April 10th, 1994
Subcomandanta
Mariana Moguel:
I greet you
with respect and congratulate you for the new grade that you acquired with your
drawing. Allow me to tell you a story that, maybe, one day you will understand.
It is the story of…
DURITO
I’m going to
tell you a story that happened to me the other day. It is the story of a small beetle
who wears glasses and smokes a pipe. I met him one day that I was looking for
my tobacco to smoke and didn’t find it. Suddenly, on one side of my hammock I
saw that a bit of tobacco had fallen and that it formed a little line. I went
and followed it to see where my tobacco was and find out who the hell had taken
it and was spilling it. A few meters away and behind a rock I ran into a beetle
sitting at a small desk, reading some papers and smoking a tiny pipe.
-Ahem, ahem –I
said so that the beetle would notice my presence, but he did not pay attention
to me.
So I told
him:
-Hey, that
tobacco is mine.
The beetle
took off his glasses, looked at me from top to bottom, and told me very
angrily:
-Please,
capitán, I beg you not to interrupt me. Do you not realize that I am studying?
I was a bit
surprised and was going to give him a kick, but I calmed down and sat at his
side to wait for him to finish studying. After a short while he gathered his
papers, put them in the desk and, nibbling at his pipe, told me:
-Well, now
then. What can I do for you, capitán?
-My tobacco –I
responded.
-Your
tobacco? –he told me.- Do you want me to give you a little?
I started to
get pissed off, but the little beetle reached out with his foot to give me the
bag of tobacco and added:
-Don’t get
angry, capitán. Please understand that here one cannot get tobacco and I had to
take a bit of yours.
I calmed
down. I liked the beetle and told him:
-Don’t
worry. Over there I have more.
-Hmm –he
answered.
-And, what
is your name? –I asked him.
-Nebuchadnezzar
–he said, and continued- but my friends call me Durito. You can call me Durito,
capitán.
I thanked
him for his consideration and asked him what it was that he was studying.
-I study
about neoliberalism and its strategy of domination for Latin America –he
answered.
-And of what
use is that to a beetle- I asked him.
And he
responded very angrily: “What do you mean of what use? I have to know how long
your struggle is going to last and if you are going to win or not. In addition,
a beetle must concern himself with studying the situation of the world in which
he lives, do you not think so capitán?
-I don’t
know –I told him.- But for what do you want to know how long our struggle is
going to last and if we are going to win or not?
-Well,
nothing has been understood –he told me putting on his glasses and lighting his
pipe. After taking a puff of smoke he continued:
-To know how
long us beetles are going to be making sure that you are not going to squash us
with your boots.
-Ah! –I said.
-Hmm –he
said.
-And to what
conclusion have you arrived in your study? –I asked him.
He took out his papers from the desk and began to leaf through them.
-Hmm… hmm –he
kept saying while he reviewed them.
After he finished
doing it, he looked me in the eye and told me:
-You are
going to win.
-I already
knew that –I told him. And I added: -But how long is it going to take?
-A long time
–he told me sighing with resignation.
-I also
already knew that… Do you not know exactly how long? –I asked.
-It cannot
be known with precision. One must take many things into account: the objective
conditions, the maturity of the subjective conditions, the correlation of
forces, the crisis of imperialism, the crisis of socialism, etcetera, etcetera.
-Hmm –I said.
-What are
you thinking about, capitán?
-About
nothing –I answered.- Well Mr. Durito,
I must withdraw. It was a great pleasure to meet you. Please know that you may
take all the tobacco you want whenever you like.
-Thank you,
capitán. You can use tú with me if
you like –he told me.[1]
-Thank you Durito. Now I am going to give the order
to my compañeros that stepping on beetles is prohibited. I hope that helps.
-Thank you,
capitán, your order will be of great use to us.
-However it
may be, be very careful because my guys are very distracted and do not always
look where they put their feet.
-That’s what
I’ll do, capitán.
-See you
later.
-See you
later. Come whenever you like and we’ll chat.
-That’s what
I’ll do- I said, and I withdrew for the military quarters.
That’s all
Mariana, I hope to meet you personally one day and be able to exchange
balaclavas and drawings. Vale.
Cheers and
other colors, because with those that you used the paint must have run out.
Supcomandante
insurgente Marcos
Mountains of the Mexican southeast.
English translation copyright © 2014 by Henry Gales. All rights reserved.
[1] Previously,
Durito and Marcos had been using the more formal second-person singular
pronoun, “Usted.” Durito switches to “tú,” while Marcos continues to use
“Usted.”
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