#103 Mon (10/3/22) - EL DON, a poem (The Gift, J.L.Borges)

 

EL DON
En una página de Plinio se lee
que en todo el orbe no hay dos caras iguales.
Una mujer le dio a un ciego la imagen
de su rostro, sin duda único.
Eligió la fotografía entre muchas;
descartó y acertó.
El acto fue significativo para ella
y también lo es para él.
Ella sabía que él no podía ver el regalo
y sabía que era un regalo.
Un invisible don es un hecho mágico.
Dar a un ciego una imagen
es dar algo tan tenue que bien puede ser infinito,
es dar algo tan vago que puede ser el universo.
La inútil mano toca y no reconoce
la inalcanzable cara.
Revista Maldoror, Montevideo, 1985
Textos recobrados 1956-1986.
 
=========================
Google Translate
 
In a page of Pliny it is read
that in the whole world there are no two equal faces.
A woman gave a blind man the image
of her face, undoubtedly unique.
She chose photography among many;
she discarded and hit.
The act was significant for her
and it is also for him.
She knew he couldn't see the gift
and she knew it was a gift.
An invisible gift is a magical fact.
To give an image to a blind man
is to give something so tenuous that it could well be infinite,
it is to give something so vague that it could be the universe.
The useless hand touches and does not recognize
the unattainable face.

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