The other one, the one called Borges, is the one things happen to. I walk through the streets of Buenos Aires and stop for a moment, perhaps mechanically now, to look at the arch of an entrance hall and the grillwork on the gate; I know of Borges from the mail and see his name on a list of professors or in a biographical dictionary. I like hourglasses, maps, eighteenth-century typography, the taste of coffee and the prose of Stevenson; he shares these preferences, but in a vain way that turns them into the attributes of an actor. It would be an exaggeration to say that ours is a hostile relationship; I live, let myself go on living, so that Borges may contrive his literature, and this literature justifies me. It is no effort for me to confess that he has achieved some valid pages, but those pages cannot save me, perhaps because what is good belongs to no one, not even to him, but rather to the language and to tradition. Besides, I am destined to perish, definitively, and only some instant of myself can survive in him. Little by little, I am giving over everything to him, though I am quite aware of his perverse custom of falsifying and magnifying things. Spinoza knew that all things long to persist in their being; the stone eternally wants to be a stone and the tiger a tiger. I shall remain in Borges, not in myself (if it is true that I am someone), but I recognize myself less in his books than in many others or in the laborious strumming of a guitar. Years ago I tried to free myself from him and went from the mythologies of the suburbs to the games with time and infinity, but those games belong to Borges now and I shall have to imagine other things. Thus my life is a flight and I lose everything and everything belongs to oblivion, or to him. I do not know which of us has written this page.
Translated by J. E. I.
Everything and Nothing
There was no one in him; behind his face (which even through the bad paintings of those times resembles no other) and his words, which were copious, fantastic and stormy, there was only a bit of coldness, a dream dreamt by no one. At first he thought that all people were like him, but the astonishment of a friend to whom he had begun to speak of this emptiness showed him his error and made him feel always that an individual should not differ in outward appearance. Once he thought that in books he would find a cure for his ill and thus he learned the small Latin and less Greek a contemporary would speak of; later he considered that what he sought might well be found in an elemental rite of humanity, and let himself be initiated by Anne Hathaway one long June afternoon. At the age of twenty-odd years he went to London. Instinctively he had already become proficient in the habit of simulating that he was someone, so that others would not discover his condition as no one; in London he found the profession to which he was predestined, that of the actor, who on a stage plays at being another before a gathering of people who play at taking him for that other person. His histrionic tasks brought him a singular satisfaction, perhaps the first he had ever known; but once the last verse had been acclaimed and the last dead man withdrawn from the stage, the hated flavor of unreality returned to him. He ceased to be Ferrex or Tamerlane and became no one again. Thus hounded, he took to imagining other heroes and other tragic fables. And so, while his flesh fulfilled its destiny as flesh in the taverns and brothels of London, the soul that inhabited him was Caesar, who disregards the augur's admonition, and Juliet, who abhors the lark, and Macbeth, who converses on the plain with the witches who are also Fates. No one has ever been so many men as this man, who like the Egyptian Proteus could exhaust all the guises of reality. At times he would leave a confession hidden away in some corner of his work, certain that it would not be deciphered; Richard affirms that in his person he plays the part of many and Iago claims with curious words "I am not what I am." The fundamental identity of existing, dreaming and acting inspired famous passages of his.
For twenty years he persisted in that controlled hallucination, but one morning he was suddenly gripped by the tedium and the terror of being so many kings who die by the sword and so many suffering lovers who converge, diverge and melodiously expire. That very day he arranged to sell his theater. Within a week he had returned to his native village, where he recovered the trees and rivers of his childhood and did not relate them to the others his muse had celebrated, illustrious with mythological allusions and Latin terms. He had to be someone; he was a retired impresario who had made his fortune and concerned himself with loans, lawsuits and petty usury. It was in this character that he dictated the arid will and testament known to us, from which he deliberately excluded all traces of pathos or literature. His friends from London would visit his retreat and for them he would take up again his role as poet.
History adds that before or after dying he found himself in the presence of God and told Him: "I who have been so many men in vain want to be one and myself." The voice of the Lord answered from a whirlwind: "Neither am I anyone; I have dreamt the world as you dreamt your work, my Shakespeare, and among the forms in my dream are you, who like myself are many and no one."
Translated by J. E. I.
Elegy
Oh destiny of Borges to have sailed across the diverse seas of the world or across that single and solitary sea of diverse names, to have been a part of Edinburgh, of Zurich, of the two Cordobas, of Colombia and of Texas, to have returned at the end of changing generations to the ancient lands of his forbears, to Andalucia, to Portugal and to those counties where the Saxon warred with the Dane and they mixed their blood, to have wandered through the red and tranquil labyrinth of London, to have grown old in so many mirrors, to have sought in vain the marble gaze of the statues, to have questioned lithographs, encyclopedias, atlases, to have seen the things that men see, death, the sluggish dawn, the plains, and the delicate stars, and to have seen nothing, or almost nothing except the face of a girl from Buenos Aires a face that does not want you to remember it.
Oh destiny of Borges, perhaps no stranger than your own.
(1964).
Translated by D. A. Y.
Chronology
1899 Born August 24 in Buenos Aires 1914 Travels with his family to Europe. At the outbreak of the war, the Borgeses settle in Switzerland where Jorge finishes his secondary education.
1919-21 Travel in Spain Majorca, Seville, Madrid. Association with the ultraist ultraist literary group (Rafael Cansinos Assens, Guillermo de Torre, Gerardo Diego, etc.). His first poem published in the magazine literary group (Rafael Cansinos Assens, Guillermo de Torre, Gerardo Diego, etc.). His first poem published in the magazine Grecia. Grecia.
1921 Returns to Argentina. Publication with friends (Gonzalez Lanuza, Norah Lange, Francisco Pinero, etc.) of the "mural" magazine Prisma Prisma pasted in poster fashion on fences and walls of the city. pasted in poster fashion on fences and walls of the city.
1923 Family travels again to Europe. Publication at home of his first book of poetry, El fervor de Buenos Aires. El fervor de Buenos Aires.
1924 Contributes to the reincarnated Proa Proa and and Martin Fierro, Martin Fierro, two important literary magazines of the time. two important literary magazines of the time.
1925 Appearance of his second book of poetry, Luna de enfrente, Luna de enfrente, and his first book of essays, and his first book of essays, Inquisiciones. Inquisiciones.
1926 Another collection of essays: El tamano de mi esperanza. El tamano de mi esperanza.
1928 El idioma de los argentinos, El idioma de los argentinos, essays. essays.
1929 Cuaderno San Martin, Cuaderno San Martin, his third volume of verses. his third volume of verses.
1930 Evaristo Carriego, Evaristo Carriego, an essay which honors this Buenos Aires poet, plus other pieces. Borges meets Adolfo Bioy Casares, with whom he will collaborate on various literary undertakings during the next three decades. an essay which honors this Buenos Aires poet, plus other pieces. Borges meets Adolfo Bioy Casares, with whom he will collaborate on various literary undertakings during the next three decades.
1932 Discusion, Discusion, essays and film criticism. essays and film criticism.
1933 Begins to contribute to the literary supplement of the newspaper Critica, Critica, which he will later edit. which he will later edit.
1935 Historia universal de la infamia, Historia universal de la infamia, a collection of some of his first tentative efforts at writing prose fiction. a collection of some of his first tentative efforts at writing prose fiction.
1936 Historia de la eternidad, Historia de la eternidad, essays. essays.
1938 His father dies. Borges is appointed librarian of a small municipal Buenos Aires library.
1941 El jardin de los senderos que se bifurcan, El jardin de los senderos que se bifurcan, an anthology of his short stories. an anthology of his short stories.
1944 Ficciones, Ficciones, his most celebrated collection of stories. his most celebrated collection of stories.
1946 For purely political reasons, he is relieved of his post as municipal librarian.
1949 El Aleph, El Aleph, a collection of his stories written during the preceding five years. a collection of his stories written during the preceding five years.
1952 Otras inquisiciones, Otras inquisiciones, his most important collection of essays. his most important collection of essays.
1954 The first three volumes of Borges's Collected Works Collected Works are published by Emece in Buenos Aires. The first book of literary criticism dedicated exclusively to his work and its influence appears: are published by Emece in Buenos Aires. The first book of literary criticism dedicated exclusively to his work and its influence appears: Borges y la nueva generacion Borges y la nueva generacion by Adolfo Prieto. by Adolfo Prieto.
1955 With the overthrow of the Peronist regime, Borges is named Director of the National Library in Buenos Aires. With the overthrow of the Peronist regime, Borges is named Director of the National Library in Buenos Aires.
1956 Assumes the chair of English and North American Literature at the University of Buenos Aires.
1958-59 Period of reduced literary productivity, marked by a return to poetic composition and the cultivation of extremely short prose forms.
1960 El hacedor, El hacedor, his most recent collection to date of new pieces (prose and poetry). . . his most recent collection to date of new pieces (prose and poetry). . .
1961 Antologia personal, Antologia personal, Borges's selection of his own preferred prose and poetry. He shares with Samuel Beckett the $10,000 International Publishers' Prize. In the fall he leaves for the University of Texas on an invitation to lecture on Argentine literature. Borges's selection of his own preferred prose and poetry. He shares with Samuel Beckett the $10,000 International Publishers' Prize. In the fall he leaves for the University of Texas on an invitation to lecture on Argentine literature.
1962 Lectures at universities in eastern United States. Returns to Buenos Aires and the University where he offers a course in Old English. First book publication in English: Lectures at universities in eastern United States. Returns to Buenos Aires and the University where he offers a course in Old English. First book publication in English: Ficciones Ficciones (Grove Press) and a selection of his best prose writings, (Grove Press) and a selection of his best prose writings, Labyrinths Labyrinths (New Directions). (New Directions).
1963 Leaves for a brief tour of Europe (Spain, Switzerland, and France) and England where he lectures on English and Spanish American literary topics. Travels later to Colombia to lecture and receives an honorary degree from the University of Los Andes. Leaves for a brief tour of Europe (Spain, Switzerland, and France) and England where he lectures on English and Spanish American literary topics. Travels later to Colombia to lecture and receives an honorary degree from the University of Los Andes.
1964 Occasionally publishes poetry in Buenos Aires newspapers. Now blind, he dedicates much of his energy to his classes at the University. Occasionally publishes poetry in Buenos Aires newspapers. Now blind, he dedicates much of his energy to his classes at the University.
1966 Receives the Annual Literary Award of the Ingram Merrill Foundation, which includes a prize of $5,000.
1971 Made an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Institute of Arts and Letters. Awarded honorary degrees by Columbia University and the University of Oxford. To date, his most recent books are Aleph and Other Stories Aleph and Other Stories (Dutton) and (Dutton) and The Book of Imaginary Beings The Book of Imaginary Beings (Avon). (Avon).
1972 Doctor Brodie's Report Doctor Brodie's Report is to be published in January. is to be published in January.
Bibliography
PRINCIPAL WORKS OF BORGES.
All works were published in Buenos Aires unless otherwise noted. Those marked with an asterisk are now volumes in Borges's Obras completas. Obras completas.
POETRY.
El fervor de Buenos Aires (Imprenta Serantes, 1923) (Imprenta Serantes, 1923) Luna de enfrente (Proa, 1925) (Proa, 1925) Cuaderno San Martin (Proa, 1929) (Proa, 1929) Poemas, 1922-1943 (Losada, 1943) (Losada, 1943) * Poemas, 1923-1953 Poemas, 1923-1953 (Emece, 1953) (Emece, 1953) * Poemas, 1923-1958 Poemas, 1923-1958 (Emece, 1958) (Emece, 1958) * El hacedor El hacedor (in part) (Emece, 1960) (in part) (Emece, 1960) Antologia personal (in part) (Sur, 1961) (in part) (Sur, 1961)
ESSAYS.
Inquisiciones (Proa, 1925) (Proa, 1925) El tamano de mi esperanza (Proa, 1926) (Proa, 1926) El idioma de los argentinos (Gleizer, 1928) (Gleizer, 1928) * Evaristo Carriego Evaristo Carriego (Gleizer, 1930; Emece, 1955) (Gleizer, 1930; Emece, 1955) * Discusion Discusion (Gleizer, 1932; Emece, 1957) (Gleizer, 1932; Emece, 1957) * Historia de la eternidad Historia de la eternidad (Viau y Zona, 1936; Emece, 1953) (Viau y Zona, 1936; Emece, 1953) Aspectos de la literatura gauchesca (Numero, Montevideo, 1950) (Numero, Montevideo, 1950) Antiguas literaturas germanicas Antiguas literaturas germanicas (Fondo de Cultura Economica, Mexico City, 1951) (Fondo de Cultura Economica, Mexico City, 1951) * Otras inquisiciones, 1931-1952 Otras inquisiciones, 1931-1952 (Sur, 1952; Emece, 1960) (Sur, 1952; Emece, 1960) El "Martin Fierro" (Columba, 1953) (Columba, 1953) Leopoldo Lugones (Troquel, 1955) (Troquel, 1955) Antologia personal (in part) (Sur, 1961) (in part) (Sur, 1961)
The booklets Las Kenningar Las Kenningar (Colombo, 1933) and (Colombo, 1933) and Nueva refutation del tiempo Nueva refutation del tiempo (Oportet Haereses, 1947) were later incorporated into (Oportet Haereses, 1947) were later incorporated into Historia de la eternidad Historia de la eternidad and and Otras inquisiciones, Otras inquisiciones, respectively. respectively.
FICTION AND IMAGINATIVE PROSE.
* Historia universal de la infamia Historia universal de la infamia (Tor, 1935; Emece, 1954) (Tor, 1935; Emece, 1954) * Ficciones Ficciones (Sur, 1945; Emece, 1956) (Sur, 1945; Emece, 1956) * El Aleph (Losada, 1949, 1952; Emece, 1957) (Losada, 1949, 1952; Emece, 1957) * El hacedor El hacedor (in part) (Emece, 1960) (in part) (Emece, 1960) Antologia personal (in part) (Sur, 1961) (in part) (Sur, 1961)
The narrative collection El jardin de los senderos que se bifurcan El jardin de los senderos que se bifurcan (Sur, 1941) was later incorporated into (Sur, 1941) was later incorporated into Ficciones. Ficciones. The anthology The anthology La muerte y la brujula La muerte y la brujula (Emece, 1951) contains a selection of stories from all the earlier volumes. (Emece, 1951) contains a selection of stories from all the earlier volumes.
In collaboration with Adolfo Bioy Casares, using the joint pseudonyms of H. Bustos Domecq or B. Suarez Lynch, Borges has published the detective narratives Seis problemas para don Isidro Parodi Seis problemas para don Isidro Parodi (Sur, 1942) and (Sur, 1942) and Un modelo para la muerte Un modelo para la muerte (Oportet Haereses, 1946), and the stories (Oportet Haereses, 1946), and the stories Dos fantasias memorables Dos fantasias memorables (Oportet Haereses, 1946). With Bioy Casares he has also published two film scripts: (Oportet Haereses, 1946). With Bioy Casares he has also published two film scripts: Los orilleros Los orilleros and and El paraiso de los creyentes El paraiso de los creyentes (Losada, 1955). Also with Bioy, Borges has edited two detective short story anthologies: (Losada, 1955). Also with Bioy, Borges has edited two detective short story anthologies: Los mejores cuentos policiales Los mejores cuentos policiales (Emece, 1943) and (Emece, 1943) and Los mejores cuentos policiales, segunda serie Los mejores cuentos policiales, segunda serie (Emece, 1951) as well as the anthology (Emece, 1951) as well as the anthology Libra del cielo y del infierno Libra del cielo y del infierno (Sur, 1960). In collaboration with Adolfo Bioy Casares and Silvina Ocampo he edited (Sur, 1960). In collaboration with Adolfo Bioy Casares and Silvina Ocampo he edited Antologia de la literatura fantastica Antologia de la literatura fantastica (Sudamericana, 1940). (Sudamericana, 1940).