First Voices
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Language
The First Father of the Guaraní rose from the darkness, illumined by the reflections of his own heart, and created flames and faint mists. He created love and had no one to give it to. He created language but had no one to listen to it.
Then he entrusted the divinities with building the world and charged them with making fire, fog, rain and wind. He handed music to them and the words of the sacred hymn, in order to give life to women and men.
Thus did love become communion, language take on life, and The First Father redeem his solitude. He accompanied the men and women who walked and sang:
“Now we are treading this land,
now we are treading this gleaming land.”
Translation ©2023. Terence Clarke. All rights reserved.
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About Eduardo Galeano? click here. For a selection of Galeano’s books, click here.
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