The Case of Patience Worth

«AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Written at request W. F. P., in October, 1926.» — encabezado y datación del bosquejo con que abre el volumen: lo escribe Mrs. Curran a petición de W. F. P. en octubre de 1926, es decir, a trece años del primer mensaje.

«Father educated at a military school in Ithica, N. Y., as I recall.» — en su bosquejo, Mrs. Curran consigna la formación del padre, y remata con la reserva —*as I recall*— que atraviesa todo el texto.

«I will set down the pictures I retain for whatever value they may have.» — Mrs. Curran declara el criterio con que escribe: dejar las imágenes que conserva sin decidir ella si valen.

«I collected broken china and bits of colored glass, and spent hours worrying “doodle bugs ” with a stick.» — Mrs. Curran describe sus juegos de infancia en Fort Worth.

«I did not like dolls—liked a stick of stove wood with a mud face, wrapped in a towel, quite as well, —preferred live toys, and dressed my cats in doll clothes and wheeled my dogs in the doll cart.» — Mrs. Curran señala su preferencia por los juguetes vivos frente a las muñecas.

«I recall that my mother was pretty but also that she was too thin to afford me a comfortable pillow, although I wanted to be cuddled.» — Mrs. Curran describe a su madre con una imagen que mezcla el elogio y la falta.

«I do not recall my uncle at all at this point—I do recall him arrayed in a queer costume for a masked ball (I think as a ballet girl), which puzzled me.» — Mrs. Curran fecha su primer recuerdo del tío en un disfraz de baile de máscaras.

«He was a medium, though no others of the family were spiritualists, but I remember nothing else about that at this period.» — el único contacto con el espiritismo que Mrs. Curran declara en su infancia: un tío médium, sin más familia espiritista y sin más recuerdo.

«I had an uncomfortable feeling that something was wrong, although I had thought that I was discreet and wise, not realizing that I had actually lied.» — Mrs. Curran refiere su primera mentira de escuela sin atenuarla; el bosquejo entero está escrito con esta franqueza sobre lo desfavorable.

«I recall some “ paddlings ” by my mother over which my father would almost weep.» — Mrs. Curran contrasta el rigor de la madre con la blandura del padre.

«I broke down the last year (at thirteen) of too much piano, elocution, Delsarte, school and entertainments, and was sent to the Catholic St. Ignatius’ Academy for “ rest.”» — Mrs. Curran atribuye su colapso a los trece años a la acumulación de piano, elocución, Delsarte, escuela y funciones.

«He was a Methodist minister, I think, at odd times, and I cordially hated him.» — Mrs. Curran declara sin rodeos su antipatía por uno de sus maestros.

«I loved the wild flowers, was generally honest, rather vain of clothes, thought I was homely and felt it keenly.» — autorretrato adolescente de Mrs. Curran, con la fealdad percibida como dolor declarado.

«I did not like it there; I wanted to learn, to know and to see life.» — Mrs. Curran resume en una línea el motor de su juventud, que su bosquejo repite: querer aprender y ver mundo.

«My father paid for the lessons and I earned a little by playing piano at my uncle’s Spiritualist Church in Steinway Hall, for a short time.» — el único empleo de Mrs. Curran ligado al espiritismo que su bosquejo consigna: tocar el piano en la iglesia espiritualista de su tío, por poco tiempo.

«He was amused and kind and sent me to Thompson Music Co., where I sold music until they closed out; then I worked at Siegel Cooper’s at $6.00 a week, then sold smoker’s supplies at the “ Fair,” and finally was employed at Marshall Field’s.» — Mrs. Curran enumera su carrera de empleos comerciales, sin ninguno ligado a letras.

«I had made no effort to write—never thought of it, though I could see the possibilities of material in the Ozarks and I appreciated them.» — Mrs. Curran declara no haber intentado nunca escribir, y a la vez reconoce que veía material literario en los Ozarks: la negativa no es de sensibilidad, es de práctica.

«Mr. Curran was bright but not literary; there was no idea of writing anything when the bolt fell.» — Mrs. Curran describe a su marido y fecha el suceso con la metáfora que el volumen repetirá en boca de muchos testigos, la del rayo.

«I am not a Spiritualist, but am in sympathy with the furtherance of psychic facts and believe that the pioneers of today are but groping toward fact.» — Mrs. Curran deslinda su posición: no se declara espiritualista y sitúa a los investigadores de su tiempo tanteando hacia el hecho.

«I am not a “ medium” in the common sense. Am deeply interested in the study of psychic phenomena, using myself as a study.» — Mrs. Curran deslinda el término: rechaza ser médium en el sentido corriente y se declara estudiosa de los fenómenos usándose a sí misma como objeto.

«For you only, Dr. Prince—* won’t you remove for good from the minds of the public that I am a medium with a gold shingle and trances? Please, pretty please. Remember, I’m an Episcopalian!» — Mrs. Curran se dirige a Prince por su nombre y le pide que quite del público la imagen del médium profesional; el pasaje iba dirigido solo a él.

«In February, 1926, I orally asked Mrs. Curran a large number of questions, which she answered on the spot. Both questions and answers were verbally recorded, and were copied for this book, but it was found that they consumed too much space.» — Prince declara el método del interrogatorio de febrero de 1926 y su edición: preguntas y respuestas registradas al momento, suprimidas las preguntas por espacio.

«It will be understood that every following statement made by Mrs. Curran was directly responsive to a question, except such as are put within parentheses, which are her spontaneous remarks.» — Prince fija la convención de lectura del capítulo: todo lo que sigue responde a una pregunta salvo lo que va entre paréntesis.

«As a child I read no poetry except such as was in school readers or given me for declamations.» — Mrs. Curran declara el alcance de su trato con la poesía antes de 1913: solo lo escolar y lo declamado.

«I remember her chiefly as reading an English periodical with stories of the Bertha Clay level.» — Mrs. Curran sitúa las lecturas de su madre en un registro popular, nombrado por una firma de novela sentimental.

«Don’t know when the landing at Plymouth Rock was.» — una de las respuestas con que Mrs. Curran mide su propio desconocimiento de la historia estadounidense.

«Oliver Cromwell? Can’t tell about them but think Cromwell was a soldier.» — respuesta de Mrs. Curran sobre historia inglesa, con la vacilación tal como el volumen la imprime.

«I know it was the Pilgrims, not the Puritans who landed there, because a man gave Patience Worth the subject “The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers.”» — Mrs. Curran declara que ese dato lo sabe por la sesión misma: alguien propuso el tema a Patience Worth. Es la clase de contaminación que Prince pesa después.

«The Epistle to the Galatians was written by Paul, remember that from Church services.» — Mrs. Curran atribuye a los oficios religiosos, no a la lectura, lo poco que sabe de la Escritura.

«John the Evangelist was beheaded— no, that was John the Baptist; don’t know about the other.» — respuesta de Mrs. Curran sobre los dos Juanes, con la corrección que ella misma hace a media frase.

«All the books I have had in my own residence I have now; you may see them. I never lived in a house that had a well-stocked library.» — Mrs. Curran ofrece sus libros a la inspección y declara no haber vivido nunca en casa con biblioteca surtida.

«He wasn’t a student and didn’t talk about history; he didn’t know history.» — Mrs. Curran describe a su marido como no estudioso y ajeno a la historia.

«All the dialect he was interested in was Irish. Interested in the derivation of words?» — Mrs. Curran acota el único dialecto que interesaba a su marido, el irlandés, y devuelve como pregunta la de la etimología.

«When he was busy I would play with the dog on the prairie, fish for “ crawdads ” with a hunk of bacon, hunt buffalo-wallows, play with water-bugs, etc.» — Mrs. Curran describe sus juegos de infancia al aire libre en la pradera tejana.

«I have found in the records the account of the picture given her by Patience Worth sometime earlier —Ep.» — nota del editor del volumen —Prince, cuya firma el troceo imprime *Ep.* donde el impreso lleva ED.— que remite el dato a los registros de las sesiones.

«I never heard “ voices” before 1913, and that of Patience Worth developed slowly. Never saw an apparition.» — Mrs. Curran fecha en 1913 el corte y describe la voz de Patience Worth como algo que se fue formando, no como irrupción; niega haber visto aparición alguna.

«No, I never had any “ invisible companions.” I sometimes talked to myself when I had no one to play with. I was never of a melancholy bent, and being introspective was not my style.» — Mrs. Curran niega los antecedentes que una explicación por fantasía infantil pediría: ni compañeros invisibles, ni melancolía, ni introspección.

«When I was in Chicago, at eighteen, I played the piano in his church about a month and a half. I didn’t like the crowd that came, and the whole thing was repulsive to me.» — Mrs. Curran cifra en mes y medio tocando el piano en la iglesia de su tío todo su trato juvenil con el espiritismo, y declara que el ambiente le repugnaba.

«I had read, before 1913, no books on psychical research or Spiritualism whatever. My first was “‘ Cosmic Relations,” which Mr. Holt sent me after he printed the first Patience Worth book.» — Mrs. Curran declara que su primera lectura sobre investigación psíquica llegó DESPUÉS del primer libro, enviada por el editor.

«Perhaps it may appear to the reader that more witnesses than those whose accounts are given below should have been found, but really they are as many as could be expected when all the facts are taken into account.» — Prince se adelanta a la objeción por el número de testigos y la contesta con las circunstancias que enumera enseguida: la dispersión, las muertes, el pueblo minero casi extinto.

«ON JULY 8, 1913, in St. Louis, Missouri, two women sat over a ouija board, then enjoying a popular vogue. One was fascinated by it, despite almost a year of fruitless experiments resulting only in banal, disappointing nonsense. The other was a bored, pretty woman of thirty-one; she attended reluctantly, only after much coaxing, in order to accommodate her friend.» — la SOLAPA editorial de University Books —no voz de Prince— fecha el arranque del caso el 8 de julio de 1913 en San Luis, Misuri, y presenta a las dos mujeres del tablero: una entusiasta tras casi un año de ensayos estériles y otra que asistía de mala gana.

«But that day the ouija board seemed possessed with unusual strength. Suddenly there came this clear, startling statement: “Many moons ago I lived. Again I come — Patience Worth my name.”» — la solapa reproduce la frase con que, según ella, se presentó la comunicante en el tablero.

«What emerged was a personality destined to be hailed as a literary genius of the twentieth century — and a riddle that became one of the most remarkable psychic mysteries ever uncovered.» — la solapa anuncia el caso a la vez como genio literario y como enigma; es texto de promoción editorial de 1964, escrito para sonar a tesis, y se consigna como tal.

«Dr. Prince has called this case “the most important of its kind.”» — la solapa atribuye a Prince la calificación del caso, sin dar plana del libro donde la haría.

«Dr. WALTER FRANKLIN PRINCE (1863-1934) devoted the last two decades of his life to full time work in psychical research.» — John C. Wilson abre su introducción de 1963 datando a Prince y situando sus dos últimas décadas en la investigación psíquica.

«He was the only American, other than William James, to occupy the position of president of the Society for Psychical Research (London).» — Wilson sitúa a Prince en la presidencia de la Society for Psychical Research de Londres y lo empareja con William James como los dos únicos estadounidenses en ocuparla.

«The present volume is a study of a medium. Her maiden name was Pearl Lenore. This book begins with an autobiographical sketch which she wrote at Dr. Prince’s request. His study of her takes up the rest of the book.» — Wilson describe la arquitectura del libro: un bosquejo autobiográfico escrito por la médium a petición de Prince, y el estudio de Prince ocupando el resto.

«Except for one reprint in 1929, this book has been unavailable ever since.» — Wilson declara que, salvo una reimpresión de 1929, el libro llevaba fuera de circulación hasta esta edición.

«The plain truth is that very few people want to live with eternal mysteries,» — Wilson enuncia su explicación del olvido del caso: la poca disposición del público a convivir con misterios sin cierre.

«The history of psychic and occult phenomena can be told, quite accurately, as stories of nine-day wonders coming like thunderbolts out of clear skies, found astonishing and wondered at, eventually found to be not susceptible to being explained away nor to be fitted into the normal scheme of things, therefore found to be supernormal — and thereupon lost from the attention of the public mind.» — Wilson formula un patrón —asombro, imposibilidad de explicación, clasificación como supernormal y olvido— que aplica a la historia de los fenómenos psíquicos y ocultos en general.

«Looked at afresh, how utterly strange is this situation: confronted by a semi-literate housewife spouting forth a series of astonishing works of literature dictated to her by a seventeenth century spirit, the American public first gapes and gawks and then wipes the whole thing out of its mind.» — Wilson describe la situación en los términos ásperos que la edición de 1964 elige: una ama de casa *semi-literate* de la que salen obras literarias dictadas por un espíritu del siglo XVII, y un público que primero se pasma y luego lo borra.

«For those in each generation who are not content to close their eyes, this book now appears again.» — con esta línea, fechada en diciembre de 1963 y firmada JOHN C, WILSON tal como la imprime el troceo, se cierra la introducción de la reedición.

«Wherever in this book an asterisk (*) precedes a composition by “Patience Worth,” it means that its language has been made slightly less archaic, mainly by modernizing the spelling.» — la PUBLISHER’S NOTE advierte que el asterisco ante una composición señala que su lengua fue modernizada, sobre todo en la ortografía: el texto marcado con asterisco no es la forma en que se recibió.

«Wherever the subject of a composition is put in quotation marks they indicate that the subject was given by some person immediately before the composition began.» — la misma nota fija la segunda convención tipográfica: el tema entrecomillado indica que alguien lo propuso inmediatamente antes de que empezara la composición.

«The following books containing Patience Worth literature have been published:» — la nota editorial encabeza con esta línea la lista de libros publicados con literatura de Patience Worth, que el volumen enumera con editorial, año y número de páginas.

«Library of the Mystic Arts A LIBRARY OF ANCIENT AND MODERN CLASSICS» — encabezado del catalogo que University Books encuaderna al final del volumen: nombra la coleccion en que aparece esta reimpresion.

«termed this fascinating account, which reads as easily as a novel, “an unexpected display of literary genius and ability to carry on complex mental operations, together with divination of other minds.» — contrasolapa sin firma de University Books, que retoma la solapa delantera: atribuye a Prince el haber llamado al caso despliegue inesperado de genio literario y de adivinacion de otras mentes; el troceo abre la plana a media frase.

«Patience Worth identified herself as a spirit from the seventeenth century, of English birth. She dictated to Mrs. Curran an enormous amount of poetry and prose in evening sessions which had lasted five years at the time Dr. Prince wrote this book.» — contrasolapa sin firma de University Books: presenta a Patience Worth como espiritu del siglo diecisiete, de nacimiento ingles, con cinco años de sesiones vespertinas al escribirse el libro.

«There was not only astonishing quantity but also astounding quality. Patience Worth’s writings displayed original genius, enormous erudition, familiarity with literature and history of many ages, versatility of experience, philosophic depth, piercing wit, moral spirituality, swiftness» — contrasolapa sin firma de University Books: enumera los rasgos que atribuye a los escritos, genio original, erudicion enorme, hondura filosofica e ingenio penetrante; el troceo corta la frase en el limite de chunk.

«of thought, and penetrating wisdom; moreover, she demonstrated many times and before thousands of witnesses a more-than-human ability to carry on simultaneous mental operations, and gave frequent manifestations of telepathic skill. Yet Mrs. Curran, the “harp” on which she sang, was a quite unlettered woman of thirty-one!» — contrasolapa sin firma de University Books: cierra la enumeracion con la habilidad simultanea ante millares de testigos y llama arpa a la señora Curran, mujer sin letras de treinta y uno; el troceo abre el chunk a media frase.

«Almost all who testified about her used the identical astonished phrase: “Patience Worth was a bolt from a clear sky.» — contrasolapa sin firma de University Books: recoge la frase que atribuye a casi todos los testigos, un rayo en cielo despejado.

«Patience Worth —her supreme talent, her knowledge, her lofty aims — were altogether foreign to Pearl Curran. And yet one was the mysterious voice of the other.» — contrasolapa sin firma de University Books: declara ajenos a Pearl Curran el talento, el saber y los fines de Patience Worth, y a la una voz misteriosa de la otra.

«Within five years, Patience dictated over a million and a half words. Over 1500 poems, six novels, and uncounted aphorisms were produced — most of it conceded by critics to be writing of a very high order.» — contrasolapa sin firma de University Books: da la cuenta de mas de millon y medio de palabras, mas de mil quinientos poemas, seis novelas y aforismos incontables.

«The most impressive exhibition of Patience Worth’s knowledge and skill — indeed, her masterpiece — is THE SORRY TALE, subtitled» — contrasolapa sin firma de University Books: nombra a THE SORRY TALE la obra maestra del conjunto; el troceo corta la frase antes del subtitulo.

«One may smile at the psychic mystery, but the smile will turn to wonder. As a literary composition it is unique and remarkable ...a vividness as of a personal witness.» — reseña del Hartford Courant recogida en la contrasolapa: llama unica y notable la composicion literaria, con viveza de testigo presencial.

«Where did this mysterious story-teller become familiar with Oriental market places and wildernesses and Roman palaces?» — reseña de The National recogida en la contrasolapa: pregunta donde se familiarizo la narradora con mercados orientales y palacios romanos.

«Patience writes of Old India and of ancient Rome as though she had seen and known them.» — reseña de Los Angeles Times recogida en la contrasolapa: dice que escribe de la India vieja y de la Roma antigua como si las hubiera visto.

«Constructed with the precision and the accuracy of a master hand ...a wonderful, a beautiful, and a noble book.» — reseña del New York Times recogida en la contrasolapa: llama al libro construido con precision de mano maestra, hermoso y noble; el volumen reimprime esta misma reseña en la plana 77.

«Prelude to and Announcement of Patience Worth Table Talk of Patience Worth Later Table Talk Opinions and Reviews Patience Worth and the Poets Imagination Nature Stimulus and Cheer Sentiment Love and Friendship Infancy Ethics Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow Religion God Death and the Hereafter» — indice del volumen, sin firma: enumera las secciones de la primera mitad, del anuncio de Patience Worth a la muerte y el mas alla.

«Extracts from Novels Impromptu Proverbs Prayers Stunts of Composition Patience Worth on “Spirit Manifestations” Telepathy Visual Preludes and Accompaniments A Competition in Composition The “Dialect” of Patience Worth Mechanism of Delivery Records and Motives (By Mr. Yost) The Evidence in Telka (By Mr. Yost) The Problem of Knowledge ( By Mr. Yost) A Nut for Psychologists (By Mrs. Curran) Mrs. Curran’s Early Capacity for Writing Poetry A Test of Mrs. Curran’s Former Interest in Poetry Stories Written by Mrs. Curran with Conscious Effort Mrs. Curran’s Library Dr. Hyslop’s Criticisms Patience Worth (By Dr. Cory) Reply to Dr. Cory Mary Austin on Patience Worth Minor Attempted Explanations» — indice del volumen, sin firma: enumera las secciones de la segunda mitad, de los extractos de novelas a los intentos menores de explicacion.