bon-bon

Bon-Bon

Quand un bon vin meuble mon estomac, 

Je suis plus savant que Balzac ---

Plus sage que Pibrac;

Mon brass seul faisant l'attaque

De la nation Cossaque,

La mettroit au sac;

De Charon je passerois le lac,

En dormant dans son bac;

J'irois au fier Eac,

Sans que mon coeur fit tic ni tac,

Présenter du tabac.

French Vaudeville.

THAT Pierre Bon-Bon was a restaurateur of uncommon qualifications, no man who, during the reign of ---------, frequented the little Câfé in the cul-de-sac Le Febvre at Rouen, will, I imagine, feel himself at liberty to dispute. That Pierre Bon-Bon was, in an equal degree, skilled in the philosophy of that period is, I presume, still more especially undeniable. His patés à la fois were beyond doubt immaculate; but what pen can do

justice to his essays sur la Nature --- his thoughts sur l'Ame --- his observations sur l'Esprit ? If his omelettes --- if his fricandeaux were inestimable, what littérateur of that day would not have given twice as much for an "Idée de Bon-Bon" as for all the trash of "Idées" of all the rest of the savants ? Bon-Bon had ransacked libraries which no other man had ransacked --- had more than any other would have entertained a notion of  reading- had understood more than any other would have conceived the possibility of understanding; and although, while he flourished, there were not wanting some authors at Rouen to assert "that his dicta evinced neither the purity of the Academy, nor the depth of the Lyceum" --- although, mark me, his doctrines were by no means very generally comprehended, still it did not follow that they were difficult of comprehension. It was, I think, on account of their self-evidency that many persons were led to consider them abstruse. It is to Bon-Bon --- but let this go no farther --- it is to Bon-Bon that Kant himself is mainly indebted for his metaphysics. The former was indeed not a Platonist, nor strictly speaking an Aristotelian --- nor did he, like the modern Leibnitz, waste those precious hours which might be employed in the invention of a fricasée or, facili gradu, the analysis of a sensation, in frivolous attempts at reconciling the obstinate oils and waters of ethical discussion. Not at all. Bon-Bon was Ionic --- Bon-Bon was equally Italic. He reasoned a priori --- He reasoned also a posteriori. His ideas were innate --- or otherwise. He believed in George of Trebizonde --- He believed in Bossarion [Bessarion].

Bon-Bon was emphatically a --- Bon-Bonist. I have spoken of the philosopher in his capacity of restaurateur. I would not, however, have any friend of mine imagine that, in fulfilling his hereditary duties in that line, our hero wanted a proper estimation of their dignity and importance. Far from it. It was

impossible to say in which branch of his profession he took the greater pride. In his opinion the powers of the intellect held intimate connection with the capabilities of the stomach. I am not sure, indeed, that he greatly disagreed with the Chinese, who held that the soul lies in the abdomen. The Greeks at all events were right, he thought, who employed the same words for the mind and the diaphragm.* By this I do not mean to

insinuate a charge of gluttony, or indeed any other serious charge to the prejudice of the metaphysician. If Pierre Bon-Bon had his failings --- and what great man has not a thousand? --- if Pierre Bon-Bon, I say, had his failings, they were failings of very little importance --- faults indeed which, in other tempers, have often been looked upon rather in the light of virtues. As regards one of these foibles, I should not even have mentioned it in this history but for the remarkable prominency --- the extreme alto relievo --- in which it jutted out from the plane of his general disposition. He could never let slip an opportunity of making a bargain.

Bon-bon

Edgar Allan Poe

publicado no Philadelphia Saturday Courier, decembro 1832

traducido por Eva Almazán

Bon-bon

Galaxia, 2009

Quand un bon vin meuble mon estomac,Je suis plus savant que Balzac, 
Plus sage que Pibrac; 
Mon seul bras faisant l’attaque 
De la nation Cossaque 
La mettroit au sac; 
De Charon je passerois le lac 
En dormant dans son bac; 
J’irois au fier Eac, 
Sans que mon coeur fit tic ni tac, 
Présenter du tabac. (Vaudeville francés)

Non creo que ningún dos parroquiáns que, durante o reinado de... frecuentaban o pequeno café no cul-de-sac Le Febre, en Rúan, esté disposto a negar que Pierre Bon-Bon era un restaurador de notable capacidade. Paréceme aínda máis difícil negar que Pierre Bon-Bon era igualmente ben versado na filosofía do seu tempo. Os seus pâtés de foies eran intachables, pero, ¿qué pluma podría facer xustiza aos seus ensaios sobre a Natureza, aos seus pensamentos sobre l’âme, as súas observacións sobre l’esprit? Se as súas omelettes, se os seus fricandeaux eran inestimables, ¿qué literato da época non daría o dobre por unha idea de Bon-Bon que pola despreciable suma de todas as ideas dos savants? Bon-Bon explorara bibliotecas que para outros homes eran inexploradas; lera máis do que outros podían chegar a concebir como lectura, comprendera máis do que outros houberan imaxinado posible comprender; e se ben non faltaban na época do seu florecemento algúns escritores de Rúan para quenes «a súa dicta non evidenciaba nin a pureza da Academia, nin a profundidade do Liceo», e a pesar, nótese ben, de que as súas doctrinas non eran comprendidas de maneira moi xeral, non se sigue empero de  que fosen difíciles de comprender. Penso que a súa propia evidencia facía que moitas personas as tomaran por abstrusas. Kant mismo -pero non levemos as cuosas máis alá- debe principalmente a súa metafísica a Bon-Bon. Este no era platónico nin, falando en rigor, aristotélico; tampouco, a semellanza de Leibniz, malgastaba preciosas horas que podían emplearse mellor inventando unha fricassée ou, facili gradu, analizando unha sensación, en frívolas tentativas de reconciliar todo o que hai de inconciliable nas discusiónd éticas. ¡Oh non! Bon-Bon era xónico. Bon-Bon era igualmente itálico. Razoaba a priori. Razoaba a posteriori. As súas ideas eran innatas... ou de outra maneira. Creía en Jorge de Trebizonda. Creía en Bessarion.

Bon-Bon era, enfáticamente... Bon-Bonista. 
Falei do filósofo na súa calidade de restaurador. Non quixera, empero, que algún dos meus amigos vaia a imaxinarse que, ao cumplir os seus hereditarios deberes nesta última profesión,  o noso heroe deixaba de estimar a súa dignidade e a súa importancia. ¡Lonxe delo! Sería imposible dicir cal das dúas ramas do seu traballo inspiráballe maior orgullo. Opinaba que as facultades intelectuais estaban íntimamente vinculadas coa capacidade estomacal. Incluso non creo que estiviera moi en desacordo cos chinos, para quenes o alma reside no estómago. Pensaba que, como quixera que fose, os gregos tiñan razón ao emplear a misma palabra para a mente e o diafragma . Non pretendo insinuar con esto unha acusación de glotonería, ou cualquer outra imputación grave en perxuizo do metafísico. Se Pierre Bon-Bon tiña as súas debilidades -¿e que gran home non as ten por miles?-, eran debilidades de menor cuantía, faltas que, en outros caracteres, suelen considerarse con frecuencia a luz das virtudes. Con respeto a unha destas debilidades, nin sequera a mencionaría neste relato se non fora pola súa notable prominencia, o extremo alto rilievo co que asoma no plano ds súas características xerais. Hela aquí: xamáis perdía a oportunidade de facer un trato.