Usurpation
Olle Montanus, one of the characters in Strindberg’s The Red Room, says in one of his speeches: “I don’t think I’m going too far when I say that the Swedish nation is an underprivileged, arrogant, servile, envious, mean, and coarse nation. And that’s why it’s going into decline, and at a rapid pace, I might add!”
Hmm, I couldn’t top that; at most, I would change the subject.
Country of soup
“I come from a country of soup,” said the old man after he learned that this was what they called those who lived on handouts. How many bowls of soup must he have been given without developing a great appreciation for broth?
He felt that the birds in the countryside were luckier, and he laughed and laughed until the chains of resentment closed his mouth; but first he spat and exclaimed: “Miserable people!”
The soldier of God
He calls himself “The Soldier of God” and earns his bread and glory by knocking out opponents in the boxing ring. The press and the public idolize him. It is not every day that you have a champion who, in the name of El Salvador, offers his fellow men the living blood of defeat.
Alignment
Although many writers do not belong to any political camp, this does not mean that all of them, without exception, do not have their preferences. I, for example, am on the extreme right of the political spectrum. How could I agree with the left, which is on the same side as the heart of those who observe me?
Country of spitters
The parliamentary session had gone on longer than expected and the issue of spittoons had not yet been debated. When the moment finally arrived, the president stated: “It is inexplicable, gentlemen; we are the country that spits the most in the world. As no campaign has had any effect, we have no choice but to allocate part of the budget to buying spittoons. By the way, we have placed one next to each member of parliament.”
A thunderous applause echoed through the chamber.
Shackles
The discreet woman wears subtle gold chains; her makeup is usually more than reserved, while her words barely go beyond the surface. On the other hand, in imperceptible matters, who does not suspect that the rule had reasons for dissent, and that when it comes to thought, any lewd argument is not wrong?
A matter of love
As the press points out, community participation has been poor in welcoming the chief justice during his visit to the provinces. However, what the same press does not mention is that the determining factor was not the alleged unpopularity of the executive, but the recent outbreak of scabies affecting millions of dwarf rabbits. Who, in a country as noble as ours, would refuse to stroke an adorable little rabbit?
Relics
How short the streets and sidewalks of childhood seem! They remind us of those sweets whose simple wrappers barely conceal their contents. As we grow older, our memories shrink, encysting themselves in small childhood capsules that threaten to become smaller and smaller, and which, for our own good, must be fed with elusive traces until the time comes to graft onto them the humiliating antidote of legend.
Volatility
“The discussion about the sanity and abnormality of man would take us quite far,” says one of the inmates in the Cancer Ward during a conversation with a doctor. In this way, A. Solzhenitsyn reintroduces the age-old scheme of sanity; that fox that has earned the trust and admiration of those who challenge any extreme and claim that stability lies in the middle. As if trains did not derail more often than flying chairs.
