Η Πόλις

Η Πόλις

Είπες· «Θα πάγω σ' άλλη γή, θα πάγω σ' άλλη θάλασσα,

Μια πόλις άλλη θα βρεθεί καλλίτερη από αυτή.

Κάθε προσπάθεια μου μια καταδίκη είναι γραφτή·

κ' είν' η καρδιά μου -- σαν νεκρός -- θαμένη.

Ο νους μου ως πότε μες στον μαρασμό αυτόν θα μένει.

Οπου το μάτι μου γυρίσω, όπου κι αν δω

ερείπια μαύρα της ζωής μου βλέπω εδώ,

που τόσα χρόνια πέρασα και ρήμαξα και χάλασα».

Καινούριους τόπους δεν θα βρεις, δεν θάβρεις άλλες θάλασσες.

Η πόλις θα σε ακολουθεί. Στους δρόμους θα γυρνάς

τους ίδιους. Και στες γειτονιές τες ίδιες θα γερνάς·

και μες στα ίδια σπίτια αυτά θ' ασπρίζεις.

Πάντα στην πόλι αυτή θα φθάνεις. Για τα αλλού -- μη ελπίζεις --

δεν έχει πλοίο για σε, δεν έχει οδό.

Ετσι που τη ζωή σου ρήμαξες εδώ

στην κώχη τούτη την μικρή, σ' όλην την γή την χάλασες.

Κωνσταντίνος Π. Καβάφης (1910)

The City

You tell yourself: I'll be gone

To some other land, some other sea,

To a city lovelier far than this

Could ever have been or hoped to be-

Where every step now tightens the noose:

A heart in a body buried and out of use:

How long, how long must I be here

Confined among these dreary purlieus

Of the common mind? Wherever now I look

Black ruins of my life rise into view.

So many years have I been here

Spending and squandering, and nothing gained.

There's no new land, my friend, no

New sea; for the city will follow you,

In the same streets you'll wander endlessly,

The same mental suburbs slip from youth to age,

In the same house go white at last-

The city is a cage.

No other places, always this

Your earthly landfall, and no ship exists

To take you from yourself. Ah! don't you see

Just as you've ruined your life in this

One plot of ground you've ruined its worth

Everywhere now-over the whole earth?

Constantine Cavafy (1863-1933)

translated by Lawrence Durrell

Socotra, la isla de los genios

Socotra, la isla de los genios, Jordi Esteva, Atalanta, 2011

Μήδεια

Maria Callas in Medea, by Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1969.

Le Soliloque de l'empailleur

"Tout est mort, ici, vous ne craignez rien. Parfois, Madame, les clients ont peur dans ma cave. Ma maison date du Moyen-Age, elle est plus vieille que le château. On l'a construite en bordure de la forêt, à la frontière du village, contre le rideau du brouillard. Un jour, après moi, on pourra la transformer en musée. Vous êtes encore plus jolie que ce que m'avait dit M. le conservateur. Asseyez-vous sur mon pied d'éléphant."

Le soliloque de l'empailleur, d'Adrien Goetz et Karen Knorr, édition Le Promeneur, 2008

Great Birnam wood

"Macbeth shall never vanquished be until

Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill

Shall come against him.

Tres animales soñados

Un Animal Soñado por Kafka

Es un animal con una gran cola, de muchos metros de largo, parecida a la del zorro. A veces me gustaría tener su cola en la mano, pero es imposible; el animal está siempre en movimiento, la cola siempre de un lado para otro. El animal tiene algo de canguro, pero la cabeza chica y oval no es característica y tiene algo de humana; sólo los dientes tienen fuerza expresiva, ya los oculte o les muestre. Suelo tener la impresión que el animal quiere amaestrarme; si no, qué propósito puede tener retirarme la cola cuando quiero agarrarla, y luego esperar tranquilamente que ésta vuelva a atraerme, y luego volver a saltar.

Franz Kafka: Hochzeitsvorbereitungen auf dem Lande, 1953.

Un Animal Soñado por C. S. Lewis

...El canto era fuerte ya, y la espesura muy densa, de manera que no podía ver casi a un metro delante de él, cuando la música cesó súbitamente. Oyó un ruido de maleza que se rompe. Se dirigió rápidamente en aquella dirección, pero no vio nada. Había casi decidido abandonar su búsqueda cuando el canto recomenzó un poco más lejano. De nuevo se dirigió hacia él; de nuevo el que cantaba guardó silencio y lo evadió. Llevaría más de una hora jugando a esta especie de escondite cuando su esfuerzo fue recompensado.

Avanzando cautelosamente en dirección a uno de estos cantos fuertes, vio finalmente a través de las ramas floridas una forma negra. Deteniéndose cuando dejaba de cantar, y avanzando de nuevo con cautela cuando reanudaba el canto, la siguió durante diez minutos. Finalmente tuvo al cantor delante de los ojos, ignorando que era espiado. Estaba sentado, erecto como un perro, y era negro, liso y brillante; sus hombros llegaban a la altura de la cabeza de Ransom; las patas delanteras sobre las que estaba apoyado eran como árboles jóvenes, y las pezuñas que descansaban en el suelo eran anchas como las de un camello. El enorme vientre redondo era blanco, y por encima de sus hombros se elevaba, muy alto, un cuello como de caballo. Desde donde estaba, Ransom veía su cabeza de perfil; la boca abierta lanzaba aquella especie de canto de alegría, y el canto hacía vibrar casi visiblemente su lustrosa garganta. Miró maravillado aquellos ojos húmedos, aquellas sensuales ventanas de su nariz. Entonces el animal se detuvo, lo vio y se alejó, deteniéndose a los pocos pasos, sobre sus cuatro patas, no de menor talla que un elefante joven, meneando una larga cola peluda. Era el primer ser de Perelandra que parecía mostrar cierto temor al hombre. Pero no era miedo. Cuando lo llamó se acercó a él. Puso su belfo de terciopelo sobre su mano y soportó su contacto; pero casi inmediatamente volvió a alejarse. Inclinando el largo cuello, se detuvo y apoyó la cabeza entre las patas. Ransom vio que no sacaría nada de él, y cuando al fin se alejó, perdiéndose de vista, no lo siguió. Hacerlo le hubiera parecido una injuria a su timidez, a la sumisa suavidad de su expresión, a su evidente deseo de ser para siempre un sonido y sólo un sonido, en la espesura central de aquellos bosques inexplorados. Ransom prosiguió su camino; unos segundos más tarde, el sonido empezó de nuevo detrás de él, más fuerte y más bello que nunca, como un canto de alegría por su recobrada libertad...

Las bestias de esta especie no tienen leche, y, cuando paren, sus crías son amamantadas por una hembra de otra especie. Es una bestia grande y bella, y muda, y hasta que la bestia que canta es destetada vive entre sus cachorros y está sujeta a ella. Pero cuando ha crecido se convierte en el animal más delicado y glorioso de todos los animales y se aleja de ella. Y ella se admira de su canto...

C. S. Lewis: Perelandra, 1949

El Animal Soñado por Poe

En su Relato de Arthur Gordon Pym de Nantucket, publicado en 1938, Edgar Allan Poe atribuyó a las islas antárticas una fauna asombrosa pero creíble. Así, en el capítulo xviii se lee:

Recogimos una rama con frutos rojos, como los del espino, y el cuerpo de un animal terrestre, de conformación singular. Tres pies de largo y seis pulgadas de alto tendría; las cuatro patas eran cortas y estaban guarnecidas de agudas garras de color escarlata, de una materia semejante al coral. El pelo era parejo y sedoso, perfectamente blanco. La cola era puntiaguda, como de rata y tendría un pie y medio de longitud. La cabeza parecía de gato, con excepción de las orejas, que eran caídas, como las de un sabueso. Los dientes eran del mismo escarlata de las garras.

No menos singular era el agua de esas tierras australes:

Primero nos negamos a probarla, suponiéndola corrompida. No sé cómo dar una idea justa de su naturaleza, y no lo conseguiré sin muchas palabras. A pesar de correr con rapidez por cualquier desnivel, nunca parecía límpida, excepto al despeñarse en un salto. En casos de poco declive, era tan consistente como una infusión espesa de goma arábiga, hecha en agua común. Éste, sin embargo, era el menos singular de sus caracteres. No era incolora ni era de un color invariable, ya que su fluencia proponía a los ojos todos los matices del púrpura, como los tonos de una seda tornasolada. Dejamos que se asentara en una vasija y comprobamos que la masa del líquido estaba separada en vetas distintas, cada una de tono individual, y que esas vetas no se mezclaban. Si se pasaba la hoja de un cuchillo a lo ancho de las vetas, el agua se cerraba inmediatamente, y al retirar la hoja, desaparecía el rastro. En cambio, cuando la hoja era insertada con precisión entre dos de las vetas, ocurría una separación perfecta, que no se rectificaba en seguida.

(Del Libro de los seres imaginarios, Jorge Luis Borges, 1957)

Le martyre de Saint Sébastien

Saint Sébastien, Boticelli, 1474.

"Et maintenant je me désarme!

Je suis l'Archer certain du but. Voici l'arc double, le carquois fourni

de dix-sept sagettes ailées

et le brassard oú est gravée

la figure zodiacale

du Sagittaire criblé d'astres.

Je te les comments. Je les offre

á mes élus de la cohorte

d'Emése. Voici.

Je suis libre! "

La cour des Lys, Le martyre de Saint Sébastien (1911), Claude Achilles Debussy. Texte de Gabriele D'Annunzio.

(Le martyre de Saint Sébastien is forbidden in the Index of the Vaticano)

Alligators all around

"What would you like to eat?"

"I don't care!"

"Some lovely cream of wheat?"

"I don't care!"

"Don't sit backwards on your chair"

"I don't care"

"Or pour syrup on your hair"

"I don't care"

Nutshell library, Maurice Sendak (1962)

Oι̉δίπoυς τύραννoς

Gustave Moreau (1864)

Οἰδίπους

ἰοὺ ἰού: τὰ πάντ᾽ ἂν ἐξήκοι σαφῆ.

ὦ φῶς, τελευταῖόν σε προσβλέψαιμι νῦν,

ὅστις πέφασμαι φύς τ᾽ ἀφ᾽ ὧν οὐ χρῆν, ξὺν οἷς τ᾽

οὐ χρῆν ὁμιλῶν, οὕς τέ μ᾽ οὐκ ἔδει κτανών

Oedipus:

Ah me! ah me! all brought to pass, all true!

O light, may I behold thee nevermore!

I stand a wretch, in birth, in wedlock cursed,

A parricide, incestuously, triply cursed!

Oι̉δίπoυς τύραννoς, Oidipous Tyrannos, Oedipus Rex. Sófocles (430 a.C)

Happy 100th birthday, Tennessee Williams

Tennessee Williams (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983)

"Sebastian always said, 'Mother when you descend it's like the Goddess from the Machine'... it seems that the Emperor of Byzantium - when he received people in audience - had a throne which, during the conversation, would rise mysteriously into the air to the consternation of his visitors. But as we are living in a democracy, I reverse the procedure. I don't rise, I come down."

Suddenly, last summer, film, 1959

The Wolf

Gustave Doré, Le petit Chaperon rouge, 1867

Another turn of the screw

This moment dated from an afternoon hour that I happened to spend in the grounds with the younger of my pupils alone. We had left Miles indoors, on the red cushion of a deep window seat; he had wished to finish a book, and I had been glad to encourage a purpose so laudable in a young man whose only defect was an occasional excess of the restless. His sister, on the contrary, had been alert to come out, and I strolled with her half an hour, seeking the shade, for the sun was still high and the day exceptionally warm. I was aware afresh, with her, as we went, of how, like her brother, she contrived--it was the charming thing in both children--to let me alone without appearing to drop me and to accompany me without appearing to surround. They were never importunate and yet never listless. My attention to them all really went to seeing them amuse themselves immensely without me: this was a spectacle they seemed actively to prepare and that engaged me as an active admirer. I walked in a world of their invention--they had no occasion whatever to draw upon mine; so that my time was taken only with being, for them, some remarkable person or thing that the game of the moment required and that was merely, thanks to my superior, my exalted stamp, a happy and highly distinguished sinecure. I forget what I was on the present occasion; I only remember that I was something very important and very quiet and that Flora was playing very hard. We were on the edge of the lake, and, as we had lately begun geography, the lake was the Sea of Azof.

Suddenly, in these circumstances, I became aware that, on the other side of the Sea of Azof, we had an interested spectator. The way this knowledge gathered in me was the strangest thing in the world--the strangest, that is, except the very much stranger in which it quickly merged itself. I had sat down with a piece of work--for I was something or other that could sit--on the old stone bench which overlooked the pond; and in this position I began to take in with certitude, and yet without direct vision, the presence, at a distance, of a third person. The old trees, the thick shrubbery, made a great and pleasant shade, but it was all suffused with the brightness of the hot, still hour. There was no ambiguity in anything; none whatever, at least, in the conviction I from one moment to another found myself forming as to what I should see straight before me and across the lake as a consequence of raising my eyes. They were attached at this juncture to the stitching in which I was engaged, and I can feel once more the spasm of my effort not to move them till I should so have steadied myself as to be able to make up my mind what to do. There was an alien object in view--a figure whose right of presence I instantly, passionately questioned. I recollect counting over perfectly the possibilities, reminding myself that nothing was more natural, for instance, then the appearance of one of the men about the place, or even of a messenger, a postman, or a tradesman's boy, from the village. That reminder had as little effect on my practical certitude as I was conscious--still even without looking--of its having upon the character and attitude of our visitor. Nothing was more natural than that these things should be the other things that they absolutely were not.

Of the positive identity of the apparition I would assure myself as soon as the small clock of my courage should have ticked out the right second; meanwhile, with an effort that was already sharp enough, I transferred my eyes straight to little Flora, who, at the moment, was about ten yards away. My heart had stood still for an instant with the wonder and terror of the question whether she too would see; and I held my breath while I waited for what a cry from her, what some sudden innocent sign either of interest or of alarm, would tell me. I waited, but nothing came; then, in the first place--and there is something more dire in this, I feel, than in anything I have to relate--I was determined by a sense that, within a minute, all sounds from her had previously dropped; and, in the second, by the circumstance that, also within the minute, she had, in her play, turned her back to the water. This was her attitude when I at last looked at her--looked with the confirmed conviction that we were still, together, under direct personal notice. She had picked up a small flat piece of wood, which happened to have in it a little hole that had evidently suggested to her the idea of sticking in another fragment that might figure as a mast and make the thing a boat. This second morsel, as I watched her, she was very markedly and intently attempting to tighten in its place. My apprehension of what she was doing sustained me so that after some seconds I felt I was ready for more. Then I again shifted my eyes--I faced what I had to face.

The Turn of the Screw, Henry James, 1898

The Innocents, 1961, directed by Jack Clayton

screenplay William Archibald and Truman Capote

Banhs de Tredòs

El más sombrío y triste

de los páramos cruza;

valle de eternas nieves y de eternas

melancólicas brumas.

Gustavo Adolfo, Rima LXVI

Val d'Aran, 2011

Photography: Contax RTS

Dante's illustrations

Manfredi Porena's design for Dante's hell

Gustave Doré (1832-1883), illustrations de la Divine Comédie

Joyeux anniversaire, Jules

Capitaine Némo: "Ah! monsieur, vivez, vivez au sein des mers. Là seulement est l'indépendance! Là, je ne reconnais pas de maîtres; là, je suis libre!"

Vingt mille lieues sous les mers, 1869

Jules Verne, 8 feb 1828 - 24 mars 1905

El manuscrito carmesí

"En 1931, Francia encargó a una comisión de técnicos y de eruditos el estudio, en el Protectorado de Marruecos, de las construcciones y la historia de Fez.

De ellos, dos arquitectos se dedicaron a uno de los más trascendentales edificios de la ciudad: la mezquita la Karauín. Es el mayor templo de Marruecos y de todo el Magreb. Su origen fue un pequeño santuario que, en los inicios del siglo IX, construyó Fátima, la rica heredera de Mohamed Fihri, fugitiva de Kairuán en una de las habituales conmociones de entonces.

En la primera mitad del siglo XII, el almorávide Alí Ibn Yusuf construyó la actual mezquita, que tiene diez mil metros cuadrados, y que durante varios siglos fue la sede de la Universidad de Fez, el centro intelectual más prestigioso de Marruecos. Su biblioteca, fundada en el XIII, conserva valiosísimos e irrepetibles ejemplares.

Los dos jóvenes arquitectos franceses comenzaron su trabajo con el levantamiento de los planos de la Karauín. Después de meticulosos cálculos, al plasmar en el papel las dimensiones perfectamente comprobadas, no cuadraban en cierto lugar las medidas externas con las interiores, aun descontando el grosor importante de los muros.

Repitieron sus mediciones, y volvió a producirse el mismo desajuste. Esto les hizo pensar que aquella diferencia de superficie debía de corresponder a un espacio que, con el tiempo, se clausuró por alguna razón ya olvidada. Por medio de tanteos y prudentes perforaciones lograron hallar la cámara prevista. En ella se encontraba un cúmulo de manuscritos y libros preciosos, los más recientes con cerca de cinco siglos de existencia, en un estado de conservación mejor de lo imaginable, gracias a la virtual ausencia de agentes erosivos, si se exceptúan algunos insectos y alguna humedad acaso anterior al siglo XVI.

Entre ellos estaban —y hago alusión porque la Historia es muy amiga de las simetrías— las memorias de Abdalá, el último rey zirí de Granada, destronado por el almorávide Yusuf —predecesor del constructor de la Karauín—, y muerto en Agmat en circunstancias semejantes a las del rey de Sevilla Almutamid. Hubo algo, sin embargo, que llamó especialmente la atención de los arquitectos, personas curiosas, pero no expertas en materia de paleografía. Se trataba de unos manuscritos que destacaban de los demás por dos razones: por estar encuadernados a la perfección, como si una mano cuidadosa los hubiese depositado allí con esmero, y por su color carmesí, que el tiempo no había apenas empalidecido."

El manuscrito carmesí, Antonio Gala, 1990

John Waters, hatchet piece

Dudley Reed, photography

"I wake up on the wrong side of the bed and smoke my last three cigarettes. I know it's going to be a bad day. My hair hurts. That cloying voice of the FM disc jockey as already gotten on my nerves subconsciously. I smash down the alarm button and realize the very air 1 breath is not good enough. I've had it with being nice, understanding, fair and hopeful. I feel like being negative all day.The chip on my shoulder could sink the QE2. I've got an attitude problem and nobody better get in my way. Before showering, I kick the furniture. I'm in a bad mood and the whole stupid little world is gonna pay."

(if I learn how to do OCR I will put the rest)

Hatchet piece (101 things I hate), Crackpot, the obsessions of John Waters, 1983

Autobiography of Ahmose, son of Abana

The Crew Commander Ahmose son of Abana, the justified; he says. I speak to you, all people. I let you know what favours came to me. I have been rewarded with gold seven times in the sight of the whole land, with male and female slaves as well. I have been endowed with very many fields. The name of the brave man is in that which he has done; it will not perish in the land forever.

He speaks as follows. I grew up in the town of Nekheb, my father being a soldier of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Sekenenre, the justified. Baba son of Reinet was his name. I became a soldier in his stead on the ship "The Wild Bull" in the time of the Lord of the Two Lands, Nebpehtire, the justified. I was a youth who had not married; I slept in a hammock of netting.

Now when I had established a household, I was taken to the ship "Northern", because I was brave. I followed the sovereign on foot when he rode about on his chariot. When the town of Avaris was besieged, I fought bravely on foot in his majesty's presence. Thereupon I was appointed to the ship khaemmennefer ("Rising in Memphis"). Then there was fighting on the water in "P'a-djedku" of Avaris. I made a seizure and carried off a hand. When it was reported to the royal herald the gold of valour was given to me. Then they fought again in this place; I again made a seizure there and carried off a hand. Then I was given the gold of valour once again.

Then there was fighting in Egypt to the south of this town. and I carried off a man as a living captive. I went down into the water - for he was captured on the city side - and crossed the water carrying him. When it was reported to the royal herald I was rewarded with gold once more.

Then Avaris was despoiled, and I brought spoil from there: one man, three women; total, four persons. His majesty gave them to me as slaves. Then Sharuhen was besieged for three years. His majesty despoiled it and I brought spoil from it: two women and a hand. Then the gold of valour was given me, and my captives were given to me as slaves.

Now when his majesty had slain the nomads of Asia, he sailed south to Khent-hen-nefer, to destroy the Nubian Bowmen. His majesty made a great slaughter among them, and I brought spoil from there: two living men and three hands. Then I was rewarded with gold once again, and two female slaves were given to me. His majesty journeyed north, his heart rejoicing in valour and victory. He had conquered southerners, northerners.

Then Aata came to the South. His fate brought on his doom. The gods of Upper Egypt grasped him. He was found by his majesty at Tent-taa. His majesty carried him off as a living captive, and all his people as booty. I brought two young warriors as captives from the ship of Aata. Then I was given five persons and portions of land amounting to five arura in my town. The same was done for the whole crew.

Then came that foe named Tetian. He had gathered the malcontents to himself. His majesty slew him; his troop was wiped out. Then I was given three persons and five arura of land in my town.

Then I conveyed King Djeserkare, the justified, when he sailed south to Kush, to enlarge the borders of Egypt. His majesty smote that Nubian Bowman in the midst of his army. They were carried off in fetters, none missing, the fleeing destroyed as if they had never been. Now I was in the van of our troops and I fought really well. His majesty saw my valour. I carried off two hands and presented them to his majesty. Then his people and his cattle were pursued, and I carried off a living captive and presented him to his majesty. I brought his majesty back to Egypt in two days from "Upper Well," and was rewarded with gold. I brought back two female slaves as booty, apart from those that I had presented to his majesty. Then they made me a "Warrior of the Ruler."

Then I conveyed King Aakheperkare, the justified, when he sailed south to Khent-hen-nefer, to crush rebellion throughout the lands, to repel the intruders from the desert region. I was brave in his presence in the bad water, in the towing of the ship over the cataract. Thereupon I was made crew commander. Then his majesty [was informed that the Nubian] .. At this his majesty became enraged like a leopard. His majesty shot, and his first arrow pierced the chest of that foe. Then those [enemies turned to flee], helpless before his Uraeus. A slaughter was made among them; their dependents were carried off as living captives. His majesty journeyed north, all foreign lands in his grasp, and that wretched Nubian Bowman head downward at the bow of his majesty's ship "Falcon." They landed at Ipet-sut.

After this (his majesty) proceeded to Retenu, to vent his wrath throughout the lands. When his majesty reached Nahrin, his majesty found that foe marshalling troops. Then his majesty made a great slaughter of them. Countless were the living captives which his majesty brought back from his victories. Now I was in the van of our troops, and his majesty saw my valour. I brought a chariot, its horse, and him who was on it as a living captive. When they were presented to his majesty, I was rewarded with gold once again.

I have grown old; I have reached old age. Favoured as before, and loved [by my lord], I [rest] in the tomb that I myself made....in Behy. Again I am given by the King of Upper and Lower Egypt ... 60 arura in Hadjaa. In sum ... arura.

Ahmose (1570 to 1515) served under the pharaohs Tao II Seqenenre, Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, and Thutmose I, late 17th dynasty and beginning of 18th dynasty.