Infinity according to Jorge Luis Borges - Ilan Stavans

Prevodilac: Milenka Okuka Lektor: Ivana Krivokuća

When Ireneo Funes looked at a glass of wine on a table,

Kada je Ireneo Funes posmatrao čašu vina na stolu,

he saw “all the shoots, clusters, and grapes of the vine.

video je „sve izdanke, grozdove i plodove koji sačinjavaju venjak.

He remembered the shapes of the clouds in the south

Poznavao je jutarnje oblike južnih oblaka

at the dawn of the 30th of April of 1882,

od 30. aprila 1882. godine

and he could compare them in his recollection with the marbled grain

i mogao je da ih uporedi s mermernim šarama

in the design of a leather-bound book which he had seen only once,

jedne knjige od španske hartije koju je pogledao samo jedanput

and with the lines in the spray which an oar raised

i sa linijama pene koju je podiglo veslo

in the Rio Negro on the eve of the battle of the Quebrancho.”

na Rio Negru uoči bitke kod Kvebraknoa.”

In the short story “Funes, the Memorious,”

U priči „Funes ili pamćenje”,

Jorge Luis Borges explores what it would be like to have a perfect memory.

Horhe Luis Borhes istražuje kako bi izgledalo imati savršeno pamćenje.

His character not only remembers everything he has ever seen,

Njegov lik ne samo da se seća svega što je video u životu,

but every time he has seen it in perfect detail.

već to svaki put vidi do najsitnijih detalja.

These details are so overwhelming

Ovi detalji su toliko iscrpljujući

Funes has to spend his days in a dark room,

da Funes mora da provodi dane u zamračenoj prostoriji

and can only sleep by imagining a part of town he has never visited.

i jedino može da spava zamišljajući deo grada koji nikad nije posetio.

According to Borges,

Prema Borhesu,

Funes’s memories even rendered him incapable of real thought,

zbog svojih sećanja, Funes je bio nesposoban da istinski razmišlja

because “To think is to forget a difference, to generalize, to abstract.

jer: „Misliti znači zanemarivati razlike, generalizovati, apstrahovati.

In the overly replete world of Funes there were nothing but details.”

U preopterećenom Funesovom svetu isključivo su postojali detalji.”

Funes’ limitless memory was just one of Borges’s many explorations of infinity.

Funesovo beskonačno pamćenje

tek je jedno od mnogobrojnih Borhesovih ispitivanja beskonačnosti.

Born in Argentina in 1899,

Rođen u Argentini 1899. godine,

he admired the revolutionaries of his mother’s family

divio se revolucionarima s majčine porodične linije,

but took after his father’s bookish clan.

ali se ugledao na očev klan knjiških moljaca.

His body of essays, poems, and stories, or, as he called them, ficciones

Njegov korpus eseja, poema i priča, ili, kako ih on naziva, „maštarija”,

pioneered the literary style of “lo real maravilloso,”

bili su prvi primeri književnog stila „lo real maravilloso”

known in English as Magical Realism—

ili, u prevodu, magičnog realizma -

and each was just a few pages long.

a svako delo je bilo svega nekoliko stranica dugo.

Though Borges was not interested in writing long books,

Iako Borhes nije bio zainteresovan za pisanje obimnih dela,

he was an avid reader,

bio je strastven čitalac

recruiting friends to read to him after he went blind in middle age.

koji je tražio od prijatelja da mu čitaju kada je u srednjim godinama oslepeo.

He said his image of paradise was an infinite library,

Govorio je kako zamišlja raj kao beskonačnu biblioteku,

an idea he brought to life in “The library of Babel.”

što je zamisao koju je oživeo u „Vavilonskoj biblioteci”.

Built out of countless identical rooms,

Sagrađena od bezbroj identičnih prostorija,

each containing the same number of books of the same length,

gde svaka ima isti broj knjiga iste dužine,

the library of babel is its own universe.

vavilonska biblioteka je sama po sebi univerzum.

It contains every possible variation of text,

Ona sadrži sve moguće varijacije tekstova,

so there are some profound books,

stoga tu imamo vredna dela,

but also countless tomes of complete gibberish.

ali i bezbrojne tomove potpunih koještarija.

The narrator has spent his entire life

Pripovedač je proveo čitav život

wandering this vast labyrinth of information

lutajući ovim ogromnim lavirintom informacija

in a possibly futile search for meaning.

u potencijalno uzaludnom traganju za smislom.

Labyrinths appeared over and over in Borges’ work.

Lavirint se stalno iznova pojavljuje u Borhesovim delima.

In “The Garden of Forking Paths,”

U „Vrtu sa stazama koje se račvaju”,

as Yu Tsun winds his way through country roads,

dok se Ju Cun krivudavo probija kroz seoske puteve,

he remembers a lost labyrinth built by one of his ancestors.

seća se izgubljenog lavirinta koji je sagradio jedan od njegovih predaka.

Over the course of the story,

Tokom priče,

he finds out the labyrinth is not a physical maze but a novel.

otkriva kako lavirint nije stvarno lavirint, već se radi o knjizi.

And this novel reveals that the real Garden of Forking Paths is time:

A ta knjiga otkriva kako je stvarni vrt sa stazama koje se račvaju vreme:

in every instant, there are infinite possible courses of action.

u svakom trenutku, postoji bezbroj mogućih postupaka.

And as one moment follows another,

A kako jedan trenutak povlači drugi,

each possibility begets another set of divergent futures.

svaka mogućnost nudi novi niz različitih budućnosti.

Borges laid out infinite expanses of time in his labyrinths,

Borhes je prikazao beskonačna prostranstva vremena u svojim lavirintima,

but he also explored the idea of condensing all of time

ali je takođe istraživao ideju sabijanja vremena

into a single moment.

u jedan trenutak.

In “The God’s Script,”

U „Božjem zapisu”,

at the very beginning of the world

na početku stvaranja sveta,

the god writes exactly one message

bog ispisuje tačno jednu poruku

into the spots of the jaguars,

u tačke jaguara,

who then “love and reproduce without end,

koji se potom „vole i razmnožavaju do beskraja

in caverns, in cane fields, on islands,

u pećinama, poljima trske, na ostrvima

in order that the last men might receive it.”

kako bi je poslednji čovek primio.”

The last man turns out to be a tenacious old priest

Ispostavlja se da je poslednji čovek uporni stari sveštenik

who spends years memorizing and deciphering the jaguar’s spots,

koji provodi godine pamteći i odgonetajući jaguarove tačke,

culminating in an epiphany where he finally understands the god’s message.

što kulminira proviđenjem u kome konačno shvata božju poruku.

Imprisoned deep underground,

Zarobljen duboko pod zemljom,

he has no one to share this meaning with,

nema s kim da podeli ovu spoznaju,

and it changes nothing about his circumstances,

i ona ne menja ništa u pogledu njegovog stanja,

but he doesn’t mind:

ali on ne mari:

in that one moment,

u tom trenutku

he has experienced all the experience of everyone who has ever existed.

on je iskusio sva iskustva svih koji su ikad postojali.

Reading Borges, you might catch a glimpse of infinity too.

Čitajući Borhesa, možda i vas okrzne tračak beskonačnosti.