Benito Cereno

Por Herman Melville

En 1799, el capitán Amasa Delano ancló en la bahía de una isla desierta del litoral chileno. A la mañana siguiente apareció en el lugar un misterioso navío, el Santo Domingo. Las maniobras de éste hicieron sopechar que se trataba de un barco en apuros, con lo que ordenó que se preparara un bote y acudió a la misteriosa nave para prestar su ayuda. El espectáculo que encontró fue sorprendente. Aquél era un barco de esclavos al que la tempestad y una epidemia habían diezmado. Ahora los marineros blancos convivían entre los negros en una situación adversa por la falta de provisiones y de oficiales y el extraño comportamiento del capitán del barco Don Benito.

• Idioma: Español
• Editorial: Booklassic
• Fecha de lanzamiento: 18 jun 2015
• ISBN: 9789635239450

Herman Melville

Herman Melville (1819-1891) was an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. Following a period of financial trouble, the Melville family moved from New York City to Albany, where Allan, Herman’s father, entered the fur business. When Allan died in 1832, the family struggled to make ends meet, and Herman and his brothers were forced to leave school in order to work. A small inheritance enabled Herman to enroll in school from 1835 to 1837, during which time he studied Latin and Shakespeare. The Panic of 1837 initiated another period of financial struggle for the Melvilles, who were forced to leave Albany. After publishing several essays in 1838, Melville went to sea on a merchant ship in 1839 before enlisting on a whaling voyage in 1840. In July 1842, Melville and a friend jumped ship at the Marquesas Islands, an experience the author would fictionalize in his first novel, Typee (1845). He returned home in 1844 to embark on a career as a writer, finding success as a novelist with the semi-autobiographical novels Typee and Omoo (1847), befriending and earning the admiration of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Oliver Wendell Holmes, and publishing his masterpiece Moby-Dick in 1851. Despite his early success as a novelist and writer of such short stories as “Bartleby, the Scrivener” and “Benito Cereno,” Melville struggled from the 1850s onward, turning to public lecturing and eventually settling into a career as a customs inspector in New York City. Towards the end of his life, Melville’s reputation as a writer had faded immensely, and most of his work remained out of print until critical reappraisal in the early twentieth century recognized him as one of America’s finest writers.

Vista previa del libro

Benito Cereno

Herman Melville

Booklassic

2015

ISBN 978-963-523-945-0

Corría el año 1799, cuando el capitán Amasa Delano, de Duxbury (Massachusetts), al mando de un gran velero mercante, ancló con un valioso cargamento en la ensenada de Santa María, una isla pequeña, desierta y deshabitada, situada hacia el extremo sur de la larga costa de Chile.

Había atracado allí para abastecerse de agua.

Al segundo día, poco después del amanecer, cuando aún se encontraba acostado en su camarote, su primer oficial bajó a informarle que una extraña vela estaba entrando en la bahía. Por aquel entonces, en esas aguas las embarcaciones no abundaban como ahora. Se levantó, se vistió y subió a cubierta.

El amanecer era característico de esa costa. Todo estaba mudo y encalmado; todo era gris. El mar, aunque cruzado por las largas ondas del oleaje, parecía fijo, con la superficie bruñida como plomo ondulado que se hubiera enfriado y solidificado en el molde de un fundidor. El cielo aparecía totalmente gris. Bandadas de aves de color gris turbio estrechamente entremezcladas con jirones de vapores de un gris igualmente turbio pasaban a rachas en vuelo rasante sobre las aguas, como golondrinas sobre un prado antes de una tormenta. Sombras presentes que anunciaban la llegada de sombras más profundas.

Para sorpresa del capitán Delano, el desconocido, visto a través del catalejo, no mostraba colores a pesar de que mostrarlos al entrar en un puerto, por más deshabitadas que estuvieran sus orillas, donde pudiera encontrarse un solo barco, era costumbre entre marineros pacíficos de todas las naciones. Considerando la soledad y el desamparo del lugar, y la clase de historias que en aquellos días se asociaban a esos mares, la sorpresa del capitán Delano se hubiera trocado en intranquilidad de no haber sido éste una persona de naturaleza singularmente confiada, que no tendía, excepto a causa de extraordinarios y reiterados motivos, y aún así difícilmente, a permitirse sentimientos de alarma que implicaran de alguna manera la imputación de perversa maldad en el prójimo. A la vista de todo lo que es capaz el género humano, mejor será dejar en manos de los entendidos determinar si tal característica supone, junto a un corazón benevolente, algo más que la normal rapidez y precisión en la percepción intelectual.

Pero, cualesquiera que fueran los temores que hubiera suscitado la presencia del desconocido en la mente de cualquier marinero, se habrían casi desvanecido al observar que la nave, al entrar navegando en la ensenada, se aproximaba demasiado a tierra para evitar un escollo sumergido que se divisaba cerca de su proa. Ello parecía probar que era realmente un extraño, no tan sólo para el velero, sino también respecto a la isla; por lo tanto, no podía tratarse de ningún filibustero habitual de esas aguas. Sin perder interés, el capitán Delano siguió observándolo, tarea que en nada facilitaban los vapores que cubrían el casco, a través de los cuales la lejana luz matinal del camarote fluía con considerable ambigüedad; al igual que el sol, que empezaba a mostrar su truncada esfera sobre la línea del horizonte aparentando acompañar al desconocido que entraba en la ensenada, y que, velado por esas mismas nubes bajas y errantes, aparecía de forma no muy distinta al siniestro único ojo de una intrigante de Lima acechando la plaza desde la rendija india de su oscura saya y manta.

Podía haber sido tan sólo un engaño de la niebla, pero cuanto más tiempo se le observaba, tanto más singulares parecían las maniobras de aquel velero. Poco después resultaba difícil conjeturar si se proponía entrar o no, qué quería o qué pretendía hacer. El viento, que había arreciado un poco durante la noche, era ahora extremadamente suave y variable, lo cual aumentaba la aparente inseguridad de sus movimientos.

Suponiendo finalmente que podía tratarse de un barco en apuros, el capitán Delano ordenó que lanzaran al agua su barca ballenera, y, a pesar de la cautelosa oposición de su primer oficial, se preparó para abordarlo y, por lo menos, dirigirlo a puerto. La noche anterior, una partida de marineros había ido de pesca a bastante distancia, a unas rocas algo alejadas, fuera de la vista del velero, y, una o dos horas antes del amanecer, habían vuelto, con un botín mayor de lo esperado. Presumiendo que el navío desconocido podía haber pasado mucho tiempo en aguas más profundas, el bueno del capitán puso en la barca unos cuantos cestos de pescado, para ofrecérselos como obsequio y partió. Viendo que proseguía demasiado cerca del escollo hundido y considerándolo en peligro, mandó a sus hombres que se apresuraran para poder advertir a los de a bordo de su situación. Pero, poco antes de que la barca se acercara, el viento, aunque suave, habiendo cambiado de dirección, había alejado la nave, además de haber disipado en parte las brumas que la rodeaban.

Al obtener una vista menos remota, cuando la nave se hizo destacadamente visible sobre la cresta de un oleaje plomizo, con jirones de niebla aquí y allá cubriéndola como harapos, apareció como un monasterio de blancas paredes, tras una terrible tormenta, asomando sobre un peñasco pardo en el corazón de los Pirineos. Pero no era una semejanza puramente imaginaria lo que entonces, por un momento, llevó al capitán Delano casi a pensar que un barco repleto de monjes se hallaba ante sus ojos. Mirando por encima de los macarrones, se encontraba lo que realmente semejaba un tropel de capuchas oscuras, al tiempo que, saliendo a tongadas a través de las portillas abiertas, se divisaban tenuemente otras oscuras figuras móviles, como frailes negros deambulando por los claustros.

Al ir acercándose, esta apariencia se fue modificando y se hizo patente la auténtica índole de la nave: se trataba de un buque mercante español de primera clase, que, entre otras valiosas mercancías, transportaba un cargamento de esclavos negros de un puerto colonial a otro. Un voluminoso y, en su momento, excelente navío de los que aún se podían encontrar en aquellos días, de vez en cuando, por esos mares. Naves anticuadas cargadas de tesoros de Acapulco o fragatas retiradas de la armada real española, que, como arruinados palacios italianos, a pesar de la decadencia de sus propietarios, conservaban todavía vestigios de su apariencia original.

Al acercarse más y más con la barca ballenera, la causa del singular aspecto blanqueado que presentaba el extraño se hacía patente en el descuidado abandono que lo invadía. Los palos, cuerdas y gran parte de los macarrones parecían recubiertos de lana a causa de la larga ausencia de contacto con la rasqueta, la brea y el escobón. La quilla parecía desarmada, las cuadernas rejuntadas, y la propia nave botada desde el «Valle de los Huesos Secos» de Ezequiel.

Pese a la misión para la que actualmente estaba siendo utilizado, el modelo y aparejo del navío en general no parecían haber sufrido ninguna modificación del diseño bélico y Froissart original. Sin embargo, no se veían armas.

Las cofas eran grandes y estaban cercadas por lo que había sido una red octagonal, todo ahora en triste desorden. Dichas cofas colgaban allá arriba cual tres pajareras ruinosas, en una de las cuales se veía, colgando de un flechaste, un Anous stolidus blanco, ave extraña así denominada por su carácter aletargado y sonámbulo, siendo frecuentemente atrapada a mano en el mar. Maltrecho y enmohecido, el almenado castillo de proa parecía un antiguo torreón, tomado por asalto en el pasado y más tarde abandonado. Hacia la popa, dos galerías laterales elevadas, las balaustradas cubiertas aquí y allá de musgo marino seco como yesca, abriéndose desde la desocupada cabina de mando, cuyas claraboyas, a causa del clima templado se hallaban herméticamente cerradas y calafateadas; estos balcones sin inquilino colgaban por encima del mar como si fuera el Gran Canal de Venecia. Pero la principal reliquia de su grandeza venida a menos era el amplio óvalo de la pieza de popa, intrincadamente tallado con los escudos de Castilla y León, enmarcados por grupos de emblemas de tema mitológico o simbólico, y en cuya parte central superior aparecía un oscuro sátiro enmascarado pisando la doblada cerviz de una contorsionada figura, también enmascarada. No estaba del todo claro si el barco tenía un mascarón de proa, o tan sólo el simple espolón, a causa de las velas que envolvían esa parte, bien para protegerla en el proceso de restauración, bien para esconder decentemente su deterioro. Rudimentariamente pintada o escrita con tiza, como por un capricho de marinero, a lo largo de la parte delantera de una especie de pedestal bajo las velas, se hallaba la frase «Seguid a vuestro jefe»;  mientras que sobre la deslucida empavesada del beque aparecía en majestuosas mayúsculas, que en tiempos habían sido doradas, el nombre del barco San Dominick, con cada letra corroída por los finos regueros de orín que bajaban desde los clavos de cobre; al mismo tiempo, como algas de luto, oscuros adornos de hierbas marinas barrían viscosamente el nombre de aquí para allá con cada fúnebre balanceo del casco.

Cuando, finalmente, la barca fue amarrada por babor al portalón central del barco, la quilla, todavía separada unas pulgadas del casco, rozó ásperamente como sobre un arrecife de coral sumergido. Resultó ser un enorme ramo de percebes adherido como un quiste al costado del barco por debajo del agua, testimonio de vientos variables y calmas prolongadas transcurridas en alguna parte de esos mares.

Habiendo subido por el costado, el visitante fue inmediatamente rodeado por una clamorosa multitud de blancos y negros, los últimos en mayor número que los primeros, bastante más de lo que podía esperarse en un barco de transporte de negros, como este desconocido de la bahía. Sin embargo, unos y otros en una misma lengua y con voz unánime, empezaron a referir un mismo relato de los sufrimientos padecidos, en lo que las negras, de las que había no pocas, superaban a los demás en su dolorosa vehemencia. El escorbuto, junto con las fiebres, habían barrido gran número de ellos, más especialmente de españoles. Saliendo del cabo de Hornos, habían escapado por poco del naufragio; luego, sin viento, habían quedado inmovilizados durante días enteros; iban cortos de provisiones y casi desprovistos de agua; sus labios, en aquel momento, estaban acartonados.

Mientras el capitán Delano se convertía de esta manera en el blanco de todas aquellas lenguas impacientes, sólo un mirada, la suya, también impaciente, observaba todas las caras y los objetos que las rodeaban.

Siempre que se aborda por primera vez

Comentarios para Benito Cereno

[stef7sa-1 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Entertaining story, well written.

[audacity88_1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

At first seems like a sea story, then like a rather run-of-the-mill mystery novel, and then finally reveals itself (unless I'm overprojecting) to be a rather disturbing morality tale.spoiler:It forces us to ask to what degree Captain Delano represents ourselves, to conduct our own condemnation of the Americans but also, more importantly, of ourselves for (at least in my case) rooting for them.end spoilerAt first I was sure this wasn't a great book. Now I can see why it is, and if I read it again I think my appreciation will be twice as great the second time around.Oh, and this edition (Benito Cereno: A Text for Guided Research) is great because it has the actual memoirs of the real-life Amasa Delano, who is, incredibly, just as pigheaded as in the story, and whose story is just as bizarre.

[lisamaria_c · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

I've read both Moby Dick and Billy Budd, but of the Melville works I've read, it's this novella I find most impressive. There's none of the windy digressions in Moby Dick or the heavy-handed allegory of Billy Budd or The Confidence-man here. This is as close as I've found in Melville to taut, subtle writing. If I have any criticism it is that it comes dangerously close to the "idiot plot." (For this to work, one of the characters has to act like an idiot.) From here on end though, to explain what I did find awesome in this, I have to discuss spoilers. And they are spoilers. I had heard of this story, of what this was about. This is one of Melville's more famous works. And I wish I hadn't known--it's best I think to come at this story without knowledge, and I wouldn't read any introduction beforehand. Spoiler below:In a way, I wonder if it is a spoiler, because not only was the situation obvious to me but Melville signals from the start his point of view character, Captain Amasa Delano, is not to be trusted. Early on he describes him as "singularly undistrustful." This is set in 1797 during the Atlantic slave trade. The captain of an American ship, Delano, comes aboard a Spanish ship captained by Benito Cereno. From the first Delano notices that not only are the blacks on deck, who greatly outnumber the whites, unshackled, but that they are sharpening weapons. Huge clues keep coming that Captain Cereno is captive and that there has been a slave revolt on board, but Delano remains clueless. The whole novella is one of the most starkly unreliable narratives I've ever read. But here's what I find interesting. Throughout the narrative many racial, in fact very racist, comments are made. But not only are we signaled the narrator is, well, an idiot, but many of the events of the novella flat out contradict those racist assumptions--for instance docility and stupidity--for the black slaves not only successfully revolted, they're fooling Delano despite what's right before his eyes. So, it made me wonder. Just what does Melville believe? And what does he want us to take away from this story? Given the time this was written (1855) my assumption would have been that Melville's sympathies were with the white crew, and that he'd certainly expect that's how his readers would see things. But so much in this novella subverts that easy assumption. And that I do find awesome. Even amazing given the year this was written.

[aoibhealfae · Calificación: 2 de 5 estrellas]

"Benito Cereno" were never meant to be read only once. However, it took me some multiple reads into this short novel to make sense of the plot as the book need to be absorbed more than its meant to be read. Based on a true story, "Benito Cereno" was narrated by a very gullible unreliable narrator about a mysterious Spanish slave trade ship and its strange occupants. Like most thing in history about that time, the story basically centered about imperialism, slavery, white man burden, prejudices etc but its also a mystery and riddled with clues if you know where to look which made the story tolerable enough.

I guess the story would interest those who are interested in reading a very difficult writing style with complete unreliable primary POV narrator and have an interest in dominance-submissive relationship of this book. In fact, this book is riddled with all kind of power play which was simply too horrifying to dwell on it too much. Various interpretation of "rape" was the core of this novel.

I would have like it better if there are more clarity in the writing style of this book like Melville did with "Bartleby". I do think there's a way to write a rising action scene without the overuse of never-ending sentences. Besides the over comma paragraphs, I was supposed to have let Melville drag me along with his interpretation of the situation because of his familiarity with his nautical experiences. But I don't think the author nor the narrator offer us some degree of flawed humanity in the situation via the apparent ignorance prevailing until the climax of the story.

This book are meant to be read and reread. Its unavoidable to empathize with this novel to a degree considering that it shows the ugliness and flawed nature in everyone in the book. Its not meant to be likable but it is meant to be digested and its a strong novel like John Steinbeck's The Pearl but you really need a hard stomach to withstand the underlying message and various interpretations of this book.

[ohernaes · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Great short story about revolting and scheming slaves. Who is controlling whom? A bit weird that everything is explained in detail in the last chapter.

[krizia_lazaro_3 · Calificación: 1 de 5 estrellas]

This was a boring book. It was short but I feel that I was reading a 1,000-page book. Its a book that you have a slight notion of what will happen next and thus just want to reach the climax. But the climax happened to far down the book. This book made me so sleepy I almost did not want to finish it.

[bolgai · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

I have heard about this book from a friend of mine, who's read it with her book club, so I generally knew what to expect in terms of plot developments. I was however pleasantly surprised by the characters in this novella. They were all remarkable in one way or another and since they were all very distinct their differences stood out all the more. It seems that authors in the middle of the 19th century weren't afraid to make their characters full of personality, take Dickens for example, and Melville definitely followed the same tradition. I particularly enjoyed the character of the proprietor, who is the narrator of this story. He tries so hard to be on good terms with all of his employees, regardless of the trouble they cause him, and makes up excuses to not take any action that would make him look good in his own eyes. What I didn't expect is how plodding the pace is. Now that I've read Benito Cereno I think that's something that is common in Melville's work. The same type of scene seemed to repeat over and over without furthering the plot or developing the characters. The only thing this repetition seemed to accomplish was to convince me further of utter and complete spinelessness of the proprietor, but I already knew that so it wore on me. I did enjoy the ending though. It seemed somewhat abrupt because events moved along faster than the rest of the story but it was very satisfying. In a way it was the only appropriate ending, anything else wouldn't have worked quite as well. It also redeemed the proprietor in my eyes somewhat, he did have a good heart even if his will was lacking. Despite the extremely slow middle of the novella the ending saved it for me and for a few days after finishing it I kept thinking about the characters and the story. I can see why Melville is considered such an important figure in American literature and why this particular piece is still widely read. I would recommend Bartleby if you want to read a work that will inspire you to think about people, their motivations and how they relate to each other.

[hadriantheblind · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Slow, well-crafted story of evil and slavery and rebellion and deceit.

[meditationesmartini · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

This is tense and tight and moody like some kind of cross between a Poe story and Das Boot, which I never would have expected from Melville, who can be story-focused and atmospheric, sire, but in a way that is effaced (blown out of the water Pequod- --or Don Benito's ship under fire by the Americans, in this one--style) by his cosmic yearnings and baggymonstrosity. (Guy sends a lot of gauges up to 11!) It starts with a mystery--what's with this ship? Why are the blacks so creepily jaunty yet so eerily subdued? Who's in charge on this boat, anyway? The setup is golden. Melville limits himself to dramatizing the source material, though, and what that means is we get a novella of slave revolt on the high seas that has cannon battles and guys getting mutilated by the cruel negro and sympathy for the devil on a human level that gets completely subsumed within a larger allegory about global realpolitik, Delano as the early ugly naive lovable American running shit without even knowing. IT's hard to let Melville of the hook for that, but I think the problem is less that he was a man of his times who saw cruelty as cruelty and slavery as a policy debate, and more that he didn't give the story time to breathe, didn't flash us back to desperate negotiations and shocking developments on a ship of poor sods that means our world entire. The thing would have been to give us the perspective of one of the Africans, and for Cereno to be the serpent and Babo to be Ahab and Delano and his men to be the brutal ex machina. And in that sense, certainly, these are just the kind of openhearted, bouncing, paranoid farmboys that went to Afghanistan. This is less about slavery per se than an metaphor for the way America's handled its involvement in foreign disputes since day one--burn the village to save the village and then get a furrow of noncomprehension when you don't turn out to be the good guy any more than the slaves or the Spaniards. But that's ignoring--Melville's ignoring--that a story like this takes place against mass murder and rape and kidnapping and human trafficking right here in the good old US of A, acting like it's a foreign issue, pretending to a fairness that is bias itself like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. It's--ha--like that awful Black Eyed Peas song "Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism / but we still got terrorists here livin' in the USA / the FBI, the CIA, the Bloods, the Crips, and the KKK". TBenito Cereno simplifies like the song simplifies--the blush every time you hear those stupid lyrics analogous to the interactions racked by etiquette between the two captains, the awkwardness to death that trumps even real death all around, and the impossibility in both cases of it turning into anything other than a bloodbath of the foreigner committed again by the well-meaning and clean. The climax feels cheap because the alternative is a closer look at the psychology of it, and Melville's not up for the complete cutting loose or condemnation of his Americans that the examination would make necessary for any feeling person.

[heidip_38 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Wowza. I don't even know what to say about Benito Cereno. This is my first Melville, believe it or not. I've never read his other works, and this is quite the introduction.Melville House says, "Based on a real-life incident--the character names remain unchanged--Benito Cereno tells what happens when an American merchant ship comes upon a mysterious Spanish ship where the nearly all-black crew and their white captain are starving and yet hostile to offers of help. Melville's most focused political work, it is rife with allusions (a ship named after Santa Domingo, site of the slave revolt led by Toussaint L'Ouverture), analogies (does the good-hearted yet obtuse American captain refer to the American character itself?) and mirroring images that deepen our reflections on human oppression and its resultant depravities."I'm assuming since Melville was born in New York and his grandparents hail from Boston, that he was anti-slavery. Since this was first published in 1855, my initial thoughts are that he writes this as a warning of sorts. Human oppression can only stand so much before it rises in revenge. If I understand the allusions and analogies correctly, this story is a scathing review of the naivete of the American north regarding slavery and of the emotional dependence the south has on it's slaves.This book stirs the racially-charged pot.

[bookomaniac-1 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Magnifieke verhalenbundel. Ongelofelijk beklemmende sfeer, erg verwant aan Poe en in sommige opzichten vooruitlopend op Kafka. Vooral Benito Cereno is adembenemend.

[maxernst11 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Magnifieke verhalenbundel. Ongelofelijk beklemmende sfeer, erg verwant aan Poe en in sommige opzichten vooruitlopend op Kafka. Vooral Benito Cereno is adembenemend.

[jonri-4 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

I read Billy Budd for a book club I belong to. (I didn't read the other stories.) I found it incredibly slow going. I wouldn't even attempt to read it without access to Wikipedia or some other such source. Especially at the beginning, it makes a lot of cultural references with which I was completely unacquainted, e.g., Anacharis Cloots, Kaspar Hauser and Titus Oates. This made the meaning of some passages incomprehensible without some research.The characters are all stereotypes. I found the plot unrealistic. I also found it just plain exasperating that we are not told what Vere said to Budd after Budd was condemned to death.

[jerry2book-1 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Good v Evil and the law. Also, not a bad movie with Peter Ustinov.

[nikkles_1 · Calificación: 1 de 5 estrellas]

I had to read Billy Budd for school. That is not really a deal breaker for me, but I just did not get the point of the story and it really seems like it is suppose to have a point.

[tezz_4 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Very difficult story to read, with Melville often distracted from the task at hand. However, if you can persevere the fabulous story manages to shine through the verbose prose.

[gordsellar_1 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

I happened upon this in a used bookshop in Yongsan station, in Seoul, just as I was working on a story called "Ogallala" that has more than one nod in the direction of the novella "Benito Cereno" which is in this collection. So I figured that was a hint from the universe, and bought it so I could reread Benito Cereno before finishing my revision.