Milonga Del Infiel
Desde el desierto llegó
En su azulejo el infiel;
Era un pampa de los toldos
De pincén o de catriel.
Él y el caballo eran uno,
Eran uno y no eran dos.
Montado en pelo lo guiaba
Con el silbido o la voz.
Había en su toldo una lanza
Que afilaba con esmero;
De poco sirve una lanza
Contra el fusil ventajero.
Sabía curar con palabras,
Lo que no puede cualquiera.
Sabía los rumbos que llevan
A la secreta frontera.
De tierra adentro venía
Y a tierra adentro volvió;
Acaso no contó a nadie
Las cosas raras que vio.
Nunca había visto una puerta,
Esa cosa tan humana
Y tan antigua, ni un patio
Ni el aljibe y la roldana.
No sabía que detrás
De las paredes hay piezas
Con su catre de tijera,
Su banco y otras lindezas.
No lo asombró ver su cara
Repetida en el espejo;
La vio por primera vez
En ese primer reflejo.
Los dos indios se miraron
No cambiaron ni una seña.
Uno -¿cuál ?- miraba al otro
Como el que sueña que sueña.
Tampoco lo asombraría
Saberse vencido y muerto;
A su historia la llamamos
La conquista del desierto.
Cheater's Milonga
From the desert he arrived
On his horse, the cheater;
He was a pampa from the tents
Of pincén or catriel.
He and the horse were one,
They were one and not two.
Riding bareback, he guided him
With a whistle or voice.
In his tent there was a lance
That he sharpened meticulously;
A lance is of little use
Against the advantageous rifle.
He knew how to heal with words,
What not everyone can do.
He knew the paths that lead
To the secret border.
He came from inland
And returned inland;
Perhaps he didn't tell anyone
The strange things he saw.
He had never seen a door,
That human thing
So ancient, nor a courtyard
Nor the well and the pulley.
He didn't know that behind
The walls there are rooms
With their folding bed,
Bench, and other niceties.
He wasn't amazed to see his face
Reflected in the mirror;
He saw it for the first time
In that first reflection.
The two Indians looked at each other
Without changing a sign.
One - which one? - looked at the other
As if dreaming that he's dreaming.
Nor would it amaze him
To know he was defeated and dead;
To his story we call it
The conquest of the desert.