Bestiario Explained
Bestiario (1951) is a Spanish collection of eight short stories written by Julio Cortázar. All the stories (except for "Cefalea," "Omnibus," and "Circe") were translated into English by Paul Blackburn and included in End of the Game and Other Stories (1967). "Cefalea" ("Headache") was translated into English by Michael Cisco in 2014 and published online in Reactor Magazine.[1] "Omnibus" and "Circe" were translated by Alberto Manguel and appear in Bestiary: The Selected Stories of Julio Cortázar (2020).[2]
Stories
- "Casa Tomada" ("House Taken Over")
- "Carta a una señorita en París" (Letter to a Young Lady in Paris")
- "Lejana" ("The Distances")
- "Ómnibus" ("Omnibus")
- "Cefalea" ("Headache"): A group of ranchers are raising a herd of mancuspias (strange chimerical creatures that have the characteristics of chickens, sheep, and other farm animals, yet are completely distinct from all of them). Isolated on their farm from the nearby townsfolk who fear catching diseases from the animals, the ranchers themselves have become hypochondriacs and are constantly taking different medicines to protect themselves against numerous mental and physical ailments. When two of the farm's laborers abscond with the only horse, the ranchers are left to care for the strange animals by themselves. The mancuspias slowly become ill and begin to die, howling in pain as they surround the house the ranchers have been forced to take refuge in.[3] [4]
- "Circe" ("Circe")
- "Las puertas del cielo" ("The Gates of Heaven")
- "Bestiario" ("Bestiary")
Notes and References
- http://www.tor.com/2014/09/03/headache/ "Headache" by Julio Cortázar
- Book: Cortázar, Julio . Bestiary: The Selected Stories of Julio Cortázar . 2020-02-06 . Random House . 978-1-4735-7243-0 . en.
- Book: Garfield, Evelyn Picon . Julio Cortázar . Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. . 1975 . 0804422249 . New York . 19–20.
- Book: Peavler, Terry J. . Julio Cortázar . Twayne Publishers . 1990 . 0805782575 . Boston . 29.
