Sonata for Violin in G Minor: MONEY
Sonata for Violin in G Minor: MONEY
“The devil’s finest trick is to persuade you that he does not exist.”
― Charles Baudelaire in “The Generous Gambler”
I. The Eighth Passenger
Nowhere, or everywhere. A drowsy train drifts off to its own purr. It isn’t coming from or going to anywhere in particular. Or at least not anywhere that matters. A dismal population whose haggard lives seem to hang by a thread nod off on board. In the last car, seven bored, grubbily dressed and solitary passengers, their lives as wretched as their clothes, shift irritably in their seats and lament their situation.
“I’d do anything to turn my luck around,” one says. They were speaking a universal language and the other six passengers nod in silence. Just then the long and battered train enters a tunnel, intensifying the shadows and hiding the passengers’ faces. The door opens and an eighth passenger walks in. The passenger’s clothes practically scream, “I’m not from around here,” but they sit down without a word. The tunnel stretches out the darkness.
A thunderous crack interrupts the silence, like a dry branch breaking but without a storm to blame. A pair of blazing eyes appear in the darkness: “I don’t think I need to introduce myself,” the fiery gaze hisses, “You have all conjured me in one way or another and I’m responding to your call. Make a wish: you pay with your soul. Name your price.”
The first passenger chooses health, to never get sick again. “Done,” Satan responds, picking up the healthy soul and throwing it in his bag.
Another passenger chooses wisdom, to know everything. “Done,” the devil murmurs, picking up the wise person’s soul and tossing it in his bag.
The third passenger opts for beauty, to be admired. “Done,” says the king of hell, tossing the beautiful one’s soul in his bag.
The fourth asks for Power, to rule and be obeyed. “Done,” Lucifer says under his breath, the soul of the new ruler added to his bag.
The fifth wants “pleasure,” to awaken passion at will. “Done,” the demon replies with a contented smile. The hedonist’s soul disappears into the devil’s bag.
The sixth passenger sits up straight and pronounces the desire for fame, to be widely recognized and praised. “Done,” Satan declares without a pause, and the famous soul takes its place among the other prisoners.
The seventh passenger practically sings their request for “love.” “Dooooooone,” the evil one replies with a guffaw, and the lover’s soul goes into the depths of the bag.
The fallen angel looks impatiently at the eighth passenger who hasn’t said anything and is merely scribbling in a notebook.
Adagio-Allegro Molto in E minor: A Possible Reality (from the Notebook of the Cat-Dog)
Adagio-Allegro Molto in E minor: A Possible Reality
(from the Notebook of the Cat-Dog)
“As you know, madness is like gravity…all it takes is a little push.”
The Joker in the role of Heath Ledger (or was it the reverse?)
Nobody knows for sure how it all started. Not even the Tercios Compas [Zapatista media], who took up the task of reconstructing the sequence of events, could pinpoint the exact moment and event in which the story I’m about to tell you began.
According to one version, SubGaleano is responsible for everything. Others say SubGaleano only started it and it was Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés who took it to completion.
See, what happened was that in one of his texts, SubGaleano mentioned a February 2011 program in which the journalist Carmen Aristegui asked if then-president Felipe Calderón Hinojosa was an alcoholic, and added that the nation should be informed about the health of the president. She was fired in retaliation. Up to that point in the story there is no disagreement—and you can confirm that’s what happened by referring to news articles from that time.
The problem really begins when SubGaleano added something like, “Madness, as pointed out by a misunderstood sage of the human soul, is like gravity: all it takes is a little push. To hold Power unlawfully is just that irresistible push that all those above long for, and it begins with three simple words, “I rule here.” If you think anyone in the media is going to question whether the current president is lacking in any of his mental faculties (let’s be clear, he didn’t say “crazy”), don’t hold your breath, because nobody will dare to do so.”