Reading Club Las Clarices

Life and work of Clarice Lispector

A 100 years since his birth

Coordinan: Marisa Negri y Alejandra Correa

Module 4: Excerpt from How Stars Were Born?

Alicia Salvi
January
How were stars born?

Everyone thinks that there have always been twinkling stars in the sky. But that is a mistake. Before,
the Indians only saw a dark - very dark - night sky, and that was their sky. A
total darkness. I will now tell you the simple story of the birth of the stars.

Once, in the month of January, there were many Indians carrying out their activities.
habitual: they hunted, fished, fought. But they did nothing in the tabs.1alone
lying down on the net, sleeping and snoring.

And the food? Only the women were in charge of preparing it and having everything ready to eat.
One day, they realized that there was no corn to grind. What did they do then?
Brave women? They ventured fearlessly through the vegetation under a beautiful sun.
yellow.

The trees shone, green, and below there was shade and cool water. When they came out of
beneath the leafy canopies they felt a lot of heat, and they drank in the kingdom of waters
the noisy streams.

But they always continued searching for corn because the hunger was so great that they were already
eating the leaves of the trees. They only found withered and ungraceful ears of corn.
some.

1Taba: indigenous village.

We will come back and bring the curumins - that's how the Indians referred to the children -.
Curumins and luck.

And so it was.

The boys seemed to guess things: they went ahead and in a clearing of the forest appeared a
exuberant cornfield.

The amazed Indians said:

There are so many ears of corn to harvest...

The little children also started harvesting and gathered many and ran away from
turn towards the table and they asked grandma for a corn cake. Grandma made it and the
the little ones ate all the cake which was soon finished. At that moment they had
fear of mothers, who would complain that they had eaten too much. It was necessary.
hide the grandmother and the parrot in a cave because both would tell everything.

But what if the mothers realized the absence of the talking parrot and the grandmother?

Then they called the hummingbirds to tie a vine in the highest part of the sky.

When the Indians returned, they were frightened because it seemed to them that their children were rising up towards the

sky through the air. They also decided to climb behind the boys to then cut.
the vine beneath them.
Then something happened that only occurs when we believe: the mothers fell to the ground.
transforming into ounces2.

As for the curumins, since they could not return to the land, they stayed in the sky,
transformed into bright and round stars.

As for me, I want to tell you that the stars are something more than the little ones. The
Stars are God's eyes to watch that everything goes well. Forever.

And as you already know, 'always' means that it never ends.

2Ocelot or jaguarundi: feline from South America.

April
The Adventures of Pedro Malasartes

Ah, in the month of April, what a delight it is to exist! Pedro thought the same one day.
Malasartes. I'm going to tell you what was happening to him: since the father had died, the mother
he had divided the house into pieces and distributed them among his children.

Pedro Malasartes knocked on a door. And he thought: 'With this door I will conquer the
world.

In fact, he immediately saw a vulture perched on a dead donkey.

He quickly slammed the door on them, and since the vulture was left limping, it was easy for him.
to catch it. Why did Pedro want a vulture? That was something only he knew. He continued on his way. And,
when he sensed the smells of a magnificent dinner in the air, he knocked on the door of the house of
a greedy and cunning lady who was preparing a feast behind her husband's back,
that had traveled. But Malasartes was violently expelled by the lady and her maid.

Then he leaned the door against the wall and climbed onto the roof: from there he saw a very good
food. There was a roasted piglet, turkey, and everything you can imagine that makes the
delights of a man. It was then that the husband unexpectedly arrived home.

The cunning woman lamented:

-If I had known you were coming, I would have prepared something nice to eat for you- she said-, but since
I wasn't expecting you; I only have dried meat, chickpeas, flour in questionable condition...

At that precise moment, Malasartes appeared again with his vulture, sensing that the
man would not deny him a bit of the scarce dinner.

They had just started eating when Malasartes discreetly elbowed him.
vulture, who complained.

"Why are you lamenting?" asked the host.

-He's telling me the news- replied Malasartes-.

My vulture is not like the others, he talks and told me that his wife saved him a little pig.
surprise roast...

The woman was afraid of Malasartes, and said:

-Oh, cursed vulture, you ruined the surprise! Yes, husband, I really have that little piglet.
saved...
A little later, the vulture groaned again, which prompted Malasartes to say:

-Oh, nosy vulture! Stop telling me things!

What is he/she telling you?

There is stuffed turkey.

My little husband, that's another surprise that the insolent vulture ruined! Eat a little of it.
this turkey. And I have sweets, fruits, drinks...

As it was April 1st, a day to fool others, Malasartes sold the precious
vulture to the homeowner to serve as a spy.

And so, well-fed, he continued on his way with the door under his arm.

Moral: it is better to have a rickety door and the cleverness of Malasartes than a whole house.
for those who do not have the art of deceit.

May
The dangerous Yara

Every afternoon, as the sun sets, Yara, who lives in the depths of the waters, emerges from
the deep, magnificent. She adorns her black hair with water flowers and plays with the little fish.
to chase and flee. But now, in the month of May, it appears when the sun hides to
get a boyfriend.

Mothers worry about their sons; aware that Yara is searching.

boyfriends. But, for the children, Yara represents the temptation of adventure, as it is known
There are young people who enjoy danger.

As Yara sings, the boys become more restless and captivated by her voice.
which, however, they do not dare to risk.

But one day a tapuia3dreamer and bold.

He was fishing, lost in thought, and forgot that the day was coming to an end and that the
the waters were becoming calm.

Then he thought: 'I think I am seeing an illusion.' Because Yara, dark-skinned and with black hair and
brilliant eyes, rose from the waters.

And he was afraid like everyone else of the daring mermaids.

He left the canoe and ran to take refuge in his hut.

But what was the point of wanting to escape if the Flower of the Waters had already entangled him in its
spell? I remembered the fascination of his humming, I suffered from nostalgia.

The mother of the tapuia guessed what was happening to her son; she examined him and saw in his eyes the
mark of the feigned siren.

Meanwhile, Yara, confident in her charms, hoped that the Indian would have the courage to
marry her.

But, despite being a flowering and fragrant May, the Indian fled from his hut and his people and
He went down the river in his canoe. He stayed waiting with his trembling heart, then,
little by little, Yara came slowly, slowly, opened her moist lips and sang softly her
victoria, because she already knew that she would drag the tapuia to the bottom of the sea.

The two plunged in, and we can guess that there was a party in the deep waters.
After that, the waters remained calm on the surface, as if nothing had happened.
In the evening, the brunette kept appearing, always adorned with roses and jasmines.

Because one boyfriend, apparently, was not enough for her.

3tapuia: name by which the aborigines who did not speak the tupí language were known in Brazil and that
they lived in the inland regions of the territory.
This story is not to be taken lightly. Certain men should be careful.

June
Party in the jungle

We are in the month of June, the bonfires of San Juan are lit. The balloons rise to
Sky, it's already cool and we want a good coat.

It's nice to eat potatoes with hot coffee at midnight.

But they told me that the party is not just ours.

Wasn't it a party for the jungle animals?

I calculated that it was in the month of our own rest. At least that is what they say.
Indians of the Tembé tribe.

Everything happened like this: the jungle animals were busy and calm regarding their
obligations, for the duty of the animal is to exist.

But a promising rumor crossed the air and spread quickly.

This rumor came in the song that comes from the beak of the thrush.4

And the thrush, as it is known, sings for the pure pleasure of singing. The insects were in the
doubt whether it was true or not.

Suddenly, invitations to that party began to rain down. The one inviting did not reveal themselves.
to know, but everyone suspected that the idea came from the queen of the jungles of Brazil, the
onza, who was very bossy.

All the animals were invited and it was guaranteed that on this occasion the
ferocity. Even the mother owl, who was so serious and wise that she wore glasses, was invited
with their children. As for the monkey's daughters, who were crazy about flirting and falling in love.
and getting married, they adorned themselves so much and with so many trinkets that they looked like... -yes, you guessed it-

some true monkeys.

And if someone thinks that the snake was absent for being so disgusting, they are mistaken; it appeared making
bows with her elusive body. All to attract attention.

4sabiá: South American bird, similar to the red thrush.

The night was illuminated by thousands of fireflies, by the silent moon and by the
damp stars.

As for the orchestra, you can be sure it was of the best quality: a group
The toucans were in charge of playing the most beautiful sounds of the thicket to the rhythm of the waltz.

The bugs lit up with joy. The parrot was very applauded when it sang loudly.
a cheerful song and the marriageable monkeys hung by the tails of the trees and felt
sure to be great dancers.

Well, that was at the height of animation.

But the ounce was very restless, eager to attack. And since it was not allowed
slaughter, began to be ferocious with her viper tongue. Then she sang like this: "Doña Anita is
fat and plump like a pig and has the color of a mouse.

Doña Anita, la esposa del tapir, se sintió herida y se retiró.

The ounce, seeing that its aggression had been a success, sang and made a terrible offense to the
tortoise Jabuti, saying that it was covered in horseflies. The tortoise was so offended.
who left immediately. Then the ounce said: "Look at the indecent necklines of the daughters of the
monkey.” The monkeys went crazy and did not leave because of the hope of getting
A boyfriend is the last thing to lose.

But among the animals was the god of the deer, Arapuá-Tupana, who decided to put
end of the arrogance of the ounce, and to overcome it, he began to sing.

The animals knew they were going to die when they heard it, so they covered their ears.

Fortunately, Arapuá-Tupana finally disappeared and they did not die.

Sí, así fue. Pero los animales habían perdido el don del habla, nadie entendía a nadie. Y
It remains so to this day. Because when singing or grunting, they say nothing.

And all because of the long-tongued otter.

How stars were born? Buenos Aires: V&R, 2014.