• Ou Ming
  • Wednesday, February 13, 2008

    nothing to do with me

    The man: How could i tell them about an unknown island if I don't even know where it is
    The clealing woman: But you're sure it exists
    As sure as I am that the sea is dark
    Right now, seen from up here, with the water the color of jade and the sky ablaze, it doesn't seem at all dark to me
    That's just an illusion, sometimes islands seem to float above the surface of the water but it's not true
    How do you think you'll manage if you haven't got a crew
    I don't know yet
    We could live here, and I could get work cleaning the boats that come into port, and you,
    And I
    You must have some skill, a craft, a profession, as they call it nowadays
    I have, did have, will have if necessary, but I want to find the unknown island, I want to find out who I am when I'm there on that island
    Don't you know
    If you don't step outside yourself, you'll never discover who you are
    The king's philosopher, when he had nothing to do, would come and sit beside me and watch me darning the pages' socks, and sometimes he would start philosophizing, he used to say that each man is an island, but since that had nothing to do with me, being a woman, I paid no attention to him, what do you think
    That you have to leave the island in order to see the island, that we can't see oursleves unless we become free of ourselves
    Unless we escape from ourselves, you mean
    No, that's not the same thing.

    The blaze in the sky was dying down, the waters grew suddenly purple, now not even the cleaning woman could doubt that the sea is dark, at least at certain times of the day. The man said

    Let's leave the philosophizing to the king's philosopher, that's what they pay him for after all and let's eat.

    J. Saramago, pps 31-32


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    3 Comments:

    Blogger gorki75 said...

    Podías leerlo en castellano, que aunque no es la lengua original es una versión más cercana, ya que la realiza su compañera(mujer) en colaboración directa con el propio Saramago.
    Εγώ όμως δεν έχω διαβάσει ακόμα κανένα βιβλίο του...
    ντορπή μου!

    February 15, 2008 4:13 pm  
    Blogger gorki75 said...

    http://www.estocolmo.se/cultura/saramago_febrero10.htm

    February 15, 2008 4:15 pm  
    Blogger Xilaren said...

    mmm, seria mucho mejor, esto es seguro pero encontre el libro pro casualidad. la proxima. muchas gracias por el enlace. y no es ninguna verguenza. so many books, so little time

    :-)

    February 18, 2008 10:52 am  

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