miércoles, 22 de abril de 2020

martes, 21 de abril de 2020

"Aquello que les falta es lo que más estiman" -capítulo 16 de Santa María del Diablo

En el capítulo 16, Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo, nuestro viejo cronista, nos dice que el fin del mundo está muy cerca y nos revela detalles de las costumbres de los indios de Cueva





lunes, 20 de abril de 2020

El país del sueño -capítulo 15 de Santa María del Diablo

En el capítulo 15 ocurren muchas cosas, pero la más extraña de todas es la peste de modorra
que produjo la muerte de ochocientos colonos. 
Nuestro cronista, Oviedo, sobrevive para contar la historia. 














sábado, 18 de abril de 2020

El Mar del Sur -capítulo 13 de Santa María del Diablo


En el capítulo 13, Vasco Núñez de Balboa decide no esperar los refuerzos pedidos a España y parte en busca del legendario mar austral. La travesía es difícil, pero la expedición es exitosa. Regresa a Santa María cargado de tesoros y se le recibe como héroe. Pero su alegría será breve. La llegada de Pedrarias representa el final de su reinado.















viernes, 17 de abril de 2020

"Me parece que estos indios no quieren escuchar la teología"- capítulo 12 de Santa María dle Diablo

En el capítulo 12, la identidad de nuestro viejo cronista se hace más evidente. El escribano real Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo recuerda su participación en la flota de Pedrarias Dávila, nos habla de un documento delirante –llamado "el requerimiento"– y nos cuenta lo ocurrido durante la incursión de la flota en el lugar donde después sería fundada Santa Marta.



















Nocturnal


Un cuento de Bajas pasiones, traducido por Rebecca Liloy

 Vincent Van Gogh, Starry Night Pre-Framed - Canvas Art ...
Nocturnal

It happens three times each night. The first, when I go to bed. They check that my pijamas are on correctly, they instruct me to the bathroom to pee, and they tuck me in between the blankets. Then they turn off the lights and they stand together by the door, religiously waiting for me to fall asleep.
Since I am not sleepy, and to not make them wait, I pretend: for the first time at night I act asleep.
Then they turn around and walk slowly, as if postponing the arrival to the room they share. I look forward to a delightful night. I close my eyes and mentally draw my bedroom with the view as seen from my bed, I then open my them, overlap the memory with reality and find there is no difference. I smile and begin thinking of frivolous ideas while the time for my parents’ second check comes.
They arrive in different ways: sometimes just one of them, sometimes both of them: defeated by sleepiness; rarely, agitated and even sweaty, as if they just returned from a quick jog around the block.
So, I try to position myself into a careless pose, close my eyes and relax my breathing, making it almost indiscernible. They are happy to see that I am asleep and return to their room and their things.
Alone again I try to remember what I was thinking of before the interruption and, if I can remember what it was, I go along with it, oscillating in absolute liberty, between childish fantasies and the deepest philosophical questions. It makes no difference if I am not able to remember the last thought from before the interruption; simply with a distracted mind, I arrive at something, any thing, every thing works, I think of it, and a short time after arrive at ideas that have no apparent relation with the original thought. Like this until sunrise.
Then they arrive for the third time, they look at the alarm clock, they make sure that the moments that follow will not go awry, and again they leave me alone until it's time to prepare myself to go to school.
While I wait for the alarm to go off, I think about the day before me, of the things that I must do, of my classes and the games to be played at recess. Sometimes I have enough time to review my lessons. Finally, I get up, I shower, I get dressed, eat breakfast, and I’m on my way to school.
This happens every night. The times of their visits are almost always the same and I have little difficulty in pretending to be asleep. But such routine is exhausting. I think my parents are ready for the news and I only wait for the right moment to relieve them of their worrisome nightly ritual of checking up on my sleep. They’ll be happy to learn that I never sleep.

By Gustavo Arango, Translated from Spanish by Rebecca Liloy





































jueves, 16 de abril de 2020

La cólera de Dios - capítulo 11 de Santa María del Diablo

En el capítulo 11, conocemos detalles de la enorme flota que cruzó el océano en 1514, rumbo a Santa María, y del carácter de su comandante,  Pedrarias Dávila, quien con el tiempo sería conocido con el nombre de "La cólera de Dios".







miércoles, 15 de abril de 2020

"Hay en aquella Tierra Firme un sinfín de animales" -capítulo 10 de Santa María del Daiblo


En el capítulo 10, de Santa María del Diablo, nuestro viejo cronista nos habla ahora de los animales de Tierra Firme, de los venenos de las flechas de los caribes y de la manera milagrosa como se descubrió su antídoto













martes, 14 de abril de 2020