José Emilio Pacheco (México)
Por:
José Emilio Pacheco
Traductor:
Nicolás Suescún
The Great Inquisitor
Sir, keep silence or we will shut your mouth
with a whipping.
We will disable it under the red-hot iron.
With the tongs of the Law we will twist your tongue.
Do not force us to resort to extremes.
Keep silence. Shut up. Do not speak.
The judge is not to be judged.
He dispenses justice, he decides all.
He is the mind that thinks in our place.
Whereas you are nobody, you don't know anything.
You are merely called the accused.
How presumptuous of you to aspire to defend yourself.
Do you suppose that in the valley of Jehoshaphat
you would dare rebuke God the Father
for the just form in which he shaped this world?
Are you aware of it? You are guilty of a crime.
You will not know which, you will not know which,
you will die not knowing.
You must pay for it. And in such a way.
No, no: do not open your mouth. Do not interrupt.
Respect the Judge and his High Office.
He is the law, he is here to judge you.
You are in danger of becoming guilty
of Lese Majesty. Acept and be quiet.
Do you wish, sir, that I lose my patience?
Do not force me to exit from my right mind.
I will add to your account of sins
the nefarious crime of blasphemy.
Do not come to me with that rubbish of human rights.
You are no longer human: you are the enemy.
Do see in this patter a formal pretext
that covers up and conceals the dossier.
In a few moments we will make an offering of your body
on the altar of the Good, of Goodness and Fraternal Order.
