Point and Counterpoint: on the Manuscript of “El Fin” (1953)

Point and Counterpoint: On the Manuscript of “El fin” (1953)

Daniel Balderston

The final story that Borges wrote in his own hand, before his blindness, has what is in retrospect the moving title “El fin”: he was arriving at a turning point in his career, one which would deprive him of the most intense and private facets of his writing practice, his direct engagement with his books and notebooks, and that at the same time would nudge him to- ward a more public career, one which (through dictation, public talks and interviews) would make him world famous. The story is tinged with mel- ancholy: the narrator Recabarren has been felled by a stroke, and from his cot in the back of his pulpería he will witness (sometimes aurally, sometimes visually) the final encounter between the Moreno of thepayada in La vuelta de Martín Fierro (1879), the younger brother of the Moreno killed in the first poem, and José Hernández’s gaucho protagonist, who will die at the end of the story. The story sets out a new ending to Hernández’s poem, an ending for its protagonist, and at the same time what turns out to be a real ending for Jorge Luis Borges as a short story writer in his own

Variaciones Borges 51 » 2021 Daniel Balderston 4 1 La Biblioteca guardian of thiskind of material. Michigan State from Joanne Yates, thewidow of Donald A. Yates, who gathered the1960book in San Marco.” After thatthenotebook various includes shorttexts, mostly currently working withaninternational team on theBorges notebooks was afaculty memberthere for manyyears andhosted several visitsby at Michigan State, partof anumber of important recent acquisitions by hand; also, itcontains theintroduction tothenew series of themagazine Borges are scholars familiar with), andthemanuscript of “DeliaElena Borges (which toEastLansing isitself thesubjectof aBorges poem). Iam hand many Borges’s notebooks, Leonor Acevedo in deBorges’s hand: shewas very muchthe that are librariestheUnited in States, sosoon there will bealotmore the Stephen O. Murray andKeelung Hong SpecialCollections Library recorders, tocomplete hiswork. text on Cynewulf. information aboutthematerials them. in The back theinside cover listin on thecontents of thenotebook is, asisthecase with The manuscript aMérito of thestoryisin notebook thatisnow in : after thishewill bereliant on others, oron microphones andtape , anote on Ortega yGasset (“Nota anda deunmallector”) 1 It is not my intention here to talk about the variety of El hacedor , largely Leonor Acevedo in deBorges’s 1954 in 1954 in 1954 in theindividual volume1954 in 9, after themanuscripts of “El (later gathered the into completas universal dela infamia In the29pages thatcontain del asceta ydelrey,” published of “El fin” occupies pages 6 to and before thepreface tothe Borges’s this in writing second edition of series of the Dios yelRey,” publishedin in 1953 in the same newspaper, 1953 in in notebook, themanuscript La Nación of 1974thatmost Obras completas , and“Diálogo , issued in Historia Obras

1950 to 1953. Another “fin,” then, marked by an awareness that hemight El payador Deux fictions cho Martín Fierro Hernández andthe was publishedlater than“Diálogo delasceta ydelrey” and“Elfin,”butthe “campaigns,”writing andof course toreconstruct theprecise chronology wrote thestory: bibliographical annotations are afeature of manyof the figurein themanuscripts of his short storiesuntilthisfinalperiod from evidence from thenotebook shows thatitwas written earlier). out strikethroughs. They alsoresemble themanuscript of “Lasecta del of what was composed thisnotebook in (for instance, “ElDiosyelRey” other materials the Mérito in notebook, but the fact that the almostthirty he would dictate hislater stories. are theFondation now in Martin Geneva, Bodmerin amanuscript pub undergoing aseries of increasingly unsuccessful operations totry afacsimile editionlished in byMichel Lafon neartheendof hislife in us tosee theprecise sequence andtheevidence of thewriting of several save hiseyesight, henotes down someof theworks heconsulted ashe fénix” in a crucial respect:fénix” acrucial in these late in stories, written asBorges was the use of theword “juncos” (reeds, withareference 175of toline references andprecise passages when orquotations mind thathehadin need torely on others(particularly on hismother)toconfirm thepage manuscripts of hisessays andnotes for classes andlectures butdonot pages of thenotebook are preserved theiroriginal allows in spiral binding The four pages of the manuscript resemble those of “El thatSur” In thismanuscript, thereferences right begin away: thefirst one isto from 1916, the book that emerged from a series of lectures on : manypossibilities are set outon thepage, series, in with , Hernández’sin 1872), firstlong poem andto Lugones’s Fierro poemsandthatargued for theepic andfounda El gau - - - -

Point and Counterpoint 5 Daniel Balderston 6 Antiguas literaturas germánicas 4 3 2 Muerte ytransfiguración de Martín Fierro (1945), of the second to lines poem, and to Ezequiel Martínez Estrada’s cho Martín Fierro grupo el último diario de la ciudad. elúltimodiariodela grupo Otros dabanorecibían noticias pasadarevolu dela gauchos costeábanse ensubusca desdemuchasleguas redonda. ala Pertenecía, porlo gued anarticle on in the1953manuscript escandinavo”, of “Destino one Güiraldes’s que parecía comentar elsilenciodeloscampos peligrosos” (75). de posiblestrifulcas, queechabaalpatio, dominicales bastaba para establecer ese vínculo, muy apreciado por otra parte, pueslos descargas debotellas vacías allá cerca alineadas como previsores proyectiles, elpulpero ción o peleafamosa entre dos guapos de fama. Todo ello en lenguaje parco y reposado común, atal cual vasco aventurero quellevaba chiripá yfacón antes dehaberaprendido cial entre aquellos hombres llanura. de la Lapulperíacon susjuegos ysuslibaciones Hernández poems, aspace of sociability(asSarmiento hadalready argued escanciaba caña la olorosa o el bermejo carlón de los brindis, mientras algún guitarrero chapter, “Lapoesíagaucha,” of theLugones book, which in theArgen cal. The reference topage 75of er references themanuscript in will appear duecourse: in specificpage of the most fascinating aspects ofof thislate storyisthatBorges themostfascinating a imagines a hablar claro,a hablar conciliando aquella adaptación campesina con colorada boina la amane not happen untilseveral decades after hisdeath. noche deGoliadkin” and“Catálogo yanálisisdeloslibros deLoomis”). In1952hepub make the butt of jokes two in of the texts written collaboration in with Bioy Casares, “La to the references Leumann’s to Carlos critical Alberto edition of the poet discussestine theimportance of the tional status of thepoems, in his 1845 in floreaba pasacalles sentado sobre aquelmueble. Tal cual mozo leídodeletreaba enun ra dedistintivo nacional. Detrás delmostrador fuertemente enrejado enprecaución novels of gaucho life, EnriqueAmorim’s in Texas.in lished “Sobre plural since, asJulioSchvartzman hasshown (447), Hernándeznever published Don Segundo Sombra Lugones writes: “No era grande, quedigamos, necesidad la decomunicación so I should clarify that in this article Iwill thatin I shouldclarify always refer the totheHernándezpoemsin What theleftmargin isalsoof isnotin interest: there isnoreference Grettis Saga Facundo Don Segundo Sombra Don Segundo Sombra and or to Borges and Delia Ingenieros’s discussion of it in La vuelta de Martín Fierro ) and, theplotof thepoems, in of violentconflict. was atext thatBorges hadmixed feelings about(andwould 2 aposition of which Borges was always skepti ” in ” in justtwo years earlier, 1951. in As Ihave ar El payador . Sur 4

; the manuscript of that essay a notebook is in manu militari as a single poem, asasingle thatwould something . Andthere are references totwo is to the beginning of thefourth is tothebeginning pulpería El paisano Aguilar , pordecirloasí, con vigorosas asapublic space the in andRicardo Martín Fierro 3 El Oth

gau ------

1924). 5 Hernández poems. delay, bytheFondo deCultura Económica 1955). in Borges andBioy were compiled byBorges andBioy Casares (published, apparently after some chapter of his figurecrucial in Chile,in thehistory of socialistparties andthe founder Latina, 1982). The mostimportant of these figures was, like Recabarren, owner of the occupy abouttwo thirds of thetwo-volume edition of of theCommunist Party of Chile: hewas asortof Chilean version of of achance encounter: theChileansocialist Luis EmilioRecabarren (1876- 6 a printerandeditor: Ascasubi Hilario was someone whose vast works his studyof the and Macedonio Fernández’s political sympathies, may well have been a “Elmilagro hombre in andHladík one secreto.” enelumbral” no There is nachón, corpulento, in espacioso…” It is included significant, asIhave argued elsewhere with respect tothesurnames Lönnrot fourteenth centuries, particularly the to theorigin of thename of thecentral figurein thestory, theparalyzed the prose narrative of medieval Iceland, cleverly the national questioning techniques hesaw atworktheIcelandic in sagas of thethirteenth and the touchstone of political discussions thehomeon Calle in in the gauchesquein tradition, but a very famous Tzinacán “La muerte brújula,” yla in “Laescritura in deldios,”Dewey “El in “El escritorargentinoin tradición” yla on the hiswritings (1951)andin ist appropriation of thegauchesque poems, anissue thathealsotakes up three years before thecomposition of theBorges story. named Recabarren most local of theliterary traditions of the River Plate through the lensof new for ending periods in Buenos Aires Borges’speriods in during youth and, given his father’s pulpería was often a“vasco aventurero.” Recabarren isaBasquename, and asLugones wrote in Pablo Neruda wrote apoemaboutRecabarren: “Tu nombre era Recabarren. Bo There isalsonoreference themargin, in oranywhere themanuscript, in gauchipolítico 6 Recabarren was thefounder of numerous workers’ newspapers, a pulpería Viajes La vueltadeMartín Fierro tradition thatSarmiento theMontevideo mentions in gauchipolíticos rioplatenses 5 in the Hernándezpoemsorfor in thatmatter anywhere andthatÁngel Rama famously uses asthetitleof , Recabarren. Characters’ Borges names in are always Grettis Saga andnarrates therealist itusing Canto general (Centro EditordeAmérica . That is, herevisits the El payador Recabarren (1950), published just Poesía gauchesca Serrano , the owner of the spenttwo oreven - -

Point and Counterpoint 7 Daniel Balderston 8 “pulpería defrontera”“pulpería Julio Argentino Roca’s campaign againsttheIndiansandjustbefore the Fierro gauchesque poems, astheir many notes attest. With atacit homage to that 7 Hernández proudly included in thefirstedition Hernández proudly in of included with Sarmiento ( figures and events, andtothe fact thatthe gauchesque genre was written elections of 1880, which BuenosAires thefederal ledtoturning into capital of dryreeds, asisthecaseanearlyphotograph in byBenitoPanunzi of a of BuenosAires (where Hernándezwould famously become aprovincial of another and tothefounding of anew city, LaPlata, tobethecapital of theprovince an instrument to invent subaltern voicesan instrument circula andtoput them into and theesthetic here: thegauchesque genre was precisely theforging of Borges writes “juncos” (reeds) of themanuscript the firstline and in Borges’s preparatory workthestory. asheiswriting First, asalready noted, spontaneous poetryof thepeople, butanimitative use of voices popular senator, known bythenickname of “el senador Martín Fierro”). support for thenew political order thatwas taking shape1879, in justafter for esthetic andpolitical ends(andIdonotmeantoseparate thepolitical tered orfocalized, isatacit homage, then, toacomplex series of political remembers how political awriter Hernándezwas, hispolemics bothin that takes place a in tion). in the voicein of thegauchos byalettered class of political activists; itwas aware of thepoliticalintensely circumstances of thecomposition of the not, asLugones andRojas rather naively ortendentiously proposed, a in Martínezin Estrada lxxx. preface (andon thecover). poem, but well-known illustrations of referenceputs aline to 8 Image from Luis Príamo, ed. Image from the facsimile edition of the first edition of The interior of sucha Recabarren, the name of the character through whom the action is fil Now afew more examples of how themarginal annotations show , thefirstillustratedin Argentina, book published ashenotesin the imprentero La vidadelChacho pulpería , editorandactivist writer, Borges (quietly, butfirmly) 7 from about1867. El gaucho Martín Fierro pulpería 8 Buenos Aires: Ciudad ycampaña 1860/1870 . There isno explicit mention of reeds the in is seen one of in the illustrations that and pulperías El gaucho Martín Fierro , toasection of thepoem clearly show roofs made La vueltadeMartín Fierro La vueltadeMartín ) and in his his ) andin (75). , also - - Point and Counterpoint 9 Daniel Balderston 10 The stanzas of thepoemindicated here read: This isthefirst of two timesthatthephrase“payada de contrapunto” This isthevery scene of the 9 de Martín Fierro Martín Fierro checks thequotation from theHernándezpoemwithaspecificsource: words appear againandagain. pería appears six times: because of theirimportance tothestory, thesame here totheLeumanncritical edition andlater, thedialogue in between Fierro describeshishorse anditstrappings: Fierro and theMoreno, toMartínez Estrada. In the manuscript the phrase note byhimasdirector of theNational Library. space where theowner ormanager works; “Elfin” in thespace of the tween cantor demediatalla “un /Con otro detalla entera” (485, the Moreno’s songs, which in thatthiswill heclaims beacompetition be tion of theHernándezpoems. They are, succession, in topartof one of this engraving thepublic space of the is used in thepublishedstory,is used in andeach timeBorges themanuscript in no are competing, isclearlydemarcated bytheiron barsfrom theprivate A few years later, acommemorative edition of There are five annotations Leumann’s to criticalCarlos Alberto edi Next, the passage the third in canto of isdemarcated precisely in thisway. Yo llevé unmoro denúmero, Con élgané enAyacucho Más plata queagua bendita– Siempre elgaucho necesita Sobresaliente elmatucho! Un pingo pafiarle un pucho. Un pingo , the latter illustrations, withthisandtheother nine was publishedwith a , canto 30): payada thatisthebackdrop of thestory. pulpería El gaucho Martín Fierro El gaucho Martín Fierro , where Fierro andtheMore and La vuelta de in which in La vuelta 9 pul In - - - - 10 Martín Fierro (“El hombre nomate alhombre/ Ni pelee porfantasía”: This of course isareference toalong andimportant section of Thein the firstsongs Cruz’s son, theideathathehaslearnedkilling thatincludes isbad Hernández poem; herefers only tothekind of horse, the“moro,” andhe Interestingly, though, thedetails thatBorges hisdescription uses in of doesn’t refer to the trappings of the horse, which Fierro enumerates the in his character andFierro’s sons (aswell asCruz’s son) and, byimplication, No se olvidahasta muerte”: la and thatblood once spilled isnever forgotten (“Lasangre quese redama/ and expresses hisdesire tolearn, perhaps leading tothephrase the in Fierroasks todefinea series of abstractions–measure, weight, quantity– since “con dolcezza” music isused torefer in toaslow, gentle tempo. Fierro—his hat, hisponcho—are these notmentionedstanzas in of the story abouthisspeaking “con dulzura.” for thenation asawhole istofindpeaceful solutions to conflicts. Borges mischievously refers astorythatundoesthe sage tothisin advice that poem. both to the beginning of the both tothebeginning Next comes areference totheadvice thatFierro gives his sons and Next, there are two references toLeumannthatare grouped together, There are a number of musical terms the story, in and this may be another one, A mi china la dejé la A michina Y cargué darmásgüeltas sin Gergas, poncho, cuanto había Con prendas las quetenía, Media desnuda ese día. (Leumann172, En casa, alcé– tuitola , which one in Hernándezproposes thattheway forward for payada payada are which theones in theyounger Moreno Vuelta ( 4739-40), among otherthings: La vuelta 10

Ida 361-72) , canto 30): Vuelta La vueltade 4733-34),

Point and Counterpoint 11 Daniel Balderston 12 1948, which adiscussion includes of the 1928 novel 11 Martín Fierro The “otra clase de contrapunto” refers, of course, to the duel that will fol Cruz’s) sons. dence between Huxley andOcampotheHoughton Library in atHarvard. Borges re cerrastes elpico” ( cerrastes edition theedition of thatBorges theHernándezpoems in consulted here payada see https://www.borges.pitt.edu/i/huxley-aldous. Fierro, who defineshimself asmore friendthan father, gives tohis(and low thestory, in buttheuse of “contrapunto” isinteresting because of its viewed various of Huxley’s books andwrote anarticle delosHuxley”: on “Ladinastía they are notcareful “Otra clase dejunción” ( tion from thepoemis very specific: Fierro tells the younger brother thatif the references toMartínez Estrada follow on thebottom of page 2andon to Leumannare thefirstpage in andahalf of themanuscript, while all the Archivos edition manyyears later.) Interestingly, all of thereferences tices, andanimportant source for later studiesof hispoems. (Notably, this ity (I.114-15). Borges knew Martínez Estrada well, andtheirpolitical fall ization from Fierro and the younger Moreno to Recabarren. it isgermane to thestorybecause Huxley experiments with contrasting massive study musical connotations andalsothepossible reference toAldousHuxley’s page 3. particular interest here is that he not only was the editor of the critical of view,points thatBorges something doeshere thefocal bydisplacing book includes astudyofbook one includes of Hernández’s manuscripts, alsostudiedin but alsotheauthorof Another important source, of course, was Ezequiel Martínez Estrada’s The final reference totheLeumannedition refers totheend of the Leumann (1886-1952)hadjustdiedwhen thisstorywas written; of Huxley was afriendof Victoria Ocampo’s, andthere isconsiderable correspon in which in Fierro celebrates histriumphandcruellysays “Alfin Point Counterpoint ” (1945), an early studyof Hernández’s compositional prac Muerte ytransfiguración de Martín Fierro La vuelta El poetacreador: cómo hizo Hernández “Lavueltade , canto 30): , acelebrated experimental novel atthetime; pulpería Vuelta 4480)could start. asaspace of sociabil ,in firstpublished 11 The quota ------1229), general in hisreferences toMartínez Estrada before 1955were high The second reference here, topage 72of Martínez Estrada’s commentary, Here Borges recalls Fierro’s narration of thechronology of hisadventures, did soatleastthree times, withspecific volume and page references. commentary. The first reference to Martínez Estrada isatthebottom of occasions of thisstory. the writing during The leftmargin shows thathe are, like hiscitations of Leumann, tothepoemsthemselves, nottothe ly favorable. Intheearly1950sMartínez Estrada andLeumann would have sense thatBorges would have consulted the second page: that Martín Fierro andCruz were more than buddies(Bioy Casares, turns out, thatnobodyremembers hiskilling of theolderbrother: “Que refers tothesame canto of the in canto XIin of the 1955);in thoughBorges was disturbedbyMartínez Estrada’s insinuation outwasing still afew years thefuture in (after theoverthrow of Perón manuscript: naides se acordaba muerte /Dela delmoreno” ( been themostsignificant scholars of theHernándezpoems, soitmakes The following reference toMartínez Estrada ison page three of the Borges’s page references tothefirstedition of Martínez Estrada’s book Y cinco allá entre losIndios Y loshepasadoansí, Y noson pocos diezaños Tres frontera, añosenla Hacen losdiezqueyo cuento. (Martínez Estrada I.lii, Si enmicuenta nomeyerro: Para quienya llega aviejo, Dos como gaucho matrero, Diez añosdesufrimiento, Vuelta : Vuelta , which in Fierro claims, rashly asit Muerte ytransfiguración Vuelta canto 11, 1597-98). Vuelta 1584-1592) on several Borges -

Point and Counterpoint 13 Daniel Balderston 14 This isof course thedetail thatheuses attheendof “Hombre es dela This isareference toanimportant passage thepoemthatcomes in right This isaprecise reference 4475-80of the tolines quina rosada,”quina when thenarrator, ayoung manatthetimeof thekilling clean, withoutadrop of blood. of Francisco Real, reveals hisidentitytoaudience (one of whose mem ond paragraph of thestoryandthenagainnearend, thedialogue in Note thatBorges refers twice tothispassage, of thesec atthebeginning home attheendof theaction of thestoryhechecked hisknife anditwas after Fierro haskilled theolderbrother: he hasathandhere, tobothLeumann andMartínez Estrada. Ofcourse in Fierro’s words. several decades before thisstory. First, Güiraldes: the poemthatothertype of encounter—a knife-fight tothedeath—does not occur, butBorges pays attention totheimplicit threat of violence in between Fierro andtheyounger brother. Herefers, then, tobotheditions bers isnamed “Borges”) manyyears later, when hesays thatwhen hegot The third andfinal reference to Martínez Estrada reads: There are alsoreferences totwo novels of gaucho life, bothpublished Al tranco paelcañadón. (Martínez Estrada lxxii, Ya conozco yo queempiesa Y ya quenosconocemos, Monté después, ysalí Limpié elfacónLimpié enlospastos, Otra clase dejunción. (Martínez Estrada I.lxxxv, Para encontrar ocasión la Basta deconversación; Desaté miredomón, No tienenquedarse priesa– Vuelta Ida Vuelta 1:1249-52) : 30, 4475-80) - - - “opúsculo irreverente” andaccuses himof irresponsibility andbadfaith “Detrás delmostrador estaba elpatrón, como siempre, ydepie, frente 40), soBorges follows Caldiz, notGüiraldes, on thispoint. Areview of this Amorim andBioy Casares for thiskind of detail. 12 On thepage question of in Caldiz writes, withregard delosfardos denominación quecon to“la que nosehadichode dead for twenty-five years and could notdefend himself. dez andEstanislao delCampo over theuse of the“overo rosao,” acolor of delight thissortof polemic, in asfor instance thatbetween Rafael Hernán who was presumed theknow tobein about theimplicit socialcodes was amused byCaldiz’s polemic withGüiraldes, who bythenhadbeen of the of asignificant of 1926, thefollowing issaid aboutthesocialfunction of the of afew words. on gauchesque Inhiswritings poetryBorges takes special always takes the position of a bemused outsider, thathe and I imagine horse that Rafael Hernández, the poet’s brother, argues would never have a studyof thevocabulary of theGüiraldes novel. Hisannotation appears a él, eltape Burgos concluía unacaña” (27). Thus, thisstory, in the and Borges refers toitelsewhere. for Güiraldes’s questioning knowledge of the Argentine countryside on function of theRecabarren qua this aspectof country life, would have relied on sources like Güiraldes, reference totheGüiraldes novel, Güiraldes of course theowner being the basisof hisown experience “desde 1896a1901”of the gauchos’ use tenían yerba mate,” that “siempre se lesllamó ‘tercios’ yno next tothephrase “tercios deyerba”: by Sarmiento andHernández, ismadeexplicit through themarginal been used byagaucho. book byOlga S. deBoneo in Borges alsoconsulted alittle-known work byJuanFrancisco Caldiz, Borges andBioy have along footnote on thiscontroversy in llanura . Borges, who did not have asmuch direct experience of estancia “ Don Segundo Sombra,” 12 in San in Antonio deAreco and, hence, someone Inhisreferences tothissortof polemic Borges Los cuarenta Don Segundo Sombra pulpero , already defined tosome extent in thefirsthalf of 1952 in calls itan published in LaPlata publishedin 1952, in , thefirstedition in Poesía gauchesca cuartos pulpero ” (39- 2.302, Lo Lo : - -

Point and Counterpoint 15 Daniel Balderston 16 29-30). Now, then, for anew reading of thestory, possible only withaccess 13 (who isperhaps Recabarren’s son). Onthesecond page of themanu dwelling, anideathatBorges haddeveloped two “La decades earlierin de tientos(Amorim178).” outside of thewindow, which in Recabarren can see, “másallá de losbar as was hishabit, checked andrechecked references (see his son, eventually comes tosee what heneeds (thefirst reference tothe approaching on horseback. Recabarren abell rings andaboy, perhaps una payada decontrapunto.” Hementions aboy “de rasgos aindiados” scene visualdetail, in since thisparticular kind of cot, withleatherthongs script, a slightly mysterious annotation is at the top of the page: “catre siones de cantor y que había sido derrotado, meses atrás / una noche, en su gran cuerpo inútil”). Though thesoundsof theguitar are mentioned stroke thathadfelled himisoblique, like thereed roof: “Miró lástima sin volume of the there is areference totheguitar player, who issitting thefront in room of rotes ventana, dela [como] se dilataba llanura la tarde,” yla agaucho roof madeof dryreeds theroom in the in to thismanuscript. the following: tientos” isa“rasgo” or“detalle circunstancial” that evokes thewhole to holdtheboards together, istypical of of thehomemadefurnishings imagine awholeimagine from fragment. atiny Inthiscase we can see hisimagi the secondin sentence of thestory, thesecond itisonly in paragraph that on acot;ing of chords thelabyrinth played on aguitar outside; thescene acomplex the storyin into way. The sources consulted show thatBorges, im’s nation atwork: thereference toEnriqueAmorim’s narrative verisimilitude from minute details thatprovoke thereader to nineteenth century dwellings rural Argentina: in Recabarren’s “catre de postulación de la realidad,”postulación dela hisspeculations on in techniques of creating There isalsoareference themanuscript in toapage of EnriqueAmor Borges hisstorywithacareful begins setting of thestage: theslanted pulpería Borges andBioy have theglossary in anote at theendof about“tientos” thesecond El paisano Aguilar Poesía gauchesca (thestore area): “Elejecutor era unnegro quetenía preten : “Tirilla decuero (2.788). crudo” , butIwill mention itabitlater, asBorges weaves it 13 This isagainpartof Borges’s the imagining pulpería where Recabarren isly El paisano Aguilar How Borges Wrote is is ------“guachos,” 15 14 gests thesuccinct description of themestizo boy, “rasgos aindiados,” owner of the only discovers attheendof thenovel thatheistheillegitimate son (andheir) of thelate dos (hijo suyo, tal vez) entreabrió puerta.” la The detail Amorim of the in construction of thecot andtheemphatic description of illegitimate births, version (519). However, theprecise visualdetail isessential for Borges to which isall thatBorges will say on thatsubject; enough, though, toimag Recabarren after hisstroke was engendered: “Unchico derasgos aindia alternatives across asemantic field, not cancelling any of them, and only al lectoryreferir susderivaciones yefectos” (219). Hedoesn’t even use stance, he wrote “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” and “La noche cíclica.” He also travelled to From this rather grandiloquent and emphatic description Amorim, in Borges extracts detail, atiny the“catre detientos,”andthrough itraises and even Walt Disney; one of in those home movies Borges sips yerba mate. at leastthethird one English of poemduring those trips (see much timeatLasNubes, theircountry estate nearSalto, Uruguay, which iswhere, for in the possibility thaton thatvery cot, afew years before, theboy who helps the “catre detientos,”which becomes simplya“catre” thepublished in imagine hisstory,imagine butunlike Amorimheallows thedetail totell thestory, older stories,ine unarealidad máscompleja “imaginar declarada quela the northernregion of thefrontier between Uruguay andBrazil withAmorim, andwrote not thenarrator, better still, tosuggest astorythat is nottold. 81). Amorimfilmedhisvisitors, included Borges,who Guillermo de Torre, Norah Borges In Of course Amorim was thehusbandof Borges’s first EstherHaedo,cousin andBorges spent ¡Hijos delcampo, nacidos delazar, alazar concebidos! soledad, Hijosdela del bostezo, delaburrimiento. Hijosengendrados bajo los techos delos escasa; sábanaáspera dela yelcolchón depaja. (178) única alegría existencia. dela trastiendas Hijosdelas pulperíasode delas fácil o necesitada, que se expone bajo carretas, las entre los barrancos, por to eninvierno. calmosas Loshijosdelas nochestropicales, con nubes de ranchos, porloshombres de mosquitos y ladridos deperros.mosquitos yladridos Loshijosdelcatre detientos, cama dela los cuartuchos delservicio, deparedes detablas, elvien pordonde silba los maizales quebrados, donde mujerse la tumbadecara alcielo. Hijosde los pajonales. Hijosdelsurco humano, aguardador semilla, de la como la How Borges Wrote 15 estancia asAmorimsays of thenext paragraph, atthebeginning sug Don Segundo Sombra . Ishowed how Borges often explores avariety of isalsothestoryof the las casas las . Hijosdeloscaminos, entraña dela guacho Poemas yprosas breves Fabio Cáceres, who , 71- 14 - - - - -

Point and Counterpoint 17 Daniel Balderston 18 “primitiva poesíadelosgauchos” toagame of hide-and-seek, where Fierro pobre then“un laber especie depobre quese intrincaba,” “una laberinto “Casi inmediatoya, sujetóel. . .”The publishedversion reads: “ (519). The marginal reference suggests thatthisisanother elementthat cara nola delhombre. Este, alguna vez, alzó elbrazo como para castigar The music of theguitar asamodestvariety of labyrinth: theimage tiesthe Here, manyof Borges’s asin manuscripts, thealternatives are outin laid del hombre que, por fin, sujetóel acercándosegalope yvino altrotecito” quese enredabade pobrísimolaberinto ydesataba infinitamente” (519). vio elchambergo, ellargo poncho oscuro, elcaballo moro, pero cara nola acercándosevino altranco” leadstoan alternative thatisupsidedown: M.F. (Leumann)172hombre. him. A wonderful example of this practice is the description of the strum succession, withoutstrikethroughs: cara deljinete,”then“hombre,” “la sion reads: otra “Dela pieza lellegaba unrasgueo deguitarra, unasuerte subsequently chooses among thepossibilities outbefore thathehaslaid tom of thefirstpage of themanuscript: top of thepage, que. “Unasuerte depobrísimolaberinto . .”The final ver the topof thepage where thenext sentence, “Ya cerca, sujetóelgalope y cara delhombre.”then “la The black dotafter “cabalgadura” takes usto is drawn thecenter into of alabyrinth. que enredabainto ydesataba infinitamente,” then, upsidedown atthe ming of theguitarming (thefirst, obliquemention of the younger brother): first, Another good sample of Borges’s compositional techniques is the bot moro, pero nunca cara la deljinete. hasta ser unjinete, quevenía, oparecía venir, casa. ala Recabarren vióelcham- La llanura, bajo elúltimosol, era casi abstracta, como vista enunsueño. Un para castigar cabalgadura. la levantó elrebenque, como. . . /bergo, ellargo poncho oscuro, elcaballo /punto se agitóenelhorizonte ycreció /la cabalgadura./la Recabarren - - - -

This phrase isanechoof one of themostimportant sentences Borges’s in Güiraldes novel. (2019). This particular passage emerges from aparticularly intense stage and of writing quoting fromquoting “La muralla y los libros,” the rest of the final paragraph of quieren decirnos algo, o algo dijeron que no hubiéramos debido perder, o will beincorporated thepublishedversions. into ems, orwiththemythology of thegauchesque tradition writlarge. After es, quizá, elhecho estético” (633). están pordeciralgo: esta deunarevelación, inminencia quenose produce, essays, thedefinition of theesthetic fact, orbeauty, attheend of “Lamu of composition, Borges writes partof anew of thestory, ending one that Borges took from thefirstdescription of Don Segundo Sombrainthe las caraslas trabajadas poreltiempo, ciertoscrepúsculos yciertos lugares, the storynarrates what Recabarren sees from hiscot: ralla yloslibros” (1950): “Lamúsica, losestados defelicidad, mitología, la imagination withthespaceimagination of thepampas andwiththeHernándezpo thisstory,into hemakes more evident thatsomeof these elements–music, rewriting. mythology, weathered faces, twilight, certain places–are associated his in bre de1953”. Onthefinalpage of themanuscript, after thedate andplace *

lo entendemos pero esintraducible como unamúsica. . . Desdesucatre, María Celeste Martín andIpublishedthemanuscript of thisessay in Hay unahora delatardecer dió pie, amagó unhachazo cara ala yse tendió profunda, enunapuñalada Desde sucatre, Recabarren vioelfin. Unaembestidayelnegro reculó, per de la tarde dela llanura enquela estápordeciralgo; nunca lodice oacaso /estádiciéndolo siempre ynoloentendemos Tal vez lodice infinitamente ynoloentendemos, o 16 By inserting anechoof the1950essay Byinserting “Buenos Aires, 13desetiem gives aprecise place anddate when thestorywas finished, The manuscript also Ensayos - - - -

Point and Counterpoint 19 Daniel Balderston 20 1933 story“Hombre rosada,” esquina dela where of theknife thecleaning 1249-52). Borges had already imitated that passage ofthe his final line in 17 de la historia,” “Flaubert y su destino ejemplar” and “Destino escandinavo.” and“Destino historia,”“Flaubertde la ejemplar” ysudestino Josefina Here Borges doesnotneed tonote down of quotations anotherstring be ems, andthe Cruz findshisdestiny younger Moreno loses his(235). cause they are so familiar to him. In the Hernández poem Fierro cleans who killed Francisco Real. This is, then, bothaquotation from Hernández his knife on thegrass after killing theolderbrother, asalready noted ( as anArgentine writerthattradition, in yet alsomodifyingit. and aself-quotation, yet anothersignal thatBorges hiswork isinscribing from thetwilights andplaces thatare atthecenter of thegauchesque thinking in 1953asthefact thatthedialoguethinking in between theyounger tradition. Borges writes: implicit homage toanarrative tradition thatcould notbemore distant is thekey “circumstantial thatconfirms detail” thatthenarrator isthe one Ludmer comments thetwo thatin storiesBorges wrote abouttheHernández po brother andFierro thatoccupies muchof themiddle of thestoryisan And perhaps norewriting of tradition isaseloquentof Borges’s “Destino” isanimportant“Destino” word for Borges those years, in in “Elpudor figuring also –Con luz la quequedamebasta –replicó elotro, poniéndose depie. –Con elotoño se van acortando losdías. –Por lo menos amí–dijoelforastero yañadiócomo sipensara envoz alta–: –Hizo bien. Así nose parecerán anosotros. –Les dibuenosconsejos –declaró–, quenunca estándemásynocuestan que penetró enelvientre. otra Despuésvino queelpulpero noalcanzó a Mi destino del hombre. con lentitud, mirar sin para atrás. Cumplida sutarea dejusticiero, ahora Se cuadró ante elnegro yledijo como cansado: era nadie. Mejor dicho era elotro: noteníasobre destino tierra la yhabía El negro, como sinolooyera, observó: Un lentoacorde precedió respuesta la delnegro. nada. Les dije, entre otras cosas, que el hombre no debe derramar sangre la matado aunhombre. (521) llo mano. enla laboriosa. el facón Limpió ensangrentado en el pastoyvolvió casas a las precisar yFierro nose levantó. Inmóvil, elnegro parecía vigilar suagonía 17 haqueridoqueyo matara yahora, otra vez, mepone elcuchi Ida - - -

“Cuando lunatienecerco. la . ., esseñal detemporal deagua,” while theexample from A few pages later there isanextensive quotation from the 19 18 cionario enciclopédico hispano-americano Clearly Borges when has this technique mind he intersperses the in de color e intensidad.”The Montaner andSimónencyclopedia gives two examples of como losanimales, ahora miraba elcieloypensabaquecerco lunaera dela señal de one isthis: “Aureola queanuestra vista presenta elSol, yaveces Luna, la con variedad In dialogue between theyounger brother and Fierro withmentions of the and what weather is coming. The first is from Alonso in part:readsMartínez de Espinar article on “cerco,” aword withawidevariety Spanishbuttherelevant in of meanings marked bydiagonal slashes. light andthetimeof year. sagas: reads part: in there comment isapertinent on thenarrative technique of theIcelandic the final sentence of the first paragraph ofthe story: “Habituado a vivir en el presente, this, bothof themare relevant to the relations between what isvisible on themoon lluvia” (519). Here there isamarginal note: “D.h.a. IV, 1188.”This reference tothe Antiguas literaturas germánicas Another sign of Borges’s attention tothebackdrop of hisstory—theweather—is In themanuscript thisisasection withintense rewriting, withseveral false starts “Atli dijo, alrecibir elgolpe: ‘Ahora se usanestas hojas tan anchas’. Luego “Entonces Atli dijo: ‘Alguien mebusca ytrae unmensaje, quehadeser muy –Dejá enpaz guitarra, la quehoy te espera otra clase decontrapunto. (520) Thorbjörn, desdeelcaballo, gritó queélera elmatador yse volvió asu que refiere.las sagas, En la como en realidad, hay hechosquealprincipio dramático yprefigurala técnica delcinematógrafo. Elautorno comenta lo son oscuros y luego se explican y hechos que parecen insignificantes y casa”. (74) cayó deboca sobre elumbral. Lasmujeres salieron ylohallaron muerto. y por eso Atli no salió; con una mano en el marco puerta, de la miró en El estilo esbreve, claro, conversacional […] El orden es estrictamente cro urgente’. puerta Abrióla ymiró; nohabíanadie. Ahora llovía con violencia torno. Enese instante, saltóThorbjörn ylehundiócon dosmanosla las nológico; nohay análisisdeloscaracteres; lospersonajes se muestran en lanza mitad enla delcuerpo. . . luego cobran importancia. (70) los actos palabras. yenlas Este procedimiento sagas daalas uncarácter 19 “Ciertos crepúsculos yciertoslugares”: like , 1951withDeliaIngenieros, publishedin (thisvolume was1890)istothe publishedin Grettis saga that Dic 18 - -

Point and Counterpoint 21 Daniel Balderston 22 What itdoesn’t show (butcan beinferred from thechronology of itscom de Martín Fierro como viuda, la /Con loscercos dehumedad, /Espera llover duda.”This sin connects to etry andof novels aboutgaucho life, butwhich isrecast anunderstated in erado, fatal, profundo como elcosmos ycapaz deinterpretaciones tér sin el largo tiempohandecididoleer como todofuera siensuspáginas delib fill outthedialogue theplace andtime byimagining where the words oblique asRecabarren’s vision from hiscot. theperiodfromof theHernándezpoemsin 1910to1950. As withother oblique way, thegrandiloquence shunning thatmarked somanyreadings are spoken; they are a political one, animplicit critiqueof cultural atext nationalism in thatis and 1952. Itisfrom them thathechooses astrategy totell an astoryin a dynamic thestory. element in la realidad,”la “Andthemoon was full,” these mentions make thereader readings: “Clásico readings: esaquellibro queunanación denaciones oungrupo o escandinavo”)texts “Destino of theperiod(including this choice was also the Icelandic sagas, works thathehadcommented 1951 on atlengthin theory of verisimilitude. the detail quoted from Tennyson’s in “Sobrein losclásicos” (1965), doesnotclose off thepossibility of new itself anexploration of aclassic, awork that, asBorges would say abitlater the reference totheweather thedialogue during between Fierro andtheMoreno, which Lope deVega reads part“Esta in nochepoco vela /Lablanca lunaenelcielo. /Andará ment withtheIcelandic sagas. Adistant reading of thegauchesque, as new story, one thatis based on anintimateknowledge of gauchesque po mino. Previsiblemente, esasdecisiones varían” (773). Byreading mentaries on it, and from novels of gaucho life by Güiraldes and Amorim. narrative out of specificdetailsin theHernándezpoems, from the com is adetail thatalsoappears theIcelandic in sagas. The scene-setting makes theweather prose, withanattention tocircumstantial details, to hisengage thanks position) ishow deeply Borges isindebtedtothenarrative techniques of This manuscript gives alotof evidence for how Borges constructed his againstthegrain, Borges opensupthepossibilities for his circumstantial details La mortd’Arthur , term acrucial for Borges his in University of Pittsburgh in “Lapostulación de in Daniel Balderston La vuelta La vuelta ------Martínez Estrada, Ezequiel. Ludmer, Josefina. —. —. Hernández, José. Facsimile edition editions of of thefirst Güiraldes, Ricardo. “ Caldiz, JuanFrancisco. Borges, Jorge Luis andDeliaIngenieros. —. Borges, Jorge Luis. Bioy Casares, Adolfo. —. Balderston, Daniel. “Descubrimientos secretos: Reflexiones entornoal Amorim, Enrique. Works Cited Cerco El Martín Fierro Martín Fierro Obras completas How Borges Wrote vols. Mexico City: Fondo deCultura Económica, 1948. Aires: Sudamericana, 1988. Colección Archivos, 2001. Estrada, 1945. Buenos Aires, n. pub., 1962. Fierro 1926. y SimónEditores, 1890. 4: 1188-89. pub.: LaPlata, 1952. Mexico City: Fondo deCultura Económica, 1951. Martin BodmerandParis: Presses Universitaires deFrance, 2010. 2006. Cuentan escandinavo’manuscrito de‘Destino (1953).” Ediciones SociedadAmigos dela delLibro Rioplatense, 1934. ” . Diccionario enciclopédico hispano-americano and 3(2014): 213-28. La vueltadeMartín Fierro . Edición crítica deCarlos A. Leumann. BuenosAires: El género gauchesco: Untratado sobre la patria El paisano Aguilar . BuenosAires: Emecé, 1974. Deux fictions . Critical edition byÉlidaLoisandÁngel Núñez. Paris: Don Segundo Sombra . Charlottesville: Uof Virginia P, 2018. Borges Lo quenosehadichode“DonSegundo Sombra.” Muerte ytransfiguración deMartín Fierro . Ed. DanielMartino. BuenosAires: Destino, . Ed. Michel Lafon. Geneva: Fondation . Montevideo and BuenosAires: . BuenosAires: EditorialProa, Antiguas literaturas germánicas . Preface byJorge Luis Borges. . Barcelona: Montaner Lo quelos Archivos El gaucho Martín . Buenos . 2 . 2 N. N. .

Point and Counterpoint 23 Daniel Balderston 24 Neruda, Pablo. “Recabarren.” Schvartzman, Julio. Príamo, Luis, ed. Fundación Antorchas, 2000. Hernán Loyola. Barcelona: Galaxia Gutenberg, 1999. 551-56. Buenos Aires: Ciudad ycampaña 1860/1870 Letras gauchas Canto general. Obras completas . BuenosAires: Eterna Cadencia, 2012. . Vol. 1. Ed. . BuenosAires: