"The smiler with the knife under the cloak," Julio Cortazar


The image contains a poem and a piece of prose in Spanish, alongside an illustration of an elephant with people riding on it. Published in Around the day in eighty worlds. Here is a summary and translation of the text:

Poem (Left Side)

Title: "The smiler with the knife under the cloak"

Original Spanish Text: 

Justo en mitad de la ensaimada 
se plantó y dijo: Babilonia. 
Muy pocos entendieron
que quería decir el Río de la Plata. 
Cuando se dieron cuenta ya era tarde, 
quién ataja a ese potro que galopa 
de Patmos a Gotinga a media rienda. 
Se empezó a hablar de vikingos 
en el café Tortoni, 
y eso curó a unos cuantos de Juan Pedro Calou 
y enfermó a los más flojos de runa y David Hume.
 
A todo esto él leía 
novelas policiales.

Translation: 

Right in the middle of the spiral[?]
he stood and said: Babylon. 
Very few understood that he meant the River Plate. 
By the time they realized it was too late, 
who stops that galloping colt 
from Patmos to Göttingen on a loose rein. 
They began talking about Vikings 
in the Tortoni café, 
and that cured a few of Juan Pedro Calou 
and sickened the weakest of rune and David Hume.
 
Meanwhile, he read 
detective novels.

Prose (Right Side)

The prose is an explanation by the author about the creation of the poem in 1956 in India. The author recounts a conversation about Borges and Argentine poets while trying to forget the Suez bombing and a UNESCO document. The text mentions how the poem was influenced by a joke about Borges studying Hindi and an ironic conversation among friends.

Translation: I wrote this poem in 1956 and in India, of all places. I don't remember the circumstances, we had been talking about Borges with other Argentines to forget for a while the bombing of Suez and a UNESCO document about international understanding that they had given us to translate; at some point I felt that my affection for him, so tangible in those years, had poetry and music to spare, with that purely practical joke that Borges would study Hindi precisely from his house on Maipú Street so he could say later: "What to do, right?" (the page of that international document has ended up as an irreversible witness in New Delhi, right?) the page of the UNESCO document is there to see, irrevocably in New Delhi, right?) the paper of that UNESCO document is still in New Delhi. Then I remembered some literature classes there, the leaf of the Charleses, in which I had shown how Geoffrey Chaucer's verse exactly illustrated the metaphor of the “smiler with the knife below the cloak,” and they had such an idea about the game of mango and the poem that never again, and twice, first for Borges to send me something. I have seen him two or three times in my life, and despite that, he was my friend.

Never wanted to make it public, however it was close when L'Herne magazine asked me for a collaboration for the Borges issue. Perhaps it would have looked like an ironic defense in light of Borges' stance of taking seriously those minor issues, but it seemed too close, almost a bad joke, an elephant in the room. I only know that I remember him; in any case, for a long time I did not live in Buenos Aires and I see that he keeps that memory. And I remember you, and if you need anything, you can find me far and always.

Illustration

The image at the bottom left depicts an elephant with people riding on it, which might be an illustration connected to the text's mention of India.

This text provides a blend of literary reflection, personal anecdote, and an insight into the influences and context behind the creation of the poem.

 ------------------------------------------------

To better capture the essence and tone of the original poem, let's try a more poetic translation:

Amidst the swirls of sweet ensaimada,

He planted Babylon, a sudden claim.

Few grasped the River Plate, his hidden code,

As he galloped thoughts, a boundless load.

From Patmos' isle to Göttingen’s learned hall,

His mind raced on, heedless of the call.

In Tortoni's café, Vikings took the stage,

As scholars swapped their tomes for a new age.

Some healed, escaped from Calou’s mundane plight,

While others fell to runes, lost in the night.

Through it all, he turned to crime’s dark art,

Finding solace in detective’s heart.

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