Borges, the Magi and Persian Histories
Jay Corwin
Borges provides clues and references to regional history and literature in certain stories, and the etymology of particular words may signal deeper collective meaning when paired with related, culturally significant clues. In Ficciones Borges distills broad readings of history and literature. In the volume’s first collection, El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan, the reader is challenged to find meaning in the references to Goethe and the term di- ván in “El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan” and to decipher the mean- ing of fire in “Las ruinas circulares.” There are religious structures in that story, and in “El acercamiento a Almotásim,” with references to particular literary works in footnotes that tie the story to the apocryphal encyclopae- dia entry in “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius.” In that story Borges the narra- tor states that few place names in the entry are identifiable. The common factor in these topographical names, religious structures, historical and literary references is Persia, as is the setting of “Las ruinas circulares.” It may therefore be meaningful if not necessary to undertake a reading of the
Variaciones Borges 41 » 2016 Jay Corwin 28 172). The seriousness of theirplace Achaemenidsocietyisnoted in bySimon Jaime Alazraki interprets the word “mago” the same way in while com of Matthewof gician’s son begiven tothefire god sothat‘alguna voz’ will glorify himin Sebag Montefiore, paraphrasing Herodotus: ers andinterpreters of dreams” (30). Onlylater didtheterm, according to collection that views these references to Persia as central to deciphering another temple” (137). Inhisinterpretation Williams correctly correlates English as“magician,” weakening thecultural connection he establishes. Barclay, lose its original to denote meaning a magician or charlatan. As Borges isetymological, since skilled philosophy, in andnatural medicine science. They were soothsay lection. The etymology ofbecomes refining point evident several in ritual sacrifices (I.131)withoutwhom suchsacrifices could nottake place. to thecentral character circulares” of “Lasruinas asawizard (20, 96, 121, ter asa“magician from India” (Bloom 138). Donald Shaw’s interpretation the storytoPersia, but also misses rendering “mago” themarkin into god grants themagician’s wishwiththecaveat thatthema fire “the that that we may view theextent towhich Persian culture permeates thecol the symbolismin is alsoderailed translation byasimilar of theword, asherefers repeatedly of thestory: line the last in themagician’s condition of appearance dreamt is used for itsetymological components (unus animus)rather thanfor its noted byHerodotus, theMagi were aMedian caste of priestsinvolved in moved from theEuropean image of amagician orwizard. In normative order in meaning tosubtlyanticipate what isliterally disclosed on theusementing of theword thesame story: in word “unánime” “the major critical circulares.” readings of “Lasruinas Mac Williams states microscopic of inspection individual words, anditisthrough thisprocess by another” (40-41).by another” EmirRodríguez Monegal Borges’s identifies charac Among manyotherdifficulties, one thatisparticular tothereader of The Avestan Astyages, King of Media western in Persia, dreamed thathisdaughter was urinating agoldenwas stream urinating which squirted outof thewhole of his kingdom. The magi, thePersian priests, interpreted thistomeanthathis , William Barclay Magi notes that“these were menwho were maguš, El jardín desenderos quesebifurcan Greek plural Magi, itsoriginal isin sense far re to interpret meaning in hisstoriesrequiresto interpret in meaning a . The Gospel ------1 The historical of theterm meaning Merv.” The eponymous character, like Smerdis, isbothhistorical andan geográfica, sóloreconocimos tres —Jorasán, Armenia, Erzurum—, inter Birds Smerdis according totheoldestsources was amannamed Gaumata who cording tothenarrator, Smerdis istheonly historical character thathe was murdered byDariusweeks hisreign into 522BCE. in Historical depth ous themes in ous themesin of meaning underscoresof meaning theneed toconsider theword “mago” itsorig in about Uqbar. The two primarysources of Smerdis theMagus (andimpos and Bioy Casares are abletoverify theapocryphal in encyclopaedia article as therecycling of Nishapur may betaken otherwise for aninteresting but Nishapur, authorof thelengthy philosophical Sufipoem, “Elacercamientoagain in aAlmotásim” through references to Attar of as anillusionist, magician orcharlatan. scription authored byDariustheGreat of Persia the6thcentury in BCE. sequently in “Las ruinas circulares,” “Las ruinas sequently in “Lalotería andin enBabilonia.” several thecollection, timesin “Tlön, in first Uqbar, OrbisTertius,” sub from the name of ahistoric character, Smerdis ( rasan is of particular importance. It is thecentral region of an earlier story tor) are Herodotus the5thcentury in BCE, andtheearlierBehistunin in Khorasan,in theearlyAbbasidera. during Nishapur ismentioned once impostor. The storytakes place Nishapur, in animportant cultural center sentenceing “Tlön”: in “Deloscatorce nombres quefiguran parte enla senseinal asamobedof mobeds, i.e. aZoroastrian high priest, rather than meaningless coincidence, “Hákim deMerv” alsocontains akey phrase on posed asthereal Smerdis (Bardiya), younger son of Cyrus theGreat, and polados eneltextopolados deunmodoambiguo” (15-16). The mention of Kho lo que puede saber de la lunaelhombrelo quepuedesaberdela noversado enastrología” (72).
“…sé quelosmagos nologran ponerse deacuerdo; sé desuspoderosos propósitos Borges delineatestherealm of thefollow theAchaemenidempire in , on which thenovel theBorges in storyispurportedly based. Where Historia universal de la infamia grandsons would threaten his rule. Astyages married his daughter to a weak, unthreatening neighbour totheeast, theKing of Anshan. This mar riage spawned anheir, Kourosh, who became Cyrus theGreat. (57) El jardín desenderos quesebifurcan , “Eltintorero enmascarado Hákim de maguš iscritical tounderstanding vari Ficciones because itisattached to 16). The word appears Conference the of 1 Ac ------
Borges, the Magi and Persian Histories 29 Jay Corwin 30 Achaemenid Persia suggest thatisasymbolic reference totwo separate pe 2 (56). Zend, alsoknown asAvestan, isanancientPersian language most cyclopaedia Iranica Khorasan andimposture anditssubsequent revival andapplication to description of themagus’s language isaparadox, as, according to does thereader. de Uqbarhabíadeclarado cópula quelosespejosyla son abominables, closely associated withZoroastrianism, related totheOldPersian of the which “Tlön” and its subsequent stories rely, regarding copulation and Los espejos y la paternidadLos espejos y la son abominables, multiplican porque la y afir as follows: “Entonces Bioy Casares recordó queunodelosheresiarcas and timeof origin circulares” of hismagus “Lasruinas in toaparticular a source of hisinformation on Persian hisaccount historyin of Hákim: Sir Percy Sykes ( Behistun inscription, andmore closely related toVedic Sanskrit. Borges’s region andera: “donde elidiomazend noestácontaminado degriego” riods of historyatthesame time. Moreover passing, andin Borges reveals menistan to Khorasan where he is revered as a sort of Sufi prophet before narrator notes hissuspicion about theorigin of theintriguing phrase as man” ( mirrors: “Latierra quehabitamos esunerror, unaincompetente parodia. phrase “Tlön” in isdeliberate. relation use in Itsinitial topost-Islamic porque multiplican el número de los hombres” ( being unveiledbeing andhisfraud discovered. Borges’s reemployment of the
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/greece-xiii In thecontext of theearlierstory, Hákim deMerv travels from Turk Later in Achaemenid through Sasanian times and even beyond, the number of Thus, noGreek loanwords seem tohave been preserved anyof theOld in Iranian languages known tous… far less impressive thanthenumber of borrowings theother direction. in frontation between the Greco-Roman/Byzantine and Iranian worlds from Notwithstanding manycenturies of attimesintensive contact andcon loanwords borrowed from Greek thepre-Islamic into Iranian languages is Historia universal dela infamia El jardín desenderos quesebifurcan Historia universal dela infamia : 2
94). This isparaphrased “Tlön” in 88). Borges narrows theplace Ficciones 14). Borges the The En - - - - - A well-known episode from the Avestan was probably long dead by the time of Greek Per incursions into 3 guage. As noted there are notraces of Greek ancientPersian influence in Khorasan, composed his epic different eras atthesame moment. Seyavash, who musttraverse afire from which heemerges unscathed. This venerated, suggesting that the time frame is post-Zoroastrian, i.e. Abba who discovers attheendthat, unscathed byfire, heisapiece of fiction. ence orthephrase ismetaphorical, referring subtlytoalater stage the in of the Arabic language, reinforcing the fact thatBorges isreferring totwo Egypt. Modern Persian, from dating thatera, ismarked bytheinfluence First andforemost, there isthequestion of thepurityof themagus’s lan Sudabeh heard the tumult she came out on the roof of her palace and saw the fire; mut sid. After thefall of theSasanid Empire, thePersian language spoken at languages suchasOldPersian andAvestan. The story’sreligious structure linguistic historyof Persia. The second ismore asBorges plausible refers sia. Either tures isitspaucityof Arabic words. Cyrus Massoudi notes that: the timebegan ground losing toArabic, muchlike theCoptic language in than accidentally, thatmay circulares.” certain clarify “Lasruinas motifsin the Achaemenidera. IfBorges’s magus isanachronistic deliberately rather to eleventh andtwelfth century poetsof Khorasan thecollection. in is adisused temple where along forgotten god associated withfire was is mirrored theexperience in of Borges’s circulares” magus “Las ruinas in tering to herself in rage,tering to herself in she longed for evil to befall the prince. The eyes world’s were
Seyavash passes unscathed through fire asatest of hispurityandinnocence: “When The purity of Old Persian and Avestan were question during not in In thelate tenth and earlyeleventh centuries, Ferdowsi, apoetfrom What Ferdowsi istherefore credited withisthetriumphantrebirth of the (154) amazing feat given thatfor 300 years theArabic language had Persian language, which hassurvived essentially intact tothepresent day. Ferdowsi famously used only 984Arabic expressions throughout theen tirety of thisnear60,000-couplet epic poem. This hasbeen regarded asan ing the local languageing as akind of hybrid of Arabic andPahlavi Persian. thenativeitself into language of Sasanian andpost-Sasanian Persia, leav Borges was unaware thatAvestan bearsnotrace of Greek influ Shahnameh Shahnameh . One of fea its distinguishing concerns aking’s favored son, insinuated insinuated 3 ------
Borges, the Magi and Persian Histories 31 Jay Corwin 32 “The storyasarereading andasummaryof anotherstory, eitheranimagi circulares”“Las ruinas may beunderstood bothasapiece of philosophical “El onceno tomodeja entender que tres razones capitales determinaron la The seemingly author’s gratuitous stress on thepurityof hismagus’s lan Shahnameh. guage, hisearlieremphases on Khorasan andhisfamiliarity withPersian or dustdirton him” (226). dreams, upon reality. This regarding particular point solipsism seems to concept, circulares.” seems of “Lasruinas tobethepoint Taken thisway in circulares” ataplace of linguistic purity, suggests thatBorges was well victoria total deese panteísmo idealista. Laprimera, elrepudio delsolip eleventh volume of This inversion of roles ispart of the nature of thecreation dreaming. in engage originate “Tlön, in Uqbar, OrbisTertius”: thelengthy in discussion of the of thedream worldthecollection. in Borges reverses thesubjectandob of hismission isnot justtointerpret dreams, hisown orothers, butto he istheprojection of anotherman’s dream, one who may himself have acquainted withFerdowsi’s epic. and both his horse and helmet disappeared. Tears were all in eyes, the whole plain story, which may bethefolly of solipsism ornihilism. For thedreamer is literature of theera suggest thatBorges may have adetail from inlaid the sismo…” ( up, ‘The young prince has escaped the fire!’ He was unscathed, asif he’d ridden though ject in thestorymoreject in thanonce: therole of interpreter of dreams passes water andemerged bone dry, for when Godwills it, herenders fire andwater equally waited, wondering ifhewould re-emerge, andwhen they glimpsed himashoutwent wheeled, urging thefire; hishorse impetuouslyinto tongues of flame enveloped him fiction thatilluminates theabsurdity of solipsism, andasanarticle from from theMagus tothereader; andthedreamer that himself comes tofind the apocryphal encyclopaedia. Alazraki describes the technique as follows: the ultimate solipsist, revelling fantasies fiction, in aboutinterpolating i.e. ofthe abomination mirrors, deflectsfrom thephilosophical of the point fixed on Kavus; men cursed him, their hearts filled with indignation. Then Seyavash nary text oranactual one orboth” (93). harmless….Seyavash appeared before hisfather andthere was notrace of fire orsmoke been dreamt. The obviouseffect is Whether Borges’s Magus isof theMedian caste ornot, theobjective Ficciones That matter, along withtheorigin of themagus “Lasruinas in 30). The repudiation of solipsism, orthe futility of the A First Tlön Encyclopaedia of mise enabyme , thenarrator notes that ; thiswhile illustrating - - - - Avesta, partsof which have been lostpermanently. The Pâzand, orcom The of circulares,” same theimplicit holdstrue text “Lasruinas behind the Greek elementsare Borges abundantin through consistent references to de senderos quese bifurcan”: themostevident in missing first page first convergence of Classical Greece andAncientPersia isattheheartof “Las cal traditions atthesame moment: Persian andGreek, elements melding closely associated ancientIndo-Aryan withfire in religion. That thegod cult ismore likely related toworship of Mithra, asMithra isthedeitymost era Magus: Gorgias’s nolonger extant “OnNature of theNon Existent,” was mostlikely syncretized withancientPersian monotheism. That earlier of both in theactsof of bothin character, asingle theMagus. Whereas Classical only traces of which have been quoted byothers, andwhich treats thesub of Yu Tsun’s testimony; second, thebook heldbyastudenton in thetrain, of theMagus’s dream iscalled “fuego” underscores thatBorges’s Magus has dreamt of Mithra, notof Ahura Mazda; therefore itcannot be assumed Borges himself mentions in understand thataperiod of twenty years ismissing from it, lost over time. lost text isredoubled through itsobviouscounterpart theAvesta, in not source of the ject of solipsism. Insuchaway thestorydraws from two separate classi the important matter isPersian rather thanGreek. circulares,”ruinas sentence: thefirst insistentin “donde elidiomazend the start of of Crete,the Labyrinth theClassical Persian emerges from as dominant the that thestory’ssolereligious associations are Zoroastrian, thoughthey the earliestform of Zoroastrianism buttell of anearliercult of fire which temples throughout the former Persian Empire. These are not remnant of no estácontaminado delgriego” ( the collectionmentioned in buttheelephantaroom in full of magi. The most definitely aremost definitely Persian. Inasmuch as it is necessary the context in of a model of the mentaries on theAvesta, are theterm summoned in “Zend.”The original The underlyingreferences tolosttexts come tothefore “Eljardín in The circular circulares” temples “Lasruinas in recall of fire theruins Borges refers textually toanideacontemporary withhisAchaemenid Annals of TacitusAnnals of El jardín desenderos quesebifurcan Shahnameh Thousand andOneNights . Familiarity withTacitus would allow thereader to isnolonger extant. Nor istheMiddle Persian Siete noches Ficciones (65-66). , the 56), which seems tostress that Hazar Afsaneh . The implicit reference to a , awork that - - -
Borges, the Magi and Persian Histories 33 Jay Corwin 34 Almotásim” thefigure in of theTower where theprotagonist takes refuge Persia dex, Bardiya” “vide (2: 610). Insuch away Borges may have deliberately Sir Percy Sykes “Hákim in deMerv” isof particular importance because covered thatacharacter named Yu Tsun goes tothehomeof amandarin can,” for example, will have opened circulares.” The fires that devour the temples the story may in relate to epic. of hishistory(1: 133, 2: 60-62), which reaffirms Borges’s awareness of the of Sykes’s monumental undertaking, 1915: publishedin first of authors. The discerning of Borges guided byspecialistsorclever enough to have understood it history. Moreover, Sykes refers to Ferdowsi’s already revealed hisprimarysource of “Hákim information in deMerv.” It hislibraryand sitsin discussing thefuture withhim, ascene lifted and and sleeps after aviolentsectarian riot, which during he believes hehas and culture. Itsdoubleistobefound thecenter in of “Elacercamiento a an article of literary fabrication but a marker of Persian history, religion, ancient Persian mythologies aboutgreat fires. Butmore tothepoint, the Parsee community of India: Borges storytostrip aword of all butitsmostancientmeanings, areader ring to himasBardiyaring except for anentryon Smerdis hisbook’s in in repeated Borges’s in story. In the same manner, the passing reference to fire temple which iscentral tothestory of creation isnot outof nothing raki, its Persian clearly noting origins and the importance of itamong the tively concurrent withthetimesuggested otherelementsof “Lasruinas in is unlikely thatBorges would mention Sykes hadhenotalready read his independently will examine clues, theinlaid titlesandnames including misdirected hisreader toHerodotus for answers“Tlön” in after having killed anotherman. The tower, or The earliestexcavated fire temples date totheParthian period, rela . Sykes’s work recounts themurder of theimpostormagus, refer The tower where thestudenttakes shelter isadakhma orTower of Silence, dead. The Parsees (IndianZoroastrians) believe thatwater, fire, andearth and contaminating object—may theearthorcast into not beburiedin are pure andholymustbeprotected, andthusacorpse—the impure those dakhmasand in Zoroastrians Persia in and India dispose of their reader of “Eljardín desenderos quese bifur dakhma The Dream the Red of Chamber in Persian, in byAlaz isidentified Shahnameh in both volumes in A History of A History of anddis ------Ahura Mazda. The god, whose name isfire, only emerges thedream in of The sacredness of earthandfire are circulares” evident “Las ruinas in in These “Elacercamiento” structures in circulares” and“Lasruinas are sym ciones doctrines andfordoctrines secret hostilitytoIslam” (2: 12). This may provide an creation of life) relay tothe reader asymbolismthatisuniquelyPersian. embedded in thetitleof thestory. embedded in answer aboutthelate of inclusion “Elacercamiento aAlmotásim” in arrested for treachery andembezzlement, thereligious fanaticism of Mo his protagonists dream. Sykes’s entry on Motasim notes that “[a]lthough he isuninitiatedbecause unaware heisatfirst of hisrole asmagus and scription of Motasim’s sympathetic adherence toZoroastrian doctrines uses boththeTower of Silence andtheFire Temple as theplace where andhistory.spirituality Their respective functions (disposalof thedead, should have known thebasic elements of thereligion hepractices. Andhe like thetemples isnow thecolor of ash. act of Hisfirst veneration isto Zoroastrianism. thetemple Hisincursion into of Fire may determinethat fango,” in the story’s first paragraphfango,” the story’s first in ( tasim caused himtobetriedandcondemned for Zoroastrian holding the phrases “fango sagrado” and“Lociertoesqueelhombre gris besóel temple, which would suggest thatthemagus isnotgenuine because he the magus andfrom there helearnsthatit ishistask tolight the afire in that thetemple demandsfire after of theYasna, thechanting apossible ther heistheproduct of adream, orthathehascrossed through fire and in juxtapositionin tothefire circulares,” temples of “Lasruinas Sykes’s de is not identified in thestoryasamagus in untilafteris notidentified hedreams of thegod, indication of imposture if taken to be Zoroastrian; it is more likely another may impress on readers of Borges thatthere isanotherlayer of meaning metrical, antithetical, thestoriestoperiodsof Persian and unify themesin kiss themud, amixture of thetwo holiestelements(water andearth)of point of emphasisthatthetemplepoint belongs toacult of Mithra rather than The magus isgrey, of “Lasruinas” suggesting from thestart thatei . Above andbeyond Borges’s symmetrical placement of the dakhma sumed byvultures. (41) a stream, apool, orthesea, normay itbedestroyed byfire. Instead they place thecorpses towers in builtfor thatpurpose where thefleshiscon Ficciones 56). Furthermore, Borges Fic------
Borges, the Magi and Persian Histories 35 Jay Corwin 36 This work isimplicit aswell apassage in “Tlön, in Uqbar, OrbisTertius.” and One Nights Mandarin the English countryside. in Yu Tsun recounts his with meeting of theRedof Chamber. que se llama Noche la Noches delas se abren secretas deparenlas del siglo xvse hace primera la compilación, yesacompilación procedía detect thatShahriyar andShahrezad, characters themain of the Stephen Albert, hisgrey eyes andbeard, echothegrey of themagus “Las in Stephen Albert, recalling himasamanwho was like Goethe(untilhekills comes amagus viathedream. vious reference toGoethe’s ences thestoryare in toEuropean andEastAsian cultures. These mirror en inglés ylointegrabanen inglés ( 1001páginas” noches Nevertheless itisobviousthatBorges alludes him). When hearrives house they atAlbert’s siton adivan. This isanob Persian and Arabic layers thework. in Western readers may notinstantly Fire. Borges’s character, otherwords, in andbe isinitiatedandinstructed lection is“Eljardín desenderos quese bifurcan.” The mostapparent refer se abrieran, nosentiría loqueen esatarde sentí. Ellibro estaba redactado the anglophile meets Stephen Albert, thecamp dressed Sinologist asa references tothe the characters, Yu Tsun andStephen Albert, withsubtleornotso religions andcultures, asnoted. the1941col The andtitlestoryin final thecollectionries in refer one way in oranothertoPersia, itslanguages, the rator describeshissensation asfollows: nochesdelIslam “Enunadelas Upon discovery apubbyHerbertAshe, of in thebook leftbehind thenar tor, aridiculous one. albeit comparison of Albert’s thestory’seponymous circulares,”ruinas andlike themagus, Stephenisalso animpos Albert the Ghazals of Abbasid Persian poetHafez. The sacerdotal appearance of romantic’s twelve partcollection of poetrycomposed themannerof in no pre-Islamic historyorrelevance Persian toadistinct culture. In novel tothe puertas del cieloyesmásdulce elagua en los cántaros; siesas puertas “Tlön, Uqbar, OrbisTertius” gives anindication thatthefollowing sto Thousand andOneNights , Borges hisunderstanding theorigins clarifies of thework: “Afines Thousand andOneNights , are Persian names (notArabic), andassume thetales have Annals of TacitusAnnals of Pitting Roman Classicism againsttheChinese, Yu Tsun West-östlicher Diwan isnearlytoo overt toqualifyasanallusion. and further echoesaconnection toPersia. Hung Lu Meng Ficciones in thesame sentencesin to (1814-1819), theGerman 20). The reference to , theChinese Thousand Dream Siete ------“Tlön”: Alazraki and add to the body of knowledge they painstakingly created.Alazraki At thetimeof Borges’s itseems writing unlikely thatsuchaconsideration More contemporary interpretations of thesubject, suchasMac Williams’s, gins withthelayeringgins itstext into of ancientPersian history. Inorder to 66). We may assume however that demand expansion. To bemostprecise, agroundwork for aclearreading de otra, persasegún parece: camiento aAlmotásim.” would have entered the writer’s mind. relegation Almond’s of all things and understanding of thePersian Borges’s elementsin storiesalready lay may Albert mirror theassassination of Smerdis theimpostor, Stephen of author’s evidentauthor’s readings, thosehisworks, mentioned in including i.e. history, essentially itstwo periodsof cultural wealth, underscores the Percy Sykes’s Persian toaconvenient pigeon holeof Islamic culture may beresponsible tionably places Borges’s aculture within of Orientalists hisreading of in for hismisinterpreted identity of Tlön (andamisreading of thestoryitself the work of preeminent suchasShaw, scholars Rodríguez Monegal, and tor predates Islam byone thousand years; the storyisaboutimposture, tying yet anotherof thestory’smotifstoonly historical act implied the collection itisbesttostate clearlythatthey manifest bothpre- in and in Alazraki’sin identification of the dakhma, orTower of Silence, “Elacer in in whichin Tlön asaninvention). isclearly identified Smerdis theimpos in “Tlön.”in post-Islamic forms. If taken as a repetition of themes, Yu Tsun’s murder murder post-Islamic forms. Iftaken asarepetition ofTsun’s themes, Yu properly envisage these layers of Persian historyandculture embeddedin Along other, more contemporary political lines, IanAlmond ques The collection’s references tobothpre- andpost-Islamic Persian writer assophisticated asBorges, theimage of Islam asencroaching, in sidious, malevolent andsomehow apocalyptic imminently still appears to Other, was notabletoavoid Islamic metaphors, mingling allusion and Borges was notabletoescape hisChristian, unconscious fears of Europe’s It may aboutasecret writing bethatin societytakes over theworld, references withhisdescription in of reality’s invasion byTlön. Even for a have had somesway. (93) History of PersiaHistory of Hazar afsana . Taken at face value, this may complement El jardín desenderos quesebifurcan , Los mil cuentos ” ( Siete noches 65- be- - - - -
Borges, the Magi and Persian Histories 37 Jay Corwin 38 Aryan cults, theovert use of theterm “mago” ormagus three in of eight Thousand andOneNights ameh Casares, theappearance resulting in of abook thatsubstantiates aquote Indo-European languages andthemythologies linked tothese languages descends toBorges andtousthrough the vasions butmuchearlier. The magus’s place Persian in literary tradition cling of a phrase from “Hákim de Merv,” a story set in Nishapur, the foot the Nishapur, in set of a phrasecling from “Hákimstory de Merv,”a wealth in earlier stories. emphatic devotion Almond’s tocontemporary political is encyclopaedic entryregarding Uqbarisfalse, intrigue adding toacuri ence toHafez’s “Eljardín poetryin de senderos quese bifurcan,” therecy ous conversation thatBorges notes between himself andAdolfo Bioy are alsoIndo-European. Persian withtheArab historydoesnotbegin in aesthetic. Avestan, Parthian, Scythian, Old Persian, andMedian were all Nishapur’s poem, Ferdowsi thepurest in Persian, reiterated apoint bythedescription of the Borges AbbasidPersia storyset in further reinforces thatthecollection’s magus sues andpostmoderismpredetermine amisreading of Borges’s writings, stated, andwithregard tocultural excavations undertaken byAlazraki, we stories in thecollection,stories in andthereferences thesame collection in tothe religions, evident several in of Borges’s stories, meritfurther attention and the word hasnotbeen removed from itscultural contexts. As thestarting the read thestars, predict thefuture andinterpret thedreams of thekings in reliable andbelievable source of thecharacter:to come who Mobeds the that acareful reader of Borges would recognize from asline one of his may consider that the layers of Persian literature, history, literature and magus’s place circulares.” of origin “Lasruinas in Therein we alsoview a not aboutanOrientalist’s fear of Muslim of domination theWest. The notes “Elacercamiento in aAlmotásim” aboutthetranslation of Attar of predominant historic andcultural foundations are Persian. These points of thesearchpoint “Tlön,” in thequotation lifted directly from an earlier because thequestion heposes isanachronistic andpolitical rather than The careful layering of Persian historyandsubtlereferences toIndo- Shahnameh of Ferdowsialso reinforce of thispoint. The repeated use of theterm in thecollection, in afterapplication itsfirst toSmerdis, suggests that El jardín desenderos quesebifurcan . Conference theBirds of determinethattheprimarysources of cultural , andthesubtlenodat Shahnameh are Persian. The buriedrefer , theepic pennedby Shahn ------que sebifurcan may yield important material for new interpretations of . University of Cape Town El jardín desenderos Jay Corwin
Borges, the Magi and Persian Histories 39 Jay Corwin 40 —. —. —. W Almond, Ian. Alazraki, Jaime. Williams, Mac. “Zoroastrian andZurvanite ‘Lasruinas Symbolismin Montefiore, Simon Sebag. Massoudi, Cyrus. Encyclopaedia Iranica Sykes, SirPercy. Shaw, Donald L. Ferdowsi, Abolqasem. Borges, Jorge Luis. Bloom, Harold, ed. Barclay, William. ORKS Siete noches Historia universal dela infamia 2012. Foucault toBaudrillard Chelsea House, 1986. circulares.’” London: I. B. Tauris, 2014. edition. Press, 2001. Davis. New York: Viking Penguin, 2006.
CITE The New Orientalists: Postmodern Representations Islam from of . Mexico City: Fondo deCultura Económica, 1980. d: Borges andtheKabbalah A History of PersiaA History of Borges’ Narrative Strategy The Gospel of MatthewThe Gospelof Volume I Land of theTurquoiseLand of Mountains: Journeys Across Iran Variaciones Borges Ficciones Jorge Luis Borges: Modern Critical Views . 2016.