Uff. Finalmente, I have read a story written in Spanish (just yesterday). Ironically, it is not as Spanish as I would have expected. It is a story of an owl banished from his own kind and has ended up being lectured by the ghost of Benjamin Franklin together with the rest of the founding fathers of America in ghost forms. Coincidentally, this entry is published on the US’s Independence Day. ¡Qué casualidad!
I have always wanted to read stories in Spanish. Given my level of deficiency (I pondered hard if I shall use ‘proficiency’), I shall realistically start with Spanish books written for the infants or young teens. But I have seen too much and my mind has long been corrupted by the earthly vices and spices. These books are simply not as appetizing. I cannot even bring myself to read “Hairy Porter”. Since our classmate is so kind to lend us a Spanish book called “El Búho Que No Podía Ulular”, or in English, “The Owl That Could Not Hoot”, I have decided to give it a go. I was so determined that I would not publish any entry in my website until I have finished with the book. This explains why you have not heard from me for quite some time.
Fortunately, this book written by Robert Fischer and Beth Kelly is thin. And it comes with three stories. That means, even though I have read one story out of three, I felt as though I have achieved something. Systematically grinding through the vocabulary and the different verb forms was tedious. Technology is a double edged sword. The online resources and offline applications have helped me a great deal in finding what each word or even a sentence means in lightning efficiency. But I do not find myself making an effort to memorize the meaning and the usage. I end up looking up the same word again and again. I suppose if I had a Spanish mama, I could always ask “¿qué significa sonreír?” or “¿qué significa suspirar?” If I was to invent a new technology to help the Spanish learners, I would create a Japanese lookalike Spanish Nanny Robot. An attractive one no doubt. I could ask, “¿Qué significa sonreír?” and she would reply, “It is smile, sweetie”. Or I could ask, “¿Qué significa suspirar?” and she would reply, “It is sigh, sweetie”. How cool is that?
Back to the story, it starts with an owl that is unable to hoot. He can say “why” but he cannot say “who” (the hooting sound of an owl). Because of that, he is asked to leave the habitat. Soon, he meets a duck that cannot say “cuac” and instead, he says “cuic”. The two loners, or rather outliners, have then decided to team up and see what the world has to offer. Their first mission is to study in a university and become a doctor. Upon realizing that it would take longer than their lifetime to obtain a medical degree, they have decided to embark a journey of searching for the purpose of life. This involves interviewing random people on the street and finding out what they do for a living.
The owl that can say “why” naturally does most of the talking. The duck takes note. After interviewing hundreds of people, they have come to the conclusion that most people do not like their jobs, yet they do not wish to switch. They do it for the money and the only time they are happy is when they are not working and on vacation. The duo further concludes that people are happy when they are spending money. And they observe that most people do not own what they have. What then should one do with his or her life in order to be happy? A typical American story, I suppose.
One day, the owl hears a voice that leads them sneaking into a national museum at night. Inside a gallery where the portraits of the founding fathers are hung, the owl sees something extraordinary. All of a sudden, the portraits become empty and the founding fathers have materialized in front of the duo’s eyes (?!). The ghosts of the founding fathers then lecture the duo on how America was originally founded as a place of equality and freedom and how they are disappointed that the America today is all about making and spending money. I honestly do not see how this is linked to an owl that cannot hoot and a duck that cannot say “cuac”. At the end of the story, upon hearing the wisdom of the founding fathers, the owl is enlightened. And he says, “Libre … es lo que soy”, which means “Free, is what I am”. Perhaps the moral of the story is that we should not see through the lens of social norms on what we are not capable of doing. Instead, take the opportunity to break out of the mould and be yourself. We may stand to gain so much more.
I used to think that I write weird stories. Those who have read my manuscript for that writing competition would have agreed with me. But this story is weirder. If I was to rewrite the story, I would turn this owl that cannot hoot into a hero. I would bestow some bizarre disasters upon the rest of the owls like the attack of the toxic toads. And our hero would return to this habitat that rejected him and save the day. Everyone would worship him and begin to say “why” instead of “who”. The most beautiful owl in the forest would fall in love with the hero and they would live happily ever after. Oh, before that. At the altar, when the priest asks, “Do you take this owl as your lawfully wedded wife?” Instead of “why?”, our hero would finally able to say “who?” I think it is darn funny.
Humor aside, there are some good takeaway points from this book that is onto its 40th edition (gasp!). Below is my favorite. I too feel that the root of many of our problems today could have been solved by filling our life with love. That way, we leave no space for fear and hatred.
«Aprendiendo a amarte a ti mismo»’, sonrió Franklin. «Y en la medida en que te ames a ti mismo, podrás amar a tus vecinos, a tus amigos y a todas las demás personas que hay en esta gran nación».
My attempt to translate the above extract is as follows.
“Learning to love yourself,” smiled Franklin. “And as you love yourself, you will love your neighbors, your friends, and the rest of the people in this great nation”.
On a side note, while it is not possible to linguistically memorize what the book teaches, I have noted down all the adverbs that ends with -mente for my future reference: profundamente (profoundly), bruscamente (abruptly), sucesivamente (successively or ‘y así sucesivamente’, which means ‘and so on’), detenidamente (carefully), desesperadamente (desperately), fijamente (attentively), rápidamente (quickly), únicamente (solely or only), tristemente (sadly), apresuradamente (hastily), constantemente (constantly), fríamente (coldly), repentinamente (suddenly), tímidamente (timidly), lentamente (slowly), amablemente (amiably), actualmente (nowadays and not actually!), alegremente (happily), completamente (completely).