In any
weather, at any hour of the day or night, I have been anxious to improve the
nick of time, and notch it on my stick too; to stand on the meeting of two
eternities, the past and future, which is precisely the present moment; to toe
that line. You will pardon some obscurities, for there are more secrets in my
trade than in most men's, and yet not voluntarily kept, but inseparable from
its very nature. I would gladly tell all that I know about it, and never paint
"No Admittance" on my gate.
En cualquier clima, a cualquier hora del día o de la
noche, estuve ansioso de mejorar la marca del tiempo y de señalarla también en
mi bastón; de permanecer en el encuentro de dos eternidades, el pasado y el
futuro, que es precisamente el momento presente; de pisar esa línea. Tú
perdonaras algunas oscuridades, porque hay más secretos en mi negocio que en
los de la mayoría de los hombres, y aún así no guardados voluntariamente, sino
inseparables de su verdadera naturaleza. Yo diré con gratitud a todos lo que sé
de ello y nunca escribiré “No admisión” sobre mi puerta.
(HDT, Walden, traducción Guillermo Ruiz)
La palabra escrita, en una página, tendrá que mostrar
que alguien en particular la ha puesto ahí, la ha inscrito, escogido, y ha
marcado la señal. Puesta en su página, “tallada con el aliento de la vida
misma” (W 143), la palabra debe representar el silencio y la permanencia, es
decir, la convicción.
(Stanley Cavell, Los sentidos
de Walden, traducción de Antonio Lastra)
Friendship is
never established as an understood relation. Do you demand that I be less your
Friend that you may know it? Yet what right have I to think that another
cherishes so rare a sentiment for me? It is a miracle which requires constant
proofs. It is an exercise of the purest imagination and the rarest faith. It
says by a silent but eloquent behavior,--"I will be so related to thee as
thou canst imagine; even so thou mayest believe. I will spend truth,--all my
wealth on thee,"--and the Friend responds silently through his nature and
life, and treats his Friend with the same divine courtesy. He knows us
literally through thick and thin. He never asks for a sign of love, but can
distinguish it by the features which it naturally wears. We never need to stand
upon ceremony with him with regard to his visits. Wait not till I invite thee,
but observe that I am glad to see thee when thou comest. It would be paying too
dear for thy visit to ask for it. Where my Friend lives there are all riches
and every attraction, and no slight obstacle can keep me from him. Let me never
have to tell thee what I have not to tell. Let our intercourse be wholly above
ourselves, and draw us up to it.
The language
of Friendship is not words, but meanings.
(HDT, A week ….,
Wednesday)
