The dessert, 1901
Fuente: https://www.wikiart.org/
They are a solemn commitment on both sides.
There are many examples in world literature.
Faust (Goethe), who sells his soul to Mephistopheles in exchange for knowledge and pleasure.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde), who makes a pact with the devil so that his portrait will age in his place.
Lazarillo de Tormes (anonymous author), a Spanish work in which the guide makes a pact with an archpriest, who does the same with the devil.
Even Ulysses in the Odyssey (Homer) made a pact to avoid death during his journey.
I negotiate a grandmother’s pact with my grandchildren, when I tell them that if they behave well and eat all their food, I’ll reward them with dessert (I’ll give it to them anyway).
This week I came across a very interesting quote, which I’ll save for last, which invited me to reflect on my own pacts, like some I list below.
- With silence, so that it lulls me sweetly without stunning me.
- With the stars, so that the presences that dwell there always illuminate me.
- With sleep, so that it carries me on its wings each night and returns me in peace each morning.
- With the passage of time, so that it draws on my face the map of a happy journey, without the need for Botox.
- With solitude, which can teach us many things, or everything, and with which I have already formalized that “honest pact,” as the quote that inspired this reflection says.
And I’ll leave it at that, but you may wonder: What do I offer in return for my proposals?
Well, I promise, like my sweet grandchildren, to behave well and eat all my food.
I hope the Universe is equally generous and rewards me with my “dessert” without asking too many questions.
“The secret to a good old age
is an honest pact with solitude.”
Gabriel García Márquez
