Cierto día, maestro y alumno se encontraban caminando por las calles de una ciudad vecina, cuya fama en bajos recursos era solo alcanzada por la miseria en que vivían sus habitantes. El maestro, buscando enseñar tanto lo bueno como lo malo de cualquier sociedad humana, había traído a su discípulo-joven de buena familia cuyo estómago nunca había probado el hambre- a este lugar con el fin de que éste conociera lo que en su mente figuraba un cuento de ficción (no era que no hubiese oído hablar de la pobreza, claro que lo había escuchado, sin embargo, para el, este estrato social representaba una mera pieza de imaginación en su mente, sin objeto con el cual contrastarlo con la realidad).
Al pasar por uno de los varios callejones de la desdichada ciudad, el alumno no pudo contener una expresión de disgusto, la cual notó el maestro, entendiendo perfectamente el porqué: la vista era espantosa; lo primero que atraía -o repulsaba- a los sentidos era la decadencia, pedazos de roedores muertos siendo devorados por sus descendientes, estanques de sangre y basura, repletos de moscas y perros que, a falta de alimento, encontraban en esta mezcla una forma de saciar el hambre. Sin embargo, la reacción del alumno no había sido generada por esta escena, sino mas bien por una figura pequeña, oscura, casi inerte que se encontraba al final del pasadizo. Era una niña, una pequeña pelirroja que, maltratada por el mundo, la miseria y sus padres, había llegado hasta ahí, quedando sin fuerzas para continuar su existencia. El alumno, tras esta primera impresión corrió hacia donde estaba la niña, y, sin pensarlo, le dio todo cuanto el y su maestro habían traído consigo: agua, pan, un poco de carne y varias frazadas; después, un poco mas reconfortado sabiendo que había ayudado a la pequeña, retomó el camino con su maestro, quien había avanzado varios metros sin mirar atrás en el tiempo que su aprendiz realizaba éstas acciones.
-Maestro- comento el alumno
-Si, alumno mío?- respondió el viejo
- Estais enojado conmigo?
-Que te hace pensar eso, mi querido amigo?
- Se ha seguido de largo, dejándome mientras ayudaba a la niña, disculpe usted maestro, pero pensé estar haciendo lo correcto
Con una triste sonrisa, marca de quien a dejado atrás la ignorancia, sacrificando así su felicidad, el maestro se volvió a su alumno, y con pesar en su semblante, le preguntó: dime, mi querido alumno, ayudaste en verdad a la pequeña?; el joven, asintió con la cabeza, pensando en la comida que había proporcionado. -esta bien- dijo el maestro, pasemos mañana por este lugar, haber que piensas entonces. Dicho esto, ambos continuaron su camino, cada quien sumido en sus pensamientos.
Al día siguiente, maestro y alumno visitaron el callejón. La vista no había cambiado, la sangre y los perros seguían ahí, y, para dolor del alumno, también la pequeña pelirroja. Continuaba con vida, era cierto, gracias al pan y el agua que había recibido, sin embargo, parecía sufrir mas que el día anterior.
-Lo ves?- dijo el maestro, -el mundo no ha cambiado, y su situación tampoco, es cierto, la ayudaste a sobrevivir un día, pero eso no equivale, querido mío, lo mismo a vivir-
-¡pero maestro!- refutó alterado el joven, -! debía ayudarla!-
-no debías- respondió el otro, -si no lo hubieses hecho, aquella estaría ya libre de sufrimiento- - lo que tu hiciste- agregó -fue un acto egoísta: ayudaste a un alma en pena a continuar con su dolor, solo para poder escapar de tu propio malestar; sabías que moriría, incluso ahora lo sabes, si no fue ayer será mañana, y acudiste a ella para no tener el peso de su muerte en tu memoria. Ninguna acción caritativa, mi joven alumno, es un acto libre de egoísmo, harás bien en recordarlo-
dicho esto, maestro y alumno continuaron su camino, reflexionando el pesar que trae consigo la verdad.
sábado, 22 de agosto de 2009
viernes, 7 de agosto de 2009
Innocence
The first thing Lucy noticed when she arrived to Sin was the smell: a soft, almost imperceptible smell of what she thought were cherries and something else, something she could not quite describe; at first, she thought this to be odd. You see, Lucy was from the country side, and had only arrived to Sin -her dream city- that afternoon. Like many girls her age, Lucy had traveled from her house to the big city trying to make a better life for herself, and, after hearing so much about the city light's, about how they blazed like tiny stars night and day without a pause, or about the people, the fun-loving amiable people, it struck her as odd that the first thing she noticed above anything else, was the smell.
It wasn't as if it was disgusting or anything like that -in fact, she quite enjoyed it- it was just strange. As she went deeper inside the city, she found that she could sense the smell getting stronger: now she got not only a whiff of strawberry, but a hint of homemade pie, and still that something else she could not bring herself to name, at the very best she could only say it was a soft, tender fragrance, almost imperceptible amidst the rest of the odors that formed part of it (then again, she knew that, without that infatuating smell -for there was no other way to describe it- the rest of the odors would simply break apart, diffusing in the cold night air). after a few minutes of -literally- sniffing around, Lucy finally arrived to the source of the smell: a small house that looked as if it were going to fall down any minute, in which doorsteps lay sitting an old lay, busy peeling a basket full of apples; as she approached the house, the old woman turned to her with a smile, and as Lucy lay motionless, basking in the smell that had brought her there, she spoke in a voice that sounded not unlike the age of a teenager: "its innocence my dear, what you smell? it is called innocence"
"innocence?" Lucy responded, "what is that?"
"it is what you smell of" the old lady answered. Baffled by this response, Lucy decided it was time to go, for she still had to search for a place to stay, and so, bidding the woman goodbye, she departed, still so hypnotized by the smell that she only half heard the lady's parting words: "If you ever wish it taken away..." to Lucy, the rest of the sentence was lost between the thoughts inside her head.
The months passed and Lucy found out that life in Sin was not as they had told her: she'd spent every waking hour for the las couple of months looking for a job, only to be rejected time after time; It was as if the people did not want her to be near them, and everywhere she inquired, she got the same answer over and over again: "you smell of it, you're can't work here"; for Lucy, these words made no sense, until, one day, passing near to where the shattered old house was, she remembered the old woman's words. Was it really that? was this innocence she'd heard of the smell that had robbed her of a new life in the city? "well" thought Lucy "then I'm just gonna have to get rid of it", and, having made up her mind in that matter, she went straight to where she knew the woman would be.
"come in, darling come in" was the first thing Desire -as Lucy found out the woman was named- told her after hearing her plea "do have an apple will you? they're freshly picked", famished as she was (after all, not having a job meant cutting down not only on luxuries but necessities such as food) Lucy gladly accepted the offer, and had soon devoured the whole basket. "My oh my, filled up, have we?" asked teasingly Desire "well, as long as you're here, you may as well sleep a little, they say it is good after a snack"
"what about my problem?" asked Lucy "when will the smell go away?"
"Don't worry child, you shall soon be without it, I promise". Consoled by the words of such a kind lady, Lucy closed her eyes -for indeed they were a bit heavy after such a meal- and went to sleep.
The first thing Lucy noticed when she woke up was that the smell was gone, it had finally disappeared, and it wasn't until the thrill of this discovery was gone that she realized Desire had disappeared: she was nowhere to be found; She also found out two things as well, firstly, that her honor had been tainted, for there was blood in her clothes, and secondly, that it wasn't until she lost it, that she truly understood the meaning of Innocence: it is what we long for most when it has gone; On her way out, she saw a new basket full of freshly picked apples, and understood what it meant: she had a job now; without any other thoughts, Lucy carried the basket out to the doorsteps, and started peeling the apples.
Two months went by, the sun rising and setting and still Lucy sat on the doorstep, waiting, until, one day, she looked up to the street smiling melancholically: the smell of innocence was in the air...
It wasn't as if it was disgusting or anything like that -in fact, she quite enjoyed it- it was just strange. As she went deeper inside the city, she found that she could sense the smell getting stronger: now she got not only a whiff of strawberry, but a hint of homemade pie, and still that something else she could not bring herself to name, at the very best she could only say it was a soft, tender fragrance, almost imperceptible amidst the rest of the odors that formed part of it (then again, she knew that, without that infatuating smell -for there was no other way to describe it- the rest of the odors would simply break apart, diffusing in the cold night air). after a few minutes of -literally- sniffing around, Lucy finally arrived to the source of the smell: a small house that looked as if it were going to fall down any minute, in which doorsteps lay sitting an old lay, busy peeling a basket full of apples; as she approached the house, the old woman turned to her with a smile, and as Lucy lay motionless, basking in the smell that had brought her there, she spoke in a voice that sounded not unlike the age of a teenager: "its innocence my dear, what you smell? it is called innocence"
"innocence?" Lucy responded, "what is that?"
"it is what you smell of" the old lady answered. Baffled by this response, Lucy decided it was time to go, for she still had to search for a place to stay, and so, bidding the woman goodbye, she departed, still so hypnotized by the smell that she only half heard the lady's parting words: "If you ever wish it taken away..." to Lucy, the rest of the sentence was lost between the thoughts inside her head.
The months passed and Lucy found out that life in Sin was not as they had told her: she'd spent every waking hour for the las couple of months looking for a job, only to be rejected time after time; It was as if the people did not want her to be near them, and everywhere she inquired, she got the same answer over and over again: "you smell of it, you're can't work here"; for Lucy, these words made no sense, until, one day, passing near to where the shattered old house was, she remembered the old woman's words. Was it really that? was this innocence she'd heard of the smell that had robbed her of a new life in the city? "well" thought Lucy "then I'm just gonna have to get rid of it", and, having made up her mind in that matter, she went straight to where she knew the woman would be.
"come in, darling come in" was the first thing Desire -as Lucy found out the woman was named- told her after hearing her plea "do have an apple will you? they're freshly picked", famished as she was (after all, not having a job meant cutting down not only on luxuries but necessities such as food) Lucy gladly accepted the offer, and had soon devoured the whole basket. "My oh my, filled up, have we?" asked teasingly Desire "well, as long as you're here, you may as well sleep a little, they say it is good after a snack"
"what about my problem?" asked Lucy "when will the smell go away?"
"Don't worry child, you shall soon be without it, I promise". Consoled by the words of such a kind lady, Lucy closed her eyes -for indeed they were a bit heavy after such a meal- and went to sleep.
The first thing Lucy noticed when she woke up was that the smell was gone, it had finally disappeared, and it wasn't until the thrill of this discovery was gone that she realized Desire had disappeared: she was nowhere to be found; She also found out two things as well, firstly, that her honor had been tainted, for there was blood in her clothes, and secondly, that it wasn't until she lost it, that she truly understood the meaning of Innocence: it is what we long for most when it has gone; On her way out, she saw a new basket full of freshly picked apples, and understood what it meant: she had a job now; without any other thoughts, Lucy carried the basket out to the doorsteps, and started peeling the apples.
Two months went by, the sun rising and setting and still Lucy sat on the doorstep, waiting, until, one day, she looked up to the street smiling melancholically: the smell of innocence was in the air...
jueves, 6 de agosto de 2009
hope lies in beauty
the first thought Man had when he woke up was that of an inextinguishable happiness, after all, how else could he feel today, the day he would start looking for beauty? the fact was that Man was a beautyist, and a real fervent one for that matter, and nothing brought more joy and pride to a beautyist's life than the time when he or she could spend the rest of his or her days looking for beauty. For Man, that time had come: as of today, he would set out and devote himself to the mission of finding beauty; not any kind of beauty, mind you, but Beauty: the never-ending, never changing state of life, the one thing that left out nobody and welcomed everybody. And so, with such a happy quest on his mind, Man got out of bed, showered, prepared himself the most delicious french toasts he'd ever tried (truth be told, they were a little burnt, but he was not about to accept that in such a blissful day) and got himself ready for the first day of his hopeful quest.
The first thing that Man saw when he left his house was a poor woman, whose low moans that begged for money were only matched in pitifulness by the creature she was carrying in her back. Slowly, as if she only had so much life left within herself and didn't want to waste it on unnecessary movements, the woman turned her hazy black eyes towards Man, and reaching to him with her hand, asked him to help her, if only with whatever Man had with himself that he did not want anymore -"a paper, half a bottle of water" she said "whatever my kind master should gladly part ways with". Now, there is something you must understand about beautyists, and that is that they see beauty not only in the esthetic of any given object, but in the actions of life and destiny. For someone like Man, nothing could be more important than hope, and hope could only be obtained through beauty. A soulless man would most likely have turned away disgusted by the sight, but not our dear Man, for you see, Man thought that, by helping this poor lady he would in fact be doing something beautiful (that is, by giving this woman hope for the future) and so, Man gave this poor beggar and her son not only enough money to eat one day, but for one month, continuing his quest afterwards. Nothing more happened to Man that day, and so, while the sun settled in the horizon, he returned home, where after a light dinner and hot shower, he spent the night imagining the many faces Beauty could have.
The next day, the first thing Man saw after leaving the house once more, was the same beggar he had helped the day before, only this time she had two children with her instead of one. when he approached her, she turned once more to face him, once again asking for his help, Man, taking pity on the infants that stared at his clean shirt as if it were something out of a fairy tale, gave the woman enough to keep herself and his kids alive for three months. After such a beautiful action, Man decided to take a walk through a nearby church -he'd always found this almighty god quite curious, if not funny, but respected and loved the gardens of the buildings in which it was adored- where he met a pair of women who called themselves "nuns", who explained to him about their god, detailing the virtues of love and compassion he expected everyone to uphold. After a couple of hours talking with them, Man decided it was time to go home -he had found a little bit of beauty, and decided not to tempt his luck- and so, he bid farewell to his two new friends, and returned home, where he dreamt of love, hope and beauty.
The third day man found once more the beggar upon leaving his house, and again helped her and her now three children. Man thought it odd to find them on the street, for he had given her enough money to help a family for at least a month, but, who was he to question a mother's actions?, in the end, he thought, she was probably using the money to benefit her children. After a light walk, Man passed through a ballet studio, where he stopped at the window-side for a while, watching the ballerinas perform. He didn't talk to anyone, but fell in love with the music, the poses the subtle grace with which all the dancers seemed to move. He specially loved a young girl, a lass not older than sixteen summers, who seemed the fairest of them all. Anxious to dream of beauty through what he had seen today, Man returned home, and before the sun was completely set, he was already in bed, waiting patiently for Morpheus to take him.
But something was wrong that night, for Man could not sleep, could not dream. Not that day, nor the other, nor the next one.
For twelve nights Man lay awake, thinking, hoping to enter the world of dreams, where he felt so close to beauty. on the thirteenth night, Man suddenly realized what had kept him up so many days: Man had never seen beauty at night! and so, after getting ready, he opened the door, cheerfully walking outside, where he knew beauty was waiting.
He was wrong.
The first thing Man noticed when he left his house were what looked like three dogs on the street, cuddling one after the other for warmth, it took Man five seconds to realize those three were the beggar's children. when he approached them, they scurried like mice on the floor, and didn't come near until they saw a coin in Man's hand, promising he would give them more if they told him about their mother, they explained she went to heaven, and even though Man had never believed in their god or their heaven, he understood what they meant: the mother was dead. promising them to return and take care of them, Man hurried toward his friend's church, where he knew the kind nuns would help him in this situation. Unfortunately, two things impeded Man from reaching the church, the first one was that, passing through a dump in his way to church, Man saw to women he recognized as the nuns he knew. Aghast, he went to them and asked what had happened: with a tear in their eyes, and their hands entwined within one another, the women simply answered "the Lord asked us to search for and give love, but when indeed we obeyed him, his priests called us sinners, and banned us from our sacred home". Unable to think of anything else to tell them, Man promised to go and make the priests retract themselves, thinking this to be the only way to help both his friends and the children, and, had fate let Man reach the church, maybe it would have been so, but it happened that, one block away from his goal, Man read a sign that made his body shiver:
"Heaven restaurant, a piece of it right here on earth"
one block away from church, lay a fine cuisine restaurant named heaven, and inside its doors, a woman could be found, a woman with black eyes and mother of three.
Man could not stand to be there, and forgetting everything he ran as fast as he could, going to the only place left where beauty had been: the ballet room; had he not been so concentrated in his run, he might have seen the red and white car passing right beside him, and in turn might not been so shocked when, arriving at the place, he encountered the image of his love, his muse, being carried away into the same ambulance that had gone near him not so long ago, unconscious, with vomit still in her mouth.
After that, Man could take no more, he returned home, ignoring the crowd gathering outside the dance hall, he ignored the nuns and their shaky voices, asking whether they had been forgiven or not, he even ignored the three lumps that stood out in the shadows near his home, now sleeping the eternal slumber of the night, far from the reaches of their mother's arms. Once inside his house, Man went directly to his bed, and tried to picture Beauty once more. He found her, but it was not as he thought it would be, for Beauty had changed: she was now hungry, not because she could not eat, but because she did not want to, she was homeless, not because wasn't virtuous, but because she loved a love prohibited by a false god and punished by false priests, she looked resigned, conscious of being left behind; as this images passed through his head, Man suddenly realized one thing: Beauty did not leave to hope, and even though there wasn't beauty, there was still hope to be found; with this in mind, Man fell asleep.
the next day, Man was found dead, holding something in his hand and with a smile on his face, crushed within his fist, was a piece of paper that said:
"the only thing that never ends, that never changes, is the true hope that no matter what, no matter when, death shall take us all"
The first thing that Man saw when he left his house was a poor woman, whose low moans that begged for money were only matched in pitifulness by the creature she was carrying in her back. Slowly, as if she only had so much life left within herself and didn't want to waste it on unnecessary movements, the woman turned her hazy black eyes towards Man, and reaching to him with her hand, asked him to help her, if only with whatever Man had with himself that he did not want anymore -"a paper, half a bottle of water" she said "whatever my kind master should gladly part ways with". Now, there is something you must understand about beautyists, and that is that they see beauty not only in the esthetic of any given object, but in the actions of life and destiny. For someone like Man, nothing could be more important than hope, and hope could only be obtained through beauty. A soulless man would most likely have turned away disgusted by the sight, but not our dear Man, for you see, Man thought that, by helping this poor lady he would in fact be doing something beautiful (that is, by giving this woman hope for the future) and so, Man gave this poor beggar and her son not only enough money to eat one day, but for one month, continuing his quest afterwards. Nothing more happened to Man that day, and so, while the sun settled in the horizon, he returned home, where after a light dinner and hot shower, he spent the night imagining the many faces Beauty could have.
The next day, the first thing Man saw after leaving the house once more, was the same beggar he had helped the day before, only this time she had two children with her instead of one. when he approached her, she turned once more to face him, once again asking for his help, Man, taking pity on the infants that stared at his clean shirt as if it were something out of a fairy tale, gave the woman enough to keep herself and his kids alive for three months. After such a beautiful action, Man decided to take a walk through a nearby church -he'd always found this almighty god quite curious, if not funny, but respected and loved the gardens of the buildings in which it was adored- where he met a pair of women who called themselves "nuns", who explained to him about their god, detailing the virtues of love and compassion he expected everyone to uphold. After a couple of hours talking with them, Man decided it was time to go home -he had found a little bit of beauty, and decided not to tempt his luck- and so, he bid farewell to his two new friends, and returned home, where he dreamt of love, hope and beauty.
The third day man found once more the beggar upon leaving his house, and again helped her and her now three children. Man thought it odd to find them on the street, for he had given her enough money to help a family for at least a month, but, who was he to question a mother's actions?, in the end, he thought, she was probably using the money to benefit her children. After a light walk, Man passed through a ballet studio, where he stopped at the window-side for a while, watching the ballerinas perform. He didn't talk to anyone, but fell in love with the music, the poses the subtle grace with which all the dancers seemed to move. He specially loved a young girl, a lass not older than sixteen summers, who seemed the fairest of them all. Anxious to dream of beauty through what he had seen today, Man returned home, and before the sun was completely set, he was already in bed, waiting patiently for Morpheus to take him.
But something was wrong that night, for Man could not sleep, could not dream. Not that day, nor the other, nor the next one.
For twelve nights Man lay awake, thinking, hoping to enter the world of dreams, where he felt so close to beauty. on the thirteenth night, Man suddenly realized what had kept him up so many days: Man had never seen beauty at night! and so, after getting ready, he opened the door, cheerfully walking outside, where he knew beauty was waiting.
He was wrong.
The first thing Man noticed when he left his house were what looked like three dogs on the street, cuddling one after the other for warmth, it took Man five seconds to realize those three were the beggar's children. when he approached them, they scurried like mice on the floor, and didn't come near until they saw a coin in Man's hand, promising he would give them more if they told him about their mother, they explained she went to heaven, and even though Man had never believed in their god or their heaven, he understood what they meant: the mother was dead. promising them to return and take care of them, Man hurried toward his friend's church, where he knew the kind nuns would help him in this situation. Unfortunately, two things impeded Man from reaching the church, the first one was that, passing through a dump in his way to church, Man saw to women he recognized as the nuns he knew. Aghast, he went to them and asked what had happened: with a tear in their eyes, and their hands entwined within one another, the women simply answered "the Lord asked us to search for and give love, but when indeed we obeyed him, his priests called us sinners, and banned us from our sacred home". Unable to think of anything else to tell them, Man promised to go and make the priests retract themselves, thinking this to be the only way to help both his friends and the children, and, had fate let Man reach the church, maybe it would have been so, but it happened that, one block away from his goal, Man read a sign that made his body shiver:
"Heaven restaurant, a piece of it right here on earth"
one block away from church, lay a fine cuisine restaurant named heaven, and inside its doors, a woman could be found, a woman with black eyes and mother of three.
Man could not stand to be there, and forgetting everything he ran as fast as he could, going to the only place left where beauty had been: the ballet room; had he not been so concentrated in his run, he might have seen the red and white car passing right beside him, and in turn might not been so shocked when, arriving at the place, he encountered the image of his love, his muse, being carried away into the same ambulance that had gone near him not so long ago, unconscious, with vomit still in her mouth.
After that, Man could take no more, he returned home, ignoring the crowd gathering outside the dance hall, he ignored the nuns and their shaky voices, asking whether they had been forgiven or not, he even ignored the three lumps that stood out in the shadows near his home, now sleeping the eternal slumber of the night, far from the reaches of their mother's arms. Once inside his house, Man went directly to his bed, and tried to picture Beauty once more. He found her, but it was not as he thought it would be, for Beauty had changed: she was now hungry, not because she could not eat, but because she did not want to, she was homeless, not because wasn't virtuous, but because she loved a love prohibited by a false god and punished by false priests, she looked resigned, conscious of being left behind; as this images passed through his head, Man suddenly realized one thing: Beauty did not leave to hope, and even though there wasn't beauty, there was still hope to be found; with this in mind, Man fell asleep.
the next day, Man was found dead, holding something in his hand and with a smile on his face, crushed within his fist, was a piece of paper that said:
"the only thing that never ends, that never changes, is the true hope that no matter what, no matter when, death shall take us all"
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