The South (Borges story)
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"The South" ("El Sur" in the original Spanish) is a short story by Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges, which appeared in his 1944 work Artificios.
Summary
Juan Dahlmann is a fiercely patriotic Argentinian library secretary. Though he owns a ranch home in southern Argentina, he has never found the time to visit it. In February 1939, he receives a number of artifacts from his forefather, including an old sword, a lithograph photo, and a copy of the Arabian Nights.
He takes the book home, and -- eager examine it and show it to his mother -- he rushes up the stairs and gashes his forehead on a window shudder. At the time, he feels as if something (at the time he assumes a bird) has merely brushed against his forehead. However, when he reaches the door to his mother's apartment, he faints. The wound Dahlmann suffers forces him to lay bedriddne for a number of days before his doctors move him to the hospital. While he waits for the calash to be harnessed, he begins to drift in and out of a daze, in which he invisions himself fighting a gaucho, or cowboy/ruffian. The man he fights is often considered to be Martin Fierro, this legendary gaucho remains a mythical literary figure, and a quintessential part of Argentine Culture in general. (Think famous cowboys: Wyatt Earp, John Wayne, Billy the Kid!)
At the hospital, however, Dahlmann's experience of undergoing treatment for his injury causes him immense pain, and he quickly equates the hospital to a firey inferno. Eventually he learns that he is dying from septicemia. However, he refuses to end his life as a bedridden hospital patient.
Borges, along with a number of other 20th Century Argentine poets and writers, wrote many in the literary style known as Magical Realism. The remainder of the story is an explaination of his idealized death -- the Juan Dahlmann fabricates and stages in his mind -- in order to pass into the next life in an honorable manner.
Juan Dahlmann envisions himself traveling to his ranch to convalesce. The story shifts locations to a train station, where Dahlmann is waiting for a train to travel to his ranch. As he sits waiting, he decides to go to a restaurant and eat dinner. He enters the store, and sits down at a table near a window. He stares off into the distance and notices a cat, the mythical creature who, in many cultures (for example Egypt), is associated with eternity and the gods.
After his meal, Dahlmann boards the train, and rides out of the city into the countryside. He watches as the scenery melts away, and his romanticized death draws nearer and nearer. The train conductor enters his compartment and notifies him that the train will be making a special stop for his departure, and that he should start to prepare. Once the train reaches the deserted station, Dahlmann steps off into a small countryside town. He makes his way through the dusty streets and finds the only restaurant. When he sits down, he orders his food, and begins to read the 1001 Arabian Nights.
Three farmers sitting at a table near him begin to throw bread crumbs at him, and he asks them to stop. However, after a short while, they begin again. This time, Dahlmann stands up and begins to walk towards them. Seeing the situation getting out of hand, the shopkeeper calls out that Dahlmann does not even have a weapon. At this point, a man in the corner, a goucho (the one from his visions earlier) throws a knife to Dahlmann landing it at his feet. As he picks up the knife, Dahlmann realises that the knife won't be of any use in his defense. He knows he has never wielded a knife in his life and that if he fights that he is going to die. However, he feels that his death in a knife fight is honorable and romantic, and he decides to go. The story ends with Dahlmann and the farmer exiting the bar, and walking into the streets as the setting sun blazes behind them.
Notes
- The events of the story are semi-autobiographical: Borges also worked in a library. At New Year's 1939, Borges suffered a severe head wound and nearly died of blood poisoning.
- Borges is alleged to have considered "The South" one of his favourite stories.
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