Last week I read two chapters excerpted from a novel and a short story from a compilation published by Dover called "Spanish Short Stories: A Dual Language Book." These are classics, published in Spanish on the left page and an English translation on the right.
The first was two chapters from an anonymously written book called "Lazarillo de Tormes, 1554". It seems in the Dickens-Dostoyevsky vein. Even the English translation is archaic, and the plot/character/setting is also minimalist. If you can get past that, it is a social commentary on the consequences of choices and the inescapability of station or situation. However, after Chapters I and III, I did not feel enough of a connection with Lazarus to read more.
The second story was "The Power of the Blood," 1612, by Miguel de Cervantes, most well-known for writing Don Quixote. In this story, a middle class girl is raped by an aristocratic youth and hides in shame since her honor has been taken from her. She secretly births a son. By chance, the grandfather of her son sees him and cannot get over the resemblance to his own son. Once the aristocratic grandparents learn the truth, they arrange for their son to unknowingly marry his victim. The girl is presented as happy and relieved to 'lawfully' be back in the arms of 'him who was dearer to her than the light of her eyes.'
I was left wondering if the ridiculous hope, happy acceptance and overwrought joy of marriage to her rapist was a sign of the times or the sarchastic commentary by Cervantes on such thinking of the time. Kind of like "The Rape of the Lock" by Alexander Pope?
I asked Triple S about how it read in the Spanish and I got "HUH? I guess what you said" Genius.
I might read more of these short stories during busy weeks.
I also read an essay by Einstein written in 1949, published in an essay collection entitled "Einstein on Humanism," which I borrowed from the library of the Unitarian Universalist church Triple S, Beanie and I have been attending since we moved to the bible belt.
I should transcribed the whole essay, "Why Socialism" here because I can't paraphrase what he said better than he wrote it. It took me a long time to read it because I read many paragraphs repeatedly. He writes about the predatory phase of human development, the contrast between the individual and societal being (and how those interests compete) and the social 'crisis of our time.' Basically, it hasn't gotten much better since 1949. I think Mitt Romney would benefit from reading this essay, and thus I leave you with this quote: "The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society."
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