The South (Borges story)

Infobox short story |
name = The South
title_orig = El Sur
translator = Anthony Bonner
author = Jorge Luis Borges
country = flagicon|Argentina Argentina
language = Spanish
series =
genre =
published_in = "Ficciones" (2nd ed)
publisher =
media_type = Print
pub_date = 1953
english_pub_date = 1962
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The South" (original Spanish title: "El Sur") is a short story by Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges, first published in "La Nación" in 1953, and which appeared in the second edition (1956) of "Ficciones", part two ("Artifices").

Plot summary

Juan Dahlmann is an Argentine library secretary. Although of German descent, he is proud of his Argentine maternal ancestors. He has a number of artifacts from his forefather: an old sword, a lithograph photo, and a ranch home in southern Argentina he has never found time to visit.

In February 1939, he obtains a copy of the "Arabian Nights". He takes the book home, and -- eager to examine it -- rushes up the stairs and gashes his forehead against a recently painted beam. The wound Dahlmann suffers forces him to lie bedridden with very high fever. After a few days, his doctors move him to the hospital. On his way there, Dahlmann feels happy, thinking that the move will do him good. At the hospital, however, Dahlmann's treatment for his injury causes him immense pain, and he quickly equates the hospital to a fiery inferno.

(An interpretation of the story could be that what follows is an explanation of his idealized death -- the one Juan Dahlmann fabricates and stages in his mind -- in order to pass into the next life in an honorable manner.)

After days in the hospital he is suddenly told that he is recovering, after almost having died of septicemia. Juan Dahlmann sets off to his ranch to convalesce. The story shifts locations to a train station, where Dahlmann is waiting for a train to travel to his ranch. He decides to go to a restaurant for a bite to eat. In the restaurant he notices a cat, the mythical creature who, in many cultures (for example Egypt), is associated with eternity and the gods.

After his meal, Dahlmann boards the train, and rides out of the city into the countryside. The train conductor enters his compartment and notifies him that the train will not be stopping at his destination, but at a previous station. Once the train reaches the deserted station, Dahlmann steps off into a small countryside town. He makes his way through the dusty streets and finds the only restaurant. He sits down, orders food, and begins to read the 1001 Arabian Nights.

Three rowdy ranch workers sitting at a table nearby throw a bread crumb at him; this he ignores. However, after a short while, they begin again. This time, Dahlmann stands up in order to exit the establishment. The shopkeeper (calling him by name) anxiously asks Dahlmann to pay them no heed, saying they are drunk. This prompts Dahlmann to do the opposite, to face them. One of the ranch workers brandishes a knife. Seeing the situation getting out of hand, the shopkeeper calls out that Dahlmann does not even have a weapon. At this point, an old man in the corner, a gaucho (which to Dahlmann represents the essence of the South as well as the past) throws a knife to Dahlmann. It lands at his feet. As he picks up the knife, Dahlmann realizes that it will not be of any use to his defense. He knows he has never wielded a knife in his life and that if he fights he is going to die. However, he feels that his death in a knife fight is honorable, that it is the one he would have chosen when he was sick in the hospital, and he decides to go. The story ends with Dahlmann and the farmer exiting the bar and walking into the streets as the setting sun blazes behind them.

Notes

*The events of the story are semi-autobiographical: Borges also worked in a library. At New Year's 1939, Borges suffered a severe head wound and nearly died of blood poisoning.
*Borges considered "The South" to be his best story.