ENGLISH VERSION

THE CAT

Decide not to serve him any more, and you will all be free. I do not ask you to remove him or push him away, just not to hold onto him, and you will see how, like a colossus whose feet have been removed, he falls into destruction under his own weight. But perhaps, as the doctors warn, one should not try to cure incurable diseases, and it may be wrong for me to tell people this because they have long since lost awareness of their disease, and in this way it has become deadly. Let us try, however, to understand, if we can, how deeply rooted this stubborn will to serve is, to such as extent that the love of freedom itself is not considered natural.”
[Étienne de La Boétie, Lecture on Voluntary Slavery]

Étienne de la Boétie wrote that when he was 18. He was a renowned politician and public servant in his day, a close friend of Montaigne, moving in the corridors of power and among the aristocracy. And yet it has been said that the seeds of civil disobedience and anarchism are to be found in his writing.
Montaigne looked with profound irony at the world from his castle. I, on the other hand, have to look at the world from this balcony as I read Montaigne. A cat is staring at me from a neighbour's balcony. He seems to be reading the book along with me. People don’t take cats out for a walk. Only dogs can be taken out. Children and cats are at home, and they are howling.
In the cat’s eyes, however, I see no sorrow for not being able to leave the house, no sign of the chains of prohibition. I’ve stopped reading Montaigne and started reading in the cat’s eyes. All of Bakunin’s anarchism fits into one of his eyelashes.

He’s just winked. He looks at the world with a cosmic indifference from his balcony. With another wink it turns all of Montaigne’s irony into dust.
A child comes out onto the balcony. She has taken the cat in her arms. The cat has lets him, gives himself up completely, rubs his head against the girl's front. I hear a slight growl. The child sits in a chair with the cat on her lap. I look at the pages of Montaigne's Essays. From the corner of my eyes I saw the girl staring at me; the cat is looking at me too, as if they are both reading with me. I don’t usually move my lips when I read, but today they are moving on their own accord.
ORIGINAL TEXT

katua

«Erabaki ezazue ez hura gehiago zerbitzatzea, eta libre izango zarete. Ez dizuet eskatzen hura paretik kentzeko, hari bultza egiteko, baizik eta ez eusteko; eta ikusiko duzue nola, oinarria kendu zaion koloso baten pare, bere zama hutsaren pean deuseztatzen eta txikitzen den. Alabaina, medikuek aholkatzen duten bezala, ez da saiatu behar sendaezinak diren eritasunak sendatzen, eta, beharbada, ni ere oker nabil herriari hau esanez, galdua baitu aspaldidanik bere gaixotasunaren ezaguera, eta, hala, gaixotasun hori hilgarri bihurtu baitzaio. Saia gaitezen ulertzen, ordea, ahal izanez gero, zerbitzatzeko borondate egoskor hori nola sustraitu den hain sakon, libertatea maitatzea bera ere naturaltzat ez jotzeraino». [Étienne de La Boétie, Borondatezko morrontzari buruzko mintzaldia]

Étienne de la Boétiek 18 urterekin idatzi zuen mintzaldi hori. Izen handiko politikari eta zerbitzari publikoa izan zen bere garaian, Montaigneren lagun mina, boterearen eta aristokraziaren girokoa. Eta, hala ere, esaten dutenez, haren idatzietan desobedientzia zibilaren eta anarkismoaren ernamuina omen dago.
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Montaignek bere gaztelutik begiratzen zion munduari, ironia sakon batez. Nik, berriz, balkoi honetatik begiratu behar munduari, Montaigne irakurriz. Katu bat peto-peto begira dagokit auzokoaren balkoitik. Badirudi nirekin batera irakurtzen ari dela liburu hau. Ez dute kalera ateratzen paseatzera. Txakurrak baino ez daitezke atera. Haurrak eta katuak, etxean, marrumaka.

Katuaren begietan, hala ere, ez dut irakurtzen etxetik irten ezinaren saminik, debekuaren lokarriaren arrastorik. Montaigne irakurtzeari utzi, eta katuaren begietan irakurtzen hasi naiz. Bakuninen anarkismo guztia haren betile batean kabitzen da. Kliska egin du oraintxe. Ezaxola kosmiko batez begiratzen dio munduari balkoitik. Beste kliska batez, Montaigneren ironia guztia hauts bihurtzen du.

Ume bat irten da balkoira. Besoetan hartu du katua. Katuak utzi egin dio, erabat emanik; burua igurzten du umearen sabelaren kontra. Marruma arin bat entzun diot. Haurra aulki batean eseri da, katua magalean duela. Nik begiak Montaigneren Saiakerak-eko orrietara itzuli ditut. Begirada periferikoa erabiliz ikusi dut haurra niri begira dagoela; katua ere niri begira, biak nirekin batera irakurtzen ari balira bezala. Irakurtzean ez dut ohiturarik ezpainak mugitzeko, baina gaur berez bezala mugitzen zaizkit.

Juan Kruz Igerabide

Juan Kruz Igerabide was born in Aduna (Guipúzcoa) in 1956, where he currently lives. For several years he was a primary and secondary school teacher, and in his last working period he was a professor at the University of the Basque Country, specializing in Basque Philology, and he has directed the Mikel Laboa arts chair at that university. He has written, in particular, literature for children and young people, although he also has several works for adults. He has published studies on children's literature, referring to the oral tradition and children's poetry. In the field of adult literature, he is the author of several books of poetry and novels, among which are: Mailu isila / Martillo silencioso (ed. Alberdania, ed. Atenea ) Aienatze marra / Línea de fugacidad (ed. Atenea), Lainoa janez / Lento asedio de niebla (ed. Erein, ed. Valparaíso), Nos queda la ceniza (ed. Alberdania).

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