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🦋 Scales

Saramago posts today about writing. Interesting, this is the first I have noticed him blogging about blogging. The usual qualifiers about me not being a great translator apply; he says roughly:

Has it been worth the struggle? Have these commentaries, these opinions, these critiques been worth the struggle? Is the world better than before? And me, what about me? Is this what I hoped for? Am I satisfied with the work? To answer "yes" to all these questions, even only to some, would demonstrate clearly an inexcusable mental blindness. And to respond with a "no" without exceptions -- what could that be? Excessive modesty? Resignation? Or perhaps the consciousness that some human labors are nothing more than a pale shadow of the labors we dream of? It is told how Michelangelo, when he finished the Moses which we see in Rome, in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli, tapped the statue on the knee with his hammer and cried: "Speak!" One needn't say that Moses did not speak. Moses never speaks. In the same way he who has written in this place at length these last few months has not been more wordy nor more eloquent than that which could possibly be written, precisely that which the author would like to ask for, murmuring, "Talk, please, tell me what you are, what you have served for, if it was for anything." They are quiet, they don't respond. What to do, then? Interrogating words is the destiny of one who writes. An article? A column? A book? It will be done, but already we know that Moses will not respond.

posted evening of Sunday, January 4th, 2009
➳ More posts about Saramago's Notebook
➳ More posts about José Saramago
➳ More posts about Readings
➳ More posts about Translation
➳ More posts about Writing Projects
➳ More posts about Projects

I'd say it's pretty accurate! Anyway, I'm no expert, but I'd correct a couple of lines:

No-one says in so many words that Moses did not speak. --> It won't be necessary to say that Moses did not speak.

"Talk, please, tell me what you are, so that you can be served, if you are indeed anything."-->
"Talk, please, tell me what you are, what for have you served, if it has been for something."

Something else (and completely pointless, but funny): there's a smiling face at the bottom of Saramago's blog, I've just noticed it and thought I'd share it :)

posted evening of January 4th, 2009 by Jorge López

Oh, something else: I'd say it's Balance and not Scales, as he's evaluating the work done with his blog, "haciendo un balance".

posted evening of January 4th, 2009 by Jorge López

Thanks for the assistance, Jorge! I edited those lines in the post. The title "Scales" is sort of a poetic flourish, I was interpreting "Balance" as if Saramago is weighing the work he does writing against the results. Not sure it works exactly, but I'm going to stick with it.

posted morning of January 5th, 2009 by Jeremy

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