The Dwellings of the Philosophers

«Be that as it may, it remains undeniable is that all the Gothic buildings without exception reflect a serenity and expansiveness and a nobility without equal.» — en el capítulo de historia y monumento, con que abre el libro primero, Fulcanelli sienta la premisa: la piedra gótica no muestra la miseria que cuentan los cronistas.

«A number of these figures randomly found in narrow streets, taverns, schools, sacristics, workshops, may be altogether marked or overdone, but in a picturesque tone, with a concern for character, for the sense of joy, for generous lines.» — sobre las figuras tomadas de la calle, la taberna y el taller: admite el exceso y lo lee como carácter, no como deformidad.

«Grotesque, you may say, but joyously grotesque and full of teaching.» — acepta lo grotesco de esas figuras y le atribuye enseñanza.

«This is so true that, search as you may, question the ogival statuary, you will never discover a figure of Christ whose expression reveals true suffering.» — el argumento del Cristo sin dolor: sostiene que ninguna estatuaria ojival muestra sufrimiento verdadero.

«Their interpreters --- those marvelous and modest carvers of images --- do not deceive us and could not be mistaken.» — llama intérpretes a los talladores de imágenes y les concede fe, porque toman sus modelos de la gente entre la que viven.

«These free, virile, and healthy images evidence that the artists of the Middle Ages did not know the depressing spectacle of human afflictions.» — de esas imágenes deduce que los artistas de la Edad Media no conocieron el espectáculo de la aflicción humana.

«Yet we know that art, the higher expression of civilized humanity, can freely develop only under the cover of a stable and sure peace.» — la premisa que sostiene la deducción: el arte solo se desarrolla al amparo de una paz estable y segura.

«As it is with science, art cannot exercise its genius in the atmosphere of troubled societies.» — y la extiende a la ciencia, que tampoco ejerce su genio en el aire de las sociedades revueltas.

«We confess that the description "of a sequence of calamities, disasters, and accumulated ruins over 146 years" seems to us truly excessive.» — al recoger la fórmula de los cronistas sobre 146 años de calamidades y ruinas acumuladas, la declara excesiva.

«Something is inexplicable amiss here, since it is precisely during this unfortunate One Hundred Years’ War, which lasted from 1337 to 1453, that the richest buildings of flamboyant style were built.» — la paradoja con que apoya la objeción: los edificios más ricos del estilo flamígero se levantaron durante la Guerra de los Cien Años.

«It is the culminating point, the apogee of form and boldness, the marvelous phase where spirit, the divine flame, imposes its signature on the last creations of Gothic thought.» — y a ese mismo periodo lo llama apogeo de la forma y de la audacia del pensamiento gótico.

«And thus is elucidated the reason why our preference remains vested in the Middle Ages as it is revealed to us by Gothic buildings rather than in the same period as it is described by historians.» — la conclusión de método del capítulo: prefiere la Edad Media que revelan los edificios góticos a la que describen los historiadores.

«A very learned Jesuit of the 17th century, Father Jean Hardouin, did not fear to denounce as spurious numerous Greek and Roman coins and medals coined during the Renaissance and buried with the aim to fill in large historical gaps.» — el testimonio que aduce contra los documentos: el jesuita Jean Hardouin denunciando como falsas monedas y medallas griegas y romanas acuñadas en el Renacimiento para llenar huecos de la historia.

«Anatole de Montaiglon (2) informs us that in 1639 Jacques de Bie published a folio volume with illustrations called: The Families of France, Illustrated by the Monuments of Ancient and Modern Medals, which, according to him, "contains more invented medals than real ones» — y el de Anatole de Montaiglon sobre el folio de 1639 de Jacques de Bie, que a su juicio trae más medallas inventadas que reales.

«In Huysmans’ view, history is the "most solemn of lies and the most childish of deceits... Events are for a man of talent nothing but a spring-board of ideas and style, since they are all mitigated or aggravated according to the needs of a cause or according to the temperament of the writer who handles them.» — la sentencia de Huysmans que hace suya: la historia como la más solemne de las mentiras, moldeada según la causa o el temperamento de quien la escribe.

«And yet English money from this period still bears the imprint of such a pretense» — la moneda inglesa de la época, que a su ver sigue imprimiendo la pretensión sobre Francia.

«But in those distant times of the 5th century, are we so certain of the authenticity of the documents pertaining to Clodion’s doings?» — la duda que abre sobre la autenticidad de los documentos del siglo V acerca de Clodión.

«And even though the falsity of this attribution has today been demonstrated, the great majority of people persist in the belief that it is founded.» — sobre la carretilla atribuida a Pascal: señala que, dada hoy por falsa la atribución, la mayoría persiste en creerla fundada.

«Yet the Commission of Fine Arts, through the lips of its experts, declared that it was indeed the great Parisian magistrate, and these illustrious relics were taken down into the crypts of Notre-Dame» — el caso del sarcófago: la Comisión de Bellas Artes declaró por boca de sus peritos que era el gran magistrado parisino, y las reliquias bajaron a las criptas de Notre-Dame.

«And yet, following a hunch of the king who was visiting Bergamo, the municipality had the ornate mausoleum of the famous equestrian statue moved, had the tomb opened, and all those in attendance discovered, not without tremendous surprise, that it was empty» — y el de Bérgamo: movido el mausoleo por corazonada del rey y abierta la tumba, estaba vacía.

«histories of France around 1830 --- those of Dupleix, Mezeray, Vely, and Father Daniel --- says of the latter that the author, "a Jesuit famous for his descriptions of battles, completed in 20 years a history which has no other merit than erudition and in which the Count of Boulainvilliers found no less than 10,000 errors» — el juicio de Victor Hugo sobre las cuatro historias de Francia más leídas hacia 1830, con los diez mil errores que el conde de Boulainvilliers halló en la del Padre Daniel; la cita arranca después de *best-known*, que el troceo parte por el salto de renglón.

«However, that which is of consequence to elicit and that only counts for us is that, in the search for truth, it is preferable to call upon buildings rather than upon historical documents, sometimes incomplete, often tendentious, almost always unreliable.» — la regla de método del capítulo: para buscar la verdad prefiere los edificios a los documentos históricos, que llama incompletos, tendenciosos y poco fiables.

«Monsieur Andre Geiger comes to a parallel conclusion when, struck by the inexplicable homage rendered to the statue of Nero by Hadrian, he refutes the iniquitous accusations borne against this emperor and against Tiberius.» — el caso que aduce de Andre Geiger, quien a partir del homenaje de Adriano a la estatua de Nerón objeta las acusaciones contra ese emperador y contra Tiberio.

«If, as we have said, the falsification of a text, the writing of a chronicle demand nothing more than some skill and know-how, on the other hand, it is impossible to build a cathedral.» — el argumento que sostiene la regla: falsificar un texto pide destreza; levantar una catedral es imposible de falsificar.

«In spite of all that has been written, we ought to accustom ourselves, willy-nilly, to the true fact that at the beginning of the Middle Ages society was already reaching a high degree of civilization and splendor.» — sostiene contra lo escrito que la sociedad de comienzos de la Edad Media ya alcanzaba un alto grado de civilización y esplendor.

«When I saw the abundance of sustenance, the cheerfulness of the people, the good conduct of the clergy, the majesty and glory of the entire Church, the diverse occupations of men dedicated to the study of philosophy; it seemed to me that I saw Jacob’s ladder whose top reached heaven and which angels ascended and descended.» — el testimonio de John of Salisbury que trae en apoyo, con la escala de Jacob como imagen de lo que vio.

«"The Renaissance", he affirms, "despised the Middle Ages because true French literature, that which followed it, erased the last traces of it.» — y el de Charles de Remusat sobre el desprecio del Renacimiento por la Edad Media, que atribuye a que la literatura francesa posterior borró sus rastros.

«Must we indict ignorance, whim, perversion of taste? We do not know.» — Remusat declara no saber si la causa fue ignorancia, capricho o perversión del gusto.

«Several first rate men have successfully, albeit in vain, illustrated it; for modern generations their works do not exist.» — y añade que para las generaciones modernas las obras de aquellos hombres no existen.

«St. Anselm is an original metaphysician whose learned idealism regenerates common beliefs; he conceived and realized the audacious thought of directly touching the notion of divinity.» — dentro de la misma cita, Remusat llama a San Anselmo metafísico original, con un idealismo docto que regenera las creencias comunes.

«It was neither science, thought, nor genius; I am afraid that it was only one thing: style.» — el cierre del juicio de Remusat: a esos autores no les faltaba ciencia, pensamiento ni genio, sino estilo.

«It seems he foresaw this talent of our time, this art of examining the stand-still postures of the intellectual society in order to judge it.» — y su elogio de John of Salisbury como crítico clarividente que anticipa el arte contemporáneo de juzgar a la sociedad intelectual.

«As for us, we deem medieval thought to be of scientific nature and of no other, for which art and literature are only the humble servants of traditional science.» — la tesis propia de Fulcanelli frente a Remusat: el pensamiento medieval es de naturaleza científica, y el arte y la literatura solo sirven a la ciencia tradicional.

«It is true that the observer will never find alluring the image of Christ, such as it is presented on Romanesque porches, where Jesus appears, at the center of the mystical almond, surrounded by the four evangelical animals.» — sobre el Cristo románico dentro de la almendra mística rodeado de los cuatro animales evangélicos: concede que nunca resultará atractivo al observador.

«They are severe and austere productions, not the light, graceful, and pleasing motifs, such as those art fondly wasted on us since the Renaissance.» — y opone lo severo y austero de ese arte a los motivos ligeros y agradables que el Renacimiento puso de moda.

«The medieval colossus did not collapse all at once in the decline of the 15th century.» — niega que el coloso medieval se desplomara de golpe en la decadencia del siglo XV.

«We see its agony prolonged well into the middle of the next century, and we find in some of the buildings of that period the same philosophical impulse, the same foundations of wisdom which generated for three centuries so many imperishable works.» — y prolonga su agonía hasta mediados del siglo siguiente, donde halla el mismo impulso filosófico en los edificios.

«Notwithstanding their purpose and their use, we rank these refuges of the esotericism of antiquity, these sanctuaries of traditional science, quite rare today, in the hermetic iconology among the artistic guardians of the great philosophical truths.» — clasifica esos refugios del esoterismo antiguo, hoy raros, entre los guardianes artísticos de las grandes verdades filosóficas.

«Science thus appears as the ruler of Strength and Love, opposing the superiority of mind t the physical manifestations of power and feeling.» — y lee el tímpano del siglo XII como la ciencia gobernando a la Fuerza y al Amor; la capa de texto imprime *t* donde el original diría *to*.

«Of all the sciences cultivated in the Middle Ages certainly none was more in fashion and received more honor than the science of alchemy.» — abre el capítulo de la alquimia medieval declarándola la más honrada de las ciencias de la Edad Media.

«Translator’s note: In French fairy tales it is the hen and not the goose that lays the golden eggs, hence the pun.» — [Donvez y Perrin] nota sobre el juego de palabras: en los cuentos franceses es la gallina, y no la oca, la que pone los huevos de oro.

«Translator’s note: Brother Mathias saw a young lad, although the drawings of the statue seem to represent a young woman.» — [Donvez y Perrin] el hermano Mathias vio un mozo donde los dibujos de la estatua parecen dar una mujer joven.

«(3) Translator’s Note: There is a cabalistic pun here. The French chevalier (knight), and cavalier (rider, horsemen) are very close.» — [Donvez y Perrin] nota sobre el juego cabalístico entre las voces francesas de caballero y jinete.

«Long considered a chimera, alchemy appears to the scientific world more and more every day.» — [Canseliet] abre el prefacio a la primera edición, impreso al final del troceo como apéndice, con la alquimia largo tiempo tenida por quimera y cada vez más presente para el mundo científico.

«The words of scientists on the constitution of matter and their recent discoveries show and give evidence of the dissociation potential of chemical elements.» — [Canseliet] apoyándose en lo que los científicos dicen de la constitución de la materia y en el potencial de disociación de los elementos.

«Nowadays, n one any longer doubts that the elements, once regarded as simple, are in fact any partisans.» — [Canseliet] con los elementos antes tenidos por simples; el troceo imprime *n one* por *no one* y deja el predicado corrupto.

«The deceptive concept of inertia disappears from the Universe, and that which only yesterday seemed heresy has today become dogma.» — [Canseliet] y la inercia que desaparece del Universo, con lo que ayer era herejía vuelto dogma.

«With an impressive uniformity of action, but in varying degrees, life manifests itself in the three kingdoms of nature, once clearly separated, and among which there is no longer any distinction made.» — [Canseliet] con la vida manifestándose en los tres reinos de la naturaleza, antes separados y ya sin distinción.

«Origin and vitality are shared by the triple group of the ancient classification.» — [Canseliet] origen y vitalidad compartidos por el triple grupo de la clasificación antigua.

«Beings and things evolve, progress through constant transformations and new beginnings.» — [Canseliet] y los seres y las cosas que evolucionan por transformaciones y comienzos constantes.

«Through the multiplicity of their exchanges and combinations, they separate themselves from the original unity, only to resume their original simplicity under the influence of decompositions.» — [Canseliet] apartándose de la unidad original para recobrar su simplicidad por descomposición.

«Sublime harmony of the great Totality, immense circle through which the Spirit goes in its eternal activity and which has for center the unique living fragment, emanating from the creative Logos.» — [Canseliet] con la armonía sublime del gran Todo y el círculo por el que va el Espíritu, con centro en el fragmento vivo emanado del Logos creador.

«And so, after having strayed from the correct path, modern science seeks to rejoin it, progressively adopting ancient concepts.» — [Canseliet] y la ciencia moderna que, tras extraviarse, vuelve a adoptar los conceptos antiguos.

«Much like successive civilizations, human progress obeys the inescapable law of perpetual renewal.» — [Canseliet] con el progreso humano sujeto a la ley de la renovación perpetua.

«Though it be against all, Truth always triumphs, in spite of its slow, painful, and tortuous advance.» — [Canseliet] y la Verdad que triunfa siempre pese a su avance lento y penoso.

«"For there is nothing", the Gospel teaches, "which cannot be discovered and nothing so secret that it cannot be known".» — [Canseliet] con el pasaje evangélico sobre que nada hay oculto que no llegue a saberse.

«Yet, we should not believe that traditional science, whose elements Fulcanelli assembled, has been adapted for the general public in the present work.» — [Canseliet] y la advertencia de que la ciencia tradicional cuyos elementos Fulcanelli reunió no se adaptó al gran público en esta obra.

«"Our books have not been written for all", repeat the old masters, "though all are called upon to read them".» — [Canseliet] con la máxima de los viejos maestros: nuestros libros no se escribieron para todos, aunque todos estén llamados a leerlos.

«For each one of us must contribute his personal effort which is definitely essential if he wants to acquire the notions of a science which has never ceased to be esoteric.» — [Canseliet] y el esfuerzo personal que exige una ciencia que nunca dejó de ser esotérica.

«This is why the philosophers, aiming to hide its principles from the masses, have concealed the ancient knowledge in the mystery of words and the veil of allegories.» — [Canseliet] con los filósofos que escondieron el saber antiguo en el misterio de las palabras y el velo de las alegorías.

«The ignoramus will not so easily forgive alchemists their allegiance to the rigorous discipline they have freely accepted.» — [Canseliet] y el ignorante que no perdonará a los alquimistas su adhesión a esa disciplina rigurosa.

«Consequently, prudence, extreme caution, and absolute discretion appear fully justified.» — [Canseliet] tras la anécdota del químico, declara plenamente justificadas la prudencia y la discreción absoluta.

«Yet, because of the opinion we might have formed of a teaching where clear language remains forbidden, we should not conclude that there is nothing to discover in the books of the philosophers.» — [Canseliet] pero niega que de una enseñanza donde el lenguaje claro está prohibido se siga que no haya nada por descubrir en los libros de los filósofos.

«Among ancient authors and modern writers, Fulcanelli is without doubt the most sincere and the most convincing.» — [Canseliet] y pone a Fulcanelli, entre autores antiguos y modernos, como el más sincero y convincente.

«He establishes the hermetic theory on a solid basis, supports it with evident analogical facts, and then presents it in a simple and precise manner.» — [Canseliet] atribuyéndole haber fundado la teoría hermética sobre base sólida y expuesto con sencillez y precisión.

«Thus equipped, he will then be able to attempt this great work and leave the speculative domain for that of positive realizations.» — [Canseliet] con el estudiante que así equipado podrá dejar lo especulativo por las realizaciones positivas.

«From this moment on, he will encounter the first difficulties, and he will have to clear numerous and practically insurmountable obstacles.» — [Canseliet] y las dificultades y obstáculos prácticamente insuperables que encontrará desde ese momento.

«There is not a researcher who doesn’t know these stumbling blocks, these insurmountable limits against which I myself, several times, nearly failed.» — [Canseliet] escollos ante los que dice haber estado él mismo varias veces a punto de fracasar.

«Much like Basil Valentine, his true initiator, he was held in check without being able to find a solution for more than 30 years!» — [Canseliet] y su maestro detenido más de treinta años sin hallar solución, como Basil Valentine, a quien llama su verdadero iniciador.

«His method is different from that employed by his predecessors; it consists in describing in detail all the operations of the Work.» — [Canseliet] con el método de Fulcanelli, distinto del de sus predecesores, que describe en detalle todas las operaciones de la Obra.

«This parceling out, which turns the Magistery into a philosophical puzzle, will not frighten the educated investigator; but it quickly discourages the layman, incapable of finding his way in this labyrinth of a different nature, and unqualified to uncover the correct sequence of the manipulations.» — [Canseliet] y esa parcelación que vuelve el Magisterio un rompecabezas filosófico y desanima al profano.

«With 39 Illustrations by Julien Champagne Translated by Brigitte Donvez and Lionel Perrin» — [portada] la portada del troceo, único lugar donde se declaran el ilustrador y los traductores.

«An admirer of Fulcanelli was once conversing with one of our best chemists and asked for his opinion on metallic transmutation.» — [Canseliet] la anécdota con que cierra su prefacio.

«I would think that such a man should be mercilessly hounded and suppressed as a dangerous criminal» — [Canseliet] y la respuesta del químico que refiere.

«These exclusionary rules have a profound reason. If I were to be asked, I would simply say that the privilege of science should remain the prerogative of a scientific elite.» — [Canseliet] su propia posición sobre el secreto: el privilegio de la ciencia como prerrogativa de una élite científica.

«Methods of modern warfare are, alas! The most striking and the saddest proof of this disastrous state of mind.» — [Canseliet] con los métodos de la guerra moderna como prueba de lo que ocurre cuando el descubrimiento cae en el dominio popular.

«By shrouding their works in silence and their revelations in parables, the philosophers acted wisely. Respectful of social institutions, they harm no one and ensure their own safety.» — [Canseliet] y su juicio de que los filósofos obraron con prudencia al velar sus obras en parábolas.

«Finally, I would feel I had overlooked something if I did not mention the remarkable and splendid drawings of the painter, Julien Champagne. This excellent artist is worthy here, again, of the greatest praise.» — [Canseliet] el elogio a los dibujos del pintor Julien Champagne, cuyas láminas el troceo anuncia y no trae en la capa de texto.

«I am also happy to extend my thanks to the editor, Monsieur Jean Schemit, whose trustworthy taste and proven competence so perfectly guided the building of the material form of the book The Dwellings of the Philosophers.» — [Canseliet] y el agradecimiento al editor Jean Schemit, único editor que el troceo nombra en relación con esta obra.

«Such is the essential interest of this book which Fulcanelli presents to the cultivated reader, called upon to judge the work according to its value, according to its originality, or perhaps to appreciate it according to its merit.» — [Canseliet] el cierre del prefacio, que remite el juicio de la obra al lector cultivado.