Aquí el cante…
Pablo de la Higuera
Aquí el cante es como el rayo
como una lumbre espantada en el fanal del carámbano.
By Anual (Own work)
[GFDL or CC BY 3.0
], via Wikimedia
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Aquí el cante no es quejío,
es grito
y silencio
vertical,
del corazón al cielo
y viceversa
corazón adentro… »
inolvidable Caracol.
(No era de aquí,
pero como si lo fuera.
Tenía el cante bronco y hondo
como un pozo de aguardiente tatuado de roció
en el desesperezado resacal).
Aquí se murió la morería
y dejó el cante de pie
helado en la noche alta.
Lo fundió un sol de justicia
en una tarde de fiesta
con limonadas de Vino
y litronas de cerveza
con toros y con vaquillas
y forasteros chuletas
y un aprendiz de torero
y una o dos vampiresas.
Y fue el cante y se soltó
el pelo de la dehesa…
Y el quejío se hizo rito
y el suspiro silencio
y amanecida de noches
de Vírgenes y de rejas,
alargatada de sol,
fandango azul, la saeta.
Hasta los altos de Burgos
do juran los fijosdalgo
amén los fijosdeputa,
el Ave…mariasantísima
de la musulmanidad
llegó por Despeñaperros
desde Sevilla la mora.
¡Y lo cantamos los bárbaros,
Castilla y España toda,
y to er Guadarquiví
se enduereció por Zamora!
Si fue ayer como quién dice…
Recuerda… en cada pandilla
siempre había uno que cantaba. Entonces,
en la cantina caleada,
en la cantina adomingada de sombra y vino
se hacía un silencio sacramental,
incluso a veces sepulcral,
cuando él, el único, el incomparable
cantaba. De pronto
a las seis del estío
un frio ardiente venia de la era, el verano
encaramado a la chimenea suspendido del alero del tejado, y el
Sol
parado a la puerta
a escuchar…
Era tremenda e insobornablemente serio,
era serio como guitarrista de cantaor,
era serio como el guitarrista de sí mismo,
era serio y hondo y secreto
como su cante.
Le llamaban Luis « Chaqueta », y una noche,
una noche de luna muerta y pájaros atónitos,
una noche escalofriante, sin aurora,
desamaneció allá abajo…
Y nadie supo nunca en el pueblo
por qué se tiró al pozo.
Tierra de pan
(Precisión: aquí
tradicionalmente « funciona » el pozo
o la soga,
según.)
Y es que aquí
por tiempo de solsticio y aledaños
quema el sol y quema el frío,
aquí
muerde el muérdago lento de los años
en el delgado pescozón del río,
aquí
– “veréis llanuras bélicas y paramos de asceta…”el cante es como el rayo,
como una lumbre espantada en la lividez del carámbano.
Pablo de la Higuera. Son las mismas estrellas
Onsen
Excuse me. Are you Colin de la Higuera?
Of course, when approached like that in a strange place you
would like to go for Zaphod Beeblebrox’ lines from The
restaurant at the end of the universe:
"You are Zaphod Beeblebrox?" [the insect] squeeked.
"Yeah," said Zaphod, "but don't shout it out or they'll all
want one."
"The Zaphod Beeblebrox?"
""No, just a Zaphod Beeblebrox; didn't you hear I come in six
packs?"
But you don’t react like that because you are naked in the
middle of a common bath and your opposite is just like you.
Onsen, next to mount Aso
You are in an Onsen.
Onsen aren’t just public baths, they are more like spas: the
water comes from the insides of the earth, your nose is
prickling, the smell of sulphur is so strong. You have read
somewhere that Onsen were good for something. You don’t
remember quite well, but you are enjoying sitting in this
large communal bath, in very hot water. And outside.
One special place for Onsen is the Island of Kyushu, which you
get to by Shinkansen from Kyoto.
Shinkansen
Nozomi 97
We were in Kyushu because I was kindly invited by Einoshin
Suzuki to give a talk at Kyushu University. And since the talk
was very conveniently placed on a Friday, here we are on a
Saturday driving around Kyushu.
To drive around Kyushu you need first to check the very
efficient weather and earthquake prediction website. In fact
you are really looking at the volcano map to see where you can
go and where you can’t.
Mount Aso, our destination, is extinct, yet « yellow » on the
map.
Sadly, we had clouds all day, so we were not able to see that
much.
But it did give us our first chance of renting a Japanese car
(and we didn’t cheat, we got the 660cc model which is used by
most families), and driving in Japan.
Mount Aso, or rather, a view of the largest crater in the
world, from the top, but on a cloudy day
I had come to Kyushu to give a talk (and gave it) but ended up
in the Onsen reflecting on the similarities between giving a
talk and going to the Onsen. In both cases you are confronting
your reality with your beliefs. In one case it is reassuring
to see other researcher’s talks because you understand that
your own stuff isn’t that bad. In an Onsen too, you get to
realize that other people have (also) slight imperfections.
So I was getting convinced, little by little, that this was a
great thing to try.
The car we rented. A typical
(if not traditional) 660cc.
The car. Fun climbing the
mountains!
Anyhow, these questions were left unanswered as I was sitting
up, moving shyly the small white towel you were given for just
that purpose and starting to worry about what the exact
Japanese protocol should go in such a situation.
Moreover, who would this person be? Certainly not a student…
Perhaps a fellow professor? I can’t just tell him: « oh, I
didn’t recognize you without your tie »!
The first place you reach in
an onsen
Onsen
Indoor onsen
« Er, yes, I am. I answered. »
« You have left your passport at the reception. I think. »
No, we are not in Brussels
Around mount Aso
Around mount Aso
Around mount Aso