Olive

De la serie "Pantera casera"

La pantera casera llegó a casa con dos nombres y un apellido. El primer nombre se lo puso la niña: “Olive”, por el color de sus ojos. Como el gato es trilingüe, se convirtió inmediatamente en “Olivia”, y pronto, por una suerte de rima consonante, llegó su apellido: “Bolivia”. Su tercer nombre pertenece al ámbito de lo secreto, que sigue las reglas estrictas impuestas por T.S. Eliot para nombrar gatos. Sobre el sillón mirando a través de la ventana o sentada sobre la alfombra de frente a la puerta de cristal, ella observa la realidad que la rodea en un viaje inmóvil e infinito por su nombre.

The Naming of Cats

(Poema de T.S. Eliot)

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,

It isn’t just one of your holiday games; You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES. First of all, there’s the name that the family use daily,

Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo, or James, Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey—

All of them sensible everyday names. There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,

Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames: Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter—

But all of them sensible everyday names, But I tell you, a cat needs a name that’s particular, A name that’s peculiar, and more dignified, Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular, Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride? Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum, Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat, Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum— Names that never belong to more than one cat. But above and beyond there’s still one name left over, And that is the name that you never will guess; The name that no human research can discover-

But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess. When you notice a cat in profound meditation,

The reason, I tell you, is always the same: His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name: His ineffable effable Effanineffable Deep and inscrutable singular name.

© BAGG