FIRST VOICES
__
The Creation
The woman and the man dreamed that God was dreaming of them.
God dreamt of them while singing and shaking his maracas, wrapped about in tobacco smoke, and he felt happy and also shaken by doubt and mystery.
The Marikitare indigenous know that if God dreams of food, it comes to be and offers itself for eating. If God dreams of life, it is born and it gives birth.
The woman and the man dreamt that in God’s dream there appeared a great, shining egg. Inside the egg, they were dancing and making much noise, because they were crazy to be born. They dreamed that in God’s dream, happiness was stronger than doubt and mystery; and God, dreaming, made them and, singing, he said, “I break this egg and woman and man are born. And together they will live and die. But they will be born once more. And they will never cease being born, because death is a lie.”
—
Translation ©2023. Terence Clarke. All rights reserved.
About Eduardo Galeano? Click here. For Galeano’s great Memoria del fuego, click here.
“Terence Clarke: Recovering The Arts” columns are free of charge. Subscribe to them here. Or, if you wish, you can help us financially with a paid subscription at $5.00 per month or $50.00 per year. That, too, can be done here. It’s your call.
We will not share information about your subscription with anyone.