You Might Have Seen Them (2) Tal vez los hayas visto

By Jorge Humberto Villegas Alzate

A collection of stories in English and Spanish, based on video clips... Useful for EFL/ESL classes (Creative Commons). This is the second issue. More to come... 

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookRix
• Release date: Jan 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9783739688237

Book preview

Circus of Life

Circus of Life:

A fable about a bear who could not see his family for a long time

A narration inspired by the short animated film Bear Story / Historia de un Oso (2014) by Gabriel Osorio and Punk Robot Studio, available at the URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOjMr9nK_cs

As a curiosity, the short film story was written by Gabriel Osorio, Leopoldo Osorio’s grandson. His grandfather was in jail after the coup d’etat in Chile to Salvador Allende by Augusto Pinochet. Then he was in exile for a long time and came back to Chile recently to celebrate the Oscar award with his grandson for his best animated short 2016.

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   The clock smith bear had been living alone in a country far away from his family for many years. Every day he synchronized his clockwork mechanism for many hours before he got out to the streets with his magic box and a bell to call kids to see his show. Every gear had to be lubricated with a drop of oil or replaced with a new one as it got worn out. It displayed a lot of tricks and effects made only possible by his expert hands that depicted an exact copy of his hometown, the streets and the landscapes he missed every day. Sometimes he had to stay up all night long trying to set up a new chapter into his syncopated story. After a short nap, he got up from his desk and stopped briefly in his room to take a glimpse at the stuffed teddy bear that belonged to his son, another beloved possession that helped him thrive daily.

He wandered up and down the streets in order to find a family with kids who were curious enough to ask their parents for a coin to see his magic show. Every day he waited with patience and tolled his small bell from time to time until he got the audience to give him a coin to pay for a piece of bread for the day.

The clock smith bear wund up the device and, as it started working, he narrated the sad story:

Once upon a time, there was a very proud lion who wanted to rule a village but could not win elections, so he decided to oust the Bee who had cleanly won its place. Many heads of families who had voted for the Bee and had obtained important jobs in the village had to hide at home; however, the lion sent his tamer clowns after them. The next night after the lion had taken over the control by force, his clowns broke into their apartment building and kidnapped them all: Mr Mountain Lion, Mrs Seal, Mrs Monkey, Mr Giraffe, Mrs Elephant, Mr Bear and many others. They were asked to do many odd things for the crazy lion during many years so that the other animals could see he had the power in the circus. No one wanted to end up like those poor animals, locked up in cages and in chains, so they never questioned the lion’s acts. The only memory Mr Bear had from his family was a small picture of his family in his pocket watch, but that was enough for him to continue living. One day he was asked to perform an acrobatic act with a bike and, with his knowledge, he modified it in order to develop more speed and be able to escape from the circus… He was very successful indeed and made it back home, even though the tamer clowns ran after him. His apartment was almost in ruins, but his wife and son were still there waiting for him among the ruins and the food scraps they could hardly get.

Is it a real story? the little kid asked. Partly, answered the clock smith sadly, and he extended a tin cup to receive the voluntary contribution from the kid. As the kid walked away, the clock smith took the coin and thought to himself: Another loaf of bread and some vegetables. Then he continued walking up and down the streets tolling his bell as he dreamt that one day he would collect enough coins to travel back to his home country and see his family again.

A story by Jorge Humberto Villegas Alzate, November 25th, 2016.

El circo de la vida, una fábula sobre un oso que fue alejado de su familia por un largo tiempo.

Historia inspirada en el corto animado chileno Historia de un oso (2014) de Gabriel Osorio y el Estudio Punk Soft, disponible en la URL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOjMr9nK_cs

Como dato curioso, el corto animado fue escrito por Gabriel Osorio, nieto de Leopoldo Osorio quien estuvo en prisión después del golpe de estado a Salvador Allende por Augusto Pinochet. Luego estuvo en el exilio por largo tiempo y regresó recientemente a Chile para celebrar el premio Oscar otorgado a su nieto por su corto animado en 2016.

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El oso relojero tuvo que vivir solo en un país alejado de su familia. Todos los días calibraba sus mecanismos de reloj por muchas horas antes de salir a las calles con su caja mágica y una campana para llamar a los niños a ver su show. Cada pieza al interior de la caja tenía que lubricarse con una gota de aceite o ser remplazada si se desgastaba. La caja  desplegaba una variedad de trucos y efectos visuales solamente posibles por sus manos expertas que redibujaban una copia exacta de su ciudad natal, las calles y paisajes que extrañaba tanto cada día que salía a trabajar. Algunas veces tenía que pasar despierto toda la noche tratando de sincronizar los movimientos de un nuevo capítulo en su historia sincopada. Después de una pequeña siesta, se levantaba de su escritorio y hacía una breve pausa en su cuarto para dar un vistazo al oso de peluche que reposaba en su cama y que pertenecía a su hijo, otra amada posesión que le ayudaba a prosperar en sus objetivos a diario.

Caminaba las calles de arriba a abajo para encontrar alguna familia que estuviera caminando con sus hijos cuya curiosidad fuera suficiente para pedir a sus padres una moneda para ver su show mágico. Todos los días esperaba con paciencia y repicaba su pequeña campana con alguna frecuencia hasta conseguir la audiencia que le diera una moneda para conseguir el pan de cada día.

Le daba cuerda a su aparato mágico y mientras las escenas corrían adentro, el narraba la triste historia:

"Érase una vez un león muy orgulloso que quería gobernar una aldea pero no pudo ganar las elecciones, así que decidió desterrar a la abeja que había ganado en forma legal su lugar. Muchas cabezas de familia que habían votado por la abeja y que habían obtenido puestos importantes en la aldea, se tuvieron que esconder en sus casas. Sin embargo, el león envió a sus payasos domadores tras ellos, armados con látigos. A la noche siguiente del león haber tomado el poder, sus payasos irrumpieron en el edificio de apartamentos y arrestaron a varios: El señor León de Montaña, la señora Foca, la señora Mona, el señor Jirafa, la señora Elefanta, el señor Oso y muchos más en otros edificios alrededor. Todos ellos fueron forzados a realizar actividades ridículas para el león loco durante varios años para demostrar al resto de animales de la aldea el poder que él