La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes

written by anónimo
[II] 277-338

Summary:

Part One
Lazarillo de Tormes was born in the river Tormes, and his father had been accused of a crime and taken away (and died) when Lázaro was eight. His mother then began to see a new black man Zaide with whom she had a baby. The town soon finds out about the affair with Zaide; thus, he is whipped and kicked out. His mother is forced to work at a local inn, and sends her son off to a ciego.

Lázaro becomes the servant of the ciego. The ciego first tells Lázaro to draw close to the ear of a bull to hear the great din inside; the ciego hits him, causing Lázaro gores and pain, and says, “ha de saber más que el Diablo” (281). Lázaro then realizes, “Parecióme que en aquel instante desperate de la simpleza (innocence) en que, como niño, estaba dormido” (281).

The ciego prays for other people for a living and is poor and miserly. Lázaro does what he can to get food; for example, he cuts holes in, then sews back up, the ciego’s sack that has food. Later, Lázaro steals gulps of the ciego’s wine; the ciego hugs the jug. Lázaro the uses a straw to take sips of it; when the ciego gets suspicious, he makes a small hole in the jug to provide a fountain of wine for himself. The ciego feigns to notice it, but the next day slams the jug on his mouth. Lázaro bleeds and misses teeth; the ciego derives a perverted pleasure from it.

From thence forth, they treated each other poorly: the ciego pulled Lázaro’s hair, and Lázaro led the ciego down the worst paths. In another instance, the pair gets grapes. The ciego says that Lázaro takes one, then the ciego takes one, etc. until all are gone. When the ciego takes two, Lázaro quickly devours the rest. The ciego knows he has been tricked; Lázaro, if honest, would have told the ciego that he was taking two.

Later, Lázaro steals wine and sausage from the ciego, but tells him that someone else must have done it. Like a hound, the ciego smells the sausage in Lázaro’s mouth, but just in time, Lázaro throws up on the ciego. He is summarily beaten; the ciego later says, “que si un hombre en el mundo ha de ser bienaventurado (blessed) con vino, serás tú” (293).

In his final trick, Lázaro, leading the way past a puddle, makes the ciego jump with all his might into a pole. Lázaro then escapes.

Part Two
Lázaro then is paired with a clérigo who amazingly is more miserly than the ciego. The clérigo has a locked chest with food but gives Lázaro very little; meanwhile, the clérigo dines like a king. Lázaro starves so much that he cannot walk; he even prays for the death of others because funerals provide him copious food.

Lázaro, learning from the ciego, though tricks a tinkerer into giving him a key to the chest; he then takes a whole roll of bread for himself. After the clérigo notices, Lázaro makes mice nipping on the guarded bread, tricking the clérigo to give Lázaro the mouse-bitten parts. Such tricking persists until the clérigo boards up the chest; Lázaro then hammers holes in the chest, which look like a mouse’s doing. The clérigo then sets up mouse traps inside the chest; Lázaro eats the cheese and bread. The town concludes it must be a snake; the clérigo becomes paranoid about his disappearing food.

One night, though, the key hiding in Lázaro’s mouth creates a whistle (or to the clérigo, a serpent’s hiss). The clérigo smacks Lázaro, simultaneously injuring him and revealing the secret of the alleged snake. The clérigo then kicks Lázaro out, because he is such a devious miscreant.

Part Three
Lázaro is picked up by an escudero, a squire. He initially looks like a noble man, but he has no food. On the first day, Lázaro is still so hungry, but the escudero has already eaten. Lázaro, dying of hunger, finds a piece of bread in the house and shares it. Later, Lázaro is shown the escudero’s sword. He is given chores while the escudero walks around like a gentleman, looking for money and food. Lázaro himself begs for bread and tripe; the escudero eats with him. Together, they steal and beg for food to survive.

Unfortunately, all beggars are ordered to leave the city, or face the whip. They stop begging, and go hungry for days. The escudero then finds a real and tells Lázaro to use it; whenhe goes into the street, he sees a dead corpse and is scared it is headed for his house. The escudero then talks about the doffing of the hat, a ridiculous, satirized custom.

When a man and woman come to ask the escudero for the rent, he tells them to come back later. He flees. Lázaro is then taken as a prisoner before the neighbors convince the constable that he is innocent. He is let free.

Part Seven
Lastly, Lázaro works for a alguacil, a constable. He has a royal post and deals wine. He is well fed, living near the alguacil, and lives a good life. He marries a servant of an archbishop, and when rumors fly around about her prior sexual encounters, Lázaro quickly shuts them down. He loves his wife, and he is happy.

Themes:
-desafío y perseverancia: la tenacidad individual ante los retos de la vida
-el engaño y el desengaño, la honra y la deshonra
-la crítica social y política
-la decadencia del orden establecido y el descontrol
-lecciones de la vida y el repudio del error
-la prosa peninsular desde el Medioevo hasta el siglo XX

Translation:
http://www.4olin.com/index2.html

Chac Mool

written by Carlos Fuentes
[I] 190 – 205

Summary:
The narrator begins: Filiberto murió ahogado en Acapulco (191). He seems to know why he drowned – he was tempted to go, then swam too much for his age. Filiberto is to be transferred in his coffin via truck, and the narrator is going to deliver him. The narrator looks through Filiberto’s briefcase and finds his journal …

“Filiberto’s journal begins normally: he meets with a lawyer about his pension and dines in a café. He talks with his friend Pepe about religion and work, where someone died the water red.

“He also has an affinity for certain forms of indigenous Mexican art. He’s been looking for a reasonable replica of Chac Mool, the Mayan god of rain, which he finds in la Lagunilla. He is very skeptical of its originality – although it looks so elegant, it has tomato sauce smeared on it to sell its authenticity. He puts Chac Mool in his basement.

“The plumbing broke, putting water in the basement. Chac Mool becomes covered with moss. That night, Filiberto begins to hear moans from the basement; the night they stop, more rain water inundates the basement. Scraping off the moss was difficult – it seemed to have become part of the stone already. Also, the figure grew softer; the skeptical Filiberto thinks the statue was actually plaster. Later, though, he notices the figure is the texture of flesh, of rubber, and that Chac Mool has hair on its arms. Of this impossibility, Filiberto writes, “Tendré que ver a un médico, saber si es imaginación, o delirio, o qué, y deshacerme de ese maldito Chac Mool” (198).”

Filiberto’s handwriting deteriorates to that of a child here.

“What is real and what is imaginary? … the line between the two is indistinguishable. The Chac Mool has become smooth, elegant, and golden, almost as if indicating he is a God. He begins to awaken; one night, Filiberto opens his eyes to see a grotesque, noisome creature at his bed; entonces empezó a llover (200).”

In the real world, Filiberto is pinned with rumores de locura y aun robo (200).

“Chac Mool has fantastic stories about myths and his birth, but has an inhuman stench that emanates from flesh that isn’t flesh. He desires soap and sleeps in Filiberto’s bed.

“When the dry season begins, Chac Mool demands water; says Filiberto, debo reconcerlo: soy su prisionero (202). Chac Mool wears his clothes and is used to being obeyed. Filiberto discovers Chac Mool leaves the house at night to hunt for dogs, rats, and cats for food; later in the dry season, Filiberto is forced to order out rice with chicken. He also has to run trips to get water; if he tries to flee, he will be struck down by Chac Mool, also god of lightening. Filiberto also notices that Chac Mool eventually has to turn back into stone, that he is getting more irritable, and that he is falling into human temptations. Also, Chac Mool wouldn’t die and leave Filiberto alive; Filiberto thus must flee.

“He decides to flee to Acapulco at night; he plans to swim away with his little remaining money. He is sick of Chac Mool: a ver cuánto dura sin mis baldes (buckets) de agua (204).”

The diary of Filiberto ends, and the narrator arrives at the terminal. When he gets there, the door opens; a yellow Indian appears; his appearance is repulsive, his face is covered in powder, he reeks of cheap lotion, his lips are smeared with lipstick. This man (Chac Mool?) says: “Lo sé todo. Dígales a los hombres que lleven el cadaver al sótano” (205).


Translation:
http://web.mit.edu/jikatz/www/ChacMool.pdf

Themes:
-la decadencia del orden establecido y el descontrol
-la tenue línea entre lo real y lo ilusorio
-el cuento fantástico del siglo XIX y del siglo XX

La muerte y la brújula

written by Jorge Luis Borges
[I] pp. 155 – 172

Borges immediately introduces detective Erik Lonnrot, the protagonist, and Red Scharlach, the criminal and antagonist. Lonnrot is un puro razonador with elements of a tahúr (gambler) and an aventurero (156). Scharlach vows to kill Lonnrot.

The first murder occurs in the Hotel du Nord on December 3. Doctor Marcel Yarmolinsky has a deep knife wound. His room is across the hall from Tetrarch of Galilee, known to have the finest sapphires, leading Insepector Treviranus (the voice of reason and practicality) to believe someone tried to steal the sapphires. Lonnrot, however, notices the possible Jewish ties; he believes the crime may belong to the history of Jewish superstition. Says Lonnrot:

Posible, pero no interesante [a la realidad de Treviranus]. Usted replicará que la realidad no tiene la menor obligación de ser interesante. Yo le replicaré que la realidad puede prescindir de (avoid) esa obligación, pero no las hipótesis. En la que usted ha improvisado, el azar (chance) interviene copiosamente […] yo preferiría una explicación puramente rabínica […] (158).

He notices the message: La primera letra del Nombre ha sideo articulada (159). He then pores through Yarmolinksy’s texts, and learns that God has a secret, Absolute name. When the editor of Yidische Zaitung, a Jewish magazine for which Yarmolinksy wrote, comes, Lonnrot is only interested in solving his puzzle.

The second murder occurs in an alley on January 3. Daniel Simon Azevedo is the victim of a deep knife wound to the chest, a man known to be a petty thief. On the wall, Lonnrot sees the message: La segunda letra del Nombre ha sideo articulada (161).

The third murder occurs at Liverpool House on February 3. Gryphius-Ginzberg, a man who spent his days in a room above the Liverpool House, is presumed to have died. The tavern owner, Black Finnegan, relays a story about Ginzberg getting drunk; Lonnrot then notices: La última de las letras del Nombre ha sido articulada (163). Treviranus proposes that everything might just be a sham, immediately dismissed by Lonnrot.

On March 1, Treviranus receives a letter saying no murder will occur on March 3, as the previous three made an equilateral triangle. Lonnrot studies them, and quickly notices that there is indeed to be a fourth murder; he immediately takes a train to Triste-le-Roy. El misterio casi le pareció cristalino (166). He goes through the iron fence to the pointlessly symmetrical house, enters, and explores it. Very soon after, two men seize him.

He sees Red Scharlach. Scharlach says that he is seeking Lonnrot (not the Secret Name of God), the man who sent his brother to jail. Scharlach also tells how he spent nine days and nights with a bullet in his stomach in Triste-le-Roy. Sentía que el mundo es un laberinto (169), a world that is impossible to flee.

He then explains his plans: they were to steal the sapphires, but Azevedo undertook the job a day early and was forced to kill Yarmolinsky. From Yarmolinsky’s Judiasm, Scharlach then plans to create a trap for Lonnrot. Azevedo was the necessary victim; he was impulsive, a traitor. Gryphius-Ginzberg was Scharlach himself, and the necessary “evidence” was planted. Scharlach led Lonnrot to una exacta muerte; todo lo he premeditado para atraerlo a [Lonnrot] a las soledades de Triste-le-Roy (171).

Lonnrot then feels sadness; he then suggests that in the next incarnation, Scharlach plan a proper labyrinth. Scharlach steps back, and shoots Lonnrot.

Translation:
http://prepcycle.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&p=279

Themes:
-el desdoblamiento y la dualidad del ser
-el cuento fantástico del siglo XIX y siglo XX

La noche boca arriba

written by Julio Cortázar
[I] pp. 177 - 189

Summary:
An unnamed man is in the modern world, riding his motorcycle through town. He swerves out of the path of a woman crossing the street, but as a consequence, goes unconscious. Fue como dormirse de golpe. (178) When he comes to, he realizes he is bloody, his knee is hurt, his right arm is in pain, and his eyebrow has a large gash. He is taken to the hospital, where a hombre de blanco approaches him con algo que le brillaba en la mano (180)...

He is in a strange dream, with fragrances. Y todo era tan natural, tenía que huir de los aztecas que andaban a caza (hunt) de hombre, y su única probabilidad era la de esconderse en lo más denso de la selva […que] los motecas conocían (180). He stands there, nervous from unexpected sounds around him, clutching his stone dagger. When he smells the smell he fears most, he wakes up with a fright.

He just wakes up, and finds himself thirsty and in a cast. He has la fiebre (182), allowing him to fall in and out of consciousness.

He is again in confusion, but soon realizes that la guerra florida había empezado for tres días y tres noches (183). He kills some enemies that attack him, but is eventually caught with a rope.

The patients at the hospital are convinced it is la fiebre, but it is more. The blurred line between reality and dream continues: se oía toser, respirar fuerte, a veces un diálogo en voz baja (184), ¿Quién hubiera pensado que la cosa iba a acabar así? (184). He then feels like he has been transported through time and space: tenía la sensación de que ese hueco, esa nada, había durado una eternidad. No, ni siquiera tiempo, más bien como si en ese hueco él hubiera pasado a través de algo o recorrido distancias inmensas (185).

He awakens on his back, naked and tied in ropes. He hears the rituals of the aztecas and knows he is ascending the steps of the sacrifice. He knows he will be carried to the top where he will be sacrificed. He wishes this recurring dream will end.

He sits in the hospital, glad that he is awake. Yet he cannot manage to keep his eyes open; he sleeps and returns to being tied up, about to have his heart ripped out. At this point, he realizes that his “dream” is actually his reality; when he is about to die, ahora sabía que no iba a despertarse (188). Alguien se le había acercado con un cuchillo en la mano, a él tendido boca arriba, a él boca arriba con los ojos cerrados entre las hogueras (188-9). He dies.

Translation:
http://deeblog.squarespace.com/journal/2008/5/9/la-noche-boca-arriba-part-1.html

Movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX+auFxEskM

Themes:
-desdoblamiento y dualidad de ser
-la tenue línea entre lo real y lo ilusorio
-el cuento fantastic del siglo XIX y siglo XX