Horses, humans and literature.

Here is a fragment from the great 20th century Brazilian writer, Clarice Lispector.  For those of you who are interested in the theme, check out an earlier post here, a poem by the Mexican poet Germaine Calderón, 'Ya no soy un caballo', in original and translation (mine; posted February 19th, 2016)

Eu diria: se pudesse ter escolhido, queria ter nascido cavalo. Mas -quem sabe- talvez o cavalo ele-mesmo não sinta o grande símbolo da vida livre que nós sentimos nele.  Devo então concluir que o cavalo seria sobretudo para ser sentido por mim?  O cavalo representa a animalidade bela e solta do ser humano?  O melhor do cavalo o ente humano já tem?  Então abdico de ser um cavalo e com glória passo para minha humanidade. O cavalo me indica o que sou.  (Clarice Lispector, Seco Estudo de Cavalos)

I might say:  if I could have chosen, I would have been born a horse.  But - who knows - perhaps the horse itself is unaware of what a great symbol of a life of freedom we see in it.  So then, shall I conclude that the horse exists above all so that I can feel what it is?  Does the horse represent the loose, beautiful animality of the human being?  Is the best of the horse already in us?  Then let me give up being a horse and gloriously move on to my humanity. The horse shows me what I am.  (translation:  Miriam Adelman)