Meetings with Remarkable Men

«I now propose to give a form understandable for everyone to everything I have written down for the second series» — el propósito declarado de esta serie, y su contraste con la primera: aquí se busca ser entendido.

«always to strive that the wolf be full and the sheep intact» — una de sus máximas de conducta, y la que mejor resume su ética práctica: satisfacer sin destruir.

«Only he will deserve the name of man and can count upon anything prepared for him from Above» — la condición que pone al título de hombre.

«EXACTLY A MONTH HAS ELAPSED since I finished the first series of my writings—just that period of the flow of time which I intended to devote exclusively to resting the parts of my common presence subordinate to my pure reason.» — abre la segunda serie declarando que la reanuda tras un mes exacto de descanso que él mismo se había fijado: la escritura es aquí un régimen con plazos, no una tarea continua.

«And indeed, the mind of contemporary man, of whatever level of intellectuality, is only able to take cognizance of the world by means of data which, whenever accidentally or intentionally activated, arouse in him all sorts of fantastic impulses.» — su diagnóstico del lector al que escribe, y la razón que da para escribirle de otro modo: la mente contemporánea solo conoce por datos que, al activarse, levantan impulsos fantásticos.

«I wish to follow somewhat the example of the Great Beelzebub and imitate the form of thinking of one highly respected by him and by me» — declara que fija el ritmo de su pensamiento imitando el de la primera serie; el vínculo entre los dos libros que anuncia es de cadencia, no solo de materia.

«The point is that during this time appointed for my rest, despite all my automatic desire, I could not limit myself to the fifteen remaining bottles of old calvados» — narra en broma su propio incumplimiento del descanso, y con ello inaugura el tono en que se cuenta a sí mismo a lo largo del libro.

«I do not know about you, brave reader, but the rhythm of my thinking is now established, and I can begin again, without forcing myself, to wiseacre in full blast.» — cierra el preámbulo con wiseacre, verbo de su propio léxico que emplea para nombrar el discurrir del que se burla y que a la vez se atribuye.

«It is interesting to note that among the many proverbs and ingenious solutions of tricky problems habitually used by various Asiatic tribes, there is one—in which a wolf and, instead of a sheep, a goat also play their part—that corresponds very well, in my opinion, to the gist of the ancient saying I have quoted.» — remite su máxima del lobo y la oveja a un acertijo asiático del lobo, la cabra y la col, y presenta la máxima como herencia recibida, no como invención propia.

«that without his direct observation and influence the wolf can always destroy the goat, and the goat the cabbage.» — la moraleja que saca del acertijo: conservar los opuestos exige vigilancia continua, y no admite una solución de una vez.

«Returning to the meaning of the ancient saying chosen by me, and keeping in mind the gist of the correct solution of this popular riddle, then, if one thinks about it without any of the preconceptions always arising from the results of the idle thoughts usual to contemporary man, it is impossible not to admit with one’s mind and agree with one’s feelings that anyone calling himself a man must never be lazy» — de la máxima deriva una exigencia práctica: quien se llame hombre ha de urdir compromisos sin descanso para preservar intactos dos animales opuestos confiados a su razón.

«When I understood this I experienced, for about half an hour, the state which Mullah Nassr Eddin defines by the words ‘to feel oneself plunged in galoshes up to the eyebrows’; and I was ready at first to resign myself, and came to the decision to rewrite this entire chapter from beginning to end.» — cuenta su propio desconcierto en la fórmula de Mullah Nassr Eddin, el sabio a quien cita de continuo y que en este libro funciona como autoridad proverbial.

«In fact, what I had written during the first two years of this new profession of mine—which I was forced to adopt—could no longer correspond to what was now required, since I had then put down everything as a first version in the form of a synopsis understandable only to myself, intending to develop all this material in thirty-six books, devoting each book to one special question.» — refiere que el plan primitivo era una sinopsis escrita para sí mismo y repartida en treinta y seis libros, y que hubo de rehacerlo.

«But since, little by little, I had become more adroit in the art of concealing serious thoughts in an enticing, easily grasped outer form, and in making all those thoughts which I term ‘discernible only with the lapse of time’ ensue from others usual to the thinking of most contemporary people, I changed the principle I had been following and, instead of seeking to achieve the aim I had set myself in writing by quantity, I adopted the principle» — declara el procedimiento con que están escritas las tres series: esconder el pensamiento serio bajo forma atractiva, y cambiar cantidad por calidad. El pasaje continúa en la plana siguiente con of attaining this by quality alone.

«And this solution will be all the better both for me and for the reader, since I will thus be spared any extra new exertion of my already over-exhausted brains, and the reader, particularly if he has read through everything I have written before, will be able, owing to this digressive development, to represent to himself what kind of objectively impartial opinion is formed in the psyche of certain people, who have by chance been more or less correctly educated, concerning the results of the manifestations of the people of present-day civilization.» — justifica la digresión que sigue como un digressive development, y anuncia que lo que va a leerse es la opinión de otro, no la suya.

«In this connection, as I have already said, I introduced the speech which I had heard long ago in my youth, when I was in Persia for the first time and happened one day to be in a gathering of Persian intelligentsia where contemporary literature was being discussed» — el marco explícito de las páginas que siguen: lo que va a leerse es un discurso ajeno que él dice haber oído de joven en Persia y reproduce aquí.

«One of those who spoke a great deal that day was the elderly, intelligent Persian whom I have mentioned—intelligent not in the European sense of the word, but in the sense in which it is understood on the continent of Asia, that is, not only by knowledge but by being» — presenta al orador y de paso fija una distinción que recorre su obra: inteligente por el ser y no solo por el saber.

«He said, among other things: ‘It is a great pity that the present period of culture, which we call and which people of subsequent generations will of course also call the “European civilization”, is, in the whole process of the perfecting of humanity, as it were, an empty and abortive interval.» — la tesis con que abre el persa: la civilización europea es un intervalo vacío y abortado en el perfeccionamiento del hombre. La voz es la del orador citado.

«‘For example, one of the chief means for developing the mind of man is literature.» — el persa parte de que la literatura es uno de los medios principales de desarrollo de la mente, y de ahí mide su corrupción.

«‘The fundamental cause of this corruption of present-day literature is, in my opinion, that the whole attention in writing has gradually, of itself, come to be concentrated not on the quality of the thought and the exactitude with which it is transmitted, but only on the striving for exterior polish or, as is otherwise said, beauty of style—thanks to which there has finally resulted what I called word prostitution.» — la causa que el persa adjudica: el desplazamiento del pensamiento al estilo, que él nombra word prostitution.

«‘All contemporary literature falls by content into three categories: the first covers what is called the scientific field, the second consists of narratives, and the third of what are called descriptions.» — la clasificación con que el persa ordena su crítica, y que aplica luego una por una.

«‘Strange as it may seem to you, in my opinion a great deal of harm to contemporary literature has been brought about by grammars, namely, the grammars of the languages of all the peoples who take part in what I call the “common malphonic concert” of contemporary civilization.» — el persa adjudica a las gramáticas modernas buena parte del daño, y llama a esa civilización un common malphonic concert.

«‘As one who has now become to some degree a “linguist”, I consider it necessary to remark here, by the way, that it is never possible to think in a foreign language, even though knowing it to perfection, if one continues to speak one’s native language or some other language in which one is accustomed to thinking.» — el persa niega que se pueda pensar en lengua ajena mientras se siga hablando la propia, con el límite que él mismo pone: mientras se continúe hablándola.

«However, it turned out that in modern Russian there is no such word at all, but instead a word is used, namely, yah gohvahriou, which means in Persian myan-soïl-yaram, in French je parle and in English “I speak”» — el caso con que el persa prueba su tesis: el ruso moderno carece de palabra para lo que el persa dice con myan-diaram y ofrece solo el equivalente de hablar.

«Of course not: soïl-yaram and diaram—or “speak” and “say”—are two quite different “experienced actions”.» — la distinción que sostiene el argumento: hablar y decir son acciones experimentadas distintas, y una lengua que las funde impide transmitir la diferencia.

«And my study of its history proved to me that formerly it had contained exactly corresponding words for all the experienced actions already fixed in the process of the life of people.» — el persa sostiene que la carencia es reciente: la lengua tuvo antes las palabras exactas y las perdió.

«To sum up everything that has been said about the literature of our times, I cannot find better words to describe it than the expression “it has no soul”.» — el resumen del persa sobre la literatura de su tiempo.

«Contemporary civilization has destroyed the soul of literature, as of everything else to which it has turned its gracious attention.» — el persa extiende el juicio de la literatura a todo lo que la civilización contemporánea toca.

«‘In my opinion, the quintessence of an idea can sometimes be very well transmitted to others by means of certain anecdotes and proverbs formed by life.» — el persa opone al libro moderno la anécdota y el proverbio como vehículos de una idea, y los ejemplifica acto seguido.

«‘In the present civilization, as in former civilizations, literature exists for the purpose of the perfecting of humanity in general, but in this field also—as in everything else contemporary—there is nothing substantial for our essential aim.» — el fin que el persa le reconoce a la literatura, y el juicio de que la contemporánea no lo sirve.

«‘A European’s understanding of an object observed by him is formed exclusively by means of an all-round, so to say, “mathematical informedness” about it, whereas most of the people of Asia grasp the essence of the object observed by them sometimes with their feelings alone and sometimes even solely by instinct.» — la oposición de modos de comprender con que el persa explica el desinterés asiático por los libros europeos.

«‘The people of Asia were at one time greatly interested in European literature but, soon feeling all the emptiness of its content, they gradually lost interest in it, and now it is scarcely read there at all.» — el persa data ese desinterés como un abandono posterior a un interés real, no como ignorancia previa.

«I myself have seen how hundreds of illiterate people will gather round one literate man to hear a reading of the sacred writings or of the tales known as the “Thousand and One Nights”.» — el persa opone a la lectura europea el auditorio analfabeto que escucha; el criterio de valor que aplica es el efecto sobre el oyente.

«These texts—and I speak particularly of the “Thousand and One Nights”—are works of literature in the full sense of the word.» — el persa reivindica las Mil y una noches como literatura en sentido pleno, frente a la novela contemporánea.

«Anyone reading or hearing this book feels clearly that everything in it is fantasy, but fantasy corresponding to truth, even though composed of episodes which are quite improbable for the ordinary life of people.» — el criterio que propone el persa: una fantasía que corresponde a la verdad aunque sus episodios sean improbables. Conviene leerlo junto al estatuto disputado del propio libro que lo reproduce.

«‘The requirements of contemporary civilization have engendered yet another quite specific form of literature called journalism.» — el persa introduce el periodismo como forma engendrada por las exigencias de la civilización contemporánea.

«‘I cannot pass by in silence this new form of literature, since, aside from the fact that it offers nothing whatsoever for the development of the mind, it has, from my point of view, become the fundamental evil in the life of people today because of the poisonous influence it exerts on their mutual relations.» — el juicio del persa sobre el periodismo, con su motivo: no lo condena por vacío sino por su efecto sobre las relaciones entre las personas.

«‘This form of literature has become very widespread in recent times because, according to my unshakeable conviction, it answers more completely than anything else to the weaknesses and demands which lead to the ever-increasing will-lessness of man.» — el persa explica la difusión del periodismo por la falta de voluntad que a la vez agrava.

«‘Besides, owing to this unprincipled daily literature, the thinking function of people has come to be even further separated from their individuality; and thereby conscience, which was occasionally awakened in them, has now ceased to participate in this thinking of theirs.» — el daño que el persa describe está formulado en términos del sistema: el pensar se separa de la individualidad y la conciencia deja de participar en él.

«‘Finally all this so tempted him that, although neither he nor his family cared for sausages very much, as all of them had been raised in Armenia where sausages are not eaten, he went and bought some.» — el persa narra el caso de la familia envenenada por unas salchichas anunciadas en los diarios; el episodio se da como testimonio suyo, y así queda consignado.

«I must confess that in all my life I had never seen anybody to compare with this celebrity for lack of talent and absence of even the most elementary notions of the principles of playing a role.» — segundo caso del persa, la actriz fabricada por reporteros pagados; sigue siendo su voz, aunque el troceo pierda aquí la comilla de apertura.

«From my point of view, these literary critics, owing to the influence of their authority as writers on the general mass of naive and easily suggestible people, are a thousand times more pernicious» — el persa distingue al crítico del reportero y agrava el juicio sobre el primero por la autoridad que se le concede. La fuente imprime a continuación boy-reporters, partido por el salto de línea.

«I myself knew a music critic who had never once in his life touched a musical instrument, and therefore had no practical understanding of music: he did not even know what sound was in general, or the difference between the notes» — el ejemplo con que el persa lo sostiene; el troceo continúa con las notas do y re y una errata que se come el punto.

«The public never knows who is writing; it knows only the newspaper itself, which belongs to a group of experienced business men.» — el mecanismo que el persa señala: el anonimato del diario transfiere la autoridad del autor a la empresa.

«‘The leaders of contemporary civilization themselves, standing on a very low level of moral and psychic development, are incapable, like children playing with fire, of knowing the force and significance of the effect of such literature on the mass of the people.» — el persa adjudica la responsabilidad a los dirigentes, y no por malicia sino por ignorancia del efecto.

«‘But nowadays any whipper-snapper can be a journalist, so long as he knows how to express himself prettily and, as is said, literarily.» — el contraste que el persa traza con los gobernantes antiguos, que según él vigilaban lo que se imprimía.

«‘It seems to me that this feature of theirs is the chief cause of their spreading sphere of influence and of their false authority over the masses, and also of the unconscious and servile adulation with which the crowd bows down before these nullities, as with a clear conscience one can call them.» — el persa acota su propio juicio con it seems to me, y aun así lo lleva hasta llamar nullities a los periodistas de su tiempo.

«From my point of view there can be no doubt whatsoever that of all the causes of the many abnormalities of contemporary civilization, the principal and most obvious one is this same journalistic literature, owing to its demoralizing and pernicious effect on the psyche of people.» — la conclusión del persa, que hace del periodismo la causa principal de las anormalidades de su civilización.

«Thus ended the speech of this elderly, intelligent Persian.» — la línea que cierra el discurso ajeno y devuelve la voz al narrador: todo lo anterior sobre la literatura y el periodismo es del persa, no de él.

«Always and in everything strive to attain at the same time what is useful for others and what is pleasant for oneself.» — recuperada ya su voz, formula el principio con que dice haber escrito: buscar a la vez lo útil para otros y lo agradable para sí.

«I will distribute in the separate tales about these meetings, according to a principle of logical sequence, all the ideas and thoughts that I intend to make known in this series in order that they may serve as preparatory constructive material, and at the same time I will answer all the other questions often asked me.» — declara el plan del libro: las ideas van repartidas dentro de los relatos de encuentros, como material preparatorio.

«Before going further, I consider it necessary to explain exactly the expression ‘a remarkable man’, since like all expressions for definite notions it is always understood among contemporary people in a relative, that is a purely subjective, sense.» — advierte que el término del título no se toma en su sentido corriente y se dispone a definirlo.

«For example, a man who does tricks is for many people a remarkable man, but even for them he ceases to be remarkable as soon as they learn the secret of his tricks.» — el contraejemplo con que descarta lo notable entendido como prodigio: lo que depende del secreto se disuelve al saberse.

«From my point of view, he can be called a remarkable man who stands out from those around him by the resourcefulness of his mind, and who knows how to be restrained in the manifestations which proceed from his nature, at the same time conducting himself justly and tolerantly towards the weaknesses of others.» — la definición que el libro da de hombre notable, y que es su criterio de selección: ingenio, contención y justicia con la flaqueza ajena.

«Since the first such man I knew—whose influence left its trace on the whole of my life—was my father, I shall begin with him.» — con esta frase queda fijado el orden del libro: el primer hombre notable que narra es su padre.

«MY FATHER WAS WIDELY KNOWN, during the final decades of the last century and the beginning of this one, as an ashokh, that is, a poet and narrator, under the nickname of ‘Adash’; and although he was not a professional ashokh but only an amateur, he was in his day very popular among the inhabitants of many countries of Transcaucasia and Asia Minor.» — narra que su padre fue ashokh, poeta y narrador, y con esa figura abre la galería de hombres notables. El término va sin traducir, como en la fuente.

«In spite of the fact that these people of the past who devoted themselves to such a career were in most cases illiterate, having not even been to an elementary school in their childhood, they possessed such a memory and such alertness of mind as would now be considered remarkable and even phenomenal.» — sostiene que el analfabetismo de aquellos bardos convivía con una memoria y una prontitud mental que hoy pasarían por fenomenales: la transmisión oral es, para él, una capacidad y no una carencia.

«They not only knew by heart innumerable and often very lengthy narratives and poems, and sang from memory all their various melodies, but when improvising in their own, so to say, subjective way, they hit upon the appropriate rhymes and changes of rhythm for their verses with astounding rapidity.» — describe la técnica del ashokh: memoria del repertorio entero e improvisación métrica inmediata sobre él.

«I happened to see them because my father used to take me as a child to the contests where these poet ashokhs, coming from various countries, such as Persia, Turkey, the Caucasus and even parts of Turkestan, competed before a great throng of people in improvising and singing.» — refiere haber presenciado de niño los certámenes de ashokhs, y los da como institución con público y con reglas.

«The discussion arose when my father had finished the twenty-first song of the legend, in which a certain Ut-Napishtim relates to Gilgamesh the story of the destruction by flood of the land of Shuruppak.» — cuenta que el repertorio cantado por su padre incluía el canto de Ut-Napishtim a Gilgamesh, es decir el relato del diluvio en su forma babilónica.

«When I realized that here was that same legend which I had so often heard as a child from my father, and particularly when I read in this text the twenty-first song of the legend in almost the same form of exposition as in the songs and tales of my father, I experienced such an inner excitement that it was as if my whole future destiny depended on all this.» — narra el momento en que reconoce en un texto impreso la misma leyenda que su padre cantaba; el episodio es el que funda su tesis sobre la transmisión oral.

«I was struck by the fact, at first inexplicable to me, that this legend had been handed down by ashokhs from generation to generation for thousands of years, and yet had reached our day almost unchanged.» — de ahí saca la afirmación que sostiene todo el capítulo: la vía oral conservó el texto casi intacto durante milenios. Es narración de su asombro, no demostración documental.

«In this legend it was said, also in verse, that long, long ago, as far back as seventy generations before the last deluge (and a generation was counted as a hundred years), when there was dry land where now is water and water where now is dry land, there existed on earth a great civilization, the centre of which was the former island Haninn, which was also the centre of the earth itself.» — reproduce la cronología de la leyenda —setenta generaciones de cien años antes del diluvio— y la isla Haninn como centro de aquella civilización. Se consigna como contenido de la leyenda que refiere.

«But however great the distance between them, they maintained constant communication with one another and reported everything to the centre by means of telepathy.» — según la leyenda que reproduce, los hermanos Imastun dispersos por la tierra se comunicaban por telepatía con el centro.

«For this, they made use of what are called pythonesses, who served them, as it were, as receiving apparatuses.» — el detalle de la leyenda que le importa: la transmisión necesitaba personas que hicieran de aparato receptor.

«They called it kastousilia, a term derived, it seems to me, from the ancient Assyrian, and which my father evidently took from some legend.» — nombra kastousilia el método de preguntas inesperadas que atribuye a su padre, y acota él mismo la etimología con it seems to me.

«My father answered most seriously, ‘God is just now in Sari Kamish.’» — el ejemplo con que ilustra kastousilia: a la pregunta de dónde está Dios, el padre responde con un lugar concreto y con toda seriedad.

«My father answered that God was making double ladders there and on the tops of them he was fastening happiness, so that individual people and whole nations might ascend and descend.» — continúa la respuesta con la imagen de las dobles escaleras, que él da como enseñanza escondida bajo forma banal.

«Only later did I understand what rich thoughts were concealed beneath such questions and answers.» — declara el efecto diferido de esa enseñanza, que es el mismo procedimiento que dice emplear en sus propios libros.

«My father had a very simple, clear and quite definite view on the aim of human life.» — atribuye a su padre una posición formada sobre el fin de la vida humana, y la presenta como sencilla, no como doctrina.

«Hence it was, in my opinion, that during my childhood, in spite of great want, there constantly reigned in our family unusual concord, love and the wish to help one another.» — refiere el efecto doméstico de esa manera de ver, con la reserva in my opinion puesta por él.

«Owing to his inherent capacity for finding inspiration in the beauty of the details of life, my father was for us all, even in the most dismal moments of our family life, a source of courage; and, infecting us all with his freedom from care, he engendered in us the above-mentioned happy impulses.» — el retrato que hace de su padre como fuente de ánimo, y el rasgo que le adjudica: hallar inspiración en el detalle.

«In writing about my father, I must not pass by in silence his views on what is called the ‘question of the beyond’.» — anuncia que va a consignar la posición de su padre sobre el más allá; lo que sigue es respuesta del padre a una pregunta suya, no doctrina propia.

«I do not believe; and yet, in the course of a man’s life “something” does form itself in him: this is for me beyond all doubt.» — es el padre quien habla: niega el alma que preexiste y transmigra, y afirma en cambio un algo que se forma en el curso de la vida. La fórmula se parece a la doctrina del cuarto camino sobre el alma adquirida, y aquí está puesta en boca del padre.

«‘Although this “something” is formed from the same substance as the physical body of a man, it has a much finer materiality and, it must be assumed, a much greater sensitivity towards all kinds of perceptions.» — sigue el padre: ese algo es de la misma sustancia que el cuerpo pero de materialidad más fina, con la reserva it must be assumed.

«‘So, in the same way, this “something”, both before a man’s death and afterwards until its disintegration, reacts to certain surrounding actions and is not free from their influence.’» — cierre de la respuesta del padre: ese algo no es inmortal, se desintegra, y mientras dura sigue expuesto a las influencias del entorno.

«My father had in connection with my education certain definite, as I have called them, ‘persistent pursuits’.» — nombra persistent pursuits los ejercicios con que dice que su padre lo educaba en la indiferencia ante lo repugnante y lo incómodo.

«What greatly astonished my father at the time was that when I pricked the oiled place on the figure with a needle, the corresponding place on the medium twitched, and when I pricked more deeply a drop of blood appeared on the exactly corresponding place of the medium’s body;» — narra un experimento de correspondencia entre una figura untada y el cuerpo de una médium. Se consigna como episodio narrado por la obra, no como hecho verificado.

«The texts of the various legends and songs he had written or dictated, which, in my opinion, would have been his most fitting memorial, were lost— to the misfortune of all thinking people—during the repeated sackings of our house;» — refiere la pérdida del repertorio escrito de su padre en los saqueos, con lo cual la única vía que le queda al lector es la suya.

«And indeed, every business that my father carried on for the purpose of making money always went wrong and brought none of the results obtained by others.» — cuenta el fracaso comercial reiterado de su padre y lo atribuye no a incapacidad sino a una disposición interior.

«If a man is a coward, it proves he has will.» — una de las sentencias que atribuye a su padre; las recoge como colección de dichos y no las comenta.

«If you wish to be famous, make friends with the reporters.» — otra de las sentencias del padre, y la que enlaza con la diatriba contra la prensa que el libro ha reproducido antes.

«Genghis Khan was great, but our policeman, so please you, is still greater.» — sentencia del padre sobre el poder inmediato frente al histórico.

«A man is satisfied not by the quantity of food, but by the absence of greed.» — sentencia del padre, y una de las que el libro deja funcionar como máxima práctica sin glosarla.

«Truth is that from which conscience can be at peace.» — sentencia del padre que define la verdad por el efecto en la conciencia y no por correspondencia con los hechos.

«My family had at first intended me for the priesthood, but Father Borsh had a quite particular conception of what a real priest should be.» — narra que su destino previsto era el sacerdocio y que fue su primer tutor quien lo redefinió.

«He said: ‘Just as a physician who does not have access to the soul of his patient cannot be of any real help to him, so also one cannot be a good priest without being at the same time a physician, because the body and soul are interconnected and it is often impossible to cure the one when the cause of the illness lies in the other.’» — voz del decano Borsh: cuerpo y alma están entrelazados, y de ahí que sacerdote y médico hayan de ser el mismo.

«He was in favour of myhaving a medical education, though not in the ordinary sense but as he understood it, that is, with the aim of becoming a physician for the body and a confessor for the soul.» — refiere el plan de estudios que Borsh le trazó. El facsímil imprime myhaving pegado, y así se cita.

«His views on man and the aim of man’s existence differed completely from those of the people round him and from everything I had heard or gathered» — presenta las ideas de Borsh como divergentes de todo su entorno, y por eso las transcribe una por una.

«Concerning sexual desire, he once told me the following: ‘If a youth but once gratify this lust before reaching adulthood, then the same would happen to him as happened to the historical Esau, who for a single mess of pottage sold his birthright, that is, the welfare of his whole life; because if a youth yields to this temptation even once, he will lose for the rest of his life the possibility of being a man of real worth.» — voz de Borsh sobre la continencia antes de la edad adulta, argumentada con el caso de Esaú.

«‘Until adulthood, man is not responsible for any of his acts, good or bad, voluntary or involuntary; solely responsible are the people close to him who have undertaken, consciously or owing to accidental circumstances, the obligation of preparing him for responsible life.» — voz de Borsh: la responsabilidad no es del menor sino de quienes se hicieron cargo de prepararlo.

«‘According to laws of nature elucidated and verified through many centuries of observation by people of pure reason, this process of development is finished in males between the ages of twenty and twenty-three, and in females between the ages of fifteen and nineteen, depending on the geographical conditions of the place of their arising and formation.» — voz de Borsh, que data el fin del desarrollo en edades distintas por sexo y lo hace depender del lugar.

«‘From this time on, that is, from the moment the process of his development is finished, a man becomes personally responsible for all his voluntary and involuntary manifestations.» — voz de Borsh: la responsabilidad empieza con el fin del desarrollo y alcanza también a lo involuntario.

«‘That is why it is absolutely necessary for every person, in the process of his responsible life, to have beside him a person of the opposite sex of corresponding type for mutual completion in every respect.» — voz de Borsh sobre la necesidad de un tipo complementario del otro sexo para completar el desarrollo.

«‘In order that at responsible age a man may be a real man and not a parasite, his education must without fail be based on the following ten principles.» — voz de Borsh, que anuncia los diez principios de educación que el capítulo enumera a continuación.

«BOGACHEVSKY, OR FATHER EVLISSI, is still alive and well, and has the good fortune to be an assistant to the abbot of the chief monastery of the Essene Brotherhood, situated not far from the shores of the Dead Sea.» — sitúa a su segundo maestro, con nombre doble, en un monasterio esenio junto al Mar Muerto. La afirmación es del libro y no se deja verificar fuera de él.

«This brotherhood was founded, according to certain surmises, twelve hundred years before the Birth of Christ; and it is said that in this brotherhood Jesus Christ received his first initiation.» — adjudica a la hermandad esenia una antigüedad de mil doscientos años antes de Cristo y la iniciación de Jesús, y lo hace con doble atenuante: according to certain surmises y it is said.

«The army engineer asserted that this phenomenon occurs through the participation of spirits.» — narra la discusión sobre la mesa giratoria en el círculo de la catedral de Kars: la explicación espiritista la pone un ingeniero militar, no él.

«The others denied this, attributing it to other forces of nature, such as magnetism, the law of attraction, auto-suggestion and so forth; but nobody denied the existence of the fact itself.» — consigna que el desacuerdo era sobre la causa y no sobre el hecho: nadie del grupo negaba el fenómeno.

«‘All that is nonsense,’ replied my first tutor. ‘Don’t think and bother about such things, but learn what is necessary for you to know for leading a tolerable existence.’» — la respuesta del decano Borsh, que descarta el asunto de plano; el libro deja el desacuerdo entre sus dos maestros sin resolverlo.

«‘Come, you little garlic-head’ —that was his favourite expression—‘think! If spirits can really tap with the leg of a table, it means that they have some physical force.» — el argumento de Borsh contra el espiritismo, que es físico y no teológico: lo que golpea tiene fuerza y por tanto materia.

«Much as I valued the opinion of my old tutor, I could not accept his categorical reply without criticism, the more so since it seemed to me that my younger instructor and his friends, who had been through the seminary and other higher educational institutions, might know more about some things than the old man who had studied in the days when science was not so advanced.» — narra su propia suspensión del juicio entre los dos maestros, y con ella queda planteado el motivo que el libro dará como origen de su búsqueda.

«‘But thank God,’ she continued, ‘there are two things which have not yet happened to you: one, that you will have a large sore on your right side; the other, that you are in danger of a serious accident from a fire-arm. You should, therefore, be very cautious wherever shooting is going on,’ concluded my aunt, stating that, although she did not believe this lunatic, it was in any case better to be careful.» — cuenta la predicción que le transmite su tía, y consigna que ella misma no creía en su autor.

«However, I did not attach any great importance to my aunt’s story, since I did not believe at all in any of this fortune-telling, and I soon quite forgot about this prediction.» — declara su incredulidad de entonces; el relato la registra antes de narrar el accidente de caza que la cumple.

«The Yezidis are a sect living in Transcaucasia, mainly in the regions near Mount Ararat. They are sometimes called devil-worshippers.» — presenta a los yezidis y consigna el mote con que se los designa, sin hacerlo suyo.

«Many years after the incident just described, I made a special experimental verification of this phenomenon and found that, in fact, if a circle is drawn round a Yezidi, he cannot of his own volition escape from it.» — afirma haber verificado él mismo, años después, que un yezidi no sale por su voluntad de un círculo trazado alrededor. Se consigna como lo que la obra narra.

«Within the circle he can move freely, and the larger the circle, the larger the space in which he can move, but get out of it he cannot.» — precisa el alcance de lo que dice haber observado: el límite es el trazo, no el espacio.

«If a Yezidi is forcibly dragged out of a circle, he immediately falls into the state called catalepsy, from which he recovers the instant he is brought back inside.» — describe el efecto de sacarlo por la fuerza en términos de catalepsia, término que emplea sin comillas y como categoría médica.

«But if he is not brought back into the circle, he returns to a normal state, as we ascertained, only after either thirteen or twenty-one hours.» — da cifras concretas para la duración del estado, y las atribuye a una comprobación en primera persona del plural.

«Only their priests could do so, by means of certain short incantations.» — narra que únicamente los sacerdotes yezidis podían deshacer el efecto, y por medio de conjuros breves.

«He did not even listen until I finished, but authoritatively stated: ‘These boys simply played on your credulity.» — recoge la primera explicación que le dieron —lo engañaron unos niños—, sin adoptarla ni refutarla en ese punto.

«Although I had already heard something about these Yezidis, I had never given them any thought; but this astonishing incident, which I had seen with my own eyes, now compelled me to think seriously about them.» — sitúa el episodio del círculo como uno de los que le impusieron la pregunta que el libro entero persigue.

«The first to speak was the captain, who said that he himself had recently seen some soldiers draw a circle on the ground round a Kurd who begged them almost in tears to rub it away.» — el libro acumula testimonios ajenos sobre el mismo fenómeno en lugar de resolverlo, y así los consigna.

«The deacon said: ‘They are devil-worshippers and under ordinary circumstances the devil does not touch them, as they are his own.» — la explicación del diácono, que es teológica: el diablo no los toca porque son suyos. Voz de un personaje, no de la obra.

«‘Now if I,’ the deacon continued, ‘make a row, let’s say, in the street, this Philip is obliged without fail to take me to the police-station, and for appearances’ sake, so that it should not seem strange to others, he will of course do so, but as soon as we turn the corner he will let me go, not forgetting to say, “Please, a little tip . . .”» — el símil con que el diácono explica el círculo: el diablo obra por apariencia, como el policía del pueblo.

«The artillery officer said that he had never heard about such a phenomenon and that, in his opinion, nothing of the sort could exist.» — la negación pura y simple, que el libro registra como una posición más de la mesa.

«Stolmakh, the teacher, retorted that on the contrary he firmly believed in supernatural phenomena and that, if there were much that positive science could not explain, he was fully convinced that, with the present rapid progress of civilization, contemporary science would soon prove that all mysteries of the metaphysical world could be fully explained by physical causes.» — la posición del maestro Stolmakh, que cree en el fenómeno y espera de la ciencia su explicación física. El libro deja las cuatro posturas enfrentadas sin arbitrar.

«He was going to say something more but Pavlov interrupted him, exclaiming: ‘The devil take them and all the devil-worshippers! Give them each a half-bottle of vodka and then no devil will hold them back.» — la cuarta reacción, la burla, que el relato conserva junto a las demás.

«These discussions not only did not calm my thoughts, but on the contrary on leaving Pavlov’s I began to think all the more, and at the same time began to have doubts about people whom I had until then considered educated.» — el efecto que declara: no la respuesta sino la desconfianza hacia quienes tenía por instruidos. Es el motor que el libro adjudica a su búsqueda posterior.

«It is believed there among the followers of the Christian religion that these spirits enter exclusively the bodies of Tartars because, according to the Tartar custom, the coffin is not deeply buried at first but only lightly covered with earth, and food is often put inside.» — refiere la creencia local sobre los cuerpos poseídos, y la adjudica expresamente a los cristianos del lugar.

«but someone, happening to see this, raised an outcry and rang the alarm, and to prevent the spirit from doing any great harm the good neighbours quickly cut the throat of the body and carried it back to the cemetery.» — narra el desenlace violento de uno de esos casos; la obra lo cuenta como suceso presenciado en su pueblo.

«This trader was a monk of the Essene Order who, having gradually prepared Bogachevsky, introduced him into his brotherhood.» — narra la vía por la que Bogachevsky entró en la orden esenia: un comerciante que era monje encubierto. La preparación gradual antes de la admisión es un rasgo que el libro repite en cada escuela que menciona.

«‘Objective morality,’ he said, ‘is established by life and by the commandments given us by the Lord God Himself through His prophets, and it gradually becomes the basis for the formation in man of what is called conscience.» — voz de Bogachevsky: la moral objetiva viene de la vida y de los mandamientos, y de ella se forma lo que se llama conciencia.

«Objective morality never changes, it can only broaden in the course of time.» — voz de Bogachevsky, y el rasgo con que separa las dos morales: la objetiva no cambia, solo se ensancha.

«‘For example, here in Transcaucasia,’ said Bogachevsky, ‘if a woman does not cover her face and if she speaks with a guest, everyone will regard her as immoral, spoiled and badly brought up.» — el primer ejemplo con que Bogachevsky muestra que la moral subjetiva se invierte al cruzar una frontera; en Rusia, dice a continuación, se juzga al revés.

«Both these events occurred on account of debts.» — el eje del par de casos militares que narra: dos deudas, dos desenlaces opuestos, y ninguna diferencia moral que los explique.

«Why? Simply because everyone round Makarov would have severely condemned him for not paying his debt to the sharper Mashvelov, whereas in the case of Ivanov, the shoemaker, even if all his children were to starve to death—that would be quite in the order of things, for the code of honour of an officer is not concerned with the payment of his debts to a shoemaker.» — la conclusión que saca de los dos casos: lo que decide no es la deuda sino a quién se debe, y eso lo fija el código del entorno.

«He said: ‘From the conventions with which one is stuffed subjective morality is formed, but for real life objective morality is needed, which comes only from conscience.» — voz de Bogachevsky, y la formulación más apretada de su tesis: la moral objetiva no viene de la costumbre sino de la conciencia.

«‘Subjective morality is a relative conception, and if you are filled with relative conceptions, then when you are grown up you will always and everywhere act and judge other people according to the conventional views and notions you have acquired.» — voz de Bogachevsky sobre el efecto de la moral subjetiva: no solo se obra por convención, también se juzga a los demás con ella.

«You must learn not what people round you consider good or bad, but to act in life as your conscience bids you.» — el precepto que Bogachevsky le da, y que el libro conserva como consejo recibido, no como doctrina propia del narrador.

«An untrammelled conscience will always know more than all the books and teachers put together.» — voz de Bogachevsky, que pone la conciencia por encima de los libros y de los maestros, incluido él mismo.

«But for the present, until your own conscience is formed, live according to the commandment of our Teacher Jesus Christ: “Do not do to others what you would not wish them to do to you.”» — el límite que Bogachevsky pone a su propio consejo: mientras la conciencia no esté formada, rige el mandamiento evangélico.

«Father Evlissi, who is now an aged man, happened to become one of the first persons on earth who has been able to live as our Divine Teacher Jesus Christ wished for us all.» — el juicio con que cierra el capítulo sobre su segundo maestro. Es afirmación del narrador, y de las pocas del libro en que no hay ironía.

«SARKIS POGOSSIAN, or as he is now called, Mr. X, is at the present time the owner of several ocean steamers, one of which, cruising among his favourite places, between the Sunda and Solomon Islands, he commands himself.» — presenta a Pogossian bajo dos nombres a la vez, el propio y el que le da el libro; el procedimiento de nombrar y a la vez encubrir recorre toda la galería.

«I was going to Echmiadzin for the purpose—as always—of seeking an answer to the question of supernatural phenomena, in which my interest not only had not diminished but had grown even stronger.» — declara el motivo constante de sus viajes: la pregunta por los fenómenos sobrenaturales, que el libro presenta como el hilo de la búsqueda entera.

«But failing to find answers that satisfied me either in books or from the people I turned to, I began to seek them in religion.» — narra el orden de sus tentativas: primero los libros y las personas, después la religión, y ninguna lo satisface.

«During this period I happened again to witness a whole series of phenomena which were unquestionably real, but which I could in no way explain.» — la fórmula con que sostiene a la vez el hecho y su falta de explicación, y que es la posición que el libro mantiene sin resolver.

«In explanation of this phenomenon, as of others similar to it, one might of course use the stereotyped word ‘coincidence’, which is such a favourite word among our so-called thinking people; but it cannot be denied that this coincidence was almost too remarkable.» — objeta la explicación por coincidencia sin proponer otra: se limita a señalar que la palabra se usa como fórmula.

«Dr. Resnik, by the way, explained that her recovery, which seemed a miracle, was a matter of chance.» — consigna la explicación médica del caso junto a la suya, sin descartarla; el libro deja convivir las dos lecturas.

«These indubitable facts, which I had seen with my own eyes, as well as many others I had heard about during my searchings—all of them pointing to the presence of something supernatural—could not in any way be reconciled with what common sense told me or with what was clearly proved by my already extensive knowledge of the exact sciences, which excluded the very idea of supernatural phenomena.» — el conflicto que declara: lo visto y lo sabido no se dejan conciliar, y ninguno de los dos cede.

«This contradiction in my consciousness gave me no peace, and was all the more irreconcilable because the facts and proofs on both sides were equally convincing.» — mantiene la contradicción como estado, y expresamente porque las pruebas de ambos lados le parecen igual de convincentes.

«I continued my searchings, however, in the hope that sometime, somewhere, I would at last find the real answer to the questions constantly tormenting me.» — la búsqueda que el libro narra queda así fundada en una pregunta sin respuesta, no en una doctrina previa.

«Echmiadzin, or, as it is also called, Vagarshapat, is for the Armenians what Mecca is for the Moslems and Jerusalem for the Christians.» — sitúa Echmiadzin equiparándola a La Meca y a Jerusalén, y de ahí la importancia que da a no haber hallado allí lo que buscaba.

«Pogossian was nearing the end of his studies at the Theological Seminary and in two years was to be ordained a priest, but his inner state did not correspond to this at all.» — el desajuste entre carrera y estado interior es el rasgo con que el libro presenta a casi todos sus buscadores.

«But during my stay in Echmiadzin I did not find what I was looking for and, having spent enough time to realize that I could not find it there, I went away with a feeling of deep inner disillusionment.» — consigna el fracaso de la vía institucional; el libro registra los hallazgos negativos con la misma extensión que los positivos.

«By this time Pogossian and I had come to the definite conclusion that there really was ‘a certain something’ which people formerly knew, but that now this knowledge was quite forgotten.» — la conclusión que ordena todo el libro: hubo un saber, se perdió, y de ahí la búsqueda. La fórmula a certain something es la que emplea la obra, sin precisarla.

«At this point in my writings I cannot pass by in silence a fact which, in my opinion, may be of interest to certain readers, namely, that these historical data which I have just cited concerning the ancient Armenian capital Ani are the first, and I hope the last, that I have taken from information officially recognized on earth; that is to say, it is the first instance since the beginning of my writing activities in which I have had recourse to an encyclopedia.» — declara que apenas una vez en toda su obra se apoya en un dato de fuente reconocida, y lo dice como reproche a esa clase de fuente. Es su propia advertencia sobre el estatuto de lo que narra.

«I knew Armenian well, to say nothing of Pogossian; nevertheless we could not understand any of this writing, as it was a very ancient Armenian, very different from that of today.» — el problema de lengua que retrasa el hallazgo del pergamino, narrado con detalle: la transmisión tropieza primero con el idioma.

«it became clear that these parchments were simply letters written by one monk to another monk-a certain Father Arem.» — el pergamino resulta ser correspondencia monástica corriente; el hallazgo esotérico llega dentro de un documento banal.

«Our worthy Father Telvant has at last succeeded in learning the truth about the Sarmoung Brotherhood.» — la frase de la carta que desencadena el viaje: la única mención documental que el libro alega para la hermandad Sarmoung.

«What struck us most was the word Sarmoung, which we had come across several times in the book called Meskhavat. This word is the name of a famous esoteric school which, according to tradition, was founded in Babylon as far back as 2500 B.C., and which was known to have existed somewhere in Mesopotamia up to the sixth or seventh century A.D.; but about its further existence one could not obtain anywhere the least information.» — data la escuela Sarmoung en Babilonia hacia el 2500 a.C. y la sigue hasta los siglos VI o VII, con la atribución puesta: according to tradition. La obra remite además a un libro, Meskhavat, que no identifica.

«This school was said to have possessed great knowledge, containing the key to many secret mysteries.» — lo que se le atribuye a la escuela va en voz pasiva y sin fuente: was said to have possessed.

«But apart from its name being mentioned, we discovered nothing else from this letter. We knew no more than before when and how this school arose, where it had existed or whether it might even still exist.» — el propio libro acota el hallazgo: del pergamino no sale más que el nombre. Es la reserva que rara vez se cita cuando se invoca a la hermandad Sarmoung.

«If such a school had really existed and had moved somewhere during that period, then it could only have been an Aïsorian school, and if it should still exist, then it must be among the Aïsors» — la cadena de condicionales con que arma el itinerario: la localización que el libro da es una inferencia declarada, no un dato.

«we concluded that in all probability the letter referred precisely to these Aisors.» — el eslabón de esa inferencia, también con su límite adentro: in all probability.

«Missionaries of various religions have recently manifested great zeal in converting the Aïsors to their different faiths, and one must give the Aisors their due in that they have no less zealously ‘converted themselves’, outwardly changing their faith and even deriving from these conversions so much material benefit that this has become proverbial.» — describe la conversión reiterada de los aisores como transacción, y lo hace sin condenarla: es una de las observaciones sobre religión aplicada que el libro deja caer de paso.

«It must be confessed that although we had undertaken certain obligations and attempted, as far as possible, to carry them out, we never lost sight of our real purpose for the journey, the itinerary of which did not always coincide with the places of our commissions; on such occasions we did not hesitate to leave them unfulfilled and, truth to tell, did not experience on this account any great remorse of conscience.» — reconoce que los encargos con que financiaban el viaje se abandonaban cuando estorbaban a la búsqueda, y lo consigna sin justificarse.

«I do not know what Pogossian did or with whom or how he talked, but the result of his efforts was that several days later, provided with a considerable sum of Russian, Turkish and Persian money and a great many letters of introduction to people living in the different places along our proposed route, we set out from Alexandropol in the direction of Kaghyshman.» — narra que la expedición se financió por medios que él mismo declara no conocer; el libro deja el hueco a la vista.

«As it turned out, we had been most naive in assuming that after crossing the river Arax we would have left the greatest difficulties and troubles behind us;» — la fórmula con que el relato encadena etapas: cada frontera cruzada resulta no ser la última.

«The greatest difficulty was that after crossing this frontier river and going over Mount Egri Dagh, we could no longer pass for Aisors, as we had until the encounter with the dogs, because we now found ourselves in places populated by genuine Aïsors.» — narra que el disfraz deja de servir justo donde empieza el pueblo que imitaban; el viaje se cuenta como una sucesión de identidades adoptadas.

«After long deliberation, we decided to disguise ourselves as Caucasian Tartars.» — el cambio de disfraz, decidido por cálculo de riesgo y no por afinidad.

«For instance, it was rumoured from authentic sources that several Englishmen had recently been flayed alive by Aisors, for having attempted to make copies of certain inscriptions.» — el rumor que da la medida del peligro, con la atribución que el propio texto le pone: it was rumoured. Copiar inscripciones es aquí lo que se castiga.

«But seeing he had been bitten in the fleshy part of the leg and knowing that sucking the wound would be dangerous if there were the slightest scratch in one’s mouth, I took the lesser risk for both of us, seized my knife, and quickly cut away a piece of my comrade’s calf—but in my haste I cut away too much.» — narra la cura de urgencia tras la picadura de la tarántula. El libro cuenta sus propios errores con el mismo detalle que sus aciertos.

«He told me, among other things, that he was interested in antiques and, as this parchment fitted so well into his collection, he, being a connoisseur, wished to buy it and had offered a sum far above the value of the article.» — narra que un tercero quiso comprarle el pergamino; el episodio establece de paso que el documento tenía valor de mercado.

«He then offered me two hundred pounds to let him make a copy, and this time I felt ashamed to bargain as, in my opinion, he was giving me this sum for nothing.» — cuenta que aceptó vender una copia y no el original; el pergamino sale del relato multiplicado, sin que se diga adónde fue a parar.

«What I saw—was it not precisely what I had spent long months of sleepless nights thinking about!» — narra el momento en que ve, en casa del sacerdote armenio, el objeto que estaba buscando.

«It was a map of what is called ‘pre-sand Egypt’.» — nombra el mapa que se vuelve el instrumento de sus viajes por Egipto: un mapa de un Egipto anterior a la arena. La obra no dice de dónde procede ni quién lo hizo.

«I was no Russian prince to pay two hundred pounds for making a copy, yet this map was perhaps no less necessary to me than to him.» — cuenta que hizo su copia a escondidas y sin pagarla, y lo justifica por la necesidad. Es el mismo mapa que reaparece al pie de la Esfinge.

«Thus did God send me two hundred pounds for nothing, and I have the parchment to this day.» — cierra el episodio del pergamino declarando que lo conserva; la obra ofrece así una prueba material que nunca exhibe.

«The gait of the horses bred in that locality is indeed so smooth that one can ride on them almost at the speed of the flight of a large bird, holding in one’s hand a glassfull of water without spilling a single drop.» — el modo en que el libro describe lo que encuentra: una precisión hiperbólica que no se ofrece como medida sino como impresión.

«It cannot be said that we were very talkative on the way home; my eye kept shutting involuntarily and Pogossian was groaning and cursing himself for not minding his own business.» — narra las consecuencias de la reyerta de Esmirna con el mismo tono con que narra los hallazgos: sin heroísmo.

«At first we did not understand anything, but it soon became clear that he was an English sailor, one of the group in whose defence we had fought the previous evening.» — cuenta que de la pelea salió la relación con los marineros ingleses, y de ella el pasaje en barco que sigue.

«At last we began to guess what it was all about and, as it afterwards turned out, our guess was almost correct: those two comrades of theirs who had suddenly left had gone to put in a word for us in the proper quarter, so that we might go on their ship, which was sailing the next day for Piraeus, from there to Sicily, and from Sicily to Alexandria, where it would stop for about two weeks before sailing to Bombay.» — refiere la ruta del barco; los itinerarios del libro se dan siempre con nombres de puerto y sin fechas.

«All of them, irrespective of their rank, seemed to have a marked feeling of friendliness towards us.» — el trato con la tripulación, que el relato presenta como fruto de un servicio prestado y no de una recomendación.

«This proposal was approved by all with noisy applause, and two sailors, from among our friends of the day before, at once began choosing and writing down those English words which they thought we ought to learn first, and Pogossian and I made a list of Turkish words for them.» — narra el pacto de veinte palabras diarias en las dos direcciones; el aprendizaje se cuenta como intercambio, no como estudio.

«We were so absorbed in learning these twenty words and in trying to pronounce correctly the unaccustomed sounds, so foreign to our ear, that we did not notice that evening had come and the ship was under way.» — el detalle con que mide la absorción del ejercicio, que el libro trata como una forma de trabajo sobre sí.

«He never sat, as is said, with folded arms, and one never saw him lying down, like his comrades, reading diverting books which give nothing real.» — el retrato de Pogossian a bordo; lo que el libro le reconoce es el trabajo continuo, no el estudio.

«‘Yes, indeed,’ he replied, ‘for the present no one will pay me for these foolish antics of mine—as you and all those pickled in the same barrel of brine think they are—but in the future either you yourself or your children will pay me for them.» — voz de Pogossian, que responde a la burla con una economía diferida del trabajo.

«I do this because I like work, but I like it not with my nature, which is just as lazy as that of other people and never wishes to do anything useful.» — voz de Pogossian, y la distinción que sostiene toda su posición: le gusta el trabajo, pero no con su naturaleza, que es tan perezosa como cualquiera.

«‘Further, I am really convinced that in the world no conscious work is ever wasted. Sooner or later someone must pay for it.» — voz de Pogossian: el trabajo consciente no se pierde. Es una de las formulaciones del libro que después circularon como doctrina del sistema, y aquí está en boca de un personaje.

«First, I shall perhaps teach my nature not to be lazy, and secondly, I will provide for my old age.» — voz de Pogossian, que declara los dos fines de su trabajo y acota el primero con perhaps.

«not from compulsion but consciously; that is what distinguishes man from a Karabakh ass, which also works day and night.’» — cierre de Pogossian: lo que separa al hombre del asno no es el trabajo sino que sea consciente.

«He was right when he said that no conscious labour is ever wasted.» — el narrador suscribe expresamente la fórmula de Pogossian, y la avala con la fortuna que aquél llegó a tener.

«He did indeed work consciously and conscientiously, day and night, like an ox, all his life, in all circumstances and under all conditions.» — el juicio con que cierra el capítulo de Pogossian: se lo acredita como trabajo consciente y concienzudo de toda una vida.

«I returned to Tiflis chiefly because I could obtain there any book I wanted.» — narra que volvía a Tiflis por sus libros; el libro registra los mercados de libros como parte de la búsqueda.

«In this city, both then and the last time I stopped there, it was very easy to find any rare book in any language, especially in Armenian, Georgian and Arabic.» — describe Tiflis como plaza de libro raro en armenio, georgiano y árabe.

«This was Abrashka Yelov, as he was called in his youth—an artful dodger if there ever was one, but for me an irreplaceable friend.» — presenta a Yelov con las dos caras juntas, el pícaro y el amigo, sin resolver la contradicción.

«He was even then a walking catalogue, for he knew innumerable titles of books in almost all languages, the names of the authors, and also the date and place of publication of any book, and where it could be obtained.» — la capacidad que le adjudica a Yelov es bibliográfica: saber dónde está cada libro.

«It was owing to his interest in philosophical questions that our close friendship began, and we often used to meet in the evening in the Alexander Gardens, or in the Moushtaid, and discuss philosophical themes.» — narra que la amistad nació del interés filosófico compartido, que es el criterio con que el libro elige a sus hombres notables.

«His story and Yelov’s indignation stirred me up, and then and there I thought of trying to steal a march on this Italian, the more so since at that time I had to consider beginning some business or other means of earning, as my money was already going like the exodus of the Israelites.» — narra el origen del negocio de las estatuillas de yeso: la necesidad de dinero para seguir buscando.

«According to my plan, I pretended from the very first day to be a blockhead.» — cuenta que se hizo pasar por tonto para aprender el oficio del italiano. La simulación deliberada es un procedimiento que el libro le atribuye una y otra vez.

«I do not think there was a single house in Tiflis at that time that did not have one of my money-boxes.» — mide el éxito del negocio por su difusión doméstica; los recursos materiales se narran con el mismo detalle que las búsquedas.

«Pogossian and Yelov were forever teasing each other, and even when talking amicably, Yelov would never call Pogossian anything else but ‘salted Armenian’ and Pogossian would call Yelov ‘khachagokh’.» — recoge los motes con que sus dos amigos se trataban, con el término armenio sin traducir.

«In Transcaucasia there even exists the following definition of them: ‘Boil together seven Russians, you get one Jew; boil seven Jews, you get one Armenian; but only by boiling seven Armenians can you get one Aisor.’» — consigna el dicho local sobre los aisores como material de la región, sin hacerlo suyo.

«I must add, by the way, that in my opinion this custom is not without its use.» — sobre la costumbre armenia de salar al recién nacido: la evalúa por su utilidad observable y no por su sentido ritual.

«My special observations have shown me that the new-born children of other races suffer from a skin rash in the places where one usually applies some kind of powder to prevent inflammation, but with rare exceptions Armenian children, born in the same regions, do not suffer from this rash, although they have all the other children’s diseases.» — alega observaciones propias para sostener la utilidad de la costumbre. Se consigna como lo que la obra afirma haber observado.

«‘It is not a question of to whom a man prays, but a question of his faith.» — voz de Yelov, y el arranque de su posición sobre la conversión religiosa.

«Faith is conscience, the foundation of which is laid in childhood.» — voz de Yelov: identifica fe con conciencia y la data en la infancia. La ecuación reaparece en el libro por boca de Bogachevsky, con otra derivación.

«If a man changes his religion, he loses his conscience, and conscience is the most valuable thing in a man.» — voz de Yelov, y la consecuencia que saca: cambiar de religión cuesta la conciencia.

«I respect his conscience, and since his conscience is sustained by his faith and his faith by his religion, therefore I respect his religion;» — voz de Yelov: la cadena por la que llega a respetar cualquier religión ajena, que no es tolerancia doctrinal sino cuidado de la conciencia del otro.

«and for me it would be a great sin if I should begin to judge his religion or to disillusion him about it, and thus destroy his conscience which can only be acquired in childhood.» — voz de Yelov, y la prohibición que se impone: no desengañar a nadie de su religión.

«Just as Pogossian had a peculiar notion about physical work, so Yelov had a very original view about mental work.» — el libro empareja las dos posiciones, la del trabajo físico y la del mental, y las presenta como variantes de una misma idea.

«Instead of allowing them to think about caps of invisibility or the riches of Aladdin, rather let them be occupied with something useful.» — voz de Yelov sobre el gobierno del pensamiento: no se trata de detenerlo sino de darle materia.

«He was much older than I and for almost forty years was my elder comrade and closest friend.» — presenta al príncipe Yuri Lubovedsky con la duración de la relación, que es la medida que el libro emplea para el peso de una amistad.

«The remote, indirect cause which led to our meeting on life’s path, and to the close bonds of many years’ friendship, was the event by which his family life had been suddenly and tragically cut short.» — narra que el duelo por su esposa es lo que puso al príncipe en el camino de la búsqueda.

«He received no one, went nowhere and, withdrawing to his library, applied himself uninterruptedly to the questions relating to occultism» — describe el primer tramo de esa búsqueda como reclusión y lectura, antes de los viajes.

«To the astonishment of all his household, the prince immediately received the old man and, shutting himself up with him in the library, conversed with him a long time.» — narra la visita del anciano desconocido tras la cual el príncipe empieza a viajar. La obra no dice quién era ni qué se dijo.

«He lived for a long time in certain monasteries and met many persons with interests similar to his own.» — los monasterios se nombran sin localizarlos; el libro procede así en casi todos sus hallazgos.

«I had just returned from Jerusalem, where I had earned my living by showing tourists, chiefly Russians, the sights of the city and giving them the customary explanations; in a word, I had been a professional guide.» — narra que se ganaba la vida de guía turístico en Jerusalén; el libro no separa la busca espiritual del oficio con que se paga.

«One day I was taken as a guide by a certain Russian, who afterwards proved to be a professor of archaeology, named Skridlov.» — cuenta que conoció al profesor Skridlov haciéndole de guía, y así entra en el libro el tercero de sus compañeros de viaje.

«‘What would you?’ answered the professor. ‘This is at least something real and tangible, and not as ephemeral as that to which you have devoted your life, a life which you as a man of health and wealth could have used to the full.» — voz de Skridlov objetando al príncipe: la arqueología es tangible y la búsqueda esotérica no. El libro conserva la objeción sin responderla en ese punto.

«You are looking for truth invented once upon a time by some crazy idler; but if what I do contributes nothing to the satisfaction of curiosity, at least, if one wishes, it contributes to the pocket.» — la objeción de Skridlov llevada hasta el final. Es la formulación más dura contra la propia empresa del libro, y va en boca de quien luego se une a ella.

«It must be said that I was spending all my free time walking among these places like one possessed, hoping to find, with the help of my map of pre-sand Egypt, an explanation of the Sphinx and of certain other monuments of antiquity.» — declara el uso que daba al mapa: buscar con él una explicación de la Esfinge. La obra no dice si la halló.

«From then on, owing to our common interests, a real bond was established between us; we met often, and our correspondence continued uninterruptedly for almost thirty-five years.» — data en treinta y cinco años la correspondencia con el príncipe; de esa correspondencia el libro no cita una sola línea.

«As from my point of view this woman subsequently became remarkable in every respect, I wish not only to repeat her story as it was recounted by Prince Lubovedsky, but also to tell something about her later life, based on my personal meetings with her and on my own observations;» — declara que el relato de Vitvitskaïa que sigue tiene dos capas, la que le contó el príncipe y la que él vio; y de paso admite en el título de hombres notables a una mujer.

«She had a great many admirers, among them a commercial traveller who seduced her and took her off to St. Petersburg.» — dentro del relato del príncipe, el comienzo de la caída de Vitvitskaïa. El libro cuenta su historia sin atenuarla.

«She was to walk along the Nevski and when accosted by a man she was not to put him off, but allow him to accompany her home, give him diplomatic encouragement and leave him at the door.» — el procedimiento con que, según el relato del príncipe, la mujer de un médico la usaba como reclamo.

«As a result of this procedure the doctor would acquire new patients, who invented some kind of ailment merely to get into his apartment in the hope of a pleasant meeting.» — el mecanismo completo de aquella explotación, referido por el príncipe.

«In so far as I have had time to study the nature of Vitvitskaïa,’ observed the prince with conviction, ‘she must have been subconsciously depressed all the time by such a life, and only dire need could have constrained her to resort to it.» — voz del príncipe Lubovedsky, que la exculpa por necesidad; el juicio va con la reserva in so far as puesta por él mismo.

«Without having even set eyes on Vitvitskaïa, there arose in me, for some reason or other, something like hatred for her; but I could not refuse the prince, and with a reluctant heart consented to accompany this, as I then thought, worthless woman.» — consigna su propio prejuicio inicial sin disimularlo, y así prepara la corrección que el capítulo hará.

«I even thought then: ‘What falls from the wagon is lost!’» — la sentencia con que se despachaba entonces el caso, que el libro recoge para medir la distancia con lo que dirá después.

«She began to work on herself in earnest, and anyone who met her, even if only once, could feel the result of that work.» — la fórmula con que el libro describe el cambio de Vitvitskaïa: trabajo sobre sí, y perceptible desde fuera.

«I may boldly say, such as might serve as an ideal for every woman—I will confine myself here to telling about only one aspect of her many-sided inner life.» — el juicio final sobre ella, y a la vez el aviso de que solo se cuenta un aspecto.

«To my questions Vitvitskaïa finally replied that the cause of her state was, as she expressed it, that ‘damned music’, and she asked me if I remembered the music of the night before last.» — el arranque del relato sobre la música: la causa del estado de Vitvitskaïa es la música oída en un monasterio, y lo que sigue lo cuenta ella.

«Even when I was quite indifferent to the music I heard, if my opinion was asked about it, I expressed a view, for or against, according to the circumstances.» — voz de Vitvitskaïa, que refiere en primera persona su antigua manera de juzgar la música por conveniencia.

«But if I praised a piece of music, it was because I assumed that the composer, whoever he might be, having been occupied with this matter all his life, would not let any composition see the light if it did not deserve it.» — voz de Vitvitskaïa: el elogio también era prestado, y descansaba en la autoridad supuesta del compositor.

«In short, in either praising or blaming, I was always insincere with myself and with others, and for this I felt no remorse of conscience.» — voz de Vitvitskaïa, y la conclusión que saca de su propio pasado: la insinceridad no le pesaba.

«She added that, as I had begun to work on music, I should be really educated in this field, and not just play like any Mary Smith, and she therefore thought that I should first of all study the theory of music and, if necessary, even take an examination.» — voz de Vitvitskaïa, sobre la exigencia que le puso la hermana del príncipe. La obra atribuye a esa exigencia el comienzo de su indagación.

«But as to what music is, and what effect it has on the psyche of people, nothing was said anywhere.» — voz de Vitvitskaïa: el hallazgo negativo con que se topa en los libros de teoría musical, y que es lo que la lanza a experimentar.

«I at once understood this, and I fully agreed with the engineer’s hypotheses.» — voz de Vitvitskaïa, que dice haber hallado la respuesta en un libro de ingeniería sobre vibraciones y no en uno de música.

«It cannot be denied that when the people present corresponded absolutely to the mentioned conditions, I could call forth at will in all of them laughter, tears, malice, kindness and so on.» — voz de Vitvitskaïa, que afirma haber producido a voluntad estados definidos con música, bajo condiciones estrictas. Se consigna como lo que ella refiere.

«But when they were of mixed race, or if the psyche of one of them differed just a little from the ordinary, the results varied and, try as I might, I could not succeed in evoking with one and the same music the mood I desired in all the people without exception.» — voz de Vitvitskaïa, y el límite que ella misma pone a su experimento: solo funcionaba en grupos homogéneos.

«But here, the day before yesterday, this music almost without melody evoked the same state in all of us—people not only of different race and nationality, but even quite unlike in character, type, habits and temperament.» — voz de Vitvitskaïa: la música del monasterio hizo lo que su técnica no podía, y ése es el enigma que la desespera. Es la vía por la que el libro introduce la música objetiva sin nombrarla así.

«Recalling her now, when I have already passed the half-way mark of my life and have been in almost all countries and seen thousands of women, I must confess that I never have met and probably never will meet another such woman.» — recuperada su voz, cierra el capítulo con el juicio más alto que da a una persona en todo el libro.

«I was convinced that he had perished on one of his journeys, and little by little I had become accustomed to the thought that I had lost for ever the man nearest to me, when suddenly, quite unexpectedly, I ran across him again in exceptional circumstances in the very heart of Asia.» — anuncia el reencuentro con el príncipe dado por muerto; el libro adelanta sus desenlaces y luego retrocede a contarlos.

«Soloviev was later an authority on what is called Eastern medicine in general, and on Tibetan medicine in particular, and he was also the world’s greatest specialist in the knowledge of the action of opium and hashish on the psyche and organism of man.» — presenta a Soloviev por lo que llegó a ser, antes de narrar de dónde venía. La medicina tibetana y las drogas quedan así dentro del elenco de saberes que el libro persigue.

«My financial resources were almost at an end and, after paying for my room in the caravanserai and settling my other debts in P, the very most I would have left would be sixty kopeks.» — la precisión contable con que narra su miseria; el dinero se cuenta siempre en cifras exactas en este libro.

«Not having the wherewithal to pay for the trip, I decided to do this distance, about seventy miles, on foot, and one fine day I set out with my friend Philos.» — narra el trayecto a pie por falta de dinero, en compañía del perro que el capítulo convierte en personaje.

«Before leaving I bought myself five kopeks’ worth of bread and for another five kopeks a sheep’s head for Philos.» — el detalle de los diez kópeks, que es la clase de dato con que la obra sostiene sus relatos de penuria.

«In my opinion this dog was so astonishing that I do not consider it superfluous to spend a little of my time acquainting the reader with his rare psyche.» — justifica dedicarle páginas a un perro, y le atribuye psique. La palabra es la misma que emplea para las personas.

«As I was very hungry, I decided to dig up several artichokes.» — el arranque del episodio de las alcachofas de Jerusalén, que el capítulo cuenta como enigma antes de resolverlo.

«I was quite convinced it was the landlady who had brought me this artichoke for the simple reason that so far no one besides her had entered my room.» — narra la inferencia falsa que se hizo, y la deja en pie hasta descubrir que el autor era el perro. El libro exhibe sus errores de razonamiento.

«I took this sparrow to Old Samarkand, where I immediately sold it, claiming that it was a special ‘American canary’.» — cuenta sin rodeos que vendía gorriones teñidos como canarios americanos. La obra no atenúa los engaños con que se financiaba.

«Usually, when I left home and did not take him with me, he lay outside my door and awaited my return.» — la conducta del perro Philos, que el capítulo describe con el mismo método con que describe a las personas: por lo que hace.

«If anyone did wish to leave my room while I was away, this huge dog would begin growling and baring his teeth, which was quite enough to make any stranger’s heart sink into his boots.» — el rasgo que le interesa: el perro dejaba entrar y no dejaba salir.

«And so, as was his custom, Philos allowed the travelling cinematographer to enter the room, but to leave it—not on your life!» — el episodio con que ilustra esa conducta; el libro prueba sus afirmaciones con anécdotas, no con razones.

«I will describe one more feature of the psyche of this astonishing dog.» — vuelve a emplear psique para el animal, y con ello el capítulo trata la conducta del perro como material de observación.

«They were a motley crowd of people of all nationalities, some with a past, some perhaps with a future.» — describe a los desterrados de la Nueva Bujará, entre los cuales sitúa el encuentro con Soloviev.

«The surroundings and conditions of life of these exiles were so wretched that all of them without exception gradually became drunkards;» — adjudica la embriaguez de aquellos hombres a las condiciones y no al carácter, que es como el libro explica casi todas las caídas que narra.

«After the fight I wished to take my companion-in-arms to his home, fearing that if he went alone something unpleasant might happen to him on the way, but it turned out that he lived in the same place as the other four, in repair cars on the railroad tracks.» — narra que conoció a Soloviev interviniendo en una pelea; los encuentros decisivos del libro ocurren siempre por accidente.

«My new acquaintance—and this was Soloviev—turned out to be still a young man, but it was clear that he had already taken to drink.» — presenta a Soloviev en el punto más bajo, antes de contar lo que llegó a ser.

«First of all I poured out a glass of vodka for each of us, but to my astonishment he thanked me and refused to drink.» — el detalle con que marca el cambio de Soloviev, narrado como acto y no como resolución declarada.

«All of a sudden, as if to himself, Soloviev exclaimed: ‘Help me, O Lord, in memory of this night, to be able never again to drink this poison which has brought me to such a life!’» — voz de Soloviev en el momento que el libro da como su vuelta; la fórmula es de plegaria, no de propósito.

«He began to frequent the port taverns and found a great many companions like himself.» — dentro de la historia de Soloviev, el descenso narrado sin comentario moral.

«Soloviev drew a lot to serve, but being a telegraphist in the postal service he had to wait several months for his appointment, since recruits of this category were appointed to vacancies by the central administration of the army.» — el detalle administrativo con que el libro ancla la biografía de Soloviev en circunstancias verificables.

«As thanks for delivering the letter, he stealthily handed him a phial of blue liquid, explaining that this liquid could be used to counterfeit the green three-rouble notes—but not any other kind—and that» — narra que un prisionero polaco le enseñó a falsificar billetes con un líquido azul; el episodio se cuenta con precisión técnica y sin condena.

«But after working there several months he began to get bored and, longing for his vagabond life, went to his father and told him frankly that he could not go on any longer.» — el rasgo que el libro le adjudica a Soloviev y a casi todos sus buscadores: la vida establecida no se sostiene.

«‘To this question he answered that he would be glad to see you, a man who —though by origin a kaphir—has succeeded, thanks to his impartial attitude towards all people, in acquiring a soul similar to ours.’» — recoge lo que le transmiten de un derviche: se le admite por su actitud imparcial, no por su origen ni por su creencia. El término kaphir va como lo imprime la fuente.

«‘Perhaps,’ he explained, ‘you will succeed in talking with someone or other there about the questions which interest you, and maybe in this way you will make clear to yourself what it is you seek.’» — la invitación al monasterio llega con dos atenuantes seguidos, perhaps y maybe; el libro no promete lo que sus guías no prometen.

«I therefore proposed to Soloviev that I should help him, if he really wished to get rid of this pernicious habit of drinking vodka, and explained to him how I would do it.» — narra que le ofreció ayuda con una condición: que él lo quisiera de verdad.

«He added that if I wished to go there, he would be willing to help me, and would find the necessary guides, on condition that I would take a solemn oath never to tell anyone where the» — la condición bajo la que dice haber llegado al monasterio: un juramento de no revelar el sitio. Es la razón que la obra da para no localizar nunca lo que encuentra.

«After thinking a little, he replied: ‘I think you may, if, of course, you can vouch for his honour and for his keeping the oath, which will be required of him also.’» — el juramento se extiende al acompañante y queda a cargo de quien lo presenta; el libro describe el secreto como cadena de responsabilidades.

«The first time was on the eighth day, when we were about to cross a swinging bridge which one could neither cross on horse-back nor walk over two abreast, but only in single file, and this it was impossible to do with eyes covered.» — narra que el camino al monasterio se hizo con los ojos vendados, y que solo dos veces hubo que descubrirlos. El secreto del emplazamiento se ejecuta así dentro del propio relato.

«In any case, these bridges are not to be recommended even to those who in Europe are called thrill-chasers.» — el tono con que despacha el peligro del camino; el relato del acceso al monasterio se cuenta con humor y sin solemnidad.

«They are usually erected on some elevated spot so that, if one knows the general plan of their placement, they can be seen a long way off, sometimes even from a score of miles.» — describe los monumentos de piedra del Turkestán como sistema de orientación, con la condición puesta: hay que conocer el plan de su disposición.

«Usually the saint in whose name the monument was erected is considered the protector of the entire surrounding countryside, and when a traveller has successfully overcome any difficulty natural to the region—that is, has escaped an attack by brigands or wild beasts, or has safely crossed a mountain or river, or surmounted any other danger—it is all attributed to the protection of this saint.» — refiere la creencia local sobre los santos protectores de la ruta, adjudicándosela a la región y no haciéndola suya.

«It became an established custom to bring as an offering something which, as is believed there, would mechanically remind the saint of the prayers of the person who brought the offering.» — el detalle del rito con que la obra explica la ofrenda: recordar mecánicamente al santo la plegaria. El adverbio es de la fuente.

«These things, moving in the wind, make the spot where the monument is placed visible to us travellers from a great distance.» — el hallazgo del pasaje: la ofrenda devota cumple a la vez una función práctica de señalización.

«Without knowing the general pattern of their arrangement it is almost impossible to travel through these regions.» — el saber que hace falta para cruzar no está en un mapa sino en conocer la trama de los monumentos.

«It is possible to pass through these regions only by establishing the direction from monument to monument.» — la técnica de navegación por hitos sucesivos, tal como la describe la obra.

«He showed us where everything was, and said that for the first few days our meals would be brought to us there.» — narra el recibimiento en el monasterio: sin ceremonia, sin instrucción y sin preguntas.

«Everywhere reigned an almost awesome quiet, broken only by the monotonous sound of a distant waterfall and the occasional twitter of birds.» — la descripción del recinto, que en la obra suple a cualquier dato de localización.

«Neither on that day nor on the following did anyone come to see us, but regularly three times a day we were brought food, consisting of milk products, dried fruit, and fish—black—spotted trout—and almost every hour our samovar was refilled.» — narra que los primeros días nadie fue a verlos; el trato del monasterio con el recién llegado es, según cuenta, la espera.

«‘One day I saw there among his guests, sitting in the place of honour, an old Tamil in a costume not at all suitable for the house of the Aga Khan.» — comienza aquí un relato dentro del relato: quien narra el encuentro con el anciano tamil es el príncipe Lubovedsky, no el autor.

«Although this was said in jest, it was clear to me that the Khan desired to prevent the inevitable denunciation of the Russians.» — voz del príncipe, que sigue narrando la escena en casa del Aga Khan.

«I consented to go with him, with the greatest pleasure, not of course in order to speak Russian, but for some reason I myself could not explain.» — voz del príncipe: acepta seguir al anciano por un motivo que no sabe nombrar.

«Though already old myself, I was beginning to feel towards this old man as a grandson feels towards his beloved grandfather.» — voz del príncipe, que describe así el vínculo inmediato con el anciano.

«He had been speaking of the Tadzhiks, but after the first cup of tea he suddenly broke off the conversation, saying: “But these are trifles we are speaking about; this is not the point,” and, after looking at me steadily, he glanced aside and became silent.» — voz del príncipe, refiriendo el corte brusco con que el anciano abandona la conversación de cortesía.

«Eh, Gogo, Gogo! Forty-five years you have worked, suffered and laboured incessantly, and not once did you decide for yourself or know how to work so that, if only for a few months, the desire of your mind should become the desire of your heart.» — las palabras del anciano al príncipe, y el reproche que el libro pone como diagnóstico de una vida de búsqueda: el deseo de la mente nunca llegó a ser el del corazón.

«The name “Gogo” which he had used made me start with amazement. How could this Hindu, who saw me for the first time somewhere in Central Asia, know the nickname by which I had been called in my childhood» — voz del príncipe: Gogo es su apodo de infancia, no el del autor. El asombro es suyo y el episodio entero le pertenece.

«I could not find any explanation of this old man’s obvious knowledge not only of me but also of my inner state, known to myself alone.» — voz del príncipe, que declara no tener explicación para el conocimiento que el anciano mostraba de su interior.

«“Yes ... now it is already too late! I ought to be indifferent to everything that goes on outside me, and therefore I do not wish to know what I just asked you nor do I wish to trouble you any further.» — palabras del anciano, que retira su propia pregunta declarándola tardía.

«‘“No, perhaps it is not yet too late. If you feel with all your being that you really are empty, then I advise you to try once more.» — el anciano se corrige y abre una condición: solo si el interesado siente con todo su ser que está vacío. La reserva perhaps es de la fuente.

«‘I told him then and there that I was ready that very moment to go wherever necessary.» — voz del príncipe, cuya respuesta desencadena su viaje al monasterio de la hermandad.

«The prince, well knowing my great and absorbing interest in the laws of movement of the human body and psyche, advised me to pay special attention, while watching this class, to the apparatuses with the aid of which the young candidates for priestess-dancers were taught their art.» — declara aquí su interés por las leyes del movimiento del cuerpo y de la psique, que es el origen que la obra da a lo que después se llamó los Movimientos.

«The external appearance of these peculiar apparatuses gave the impression, even at the first glance, that they were of very ancient workmanship.» — describe los aparatos de ébano y marfil del monasterio; la antigüedad se afirma por impresión, y así lo dice.

«Prince Lubovedsky explained to us that these plates were copies and that the originals, made of pure gold, were kept by the sheikh.» — el dato llega por boca del príncipe: lo que ve son copias, y los originales quedan fuera del alcance del relato.

«Experts had determined that the plates and the apparatuses themselves were at least four thousand five hundred years old.» — la datación se adjudica a expertos que la obra no nombra. Se consigna la atribución tal como está.

«The prince further explained that, by making the signs on the inner balls correspond to those on the plates, these balls and the segments fastened to them could be placed in certain positions.» — voz del príncipe explicando el mecanismo: el aparato codifica posturas mediante signos.

«When all the balls are placed as designated, the form and extent of the given posture are fully defined, and the young pupils stand for hours before the apparatuses, regulated in this way, and learn to sense and remember this posture.» — la técnica de enseñanza que describe: la postura se fija por notación y se aprende por sensación y memoria. Es el antecedente que la obra da a la transmisión de las danzas.

«Neither in Europe, nor in any other place where I have lived and have watched with conscious interest this sort of automatized human manifestation, have I seen anything to compare with this purity of execution.» — el juicio comparativo con que valora la ejecución de las sacerdotisas bailarinas.

«‘The sheikh told me,’ continued the prince, ‘that I have only three years to live, and he advises me to spend this time in the Olman monastery, which is on the northern slopes of the Himalayas, in order to make a better use of these three years for what I have dreamed about all my life.» — voz del príncipe, que refiere el plazo que le fue anunciado y el destino que le fue aconsejado.

«There is no better way to make use of this time; perhaps I shall be able to make up for the time which I uselessly and senselessly lost when I had at my disposal so many years of possibilities.» — voz del príncipe, que acepta el plazo con un perhaps y como ocasión de recuperar lo perdido.

«Perhaps it was not difficult for the prince to speak of this so calmly, but for me it was very hard to realize the loss—this time for ever—of this man, dearest to me of all men.» — el narrador recupera la voz para consignar su despedida del príncipe.

«The trouble was that this journey, by the route we had planned, would be very long and impossible to accomplish by ordinary means.» — plantea así el problema de la travesía del Gobi, que el capítulo resolverá con procedimientos que él mismo llama sin precedente.

«Professor Skridlov, as our senior member and the most respected among us, was entrusted with the direction of this affair, and, among other things, he was in charge of our common treasury.» — describe la organización del grupo de los Seekers of Truth: jerarquía por antigüedad y caja común.

«The greatest difficulty lay in providing ourselves with sufficient water and provisions, as even by the most modest calculations the quantity would have to be so great that to carry such a burden ourselves was in no way feasible.» — el cálculo que hace imposible la travesía por medios ordinarios, expuesto como problema de logística.

«At the same time, it was out of the question to use pack-animals for this purpose, as we could not count on a single blade of grass or drop of water on the way.» — el segundo término del problema, que cierra la vía convencional y abre la solución que el capítulo narra.

«‘Although I well know that none of you like the ways of the European scientists, who, instead of coming straight to the point, usually spin out a long rigmarole going back almost to Adam, nevertheless, in the present case, in view of the seriousness of the question, I consider it necessary before telling you my conclusions to put before you the reflections and deductions which led me to what I shall propose today.’» — voz de uno de los compañeros al abrir su informe; la burla del método científico europeo va dicha por un personaje, dentro de una exposición que sigue ese mismo método.

«‘And so, bearing in mind that we must first of all make sure of providing enough food for the entire length of our journey across the desert, both for ourselves and any animals we may find necessary to have with us, I took into consideration both of these suppositions and tried to think whether the sand itself might in some way be made use of for this purpose.» — la propuesta que el personaje formula: alimentar a los animales con la arena misma. Se consigna como lo que la obra narra.

«Thanks to these experiments, I personally have no doubt whatever that this sand could be used for feeding goats and sheep, provided it be mixed with the necessary quantity of their own meat.» — la conclusión del personaje, con su condición adentro; el libro la presenta como resultado de experimentos que no describe.

«I have already verified that a sheep can carry this quantity of water with ease and without any harm to itself.» — el otro término del plan: las ovejas transportan el agua y luego se consumen.

«My next thought was that sand, because of its weight, cannot rise very high and that probably there was a limit beyond which not a single grain could rise.» — el razonamiento del que sale la escalera y los zancos; la obra encadena las soluciones desde una hipótesis física declarada como probable.

«With great difficulty we began to set up the ladder I had brought, and somehow, even making use of the camels, we steadied it as best we could and I climbed up.» — narra la prueba de la hipótesis: levantar una escalera en plena tormenta de arena.

«My ladder was some sixty feet in length; I had not climbed up a third of its height before I emerged from that hell.» — el resultado que refiere: a menos de veinte pies ya está fuera de la tormenta. La cifra es la que da la obra.

«The next day I ordered several pairs of stilts of different sizes, getting them in different places to avoid suspicion, and, taking with me one camel loaded with provisions and a few necessities, I again set out into the desert, where I began practising walking on stilts—first on low ones, and then gradually on higher and higher ones.» — narra el entrenamiento con zancos, y de paso el cuidado de no levantar sospechas, que es constante en estos viajes.

«To walk over the sands on stilts was not so difficult once I had fastened to them the iron soles I had devised, and which I had ordered, again out of caution, in different places from the stilts.» — el detalle técnico de las suelas de hierro, y otra vez el reparto de encargos para no ser descubierto.

«But fortunately, as I soon discovered, the upper surface of the sand-filled atmosphere has irregularities of contour exactly corresponding to the irregularities of the sands, so that walking on stilts is considerably facilitated by the fact that one can clearly see by the contours of the sand-filled atmosphere where one dune ends and another begins.» — la observación que hace practicable el procedimiento: la superficie de la tormenta reproduce el relieve de la arena.

«In any case,’ concluded Dr. Sari-Ogli, ‘it has been shown that the sand-filled atmosphere has a definite and not very high limit, and that the contours of its upper surface always correspond to the contours of the desert itself; and one must admit that it is absolutely necessary to make use of this discovery in the journey we have ahead of us.’» — voz del doctor Sari-Ogli al cerrar su informe; la conclusión se atribuye a él, no al narrador.

«We were all so astounded at what we had heard that all of a sudden it seemed to us that the difficulties of crossing the Gobi had been intentionally exaggerated, and even the impossibility of it suggested expressly for the traveller.» — el efecto que declara sobre el grupo: la dificultad del desierto empieza a parecerles una exageración deliberada.

«Accordingly, we planned to pass off Professor Skridlov as a daring Russian merchant, who had come to this region on some wild commercial venture.» — narra la tapadera comercial con que compraron ovejas y madera sin despertar sospechas.

«Although we went through two terrible sand-storms, we arrived several days later almost at the heart of the desert, without any fatigue and fully satisfied with everything—even with having learned the language we needed.» — el resultado que la obra da a su método de travesía; el aprendizaje de la lengua se cuenta como una tarea más del camino.

«Four hours had passed since Soloviev had gone. Suddenly one of us noticed a man lying several hundred paces away, and when we came up we recognized Soloviev, who was already dead.» — narra la muerte de Soloviev en el corazón del desierto, sin preparación y sin comentario.

«His neck had been bitten half through. All of us were overwhelmed with heart-rending grief, for we had all loved this exceptionally good man.» — el único dato que la obra da sobre la causa: el cuello mordido, sin nombrar al animal. Wellbeloved, al resumir este capítulo, lo da como mordedura de camello.

«The same day, headed by Skridlov, who performed the duty of priest, we buried Soloviev with great solemnity in the heart of the desert, and immediately left that for us accursed place.» — narra el entierro y la salida inmediata; el profesor de arqueología oficia de sacerdote, con lo que el grupo resuelve el rito por sus propios medios.

«Although we had already done much towards the discovery of the legendary city which we had expected to find on our journey, we nevertheless changed all our plans and decided to leave the desert as soon as possible.» — consigna el abandono de la búsqueda de la ciudad enterrada, y con ello uno de los pocos fracasos que el libro declara sin rodeos.

«Peace to thy soul, honest and ever loyal friend of all friends!» — la despedida a Soloviev, y la única forma de oración que el capítulo pone por escrito.

«It is interesting to note that, contrary to the generally accepted opinion that people belonging to two different nationalities which have been engaged in centuries of racial struggle ought to feel towards each other instinctive hostility and even hate, and in spite of the difference of upbringing in family traditions and religious convictions, nevertheless, between Ekim Bey and myself, after our first meeting in early youth in quite unusual circumstances, there gradually arose a close friendship; and later, when through all kinds of trivial incidents our inner worlds had been drawn together like two ‘arisings from the same source’, our feeling for each other was like that of brothers.» — objeta la idea corriente de la hostilidad nacional con el caso de su amistad con Ekim Bey, y emplea para nombrarla una fórmula propia.

«At the present time this man is in good health from the ordinary point of view, but according to my view, and speaking between ourselves, only his physical body is in good health.» — distingue dos maneras de estar sano y reserva la suya; la salud del cuerpo no cuenta como salud entera.

«At the present time, rewarded for his past merits by many decorations which have proved to be ‘not ephemeral’, he somehow lives out his remaining years in a small and insignificant place in Egypt, with the title of the Great Turkish Pasha.» — el destino final de Ekim Bey, contado sin ceremonia.

«I will also recount briefly several significant events which took place during our wanderings in the depths of Asia and Africa.» — anuncia el método del capítulo: episodios sueltos en vez de exposición.

«Evidently the chaplet was very valuable, as the passenger promised to pay the finder twenty-five Turkish pounds.» — el detalle económico que abre el episodio del buceo; el dinero es siempre el motor declarado de estas escenas.

«In general it is very difficult to reach the bottom of deep water.» — abre la explicación técnica del buceo, que la obra desarrolla como un pequeño tratado dentro del relato.

«Just as water easily supports the living body on the surface, so it offers a strong resistance to its descent.» — la razón física que da, formulada como simetría entre flotar y descender.

«I was determined at any cost to get that coin.» — el rasgo que el libro le atribuye una y otra vez a su propio personaje: la obstinación por delante del cálculo.

«But on the way to the steamer I felt so ill that I had to sit down on the steps of a house, where I lost consciousness.» — narra el costo físico de aquella obstinación, que el capítulo detalla sin ahorrar nada.

«That night all my skin began to crack and burn unbearably; evidently, being unaccustomed to long immersion in sea-water, it could not tolerate the action of the salt.» — el detalle clínico del daño; el libro registra sus lesiones con la misma minucia con que registra sus técnicas.

«At first he received us rather coldly and showed little inclination to talk, but later, when he found that we had come a considerable distance especially to talk with him, he became more cordial.» — narra el trato del derviche persa; el acceso al maestro se gana con el esfuerzo del viaje, no con credenciales.

«He expressed himself very simply, in unpolished language, and at the beginning gave the impression, at least to me personally, of being an ignorant man, that is to say, uneducated in the European sense of the word.» — el prejuicio inicial declarado, y con la reserva puesta: ignorante en el sentido europeo. El capítulo entero sirve para corregirlo.

«I must remind you that at that time I was an ardent follower of the famous Indian yogis and carried out very exactly all the indications of what is called Hatha Yoga, and when eating I tried to masticate my food as thoroughly as possible.» — declara su propia práctica de entonces, el Hatha Yoga con masticación cuidadosa, que es lo que el derviche le va a objetar.

«Shaking his head, the old man slowly and with conviction uttered the following saying which is known throughout Persia: Let God kill him who himself does not know and yet presumes to show others the way to the doors of His Kingdom.» — voz del derviche, con el dicho persa que dirige contra quien enseña sin saber. Es la sentencia más dura del libro contra los maestros.

«‘This is only for the development of arms, legs and in general the external muscles,’ said the old man, ‘but you have also inner muscles which are not affected at all by your mechanical movements.’» — voz del derviche: los ejercicios visibles no alcanzan a los músculos interiores. La distinción reaparece luego en el sistema.

«By chewing your food so carefully you reduce the work of your stomach. Now you are young and everything is all right, but you are accustoming your stomach to do nothing; and when you are older, owing to the lack of normal work, your muscles will be to a certain extent atrophied.» — voz del derviche, con su razonamiento fisiológico: el órgano que no trabaja se atrofia.

«‘On the contrary, it is not at all necessary to masticate carefully. At your age it is better not to chew at all, but to swallow whole pieces, even bones if possible, to give work to your stomach.» — voz del derviche, con el consejo invertido y su límite: a tu edad.

«These simple, obvious and consistent words of the old man made me completely change my first opinion of him. Until then I had put questions to him out of curiosity, but from that moment I felt a serious interest in him, and began to listen with the greatest attention to everything he said.» — narra el vuelco de su juicio; el criterio que aplica al reconocer a un maestro es la consistencia de lo que dice, no su apariencia.

«‘If you harm yourself with your way of chewing food, you harm yourself a thousand times more by the practice of this breathing.» — voz del derviche, que pasa de la masticación a la respiración y agrava el juicio.

«All the exercises in breathing which are given in books and taught in contemporary esoteric schools can do nothing but harm.» — voz del derviche: condena en bloque los ejercicios respiratorios de los libros y de las escuelas esotéricas de su tiempo. La obra lo consigna sin matizarlo.

«Breathing, as every sane thinking man should understand, is also a process of feeding, but on another sort of food.» — voz del derviche, con la premisa de la que deriva todo lo demás: respirar es comer otra clase de alimento.

«‘Well then, artificial breathing, that is to say, a forced modification of natural breathing, facilitates the penetration into the organism of these numerous substances in the air which are harmful to life, and at the same time upsets the quantitative and qualitative balance of the useful substances.» — voz del derviche, que define la respiración artificial como modificación forzada y le atribuye un doble daño.

«Artificial breathing also disturbs the proportion between the amount of food obtained from the air and the amount obtained from all our other foods.» — voz del derviche: el desequilibrio no es local sino de proporción entre los alimentos.

«That is why it is a thousand times better to do nothing with our organism.» — voz del derviche, y la conclusión práctica de su exposición: la abstención.

«Better leave it damaged than try to repair it without knowing how.» — voz del derviche, que prefiere el daño existente a la reparación ignorante.

«You must either change everything or nothing.» — voz del derviche, con la alternativa cerrada que es el eje de su argumento.

«‘Numerous illnesses arise just from this artificial breathing.» — voz del derviche, que atribuye enfermedades concretas a la práctica.

«‘It very rarely happens that anyone who practises artificial breathing does not harm himself irreparably, and this rare case occurs only if he stops in time.» — voz del derviche, con la excepción declarada: solo se salva quien se detiene a tiempo.

«‘If you know every small screw, every little pin of your machine, only then can you know what you must do.» — voz del derviche, con el símil de la máquina que después será corriente en el sistema. Aquí se lo dice a él un derviche persa.

«‘Therefore—since you have asked me for it—my advice to you is: stop your breathing exercises.» — voz del derviche, que acota su consejo a haber sido pedido.

«I will not record here, in this second series of my writings, what he then explained, considering it premature for serious readers and, as regards the correct sequential perception of all my writings, even harmful to the aim of genuine understanding.» — declara que retiene lo esencial de aquellas explicaciones, y da la razón: el orden de lectura de las series. La obra guarda material por decisión declarada.

«I have therefore decided, with a clear conscience, to expound the quintessence of these explanations only later, in a corresponding chapter of the third series of my writings, entitled ‘The physical body of man, its needs according to law, and possibilities of manifestation’.» — remite lo retenido a un capítulo nombrado de la tercera serie. Conviene leerlo contra esa tercera serie, que la propia edición declara borrador fragmentario y donde ese capítulo no llegó a escribirse.

«One has only to be able to concentrate one’s attention on the other person’s hand and catch its slight almost imperceptible movements.» — la explicación mecánica que da al prodigio de Ekim Bey: micro-movimientos involuntarios, no facultad sobrenatural.

«As I have said, Ekim Bey performed experiments of this sort on his friends in order to learn more about the human psyche and thus determine the causes of hypnotic influences.» — adjudica a Ekim Bey un fin de investigación y no de exhibición; la distinción es la que el libro emplea para separar al buscador del charlatán.

«He then discovered whether the man was married or not, how many children there were, the name of each child, the name of his wife, the name of his greatest enemy, greatest friend and so on and so forth.» — narra hasta dónde llegaba el procedimiento; el efecto de milagro se produce sin que haya milagro.

«He ultimately grew so weary of it all that he even gave up his well-loved work as a physician and left the places where he was known.» — el precio que el libro adjudica a la fama de taumaturgo: hubo de abandonar su oficio.

«Ekim Bey’s thorough knowledge of hypnotism and of all the automatic properties of the psyche of the ordinary man turned out to be very useful during one of our journeys, when he succeeded in getting us out of a very difficult situation into which we had fallen.» — el saber hipnótico se emplea aquí como recurso práctico de viaje, no como doctrina.

«But what particularly astonished all the learned doctors, lawyers and others, was when Ekim Bey, by the means I have described, found out their names or their ages.» — narra que montaron sesiones de pago con ese procedimiento; el libro cuenta sin reparo cómo se financiaban.

«Having lived fifteen years uninterruptedly in the West, and being constantly in contact with people of all nationalities, I have come to the conclusion that no one in Europe knows or has any idea about Asia.» — la afirmación que sostiene toda la geografía del libro, y con la base que él declara: quince años en Occidente.

«Their ideas about its size are very vague; they are always ready to compare it with European countries and do not suspect that Asia is such a vast continent that several Europes could be put into it, and that it contains whole races of people about whom not only Europeans but even Asiatics themselves have never heard.» — precisa en qué consiste esa ignorancia, y la extiende a los propios asiáticos.

«Furthermore, among these ‘savage groups’ certain sciences, as, for example, medicine, astrology, natural science and so on, without any wiseacring or hypothetical explanations, have long since attained a degree of perfection which European civilization may perhaps reach only after several hundred years.» — sostiene que ciertas ciencias están más adelantadas entre pueblos tenidos por salvajes, con el perhaps que él mismo pone. Es la tesis que autoriza la búsqueda del libro.

«I must say first of all that, after my teacher Bogachevsky had left Kars and my first tutor, Dean Borsh, had gone away on leave of absence owing to illness, I was deprived of both of these men who were real authorities for me;» — sitúa el episodio del duelo en el hueco dejado por sus dos maestros; la obra explica su desvarío por ausencia de autoridad.

«It will be sufficient, I think, for portraying all the aspects of the individuality of Piotr Karpenko, and also for fulfilling my aim in this series of my writings, namely, that the reader should obtain instructive and really useful material» — declara el fin con que selecciona los episodios: material instructivo, no biografía completa.

«he delivered a lengthy harangue which he brought to an abrupt close with the following categorical declaration: ‘The earth is too small for both of us; hence one of us must die.’» — voz del rival, y el arranque del episodio del duelo.

«But when my friends began to reason with me, saying that only people who have not yet been touched at all by contemporary culture, as, for instance, Kurds, square accounts in this manner, and that respectable people have recourse to more civilized methods, my pride began to assert itself; and in order not to be called uneducated or cowardly, I entered into a serious discussion of this incident.» — narra que fue la presión del grupo, y su propio orgullo, lo que lo llevó al duelo; el libro atribuye el acto a la mecánica social y no a la voluntad.

«After a lengthy dispute, called by us a debate, during which it turned out that several of the boys present were on my side and several on the side of my rival—and which debate at times developed into a deafening din and brought us perilously near to throwing each other down from the top of the bell-tower —it was decided that we must fight a duel.» — narra la deliberación con ironía sobre su propio nombre: llamaban debate a un tumulto.

«While we were sitting pondering on what was to be done, he suddenly chirped up and exclaimed: ‘If it’s difficult to get pistols, it’s easy to get cannon.’» — voz de Tourchaninov, con la ocurrencia que convierte el duelo en el episodio que el capítulo narra.

«You’ve decided that one of you must die, but in a duel with cannon both of you might die.» — la objeción que el propio proponente pone a su plan; el libro conserva la advertencia junto a la propuesta.

«If you consent to take such a risk, then to carry out my proposal is the easiest thing in the world.» — la condición bajo la que se acepta: asumir que puedan morir los dos.

«As a result of the fresh debate held on Tourchaninov’s proposal, it was categorically decided by all present to carry out this project the very next day.» — la decisión colectiva, tomada por todos los presentes y no por los dos interesados.

«At the beginning I was completely stupefied, but soon the intensity of feeling which flooded through me, and the force of logical confrontation of my thought increased to such an extent that, at each moment, I thought and experienced more than during an entire twelvemonth.» — narra la aceleración del pensamiento bajo el fuego; la medida que da es de un año entero por instante.

«Simultaneously, there arose in me for the first time the ‘whole sensation of myself’, which grew stronger and stronger, and a clear realization that through my thoughtlessness I had put myself in a situation of almost certain» — el pasaje que la obra da como origen de la sensación entera de sí, y que la sitúa en el terror, no en una práctica. El tramo sigue en la plana siguiente con annihilation.

«I do not remember how long I lay there in this state; I can only say that in this case, as always and in everything, our most supreme, inexorable Sovereign, Time, did not fail to assert his rights, and I began to grow accustomed to my ordeal as well as to the roar of the cannon and the bursting of the shells round me.» — el efecto que declara después: la costumbre desgasta incluso el terror, y a eso llama el imperio del tiempo.

«Although as usual the firing was broken up into several periods, it was impossible to escape during the intervals, chiefly because of the danger of falling into the hands of the guards.» — el detalle que cierra la trampa del episodio: no había salida ni en las pausas.

«I will remark here, by the way, that in my opinion it was owing to this incident in my youth that there first arose in my individuality certain data— which later took definite form, thanks to various conscious actions upon me on the part of certain normally educated people—data which have always prevented me from being perturbed by life questions in which exclusively my own egoistic interests were at stake, and from acknowledging or experiencing any but authentic fears, while on the other hand, they have enabled me, without being carried away or deluded, to understand the fear of another and to enter into his position.» — atribuye a aquel episodio el origen de algo que en él quedó formado, y precisa que solo tomó forma después por obra consciente de otros: la experiencia sola no basta.

«Seeing him lying there motionless, I was very frightened, though I thought and was even quite sure that he was asleep; but when I suddenly noticed blood on his leg, I completely lost my head, and all the hatred of the day before turned into pity.» — narra la vuelta del odio en compasión ante la sangre del rival; el desenlace del duelo es una conversión de sentimiento, no un arbitraje.

«As he later explained, having been for some time in a cramped position while staring at Karpenko, he suddenly felt his corn hurting him, and leaning forward a little to change his position, he noticed that the edge of Karpenko’s coat was moving at regular intervals.» — la trivialidad de la que depende el desenlace: un callo que duele. El libro construye sus giros con causas menudas.

«Having examined the wound, he said that it was not dangerous and that the fainting was due to loss of blood.» — el desenlace médico del duelo, dado sin dramatismo.

«Although we dug out the two others as fast as we could, they were already dead.» — narra el alud en el que muere Karpenko años después, y lo cuenta en una línea.

«By this misfortune we lost not only one of our good friends, but also a guide who knew the locality very well.» — consigna la pérdida en sus dos órdenes, el afectivo y el práctico, y así prepara el capítulo sobre los mapas.

«These regions seem to have been intentionally made so confusing and complicated by the Higher Powers in order that not a single human being should ever dare to try to find his way through them.» — describe la región entre el Hindú Kush y el Himalaya con una atribución a las Higher Powers que va dicha como figura, no como doctrina.

«How not? We had them and even more than necessary, but in fact, it would be fortunate for travellers if these so-called maps of uninhabited regions did not exist.» — la tesis del pasaje: en las regiones deshabitadas los mapas hacen más daño que su ausencia.

«Good maps may perhaps exist for some localities, but with all I have had to do with them in my life, from ancient Chinese maps to special military topographic maps of many countries, I was never able to find one that was of practical use when it was really needed.» — acota la tesis con un perhaps y la funda en su propia experiencia con mapas chinos antiguos y militares modernos.

«Certain maps may, at times, more or less help travellers to find their way in thickly populated areas, but in uninhabited regions, that is to say, where they are the most necessary, as, for instance, in Central Asia, then, as I have already said, it would be better if they did not exist at all.» — precisa el alcance: el mapa sirve donde no hace falta y falla donde sí.

«A map, as my friend Yelov used to say, is called in a certain language by the word khormanoupka, which means ‘wisdom’, and ‘wisdom’ in that language is characterized as follows: ‘Mental proof that twice two makes seven and a half, minus three and a little bit of something’.» — la definición que atribuye a Yelov, con el término sin traducir; la sabiduría queda definida como prueba mental de un absurdo.

«In my opinion in employing contemporary maps it would be ideally useful to put into practice the sense of a judicious saying which declares: ‘If you wish to succeed in anything then ask a woman for advice and do the opposite’.» — la regla práctica que propone para usar mapas, formulada con un dicho que el libro recoge tal cual.

«Indeed, these maps are excellent for such people, because thanks to them they have more leisure for concocting their fantastic stories.» — el uso que les reconoce: sirven a los viajeros de gabinete que inventan sus relatos.

«I am sure that this sketch was afterwards embodied in a map exactly as the officer had made it.» — narra haber visto levantar un croquis a ojo desde una altura, y de ahí deduce cómo se fabrica un mapa.

«With few exceptions everything connected with the making of these maps proceeds in this way.» — generaliza el caso al procedimiento entero, con la excepción declarada.

«But a genuine traveller has to do all this himself, and even if he should have servants he would be bound to help them, as in the midst of the hardships of travel it is difficult for a normal man to look on idly at the exertions of others.» — la distinción entre el viajero verdadero y el que viaja servido, que en el libro es un criterio moral y no de comodidad.

«These contemporary maps are what they are, evidently because they are prepared by methods such as I myself once witnessed.» — funda su juicio sobre los mapas en un episodio presenciado, y no en una teoría de la cartografía.

«When I explained all this to the officer, he merely said: ‘Oh, well, devil take it!’» — el desenlace del episodio: advertido el error, el oficial lo deja estar. Así queda dicho de dónde salen los mapas que luego se publican.

«Although the word ‘fakir’ in the meaning given it by Europeans is unknown to the peoples of Asia, nevertheless, this same word is in use there almost everywhere.» — separa el uso europeo del término fakir del uso asiático, y de esa distinción hace el eje del capítulo.

«As a matter of fact, to express this meaning of ‘swindler’ or ‘cheat’ two different words are used among these peoples, both derived from ancient Turkoman.» — sostiene que las dos palabras vienen del turcomano antiguo y designan dos clases de estafador.

«The former is the word used for a cheat or swindler who uses his guile to take advantage of others by way of their religiousness, while the latter is applied to someone who simply takes advantage of their stupidity.» — la distinción exacta que traza: engañar por la religiosidad ajena o por la estupidez ajena.

«Consequently the word lourie, denoting the gypsy people, has from long ago come to be used in Asia for every person, regardless of race, who is a swindler or a cheat.» — el término lourie, que el libro registra como nombre de un pueblo convertido en insulto genérico.

«I have myself read and heard many statements by Europeans about these so-called fakirs, asserting that their tricks are supernatural and miraculous, whereas actually, in the judgement of all more or less normal people in Asia, such tricks are performed by unconscionable swindlers and cheats of the highest order.» — objeta la lectura europea del fakir, y lo hace apoyándose en el juicio corriente en Asia, no en una explicación propia.

«This man in my opinion was a genuine fakhr in the sense understood by all Asiatic peoples;» — reserva el término fakhr, con su grafía, para el anciano que sí reconoce como tal.

«It is interesting to remark that the psyche of the people inhabiting these regions is totally different from that of Europeans.» — afirma una diferencia de psique entre asiáticos y europeos, que el pasaje precisa a continuación.

«Among Asiatics this is not the case—the duality of the psyche is highly developed.» — la nota que le atribuye: en el asiático la dualidad de la psique está muy desarrollada, y de ahí las reglas de trato que expone.

«Many Europeans who have lived among Asiatics for decades without understanding this particularity of theirs, and who judge them according to themselves, always lose a great deal as a result of this and create many misunderstandings which might have been avoided.» — la consecuencia práctica que saca: juzgar al otro por uno mismo cuesta caro.

«Therefore, when we approached this man, we did not begin by asking him what we wanted to know.» — la regla de trato derivada de lo anterior, y aplicada en el relato: no se pregunta de frente.

«At first the old man refused, but his pupils helped us to persuade him, so, taking our loads, we went back to the banks of the stream where we had left the rest of our company at work.» — narra que hubo de insistirse para que el anciano acompañara al campamento; el que cura no se ofrece.

«When he had completely recovered from his wounds, he no longer wished to return to his post as he was getting on in years, but decided to devote the rest of his life to the salvation of his soul.» — la biografía del anciano curandero: llegó a serlo por retiro, tras haber tenido otro oficio.

«He told Vitvitskaia to lie on her back, and he then began to massage the swelling» — describe el procedimiento con que trató a Vitvitskaïa: masaje y palabras susurradas.

«From that time on Vitvitskaia never had a recurrence or even any of the symptoms of the malady from which she had been suffering.» — el resultado que la obra consigna, sin explicarlo y sin discutirlo.

«Professor Skridlov took the old man’s picture with his camera and immediately began developing it.» — el detalle con que se cruzan los dos mundos del libro: el arqueólogo con su cámara junto al anciano que cura con las manos.

«This ingenious device of the engineer Samsanov was to attach two bourdiouks to the front and also to each side of the raft, to serve as buffers whenever it should strike boulders.» — la solución técnica del ingeniero del grupo, descrita con el término local sin traducir.

«We could not say that we felt completely secure, particularly when the raft passed through narrow places and collided against rocks, but later, when we were convinced of its sturdiness and of the efficacy of the device thought out by the engineer Samsanov, we were quite at ease and even began to crack jokes.» — el ingenio se acredita por la prueba y no por el cálculo, que es el criterio del libro para todo saber práctico.

«FROM THE EARLY YEARS OF MY RESPONSIBLE LIFE, another essencefriend of mine, many years older than I, was Skridlov, professor of archaeology, who disappeared, leaving no trace, at the time of the great agitation of minds in Russia.» — presenta a Skridlov con un término suyo, essence-friend, que la fuente imprime partido por el salto de línea y la herramienta devuelve unido; y consigna que desapareció sin dejar rastro.

«I first met Professor Skridlov, as I have written in the chapter on Prince Yuri Lubovedsky, when he engaged me as his guide for the environs of Cairo.» — remite al capítulo anterior; el libro se cita a sí mismo para tejer una sola cronología con episodios sueltos.

«And in spite of the difference in our ages, we gradually became such intimate and good friends that when Prince Yuri left for Russia we did not part, but decided to undertake a long journey together.» — narra cómo el guía ocasional pasa a compañero de viaje.

«I will describe, in as much detail as possible, one meeting of ours and the ensuing long journey together, during which Professor Skridlov reached a turning-point in his general inner psyche in the sense that, from then on, it began to be activated not only by his thoughts but also by his feelings and his instinct.» — anuncia el asunto del capítulo en términos del sistema: un cambio en el que sentimiento e instinto pasan a mover a un hombre que hasta entonces se movía por el pensamiento.

«These latter even began to predominate or, as is said, to take the initiative.» — precisa el alcance de aquel cambio: los dos centros nuevos no solo intervienen, pasan a mandar.

«I next met Professor Skridlov two years later when he arrived with Prince Lubovedsky in the town of Orenburg, which was to be the starting-point of our big expedition across Siberia for a certain purpose connected with the programme drawn up by that same group of Seekers of Truth which I have already mentioned several times.» — nombra el grupo de los Seekers of Truth y le atribuye un programa, sin decir en qué consistía.

«But my labours had been in vain; I found nothing. I only made clear to myself that if there were anything in this religion it must be sought not there, as everyone says and believes, but in Bukhara, where from the beginning the secret knowledge of Islam has been concentrated, this place having become its very centre and source.» — consigna un hallazgo negativo en La Meca y Medina, y desplaza el centro del saber secreto del islam a Bujará. Es afirmación de la obra, formulada contra lo que todos dicen y creen.

«He then told me that often during the last three years he had dreamed of going to Bukhara and to the Samarkand region near by, for the purpose of verifying certain data connected with Tamerlane, which he needed in order to elucidate an archaeological question that greatly interested him.» — el motivo de Skridlov es arqueológico y el suyo esotérico; el libro los hace coincidir en un mismo itinerario sin fundirlos.

«He said that, notwithstanding the almost organic distaste of the inhabitants of this region for having anything to do with people not belonging to their own tribes, there was nevertheless developed in nearly every one of them, to whatever tribe he belonged, a certain something which naturally arouses in him a feeling of respect and even love towards all persons, whatever their race, who devote themselves to the service of God.» — el razonamiento que da para el disfraz religioso: la hostilidad al extraño cede ante quien parece consagrado a Dios.

«we were sitting in one of the Tekinian chaikanas of New Merv, where two parties of Turkoman libertines were indulging in kaif with batchi, that is with boy dancers, whose chief occupation—authorized by local laws, and also encouraged by the laws of the great Empire of Russia which then had a protectorate over this country—is the same as that carried on in Europe, also legally, by women with yellow tickets; and here in this atmosphere, we categorically decided that Professor Skridlov should disguise himself as a venerable Persian dervish and I should pass for a direct descendant of Mohammed, that is to say, for a Seid.» — narra dónde y en qué ambiente se decidió el disfraz, y en qué consistía: derviche persa y descendiente de Mahoma. La obra registra la escena entera sin eufemismo.

«Our preparation consisted n earning a great many sacred Persian chants and instructive sayings of former times, as well as in letting our hair grow long enough for us to look like the people for whom we intended to pass; make-up in this case was quite out of the question.» — la preparación del disfraz llevó cantos sagrados aprendidos de memoria y un año de espera. El facsímil imprime consisted n earning donde la lectura es in learning, y así se cita.

«After we had lived in this way for about a year and were finally satisfied both with our appearance and our knowledge of religious verses and psalms, one day, very early in the morning, we left the ruins of Old Merv, which had come to be like home for us, and going on foot as far as the station of Bairam Ali» — da la medida del preparativo: un año viviendo en las ruinas de Old Merv antes de partir.

«It was on the banks of this river Amu Darya, in ancient times called the Oxus and deified by certain peoples of Central Asia, that the germ of contemporary culture first appeared on earth.» — sitúa en el Oxus el germen de la cultura contemporánea; la afirmación se da sin fuente y sin discusión.

«The memory of this incident has often evoked in me the feeling of remorse of conscience, since it was because of us that this good old man lost his money, perhaps forever.» — consigna un remordimiento propio por el daño causado a un tercero durante el viaje.

«And so I begin, also of course for the purpose of resting, to wiseacre a little in the style of the aforementioned ancient literary school.» — anuncia un cambio de registro dentro del propio capítulo, y lo nombra con su verbo, wiseacre.

«One can never determine beforehand, even approximately, the time it will take to travel from one point to another.» — la observación sobre el Amu Daria que sostiene la descripción del viaje: el río no admite horario.

«From the very first day out of Chardzhou, all these people, as it were, sorted themselves out; the so-called intelligentsia, the bourgeoisie and the peasants formed separate groups, where, making acquaintances among themselves, they soon began to feel as though among old friends.» — describe la separación espontánea de los pasajeros por clase; el barco funciona como muestra de la sociedad que el libro observa.

«The members of each of these groups began to regard and to act towards the passengers belonging to the other groups either haughtily and disdainfully or timidly and ingratiatingly, but at the same time they did not hinder one another from arranging things each according to his own wishes and habits, and little by little they became so accustomed to their surroundings that it was as though none of them had ever lived in any other way.» — el mecanismo que le interesa: la rapidez con que una situación provisional se vuelve la única concebible.

«I do not know how it is now, but at that time, in Bukhara and the neighbouring countries, there were no coins of high value.» — acota su propia información con un no sé cómo será ahora, que es su manera corriente de fechar lo que cuenta.

«And he added: ‘I decided to catch up with you without fail because the same thing happened to me once in my life and so I understand very well how disagreeable it is to arrive in a strange place without the necessary tiangi.» — voz del desconocido que les devolvió el dinero olvidado; el término local va sin traducir.

«He had formerly been a Christian missionary and had lived a long time in India.» — presenta a Father Giovanni por su procedencia: misionero cristiano en India antes que hermano de la World Brotherhood.

«But just at that time he accidentally came in contact with certain adepts of the ‘World Brotherhood’, who were striving for what he had dreamed of all his life» — nombra la World Brotherhood y explica el ingreso de Father Giovanni como encuentro casual, no como conversión buscada.

«As our trust in this brother, Father Giovanni—which was the name we called him when we learned that he had once been a Catholic priest and had been called Giovanni in his own country —was growing all the time, we considered it necessary to tell him who we really were and why we were disguised.» — narra que ante él abandonaron el disfraz; en el libro la confianza se paga descubriéndose.

«He had succeeded during his long stay in these isolated countries in gaining the reputation of being an impartial man who humbly recognized and submitted to all the local conditions of life, established by centuries.» — la cualidad que le reconoce, y que es la misma que el libro elogia en sí mismo: imparcialidad y sumisión a las condiciones del lugar.

«‘Very well then ... in the hope that the results of your search will benefit my compatriots also, I will do everything I can to assist you to attain the aim you have set yourselves.’» — voz de Father Giovanni, que condiciona su ayuda a un provecho para otros.

«We lived there as we wished, and went everywhere in the monastery freely, except in one building where the chief sheik lived and to which were admitted each evening only those adepts who had attained preliminary liberation.» — describe el único límite del monasterio, y con él una gradación de adeptos por liberación preliminar.

«‘Faith cannot be given to man. Faith arises in a man and increases in its action in him not as the result of automatic learning, that is, not from any automatic ascertainment of height, breadth, thickness, form and weight, or from the perception of anything by sight, hearing, touch, smell or taste, but from understanding.» — voz de Father Giovanni: la fe no se transmite ni sale de la percepción, sino de la comprensión. Es una de las formulaciones que después circularon como del sistema, y aquí la dice un antiguo sacerdote católico.

«‘No, Professor, it is a hundred times easier, as it is said in the Gospels, “for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle” than for anyone to give to another the understanding formed in him about anything whatsoever.» — voz de Father Giovanni, respondiendo a Skridlov: la comprensión propia no es transferible.

«‘Understanding is acquired, as I have already said, from the totality of information intentionally learned and from personal experiencings; whereas knowledge is only the automatic remembrance of words in a certain sequence.» — voz de Father Giovanni, con la definición que separa comprensión de conocimiento.

«‘I must tell you that in our brotherhood there are two very old brethren; one is called Brother Ahl and the other Brother Sez.» — voz de Father Giovanni, que introduce el caso con que va a probar la distinción entre mente y ser.

«‘When Brother Sez speaks, it is indeed like the song of the birds in Paradise; from what he says one is quite, so to say, turned inside out; one becomes as though entranced.» — voz de Father Giovanni describiendo el efecto inmediato de Sez; el elogio es la trampa del pasaje.

«Brother Sez is also very old—it is said three hundred years old—but he is still a hale old man, whereas in Brother Ahl the weakness of old age is clearly evident.» — la edad de trescientos años se da con su atribución puesta: it is said.

«The stronger the impression made at the moment by the words of Brother Sez, the more this impression evaporates, until there ultimately remains in the hearer nothing at all.» — el hallazgo del pasaje: la fuerza de la impresión y su duración están en razón inversa.

«But in the case of Brother Ahl, although at first what he says makes almost no impression, later, the gist of it takes on a definite form, more and more each day, and is instilled as a whole into the heart and remains there for ever.» — el caso contrario, y el que la obra valora: lo que no impresiona al oírse es lo que queda.

«When we became aware of this and began trying to discover why it was so, we came to the unanimous conclusion that the sermons of Brother Sez proceeded only from his mind, and therefore acted on our minds, whereas those of Brother Ahl proceeded from his being and acted on our being.» — la explicación que da la hermandad: lo que sale de la mente llega a la mente, lo que sale del ser llega al ser. Es la ley que el capítulo enuncia y de la que depende el método del libro entero.

«Yes, Professor, knowledge and understanding are quite different. Only understanding can lead to being, whereas knowledge is but a passing presence in it.» — voz de Father Giovanni, con la consecuencia de la ley: solo la comprensión conduce al ser.

«New knowledge displaces the old and the result is, as it were, a pouring from the empty into the void.» — voz de Father Giovanni, y la imagen con que descarta la acumulación de saber.

«One must strive to understand; this alone can lead to our Lord God.» — voz de Father Giovanni, que cierra la exposición en términos religiosos explícitos.

«Formerly, it may be said, my whole being was possessed by egoism. All my manifestations and experiencings flowed from my vanity.» — voz de Skridlov en la cumbre del monte Bechow, sobre lo que era antes del encuentro con Father Giovanni.

«The meeting with Father Giovanni killed all this, and from then on there gradually arose in me that “something” which has brought the whole of me to the unshakeable conviction that, apart from the vanities of life, there exists a “something else” which must be the aim and ideal of every more or less thinking man, and that it is only this something else which may make a man really happy and give him real values, instead of the illusory “goods” with which in ordinary life he is always and in everything full.’» — las últimas palabras del cuerpo del libro, y son de Skridlov, no del autor. Vuelve aquí el algo que ya había usado su padre para hablar del alma, y otra vez sin nombrarlo.

«Mr. Gurdjieff’s answer to this question took the form of a long narrative.» — el capítulo añadido está narrado por otra mano, que habla del autor en tercera persona y como Mr. Gurdjieff.

«I have undertaken to reproduce it, in so far as possible, exactly as it was told that day.» — quien redacta este capítulo declara su propia tarea y su límite: reproducir en lo posible lo dicho aquella noche.

«Mr. Gurdjieff began as follows: ‘The question you have put to me, esteemed Doctor, has always interested a great many of the people who have become more or less acquainted with me; but until now, not finding it necessary to initiate anyone into this personal affair of mine, I have either not answered at all or have turned it aside with a joke.» — a partir de aquí vuelve la voz del autor, dentro del relato de otro: explica por qué hasta entonces había esquivado la pregunta por su dinero.

«Moreover, there have already sprung up about this subject all sorts of comical legends which clearly show the all-round idiocy of their inventors, and which are ever more and more embellished with new fantastic details as they circulate everywhere among parasites and idlers —no less idiotic—of both sexes.» — la razón que da para responder por fin: las leyendas sobre el origen de su dinero se multiplicaban.

«It is claimed, for example: that I receive money from some occult centre in India; or that the Institute is maintained by a black magic organization; or supported by the legendary Georgian Prince Mukransky; or that, among other things, I possess the secret of the philosophers’ stone, and» — enumera las leyendas que él mismo niega, y entre ellas la de poseer el secreto de la piedra filosofal. Es una negativa de la obra sobre sí misma, y conviene tenerla consignada.

«I had no illusions about the possibility of outside help and considered conversation on the subject simply a waste of time,» — la posición que declara sobre el mecenazgo: no contar con ayuda externa.

«I must tell you something of my early upbringing, which, from my experienced point of view, corresponds most nearly to the ideal formed in me on the subject of education.» — remite la explicación de su dinero a su educación; la respuesta económica se vuelve así una exposición pedagógica.

«The most characteristic educational procedure of my first teacher was that, as soon as he noticed that I was becoming familiar with any particular craft and was beginning to like it, he immediately made me give it up and pass on» — describe el procedimiento de su primer maestro: retirar el oficio en cuanto empieza a gustar.

«As I understood much later, his aim was not that I should learn all sorts of crafts but should develop in myself the ability to surmount the difficulties presented by any kind of new work.» — el fin que atribuye a aquel método, comprendido mucho después: no los oficios sino la capacidad ante lo nuevo.

«I will even add that, if I am recognized today in different countries as a representative of true knowledge in many fields of learning, I owe it in part to this early education of mine.» — se atribuye reconocimiento como representante del conocimiento verdadero, y acota la deuda con un in part.

«And so, at an early age, I was already well equipped and able to earn sufficient money to provide for my immediate needs.» — la conclusión práctica de aquella educación, y el enlace con el relato de sus negocios.

«Coming from a poor family and not being materially secure, I had to resort rather often to earning this indeed despicable and maleficent money for unavoidable needs.» — el juicio con que califica el dinero mientras cuenta cómo lo ganaba; el libro no armoniza las dos cosas.

«I must confess that I have always had a weakness for walking round in Eastern bazaars, and whenever I stayed in a place where there was a bazaar I would invariably go there.» — el hábito del que salen casi todos sus negocios, contado como afición y no como estrategia.

«The sad expression of the woman’s eyes aroused pity in me, and, although I had very little money, without taking time to think about it, I bought this useless machine with all its appurtenances.» — narra que compró el fonógrafo averiado por compasión y sin cálculo; el negocio nace de un impulso, según cuenta.

«‘It must be said that the phonograph was still unknown in this region and it was the first time the local inhabitants had seen this marvel.» — la condición que hizo rentable el invento: la novedad absoluta en aquella región.

«‘I charged a price of five kopeks an ear-tube, and you will be able to imagine the result if I tell you that, during the whole time I was there, all day long, and particularly on market days, there was scarcely a moment when an ear-tube was free.» — la cifra exacta y la medida del éxito; el capítulo funciona con contabilidad, no con anécdota.

«‘The comrade I met was the inimitable and fearless Mme Vitvitskaia, who always wore men’s clothes.» — reaparece Vitvitskaïa en el capítulo económico, presentada por el mismo rasgo con que el libro la retrata.

«‘I do not remember how or for what reason a dispute arose between us, but the result was that it ended with a wager according to which, under very precise conditions and by a definite date, I was to make a certain sum of money.» — narra que sus negocios más notables nacieron de una apuesta; el dinero se gana aquí como prueba, no como fin.

«‘This wager interested Vitvitskaia so seriously that she not only decided to stay with me to see how I would fulfil it, but even undertook to help me.» — el detalle que convierte la apuesta en empresa compartida.

«Thanks to the natural riches of the country and the honesty of a local population as yet unspoiled by contemporary civilization, these newcomers quickly began to grow rich, but, in the absence of any cultural influences on the part of the ignorant officials who had happened to become their governors, they remained just as uncultivated as they had been before they migrated there.» — describe a los colonos de las ciudades nuevas de Asia central: riqueza rápida sin instrucción. Es el terreno de sus negocios y la explicación que da de ellos.

«These newly-rich people, according to the inherency of all upstarts, imitated everything “cultured” and “fashionable”—in the given case everything European.» — el mecanismo que explota: la imitación de lo europeo por parte de los recién enriquecidos.

«Knowing this weakness of theirs, all the foreign tradesmen, especially the Germans, unloaded a mass of useless merchandise on them, or goods which quickly got spoiled or worn out.» — consigna que el comercio extranjero explotaba ya esa debilidad antes que él.

«As most of the articles they sent for were either worthless to begin with or went to pieces almost at once, and as there was not a single repair shop in the locality, each family accumulated stacks of broken things.» — la condición del negocio: mercancía averiada y ningún taller.

«Consequently, when they learned that there was a workshop that repaired everything, they dragged to me devil knows what, in the hope of restoring and making use of things that had long lain useless, as, for example, grandfather’s armchair and grandmother’s spectacles» — el inventario de lo que le llevaban, que la obra despliega como catálogo cómico.

«Not once did I refuse anything or return it without repairing it.» — la regla de su taller, dicha como principio y no como jactancia.

«Even when I was offered too trifling a payment to justify the time spent on repairing some article or other, I nevertheless undertook to put it right if the thing was new to me, since in that case I was interested not in the money» — el criterio que declara: aceptaba por lo desconocido del encargo y no por la paga. Es el mismo principio de educación que acaba de exponer.

«‘In addition to spoiled and really useless things they brought me quantities of brand-new things, not damaged at all, which they were unable to use merely because they did not know how to make them work, owing to their ignorance and lack of any even elementary technical knowledge, in short, owing to their stupidity.» — precisa que buena parte de las averías no eran averías, sino ignorancia técnica.

«‘I shall give you a few characteristic examples of this ignorance and naiveté, which I admit I then made use of quite deliberately, without experiencing any remorse of conscience whatsoever.» — admite haber explotado esa ignorancia a sabiendas y sin remordimiento; la obra lo declara en la misma frase en que lo cuenta.

«‘In short, I skinned him for twelve roubles fifty kopeks, promising to put the machine right in three days; but, of course, he had scarcely reached the door when it was already put right, numbered and placed with the finished articles.» — el ejemplo con cifras; el capítulo no atenúa el engaño, lo detalla.

«Of course I explained to the clerks what had to be done when the springs ran down, but what my “repairing” had consisted of, they apparently never understood.» — narra que la reparación consistía en dar cuerda y que el cliente nunca lo supo; el episodio expone el negocio sin adornarlo.

«But I obliged this esteemed pedagogue, who taught others what he himself did not know, to come back to the workshop four times while I was, as it were,» — la burla contra el inspector escolar, y con ella la queja constante del capítulo: enseña quien no sabe.

«Always meeting the poor half-way, I did not consider it a sin to profit by the stupidity of those who undeservedly, only by virtue of positions acquired by chance, had become the local intelligentsia, but who on the scale of real intelligence actually stood much lower than the general population under their authority.» — el criterio con que declara haber escogido a sus víctimas: los pobres no, la intelligentsia de ocasión sí. La obra lo enuncia como norma y no como excusa.

«But the most original and at the same time the most profitable affair turned out to be the corset business.» — el negocio que da por más rentable de aquella temporada, dentro de una respuesta sobre el dinero del Instituto.

«I must say that I was greatly helped in all this work by Vitvitskaïa, who very soon became almost an expert at covering umbrellas, at remodelling corsets and ladies’ hats, and especially at making artificial flowers.» — consigna el trabajo de Vitvitskaïa en el taller; la misma mujer del capítulo sobre la música aparece aquí rehaciendo corsés.

«It is interesting to note that, during that period, a change in the functioning of my common presence took place, inexplicable from the standpoint of ordinary science and repeated more than once in the course of my life.» — declara un cambio en su funcionamiento que califica de inexplicable para la ciencia ordinaria, y lo data como recurrente.

«This was a change in the regulation of the tempo of the in-coming and out-going of energy which enabled me to sleep scarcely at all for several weeks, and even for months, yet at the same time to manifest an activity which, far from being reduced, was on the contrary even more intense than usual.» — precisa en qué consistía: semanas o meses casi sin dormir y con la actividad aumentada. Se consigna como lo que la obra afirma de sí.

«I even intend, after arranging matters connected with the fundamental programme of the Institute, and when I shall again have the possibility of devoting half my time to my subjective interests, to give first place to the elucidation of this question.» — anuncia que dará prioridad a esclarecer ese fenómeno; la promesa queda en el libro sin cumplirse dentro de él.

«The workshop was open in Ashkhabad three and a half months, and during that time I had made fifty thousand roubles.» — la cifra que la obra da para el taller de Ashkhabad.

«For comparison, one must remember that at that time the salary of the average Russian public official was thirty-three roubles thirty-three kopeks a month, and that with this sum not only a single man, but one who had a family and even a crowd of children, contrived to live.» — la comparación con que da la escala de la cifra; el capítulo argumenta con contabilidad comparada.

«I must tell you that just after I opened my workshop, I announced that I would buy all sorts of things.» — el arranque del episodio de los arenques, y de paso el método del taller: comprar todo para tener piezas.

«‘What vexed him was not only that he had lost money on them, but that in addition he would even have to pay to have them carted to the dump-heap, as otherwise the sanitary commission might hear about it and fine him.» — la situación del comerciante georgiano con los barriles, que es la que hace posible el negocio.

«‘Then suddenly it dawned on me that surely herrings—especially rotten ones —would make good manure.» — la ocurrencia inicial, que resultará errada y aun así rentable.

«‘Having thus thought things out, I said to the Georgian: “If you will take a little more off the beds, I will arrange for these barrels to be carted away without any cost to you.”» — el trato exacto, referido en estilo directo.

«‘However, I was still not entirely convinced and asked him whether he might not be mistaken, but he, offended to the core, replied: “What’s that you’re saying? These are genuine, preserved, such and such ... herrings!”» — el giro del episodio: los arenques no estaban podridos sino curados, y quien lo sabe es el viejo judío.

«‘Evidently, neither the buyer for the officers’ mess nor the Georgian merchant, a native of Tiflis, where they do not eat herrings, knew any more about them than I did, that is, nothing at all; and from their peculiar smell they had considered them spoiled, and the Georgian had resigned himself to his loss.» — la explicación que da al hallazgo: nadie de los implicados conocía el producto, él incluido. La ganancia se atribuye a la ignorancia común y no a la astucia.

«He said that, when he had let me have the goods, he was certain they were quite worthless, and, if it had proved otherwise, it was a stroke of good luck for me and of bad luck for him, and therefore he considered it unfair to take advantage of my kindness.» — voz del comerciante georgiano al rechazar la compensación ofrecida; el capítulo conserva el gesto de la parte perjudicada.

«I will only say that by the time I set myself the task of creating a definite amount of capital I had already acquired much experience and self-confidence.» — presenta la acumulación de capital como tarea deliberada y con plazo, no como fortuna.

«And therefore, when I directed all my faculties towards making money for this purpose, then—even though this aspect of human striving in itself had never been of interest to me—I carried it out in such a way that the results might have aroused the envy of even your best American dollar-business experts.» — la afirmación con que resume su capacidad para el dinero, y la reserva que la acompaña: nunca le interesó por sí mismo. Está dicho ante un público neoyorquino.

«Finally, after four or five years of, so to say, feverish activity, I liquidated all my affairs; and when, near the end of the year 1931, I went to Moscow to begin to actualize in practice what I had taken upon myself as a sacred task, I had amassed the m suof a million roubles and had acquired in addition two invaluable collections, one of old and rare carpets, and the other of porcelain and what is called Chinese cloisonné.» — la cifra del capital reunido antes de fundar el Instituto. La plana imprime 1931, fecha que no concuerda con la cronología del propio capítulo —la guerra estalla justo después—, y la m suof donde la lectura es the sum of; las dos se citan tal como salen del facsímil.

«‘In the thick of this work of organization, the war broke out, and I had to suspend everything, though in the hope of resuming as soon as the political situation became more settled.» — la guerra interrumpe el proyecto; el capítulo narra el Instituto como obra empezada tres veces.

«‘The war continued to gain ground, and, as hope of an early peace grew fainter and fainter, I was compelled to leave Moscow and go to the Caucasus to await the end of hostilities.» — el desplazamiento al Cáucaso, contado como espera y no como huida.

«‘This constant tension could not be endured any longer; cost what it might, some way out had to be found.» — el punto en que decide inventar la expedición científica; el motivo declarado es escapar del cerco, no investigar.

«As a result of what I had already discovered myself, it had become quite clear to me that in the regions between the eastern shores of the Black Sea and the chain of the Caucasus Mountains, especially in the neighbourhood of certain passes I had not as yet been over, dolmens were to be found, standing singly and also in little groups, of a particular type which would be of great interest to me.» — la coartada de la expedición era a la vez un interés real: los dólmenes de un tipo particular.

«Officially, these two groups were considered quite independent of each other and as having nothing in common.» — el ardid administrativo con que dividió a los suyos para cruzar las líneas.

«Whenever I recall all those almost indescribable difficulties, even now that it is all over and only a memory of the past, there arises in me a feeling of real satisfaction that I succeeded in surmounting them.» — la satisfacción que declara, y que en el capítulo hace las veces de prueba de su método.

«The epidemic of fanaticism and mutual hatred, which had seized all the people around us, did not touch us at all: one might have said that I and my companions moved under supernatural protection.» — la fórmula va con su atenuante: one might have said. La obra no adjudica protección sobrenatural, dice cómo pudo parecerlo.

«Just as our attitude towards each side was impartial, as if we were not of this world, so their attitude towards us was the same—they considered us completely neutral, as in truth we were.» — la explicación que sí adjudica: la neutralidad real produjo neutralidad recíproca.

«Surrounded by infuriated beasts of people, ready to tear one another apart for the slightest booty, I moved amid this chaos quite openly and fearlessly, without concealing anything or resorting to any subterfuge.» — afirma haberse movido sin ocultarse; conviene leerlo junto a los capítulos donde el disfraz es el método. La obra deja la tensión en pie.

«‘In my opinion, we got out safely because in the common presences of these people—although in the grip of a psychic state in which the last grain of reasonableness vanishes—the instinct inherent in all human beings for distinguishing good from evil in the objective sense was not completely lacking.» — atribuye la salvación a un instinto de bien y mal objetivos que sobrevive incluso en el fanatismo, y lo dice con su in my opinion.

«‘Although these regions would be quite suitable for agriculture as well as for watering-places, and are not very far from populated centres, yet, in spite of the growing need for land of this sort, they remain, for some reason or other, uninhabited and undeveloped.» — la observación sobre las tierras vacías del Cáucaso, con el for some reason or other que deja la causa sin adjudicar.

«‘They were formerly populated by Cherkesses, who migrated to Turkey forty or fifty years ago; since then they have been abandoned and no man’s foot has trod them.» — la historia que da para ese vacío: la emigración circasiana.

«‘Here, because certain members of the expedition, during what might be called our “Way of Golgotha”, were not equal to the situation, but manifested properties not corresponding at all to the high aim we had in view, I decided to part with them and went on with the others.» — narra la separación de parte del grupo, y el criterio con que la decidió; el capítulo consigna la ruptura sin nombrar a nadie.

«‘I will only add that, of all my impressions during this journey, the most outstanding is of the beauty of the regions between Kumichki and Sochi, especially of those from the pass down to the sea; which indeed deserve the high-sounding name of “terrestrial paradise”, often attributed to other parts of the Caucasus by the so-called intelligentsia.» — el elogio del paisaje va con una pulla al uso corriente de la fórmula por parte de la intelligentsia.

«‘Well then, only at the end of about two months, worn out with fatigue and with our provisions almost gone, did we succeed in reaching the town of Sochi on the shores» — el plazo y el estado en que terminó la travesía.

«My difficulty in this respect was complicated by the fact that many of my relatives were in a still worse position than the others, and I had not only to support them financially, but to provide shelter for them and all their families, since most of them had been living in places in Transcaucasia which had been completely devastated and pillaged in the civil war and by the Turks.» — consigna la carga familiar que sostenía a la vez que el Instituto; el capítulo económico incluye lo que rara vez se cuenta de una escuela.

«Not only was my ready money gone, but also those valuables which my wife and I, during our constant moving about, had been able to carry with us.» — el punto más bajo de su situación material, dicho sin dramatismo.

«I at once decided to occupy myself with this business.» — la decisión que abre el negocio de alfombras, tomada, como todas las suyas en este capítulo, en el acto.

«I very quickly organized a serious business in carpets.» — el negocio con que sostuvo a los suyos en Tiflis.

«By the third week this carpet business had begun to bring in such an income that there was not only sufficient money for all to live on, but a great deal left over.» — la medida del resultado, dada en semanas; la rapidez es en este capítulo el argumento.

«I decided not only to liquidate everything in Tiflis, but even to break with everything that up till then had tied me to Russia, and to emigrate beyond its borders and found my Institute» — la decisión de emigrar, presentada como ruptura deliberada y no como exilio forzoso.

«Yet on leaving Batum, although we had the documents certifying that we had paid all the duties and taxes, the so-called Special Georgian Detachment, quibbling about something or other, confiscated quite illegally, supposedly only temporarily, almost all the carpets I had distributed among the people accompanying me.» — narra la confiscación de las alfombras al salir de Batum; el capítulo va contando cada pérdida con su causa.

«‘While still in Tiflis I had renounced once and for all the idea of making Russia the permanent centre of the activities of my Institute, but I did not then know the conditions of life in Europe well enough to have any definite plan as to where to settle.» — consigna a la vez la decisión tomada y la ignorancia de las condiciones; el traslado se narra como tanteo.

«On thinking it over, however, it seemed to me that Germany, owing to its central geographical position and its cultural level, about which I had heard so much, would be the country most suitable for my purposes.» — la primera elección, Alemania, con su motivo declarado.

«‘I decided therefore that I would extend the range of my activities there in Constantinople by organizing public lectures to elucidate various aspects of my fundamental ideas, and by opening courses for the study of three fields of human manifestation, namely, movements, music and painting, considered in their relationship to objective science.» — enumera los tres campos con que abre en Constantinopla —movimientos, música y pintura— y los liga expresamente a la ciencia objetiva.

«‘After seeing a certain number of them, I finally chose, in Hellerau near the city of Dresden, a house which had been specially designed and equipped on a rather grand scale for a new cultural movement, recently much talked about, called the Dalcroze system.» — data el intento de instalarse en la sede del sistema Dalcroze; el paralelo con los Movimientos queda planteado y sin comentar.

«‘As a result of my observations during these journeys, I came to the definite conclusion that the best place for the foundation of the Institute would be neither Germany nor England, but France.» — la conclusión final sobre la sede, y su descarte razonado de las otras dos.

«‘France gave me the impression of a country which was then politically and economically more stable than the others; and although less central geographically than Germany, yet its capital, Paris, was considered the capital of the world, so France seemed to be a sort of cross-roads of all the races and nationalities on earth.» — la razón que da para Francia: no la afinidad cultural sino el cruce de razas y naciones.

«‘England, owing to its insular situation, would not have allowed any development in this respect; an Institute founded there would have taken on the narrow character of a local institution.» — la objeción a Inglaterra, con el criterio del alcance y no de la conveniencia.

«‘In short, we arrived in France during the summer of 1922.» — la fecha que la obra da para la llegada a Francia.

«And now here in Paris, faced with the necessity of again finding means to cover colossal expenses, I felt more than ever the need to know European languages, while at the same time I did not have a minute in which to apply myself to learning them.» — consigna el obstáculo de la lengua como problema material y no cultural; sin francés no podía negociar.

«I can categorically affirm that until then, in spite of the enormous expenses, and the failures and losses brought about through no fault of mine but through the political and economic circumstances of the preceding years, I did not owe a cent to anyone: everything was the result of my own labour.» — la afirmación central del capítulo sobre el dinero del Instituto: hasta ese punto, todo salido de su propio trabajo.

«In spite of the obstacles which hindered and restricted my work—the poor state of my health, the difficulty of carrying on business negotiations without knowing the language, and the number of my enemies, which increased, as has long ago become a law, proportionately with the number of friends—I nevertheless managed to accomplish within the first six months most of what I had planned to do.» — enumera los tres obstáculos con que trabajaba en Francia, y formula como ley la proporción entre amigos y enemigos.

«The work went well, but the excessive pressure of these months, immediately following eight years of uninterrupted labours, fatigued me to such a point that my health was severely shaken, and despite all my desire and effort I could no longer maintain the same intensity.» — el quiebre de salud que precede a la crisis del Prieuré, narrado como agotamiento acumulado.

«I succeeded in arranging this loan in London, where I borrowed from various persons interested in the Institute. This was the first time I departed from the fundamental principle I had imposed upon myself fifteen years before: namely, to take on myself sole responsibility for the accomplishment of my work, without accepting any material help from the outside.» — consigna el momento y la magnitud de la ruptura de su propio principio de autosuficiencia, y lo data en quince años de vigencia.

«I was widely considered one of the best specialists in this field, and the families of these unfortunates sometimes offered me very substantial sums for giving up my time to them.» — se atribuye reputación como especialista en curar adicciones y casos dados por incurables, y de ahí saca ingresos para el Instituto.

«I remember especially a rich American couple who entrusted me with their son, judged to be incurable, and who spontaneously doubled the agreed fee in their joy at his cure.» — el caso concreto que aduce; el libro narra la cura y no explica el método.

«It is worth mentioning that my external life at this period, when I was spending every night in Montmartre, provided many of those who knew me, or had seen or heard about me, with rich material for gossip.» — reconoce el material que su vida pública daba a la murmuración, y lo consigna él mismo antes que otros.

«In short, the urgent necessity of finding a stable solution for the financial problem of the Prieuré, the hope of finally freeing myself from these chronic material cares and the wish to be able to devote myself entirely to my real work, that is, to the teaching of the ideas and methods on which the Institute was based—a wish postponed in its fulfilment from year to year owing to circumstances over which I had no control—all led me to make superhuman efforts, regardless of the disastrous consequences that might ensue for me.» — resume el motivo con que se explica el resto del capítulo, y distingue expresamente entre la cuestión material y lo que llama su trabajo real.

«I made a considerable profit, for instance, from the resale, at an unexpectedly good price, of a whole block of oil shares.» — enumera sus operaciones de aquellos meses en París; el capítulo detalla el origen de cada suma.

«I made two profitable business deals with a partner by opening, one after the other, two restaurants in Montmartre, which I organized in a few weeks and sold as soon as they were well launched.» — el negocio de los restaurantes, montado y vendido en semanas, con el mismo método que el taller de Ashkhabad.

«Although I had slept very well in these strange conditions, the chill I caught that night was so severe that even now I can feel its effects.» — data en aquella noche el quebranto físico que interrumpe el trabajo del Instituto.

«From then on it became very difficult for me, even with violence to myself, to demand from my body too strenuous an effort.» — consigna el límite nuevo de su cuerpo, y con él el que impone al capítulo entero.

«As in my present condition I cannot, and at least for a certain time must not, work with the intensity which is required for such a great task, but must on the contrary allow myself a complete rest, even if only temporarily, why should I not immediately carry out the plan I have made to go to America, without waiting to complete the preparations for the trip?» — el razonamiento con que decide el viaje a América: convertir la convalecencia obligada en ocasión.

«I even gave myself my word not to work on anything serious whatsoever, from the moment of leaving France until returning there, but to eat well, sleep a great deal and read only books whose contents and style were in keeping with the spirit and character of the stories of Mullah Nassr Eddin.» — el régimen de reposo que se impone, con la lectura de Mullah Nassr Eddin como parte del tratamiento.

«It was the only way to resolve the agonizing material problem, but it was impossible not to take into account that, in the event of failure, the general situation would be still worse and could even lead to complete catastrophe.» — consigna el riesgo asumido con la apuesta americana, y no lo presenta como cálculo seguro.

«And so I found myself at the last minute in a super-unique tragicomic situation. Everything was ready for our departure but I could not sail.» — la situación en que aparece el broche; el capítulo la nombra con un adjetivo de cuño propio.

«My mother came over to me and handed me a small packet, saying:» — el gesto del que depende, según el relato, la continuidad del Instituto.

«I was sure that, constrained by necessity, my family must have sold this brooch soon after my departure; or, if not, that it had been stolen during their constant moving from place to place, because each town at that time was at the mercy of a band of pillagers without respect for anyone or anything; or finally, that it had been lost on the journey twenty times over.» — enumera las tres suertes que daba por seguras para el broche, y así mide la improbabilidad de recobrarlo.

«But it seems that when I entrusted the brooch to my mother and asked her to take particular care of it, she thought that it must be very valuable to me personally as a remembrance, and had to be returned to me.» — la explicación que da del hecho, y va con su it seems: la conservó por un malentendido sobre su valor.

«As for me, I would say that it was the law-conformable result of a man’s unflinching perseverance in bringing all his manifestations into accordance with the principles he has consciously set himself in life for the attainment of a definite aim.» — la lectura que él propone del episodio: resultado conforme a ley de una perseverancia, y no azar ni providencia.

«On the following day, with this brooch in my pocket, I was in a position to borrow two thousand dollars from a friend; but I took this valuable to America with me, since in Paris I was offered only one hundred and twenty-five» — la cifra exacta que hizo posible el viaje; el capítulo entero funciona con este nivel de detalle contable.

«Allow me to put into your hands this cheque which represents all that I have at my disposal at this moment.» — voz de uno de los presentes en la cena de Nueva York; el relato registra el efecto inmediato de la narración sobre su auditorio.

«She suddenly said, with great sincerity: ‘Mr. Gurdjieff, it is somewhat by chance that I am present at this meeting in honour of the opening of a branch of your Institute in New York, and that I have been able to hear your story, which has intensely interested me.» — voz de Lady L, invitada casual aquella noche; la escena queda referida por quien redacta el capítulo.

«And now, after having heard the story of your indefatigable efforts, and felt with a woman’s intuition the truth of what you are bringing to humanity, I understand how greatly your activities are paralysed by the lack of that which has become today the motive power in the life of people—I mean money; and so I also wish to bring my contribution to your Great Work.» — voz de Lady L, que funda su ofrecimiento en una intuición y no en un examen de la doctrina.

«I have decided to put half of this temporarily at your disposal, without interest, until such time as—God forbid—some serious occurrence might require me to make use of these savings, as one never knows what the future may hold!’» — voz de Lady L, con la condición y el límite de su préstamo.

«I can tell you with special gratitude that I shall be able to return this sum to you in exactly eight years, at a time when, although in perfect health, you will have the greatest need of what constitutes today, as you have so correctly said, the motive force of the entire process of the life of man.’» — la respuesta que la obra le atribuye: una devolución fechada a ocho años y una previsión sobre la necesidad futura de ella.

«And I do not find it superfluous to point out a singular fact, which you are at liberty to consider pure coincidence or even the effect of supernatural providence: namely, that without any intention on my part, but perhaps simply because in my work as a writer I always conform to an exact order, I have finished the revision of this text today in this same city, exactly seven years to the very day since the evening which has just been described.» — señala la coincidencia de fechas y deja al lector la lectura: azar, providencia o método. La obra se abstiene expresamente de decidirlo.

«I say ‘secret’ because no one, not even any of the people nearest to me, knows about these business relations of mine.» — declara mantener negocios en secreto incluso ante los suyos; el capítulo sobre el dinero acaba admitiendo que no lo cuenta todo.

«The result of our talk was that we drew up an agreement which brought about my participation in his business for four years.» — el acuerdo con el anticuario, que es el último de los negocios que narra.

«However, last year, when the crisis in my material situation reached its zenith, while at the same time this business continued to do well since numerous outlets had been found and Europe was overflowing with merchandise of this kind, I had the idea of restoring my finances by this means; and I decided that the scale of operations carried on by my partner should be expanded as much as possible.» — narra la ampliación del negocio de antigüedades con dinero prestado, y el cálculo en que se apoyaba.

«Unfortunately, however, a general economic depression had meanwhile come about, particularly affecting this trade, and we could no longer count on any profit, nor even hope for the recovery of our capital.» — el desenlace: la depresión económica se lleva la operación entera. El capítulo termina en pérdida, no en éxito.

«But unfortunately this unforeseen American crisis has plunged me, as Mullah Nassr Eddin would say, into such a ‘deep galosh’ that today I can scarcely see a single streak of daylight out of it.» — nombra su situación con la fórmula de Mullah Nassr Eddin, la misma con que había nombrado su desconcierto al empezar el libro.

«I had to hold myself without weakening, while experiencing all kinds of feelings, to an extremely intense level of inner activity in order not to identify myself with anything.» — describe su trabajo interior de aquellos meses en términos del sistema: no identificarse. Es de los pocos lugares del libro donde emplea el vocabulario técnico sobre sí mismo.

«But the objective injustice most painful to me in all this was that, during this inner concentration of the whole of my force for the purpose of transmitting true knowledge to people, both now and of the future, I had frequently to tear myself away from this state, and, at the cost of my last reserves of energy accumulated with much difficulty during short intervals between the hours of intensive work, to think out various complicated arrangements for postponing this or that payment or settling one or another of my debts.» — la queja que ordena todo el capítulo: la cuestión material le roba la fuerza destinada a transmitir.

«I consider myself justified, with an entirely clear conscience, in requiring that every person who approaches me, without distinction of race, faith, or material or social position, shall protect me as the apple of his eye, in order that my force and time may be spared for the activities corresponding to my individuality.» — formula una exigencia hacia quienes se le acercan, y la funda en el destino de su fuerza y no en su persona.

«Then, on my return to France, I shall begin again to write, but on the sole condition that henceforth I be relieved of all concern about the material conditions necessary for my mode of life, already established on a certain scale.» — pone una condición explícita a seguir escribiendo; la continuidad de la obra queda supeditada a ella.

«But if, for some reason or other, I fail to accomplish the task I have set myself, then I will be forced to recognize the illusory nature of all the ideas expounded in this narrative, as well as my own extravagant imagination; and, true to my principles, I will have to creep with my tail between my legs, as Mullah Nassr Eddin would say, ‘into the deepest old galoshes that have ever been worn on sweaty feet’.» — pone su propia obra a resultas de un plazo material: si fracasa, se obliga a reconocer ilusorias las ideas expuestas. Es la apuesta más fuerte que el libro hace sobre sí mismo.

«To give for publication only the manuscripts I have just revised in final form, that is, the first series of my writings and two chapters of the second; to cease writing for ever; and, on returning home, to light in the middle of the lawn before my windows a huge bonfire and throw on it all the rest of my writings.» — enuncia lo que haría en caso de fracaso: publicar solo la primera serie y dos capítulos de la segunda, y quemar el resto. Conviene leerlo contra el estado en que quedó la tercera serie.

«I picture myself organizing a new ‘Institute’ with many branches, only this time not for the Harmonious Development of Man but for instruction in hitherto undiscovered means of self-satisfaction.» — el desenlace irónico con que cierra el capítulo y el libro: la amenaza de fundar el Instituto inverso. Se consigna como lo que la obra escribe, no como propósito.

«the aim of Beelzebub’s Tales was ‘to destroy mercilessly the beliefs and views rooted for centuries in the mind and feelings of man’» — del prólogo de esta edición, citando al autor sobre la PRIMERA serie: es la formulación más clara del fin de aquélla, y llega aquí.

«He calls because he suffers from the inner chaos in which we live» — del mismo prólogo, sobre por qué el autor escribe. Voz del prologuista, no suya.

«This idea of master, so familiar in the East, is hardly accepted at all in the West» — del prólogo: la dificultad de recepción que la relación maestro-discípulo plantea en Occidente.

Cadena de transmisión (quién tomó de quién) — La relación de maestro, corriente en Oriente, apenas se acepta en Occidente: la transmisión personal es el problema, no la doctrina.

Iniciación (recepción por grados / metamorfosis del ser) — Solo quien cumple cierta condición merece el nombre de hombre y puede contar con lo preparado desde lo Alto.

Secreto (lo que se jura no fijar por escrito) — El libro narra búsquedas de fuentes que no se nombran ni se localizan con precisión comprobable.