DE LA UNIVERSIDAD DE PUERTO RICO
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Let yourself go on Ponce's two trips to the Youth brings into om· story thc themc of mainland, his discovery of Florida, for there you•h anel ag·e and the fear of death, the hope you touch the precedent knowledge and con- that relentless time may relcnt, the dream of tinental pride of your presumable readcrs. a magic to cheat the mathcmatical universe, Establish, as well as you can, the places where nnd ali the pitiful protest of pitiful humanity. he landed. Describe the Timucua Indians, of It is the Fountain of Youth that gives us sud· denly a glimpse into the secret spirit of Ponce. whom, as it happens, we know a good deal. And give everything you've got to the Foun- It is this story that links him to Faust, that tain of Youth. It is, in fact, something of a makes him material for poetic tragedy. (Inproblem. The Pereas, in theit· book, scoff at deed, it is this theme that made him the subthe whole story, saying that it was a medicinal ject of Eugene O'Neill's worst play.) sp1ing. Others say that Ponce could have beYou will, finally, do your best bit of fine lieved no such foolish tale; he was merely writing on Ponce's death. He was wounded seeking a new territory over which to rule. by thc arrows of the fierce Flo1idians, in CharBut Oviedo says: "I have seen the Fountain's lotte Harbor, where now the well-fed fisher• work, in turning Ponce childish." Other men gather, ami the aged come to sit motion· chroniclers suggest that Ponce actually be- less in the sun. He was carried to Havana, lieved in it, as the Indians and many of the · and there died of bis wound. In Florida Pon· Spanish did. The Spaniards under Menéndez ce found no fountain of youth; he found de Avila, a half century later, are said to death. have rolled in eve1·y mudpuddlc in Florida, just Your work is done. What have you got? on thc chance. And Castellanos reports: Perhaps a sober, factual account, deriving its interest from the facts. Such a book will inEntre los más antiguos desta gente terest scholars, who are not, after ali, nume· Había muchos indios que declan 1·ous. From the point of view of the general De la Bimini, isla prepotente, render, the faults of such a book may be dryDonde varias naciones acudían, ness, diffuseness, the stalling of the narrativa Por las virtudes grandes de su fuente, by the argument of each disputed point as it Do viejos en mancebos se volvían, occurs. Y donde las mujeres más ancianas Or perhaps you will have a more or less Deshacían las rugas y las canas. romanticized biofiction. Your inventions will fill the gaps between the known facts; your Bebiendo de. sus aguas pocas veces. interpretation of Ponce's character will bulk Lavando las cansadas propo1·ciones; lnrge. The virtues of such a book will be proPerdían fealdades ele vejeces, c!uct of your honesty and your imngination. Los rostros adobaban y las teces, Its faults may be that your inventions are not Puesto que no mudaban las faiciones; in kcy, that they are not vigorously enough Y por no desear de ser doncellas imagined, and that they rebuff the render who Del agua lo salían todas ellas. reads for "instruction without nppea!ing to the one who reads only for pleasure. Decían admirables influencias Whatever its virtues and its faults, your De sus floridos campos y florestas; book is done. Wrap it up securely and send No se veían aún las apariencias it off to a publishcr. And pray. U the pubDe las cosas que suelen ser molestas, Iisher sends it back, send it to another pt.b· No sabían que son litispendencias, lisher. There are plenty of publishers. If a Sino gozos, placeres, graneles fiestas; dozen publishers return it without any encouAl fin nos la pintaban de manera raging words, you may fairly conclude that Que cobraban allí la edad primera. your book is not marketable, in the competiIt is too soon, perhaps, to come to a con- tive book world. This may make you feel bad. clusión whether Ponce believed in the Foun· But if you are a real w1·ite1-, you will not care tain of Youth. At lcast, it would be more inmuch, because you will be busy writing anteresting if he did. For the Fountain of other book.
