“They seem to be able to run in any of four directions;
but more than this, perhaps because of their rapid
reaction time, they appear to read the mind of their
hunter.”
John Steinbeck
On the piddock-pocked gray rocks at low
tide
they scamper in sunlight, poking into
every pool.
The young ones are black-lacquered,
with only pincers pink.
They vibrate with electric energy, like
solar panels
in motion, glinting with voracious
purpose,
moving instantaneously in all
directions—sideways, forward, back.
Their game is algae.
Have you ever seen a red rock crab
jump?
They approach the abyss all eyes,
halt a microsecond and from tiptoes of eight legs
execute un grand jeté
like four prima ballerinas
flying through the air under a single
carapace of silken bronze--
en avant
à la seconde
en arriére
en tournant...
They
seem a crowd of discoboloi by
Myron,
launching
themselves and rising up to launch again in one throw.
Give them a few
more eons and they will be birds.
Is it
featherbrained to wonder how to read the flying mind
of a creature so
spontaneously omnidirectional and sighted
it is reading your mind long before you yourself notice?
E. A. Costa
direcciones; pero más que esto, quizás
debido
a su tiempo de reacción rápido, ellos aparecen
leer la mente
de su cazador.”
John Steinbeck
En la marea baja
sobre
las rocas grises
picadas por los barrenos
ellos corretean en la luz
del sol,
hurgando en cada charca.
Los jóvenes son laqueados en negro,
Los jóvenes son laqueados en negro,
con pinzas rosadas.
Ellos vibran con la energía eléctrica,
Ellos vibran con la energía eléctrica,
como paneles solares móviles, destellando con motivo
voraz,
y moviendo en cada dirección-- hacia de lado, hacia adelante,
hacia atrás...
Su presa es algas.
¿Alguna vez has visto un cangrejo de roca rojo saltar?
Se acercan al abismo todo ojos,
Su presa es algas.
¿Alguna vez has visto un cangrejo de roca rojo saltar?
Se acercan al abismo todo ojos,
paran por un microsegundo
y de puntillas con ocho piernas
ejecutan un grand jeté magnífico,
como cuatro primeras bailarinas
que vuelan por el aire bajo un carapacho de seda bronceada--
en avant
en avant
à la seconde
en arriére
en tournant...
Parecen ser una muchedumbre de discóbolos de Mirón,
Parecen ser una muchedumbre de discóbolos de Mirón,
lanzándose y elevándose
para lanzar en un tiro.
¡Dales unas eras más y serán pájaros!
¿Es disparatado preguntarse cómo sea posible leer la mente volante
¡Dales unas eras más y serán pájaros!
¿Es disparatado preguntarse cómo sea posible leer la mente volante
de una criatura tan espontáneamente omnidireccional
y tan vidente
que ella lee tu mente antes de que la sepas tú
mismo?
Tr. EAC
E. A. Costa August 31, 2016 San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua ______________________________________________________
NB: (1) Grapsus
Grapsus: the red rock crab, native to the Pacific Coast
from Southern
California to Chile and rife on the beach rocks of Nicaragua,
providing to the patient eye much instruction and entertainment.
“Grapsus”
is a Latinized form of the Greek “grapsaios”
(crab). Also known in English
as Sally Lightfoot, in Spanish as the
zayapa (Galápagos) and abuete negro.
The quotation from John
Steinbeck is from The Log From The Sea Of Cortez,
an account of an
expedition with his friend, the marine biologist Ed Ricketts.
It is
curious Steinbeck mentions only four directions. Had he never seen
them
jump? Which jumping adds two more. (2) Piddocks, or Pholadidae,
are
bivalves that bore through rock and are responsible for the many
round holes
in beach rock. In Spanish they are known as barrenos, to
wit, “drills” or
“boreholes”; (3) On Myron's Discobolos or
Discus Thrower, who throws
and returns to throwing in one
aesthetic moment, see Lucian of Samosata,
Philopseudes sive
Incredulus (the Liar), 18; (4) “Omnimobile” is now an
accepted
word in robotics, applied to movement of devices on universal
wheels,
for example; (5) Crabs of course have five pairs of legs but one
pair
are pincers.
