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Once upon a time, there was an owl that made it to the forest and he recounted to all the other animals the customs and practices followed by humans…. (JORGE BUCAY)

Once upon a time, there was an owl that made it to the forest and he recounted to all the other animals the customs and practices followed by humans…. (JORGE BUCAY)

Once upon a time, there was an owl that made it to the forest, having previously been in captivity, and he recounted to all the other animals the customs and practices followed by humans. He explained, for example, that men in the city ranked and rated artists by their skills, with the aim of determining who was the best at everything: painting, drawing, sculpting, singing … The idea of adopting human practices took off among the animals and perhaps for that reason they immediately decided to hold a singing competition, which almost all of those present would enter, from the goldfinch to the rhinoceros. Supervised by the owl, who had learned in the city, they decreed that the judging of the contest would be carried out by secret vote, one for each animal who entered, and this way they would be their own jury. And so it was. All of the animals, including a human, went up on stage and sang, to greater or lesser applause from the audience. Afterwards, they each recorded their votes on a secret ballot, which they folded up and placed in a great ballot box that was presided over by the owl. When the moment to tally up the votes arrived, the owl went up onto the makeshift stage and, flanked by two old monkeys, opened the ballot box and began to count the votes from their “transparent election” that had been an “example of democratic vocation” and a “celebration of the secret been an “example of democratic vocation” and a “celebration of the secret ballot” granted to each animal, just as the owl had heard politicians in the city speak of. One of the old monkeys pulled out the first ballot, and the owl, to the crowd’s great excitement, announced, “The first vote, brothers and sisters, goes to our friend the donkey!”

There came a long silence, followed by a few timid claps. “The second vote: to the donkey!” General bewilderment. “Third vote: the donkey!” The contestants began to look around, at first with surprise, then with accusation in their eyes, and then finally, as more and more votes came in for the donkey, with increasing shame, feeling guilty at their own actions. Everyone knew that there was no worse song than the tragic braying of that equine. And yet, one after the other, their votes came in, electing him as the best singer. And so it was that once the count was finished, decided by the “free election” of the “impartial jury,” the strident, erratic hee-haw of the donkey had come out as the winner. And his was declared the “best voice in the forest and surrounding areas.” The owl explained afterward what had happened: each contestant, believing himself to be the winner, had voted for the least qualified of the contestants, the one who could pose no threat whatsoever. The vote was almost unanimous. In fact only two votes were not cast for the donkey: that of the donkey himself who, knowing he had nothing to lose, voted honestly for the lark, and that of the human, who, of course, had voted for himself. “So you see, Demian, this is what stinginess means in our society. When we feel so important that there is no room for others, when we believe ourselves so deserving that we can’t see past our own noses, when we think we’re so marvelous that we can’t conceive of the possibility of not possessing whatever it is we desire, then vanity, miserliness, stupidity and shortsightedness often make us stingy. Not selfish, Demian, but stingy. Stingy!”

 

 

 

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Jorge Bucay



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