Source Text / Texto fuente

La virgen de los sicarios

Haba en las afueras de Medelln un pueblo
silencioso y apacible que se llamaba
Sabaneta. Bien que lo conoc porque all
cerca, a un lado de la carretera que vena
de Envigado, otro pueblo, a mitad de
camino entre los dos pueblos, en la finca
Santa Anita de mis abuelos, a mano
izquierda viniendo, transcurri mi infancia.
Claro que lo conoc.

Estaba al final de esa carretera, en el fin del

mundo. Ms all no haba nada, ah el
mundo empezaba a bajar, a redondearse, a
dar la vuelta. Y eso lo constate la tarde que
elevamos el globo mis grande que hubieran
visto los cielos de Antioquia, un rombo de
ciento veinte pliegos inmenso, rojo, rojo,
rojo para que resaltara sobre el cielo azul.

El tamao no me lo van a creer, pero qu

saben ustedes de globos! Saben que son?
Son rombos o cruces o esferas hechos de
papel de china deleznable, y por dentro
llevan una candileja encendida que los llena
de humo para que suban.

El humo es como quien dice su alma, y la

candileja el corazn. Cuando se llenan de
humo y empiezan a jalar, los que los estn
elevando sueltan, soltamos, y el globo se va
yendo, yendo al cielo con el corazn
encendido, palpitando, como el Corazn de
Jess.

Target text / Texto meta

Our Lady of Assassins
There was once a quiet peaceful
town just outside Medellin called
Sabaneta. I knew it well because I
spent my childhood nearby, on one
side of the road that came from
Envigado, another town. I spent my
childhood there, in Santa Anita, my
grandparents country house. The
house was on your left when
coming from Envigado, midway
between the two towns. Of course I
knew the town well.
Sabaneta was located at the end of
the road, at the end of the world.
There was nothing more beyond
that point. There, the world started
to drop off, to become round, to
turn around. I confirmed that the
afternoon we launched the biggest
lantern ever seen by the skies of
Antioquia. It was a huge diamondshaped lantern, made with a
hundred and twenty sheets of very
very red tissue paper, so that it
would stand out against the blue
skies.
You wouldnt believe the size of
that thing! But what do you know
of lanterns! Do you even know
what they are? Theyre rhomboids,
crosses or spheres made out of
brittle tissue paper with a burning
wick, and they are filled with smoke
that makes them rise into the air.
You could say the smoke is their
soul, and the waxed cloths, their
hearts. When the lanterns fill with
smoke, and they start pulling those
who are launching them up, these
people, we, let go of the lantern
and it starts to fly; it starts to fly
towards the sky with its heart
burning and beating, just like the

Saben quin es? Nosotros tenamos uno en

la sala; en la sala de la casa de la calle del
Per de la ciudad de Medelln, capital de
Antioquia; en la casa en donde yo nac, en
la sala entronizado o sea (porque s que no
van a saber) bendecido un da por el cura.

A l est consagrada Colombia, mi patria. l

es Jess y se est sealando el pecho con el
dedo, y en el pecho abierto el corazn
sangrando: goticas de sangre rojo vivo,
encendido, como la candileja del globo: es
la sangre que derramar Colombia, ahora y
siempre por los siglos de los siglos amen.

Pero qu les estaba diciendo del globo, de

Sabaneta? Ah s, que el globo subi y subi
y empujado por el viento, dejando atrs y
abajo los gallinazos se fue yendo hacia
Sabaneta.
Y nosotros que corremos al carro y ran!
que arrancamos, y nos vamos siguindolo
por lab carretera en el Hudson de mi
abuelito. Ah no, no fue en el Hudson de mi
abuelito, fue en la carcacha de mi pap. Ah
s, si fue en el Hudson. Ya ni s, hace tanto,
ya no recuerdo...

Recuerdo que bamos de bache en bache

jpum! jpum! jpum! por esa carreterita
destartalada y el carro a toda
desbarajustndose, como se nos
desbarajust despus Colombia, o mejor
dicho, como se "les" desbarajust a ellos
porque a m no, yo aqu no estaba, yo volv
despus, aos y aos, dcadas, vuelto un
viejo, a morir.
Cuando el globo lleg a Sabaneta dio la
vuelta a la tierra, por el otro lado, y
desapareci. Quin sabe adnde habr ido,
a China o a Marte, y si se quem: su papel

Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Do you know him? We had one in
our living room; in the living room
of our house on Peru street, in
Medellin, capital of Antioquia; in
the house where I was born. It was
there, enthroned, which means
(because I know you wont know it)
that it was blessed by a priest.
My homeland, Colombia, is
consecrated to him. He is Jesus,
hes pointing his finger to his chest,
and his heart is bleeding in his
open chest: little drops of bright
burning red blood, just like the
waxed cloth of the lantern. Thats
the blood that Colombia will shed,
now and forever, amen.
But what was I saying about the
lantern, about Sabaneta? Oh, yes,
that the lantern went up and up,
blown by the wind, and it began to
leave the vultures behind, and
started flying towards Sabaneta.
So we ran, we got into the car, and
vroom! We started the engine and
chased the lantern along the road
in my grandpas Hudson. Wait, no,
it wasnt my grandpas Hudson, it
was my dads old heap. INo, wait, it
was the Hudson after all. I dont
even know, I dont remember
anymore
I remember we were driving down
that run-down bumpy little road,
bam! bam bam! We were going full
speed, and we could see the car
falling apart, just like we saw
Colombia fell apart, or rather
they did, because I wasnt there
anymore. I came back years,
decades later. I came back to die,
an old man.
When the lantern reached
Sabaneta, it went around the earth,
on the other side, and vanished.
Who knows where it went, to China

sutil, deleznable se encenda fcil, con una

chispa de la candileja bastaba, como bast
una chispa para que se nos incendiara
despus Colombia, se "les" incendiara, una
chispa que ya nadie sabe de dnde sali
Pero por qu me preocupa a m Colombia si
ya no es ma, es ajena?

or Mars. Who knows if it burned: its

delicate, brittle paper caught fire
easily, with a single spark from the
waxed cloth just like later on, a
single spark would be enough for
Colombia to catch fire. But why do I
care about Colombia if it doesnt
belong to me anymore, it belongs
to others?