Holden Caulfield & the Central Park Lake Ducks
Monday, November 26, 2018
When I had to read J.
Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye in my Austin, Texas Catholic Boarding school, St
Ed’s, in the late 50s I found it impenetrable and boring.
And yet when I went with my Rosemary to New York City this
past January and we walked by a foggy Central Park Lake I had to stop and take
a few snaps. While the lake was not frozen I did not spot any ducks.
El Lago – Eduardo Galeano (my translation into English below)
Holden
Caulfield estaba escuchando los reproches de su profesor del curso de Historia.
Para escapar de tan atroz letanía, pensaba en los patos del Central Park de
Nueva York. ¿Adónde se iban los patos invierno, cuando el lago se cubría de
hielo? El asunto le interesaba mucho más
que los egipcios y sus momias.
Lo había
contado Salinger en una famosa novela.
Unos años
después, Adolfo Gilly, paseando paseando sin rumbo, llegó al lago del Central
Park. No había hielo. Era un mediodía de otoño, y un profesor estaba leyendo
esas páginas de Salinger, en voz alta a sus alumnos.
Los
muchachos escuchaban, sentados en rueda.
Entonces
una escuadra de patos se acercó nadando a toda velocidad. Los patos se quedaron
allí, pegados a la orilla, mientras el profesor
leía las palabras que hablaban de ellos.
Después, el
profesor se fue, seguido por sus alumnos y se fueron, también, los patos.
The Lake - Eduardo Galeano
Holden Caulfield was listening to the disapproval of his
history teacher. To escape that scathing litany, he thought of the Central Park
Lake ducks in New York City. Where did they go during winter, when the lake
became frozen? This matter interested him far more than the Egyptians and their mummies.
Salinger had written of this in a famous novel.
Some years after, Adolfo Gilly [a Mexican writer] on a
stroll arrived at the Central Park Lake. There was no ice. It was an autumn
noon day, and a professor was reading out loud those pages, to his students.
The students were sitting around him.
It was then that a squadron of ducks, swimming at a great
speed came up to them. They remained there by the edge of the lake, while the
professor read the words that were about them.
Afterwards, the professor left, followed by his
students. And the ducks, also left.
My Translation
