Treinta y nueve

Mi amiga Sole dice que tengo que contar esto. El 12 de mayo de 2013 recibí el siguiente mensaje de la revista Astronomy:

Dear Guillermo,
I'm writing to inform you that your entry has been selected as one of the winners of the The Queen/Brian May Stereo Cards Contest. Congratulations!

Fue un concurso organizado por Astronomy Magazine, de relatos breves (¡200 palabras!) sobre temas de Queen. El premio era un visor 3D de la London Stereoscopic Society, una compañía de fotografías estereoscópicas de la era victoriana. ¿Y por qué sobre temas de Queen? Porque Brian May, astrónomo, guitarrista de Queen y coleccionista de fotos estereoscópicas antiguas, estaba contribuyendo a refundar la compañía. El premio incluía el visor y un set de astrofotos estereoscópicas (¿estereofotos astroscópicas?) autografiado por Brian May. Pueden verlo aquí al lado.

Mi relato fue sobre '39, un tema de May de Una noche en la Ópera. Escribí 400 palabras y lo podé hasta llegar a 221, y pasó. Y gané. Aquí está (en inglés, puse una traducción al final):

"In the year of '39 assembled here the Volunteers..."

   I always thought it was World War II, which began in '39. I fumble through the booklet for the lyrics...
   They sail away, they are brave. Never looked back, never feared, never cried. They must be soldiers. But suddenly...

"In the year of  '39 came a ship in from the blue. The Volunteers came home that day..."

  How could I never notice! The ship descends from the sky the same year of departure. That cannot be the War. "The Earth is old and grey" is not a metaphor of war desolation. It's actually old! They return from interstellar travel at lightspeed, experiencing time dilation. And there it is, plainly written:

"For so many years have gone, though I'm older but a year..."

"Your mother's eyes in your eyes cry to me." Never got that verse. Now it's clear: the Volunteer meets her grownup grand-daughter, tears in her eyes that resemble her mother's. A sad note, perhaps her mother's dead by now. A century has passed! They traveled far away in space, but also traveled in time. They left a world, a life, behind.
   Yet, there is life still ahead. They traveled to the future! Would *I* volunteer? For a trip to the future?
   Definitely.

"Pity me."

---

En castellano:

   "En el año '39 se reunieron aquí los Voluntarios..." Siempre creí que era la Segunda Guerra Mundial, que comenzó en el '39. Rebusco en el librito de letras... Parten, son valientes. Nunca miran atrás, no tienen miedo, no lloran. Deben ser soldados. Y de golpe...

"En el año '39 descendió del cielo una nave. Los Voluntarios regresaron ese día..."

    ¡Cómo nunca me di cuenta! La nave desciende del cielo el mismo año que partieron. Esto no puede ser la Guerra. "La Tierra es vieja y gris" no es una metáfora de la desolación bélica. ¡Es realmente más vieja! Están regresando de un viaje espacial a velocidad de la luz, y han sufrido la dilatación temporal. Ahí está, en letras de molde: 

"Tantos años han pasado, pero he envejecido apenas un año..."

    "Los ojos de tu madre, en tus ojos, lloran." Nunca había entendido este verso. Ahora me queda claro: el Voluntario se encuentra con su nieta ya crecida, con lágrimas en los ojos que recuerdan los de su madre. Una nota de tristeza, ya que tal vez su madre haya muerto. ¡Ha pasado un siglo! Ha sido un largo viaje en el espacio, pero también en el tiempo. Dejaron atrás un mundo, una vida. 
    Aun así, hay una vida por delante. ¡Viajaron al futuro! ¿Me ofrecería *yo* como voluntario? ¿Para un viaje al futuro?
    Definitivamente. 

"Pobre de mí."

El relato original, el doble de largo:

   "The song’s protagonist goes through a great terror in his interstellar journey." What? Really? Can it be so? I always thought it was a song about the War! But wait! Now that you mention it... Now I know that Brian May is an astronomer, something I didn't know back in the eigthies when I came to know Queen.
    "Darling! Where's A Night at the Opera?". In times of virtual music flying around the networks, home and world wide, I wanted the disc. The disc, A Night at the Opera, one of my first CD's. It had a booklet with the lyrics. Here it is. In goes the disc and out comes the music. We miss Queen. 

In the year of '39 assembled here the Volunteers... 

   There! It's the War, it has to be, '39 was the first year of the War! I fumble through the booklet to find the lyrics, I don't want to trust my ears, English is not my first language...
   Let's see. They sail away, they are brave. Never looked back, never feared, never cried. They must be soldiers. But suddenly...

In the year of '39 came a ship in from the blue, the Volunteers came home that day. 

   Wait! There it  is! How could I never noticed! I have a PhD in Physics! The ship descends from heaven the same year of their brave departure. Than cannot be the War. So the Earth is old and grey not out of a metaphore of desolation brought about by war. It's actually old! They return from an interstellar travel at lightspeed. They have experienced time dilation. And there it is, written clearly before everybody's eyes:

For so many years have gone, though I'm older but a year.

   And then: Your mother's eyes in your eyes cry to me. I never got that verse, and now it's clear: the Volunteer is meeting her own grown up grand-daughter, with tears in her eyes that resemble her mother's. It's a sad note, perhaps her mother's dead by now. Decades have passed! They have traveled far away in space. They have a world so newly born. But hey have also traveled in time, far into the future, and left a world, a life, behind. 
   Yet, there is life still ahead. They have traveled to the future! Would *I* volunteer? For a trip to the future? Definitely. 

Pity me.