Sometimes, reading poetry on a frigid and snowy day does not make me remember or project. On days like this, a comedy movie or a book of fiction feel like Glühwein and Vanillekipferl I more than once had next to the Stefan Dom in Vienna in Christmases past. The warm vapors of the mulled wine and the cinnamon aroma have stayed with me over many decades and have taken a surreal character!
Just like Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” which I picked up and leafed through.
I have to admit that I have yet to read the entire
book. It sits in my art studio among books of many languages, and when I feel
like taking a break from a project, I pick up a book and leaf through it.
This time, I stopped at lines I had previously
annotated. These are famous lines from Helena who remains my favorite
character. She said:
“Love
looks not with the eyes, but with the mind;
And
therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”
So, how does one avoid being distracted by abstract
structural beauty and find the way to look inside another person?
This time, it was another classic book, also in the
pile at the end of my workbench that I picked up. It is “Le Petit Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery that has become a cult
book for understanding relationships. It is said that he “saw” the young prince
and the fox when in a daze from dehydration in the Algerian desert after his
plane made an emergency landing. So, it may not be a “Night’s Dream” but it
sure was a dream with some hallucination.
When the Petit Prince feels comfortable with the fox,
he asks about his life and what is exciting.
Ma vie est monotone. Je chasse les poules, les hommes me
chassent. Toutes les poules se ressemblent, et tous les hommes se ressemblent.
Je m'ennuie donc un peu. Mais, si tu m'apprivoises, ma vie sera comme
ensoleillée. Je connaîtrai un bruit de pas qui sera différent de tous les
autres. Les autres pas me font rentrer sous terre. Le tien m'appellera hors du
terrier, comme une musique.
(My
life is monotonous. I hunt chickens, men hunt me. All hens are alike, and all
men are alike. So I'm a little bored. But, if you tame me, my life will become
bright. I will know a sound of footsteps that will be different from all the
others. The other steps make me go underground. Yours will call me out of the
burrow, like music.)
And then came the
most recognized, powerful and deeply human passage:
Le renard se tut et regarda longtemps le petit prince:
- S'il te plaît... apprivoise-moi ! dit-il.
(-
Please ... tame me! he said.)
Years ago, I took a
photo of my son and my dog. It was a cold day, the river was frozen, and when I
looked at the negative under the loupe, I saw Le Petit Prince and the renard! The
“prince” and the renard have that exact posture of dialogue and request for one
to tame the other.
So, Helena still hopes that Theseus would see her
inner beauty and not desire the “outside” beauty of Hyppolita. But what kind of
looks can penetrate so deep? How can we trust eyes to find the beauty in us, in
others?
As a photographer and a painter I have a special
attraction to eyes. And when eyes look candidly into another being, I think it
makes for the best photo, the best painting and tells a universal story of love
and trust.
For example, while my last dog looked like the fox
in the previous photo, here a few years later he learned to look into a person’s
soul! I blurred the young lady’s facial feature for privacy, but the tender
moment between my dog’s “tamed” self and her remains.
And finally, a photo I took in South Africa of a
look that reminded me of looks I have seen around the Mediterranean where I
grew in age and expectations. That is a look that gives you no choice for
retreat. That is a look that even a blinded Cupid will see and tremble while
holding his arrow!
… The snowflakes are still dancing a funny farandole
outside my window. My dog, the one who succeeded Petit Prince’s renard, is
sleeping on an old cheep skin rug outside my door.
And I am wondering what Helena will say next time I
open the book….
March 16, 2021
© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2021
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ReplyDeleteՊարզութիւն եւ տարրին հետ կապակցող։ Մի քանի տարի առաջ Հայաստանի մէջ, խումբ մը, ներկայացուց Իշխանիկին ու Արինին իրար հետ երկխօսութիւնը, իւրայատուկ մօտեցումով…
ReplyDeleteAs you have said, I think we all are hoping to be tamed. If not by another then with our own will. One is much sweeter than the other. When we feel we are taming ourselves it seems like a compromise. When we let others it seems like a metamorphosis. I know which one I would choose.
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