La jubilación del portero (The porter's last day)
MCER C1473 palabras
Aurelio was our building's porter for thirty-one years, and on the morning he left I could not have told you his surname. I knew the shape of him at the far end of the entrance hall, bent over the post. I knew that he wore a grey jacket in winter and the same jacket, unbuttoned, in June. That is the whole of it. Thirty-one years is longer than I have known most of my friends.
There was a small gathering for him in the hall on the Friday, organised by the woman from the second floor, who is good at these things. Somebody had bought a cake that nobody cut. We stood about holding plastic cups and saying that the building would not be the same, which was true in a way we did not examine, and Aurelio thanked us twice and then, when the silence went on, a third time. He seemed anxious for us to be released. I have thought since that he was the only person there who understood exactly what the occasion was.
There was a card, and I signed it. I stood with the pen for a while, wrote 'All the best', and then added '4B', because it seemed necessary. It was only in the lift afterwards that it struck me: to a man I had greeted every working day for eleven years, my name had turned out to be a flat number. He would have known who I was in any case: he knew whose parcels went where, which bell had never worked, which dog belonged to which door. That was his job, of course. The things people do for us that we would rather not owe them for, we are quick to call a job.
He was not a talkative man. I have said this to two or three people this week, and each time it has come out sounding like an explanation, which is exactly what I intend it to be. In fairness, none of us had time; the mornings are what they are. And yet I can produce without effort the names of the two brothers who run the café across the road, and the café only opened four years ago.
The new porter started on Monday. He is younger, and he has already put a small plant on the desk, which I take to be a statement of intent. I asked him his name before I had taken off my coat — Bruno — and I have used it twice a day since, with a warmth I can hear myself producing. My neighbour on the fifth floor said it was nice to see somebody making an effort. I agreed that it was. I did not say what the effort was for, she did not ask, and we went up together, watching the numbers.
Palabras que quizá no conozcas
- porterportero de finca, conserje
- surnameapellido
- entrance hallportal, zaguán
- the postel correo, las cartas
- unbuttoneddesabrochada, sin abotonar
- gatheringreunión pequeña, despedida
- to be releasedque le dejen a uno marcharse
- it struck me (that)caí en la cuenta de repente, se me ocurrió
- parcelpaquete
- to owe somebody for somethingestar en deuda con alguien por algo
- in fairnesspara ser justos
- warmthcalidez, afecto
- desk (in a lobby)mostrador de portería
Preguntas
Se contestan con el texto delante. No es memoria: es entender.
What does the first paragraph establish about the writer and Aurelio?
Years of daily contact that never became any real acquaintance — No se dice con adjetivos, se dice con un dato: treinta y un años de portería y ni siquiera sabe el apellido. Lo que se recuerda es una silueta al fondo del portal y una chaqueta gris. El párrafo mide la distancia, no el cariño.
What is implied by the words 'which was true in a way we did not examine'?
The polite phrase turned out to be exact, and nobody wanted to look at why — La frase de cortesía —«el edificio ya no será lo mismo»— resulta ser cierta de verdad, y por eso nadie la examina: examinarla obligaría a reconocer qué se pierde exactamente y quién lo sostenía.
In the writer's view, Aurelio understood the meaning of the farewell better than the neighbours did.
True — Verdadero. Aurelio da las gracias tres veces y parece querer que la gente pueda irse; quien narra concluye que era «el único que entendía exactamente qué era aquello». Es un juicio de quien narra, y es justo lo que hay que localizar.
What does the writer's remark about the word 'job' reveal?
That naming it a job spares the neighbours the feeling of being in debt — «That was his job, of course» parece una explicación neutra, pero la frase siguiente la desmonta: llamamos trabajo a lo que preferimos no tener que agradecer. La palabra sirve para no quedar en deuda, y quien narra lo sabe mientras lo escribe.
Each time the phrase 'he was not a talkative man' is repeated, it comes out sounding like an ___.
explanation — La palabra del texto es explanation, y quien narra añade que es exactamente lo que pretende que sea: no está describiendo a Aurelio, se está justificando. Se acepta también excuse.
What is left unsaid in the last paragraph?
That the effort with Bruno is a late repair for eleven years of not asking — Pregunta el nombre del portero nuevo antes de quitarse el abrigo, y se oye producir esa calidez. Cuando la vecina lo elogia, la respuesta es «I agreed that it was» y nada más: no se dice para qué es el esfuerzo, y ahí está lo que no se admite.