoever writes must make himself understood, said Pavese. I write for Sardinians of good will. You don't write to get rich, but to leave something as a legacy. After the publication of the Gospels in the Sardinian language, Ottorino Alberti, then archbishop of Cagliari, told me: "You have given a great gift to the church".
Children"
In his books he was accompanied by artists such as Antonio Corriga and Angelo Liberati: "They embellished the volumes with their creativity". Corriga and Liberati are present, with their works, in Mario Vargiu's house. “I continue to read and study - he tells us - even though age is making itself felt and I cannot neglect my wife, also a teacher, who now needs assistance. We didn't have children, but we had many at school. In the elementary school in Viale Marconi, in one class, I followed 43 children. I was not authoritarian, but discipline had to be maintained. Always one at a time in the bathroom." And with so many "children", the relationship, despite the time that has passed, has not been interrupted: "It gratifies me a lot. I often meet them in the city. They tell me: professor, how are you? And I reply: I'm not a professor, I'm a teacher." The master who struck the hour of awakening.