La Jornada, September 4, 1995
The divisions by countries, only to typify the "contraband."
Letter of Don Durito, with story included.
ZAPATISTA ARMY OF NATIONAL LIBERATION, MEXICO
August 27, 1995
To the men and women in solidarity with Chiapas, Mexico, meetingin Brescia, Italy
To the peoples of the world:
From: Don Durito de la Lacandona, Mexico.De:
Brothers (and Sisters):
Don Durito of The Lacandona, knight-errant, undoer of wrongs, restless dream of females, aspiration of males, last and greatest exemplary specimen of this race that made humanity great with such collosal and selfless feats, beetle and warrior of the moon, writes to you.
I have ordered my loyal squire, the one you call "SupMarcos," that he send you a greeting in writing with all the requirements deserved by today's diplomacy, excluding the rapid intervention forces, the economic programs and the capital flights. Nevertheless, I want to write to you some lines with the only end of contributing to enlarge your spirit to inundate in your minds the good and noble thoughts. That is why I send you the following story-tale that for sure is full of rich and various feats. The story forms part of the collection "Stories for a Night of Asphyxiation" (of improbable near publication) and it's called: The History of the Little Mouse and the Cat.
There once was a little mouse who was very hungry and wanted to eat a little cheese that was in the tiny kitchen of the small house. And then the little mouse went very decidedly to the tiny kitchen to grab the little cheese, but it happens that a little cat came accross the path and the little mouse became very frightened and run away and was not able to to get the little cheese from the tiny kitchen. Then the little mouse was thinking of what to do to get the little cheese from the tiny kitchen and he thought and he said:
__ I know, I am going to put a small plate with a little milk and the little cat is going to start drinking the milk because little cats like very much the little milk. And then, when the little cat is drinking the milk and is not noticing, I am going to the tiny kitchen to grab the little cheese and I am going to eat it. Veeery good idea-- said the little mouse to himself. And then he went to look for the milk but it turns out that the milk was in the tiny kitchen and when the little mouse wanted to go to the kitchen the little cat came across his way and the little mouse was very frightened and ran and could not get the milk. Then the little mouse was thinking of what to do to get the milk in the tiny kitchen and he thought and he said:
__ I know, I am going to throw a little fish very far away and then the little cat is going to run to go eat the little fish because little cats like very much the little fish. And then, when the little cat is eating the little fish and is not paying attention, I am going to go to the tiny kitchen to grab the little cheese and I am going to eat it. Veeery good idea--said the little mouse.
Then, he went to look for the little fish but it happened that the little fish was in the tiny kitchen and when the little mouse wanted to go to the tiny kitchen, the little cat came across his way and the little mouse became very frightened, and ran away and could not go to get the little fish.
And then the little mouse saw that the little cheese , the milk, and the little fish, everything that he wanted were in the tiny kitchen and he could not get there because the little cat would not allow it. And then the little mouse said "Enough!" and he grabbed a machine gun and shot the little cat and he went to the tiny kitchen and he saw that the little fish, the milk, and the little cheese were already rotten and could not be eaten. And then he returned where the little cat was and cut it in pieces and then he made a great roast and then invited all his friends and they made a party and ate the roasted little cat and they sang and danced and lived very happily. And history started... This is the end of the story and the end of this letter. I remind you that the divisions between countries only serve to typify the crime of "contraband" and to give sense to wars. Clearly there exists at least two things that are above borders: the one is the crime which is disguised as modernity and distributes misery on a world scale; the other is the hope that shame exists only when one fumbles a dance step and not every time we look in the mirror. To end with the first and to make the second one flourish we only need to struggle and to be better. The rest follows on its own and is what ususally fills libraries and museums. It is not necessary to conquer the world, it is sufficient to make it anew...
Vale. Health and know that for love, a bed is only a pretext, for dance, a tune is only an adornement. And for struggle, nationalism is merely a circumstantial accident.
>From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast.
Don Durito of The Lacandona, Mexico, August, 1995.
P.S. Excuse the lack of abundance in these letters. It happens that I have to hurry up my expedition to invade Europe this *********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
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