Cantos Cautivos
The Man Who Transformed into an Animal (El hombre que se convirtió en animal)
- Music piece by:Sergio Vesely
- Testimony by:Sergio Vesely
- Experience in:
I wrote this song shortly after reading Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, one of the books that circulated in Camp Melinka from hand to hand and cabin to cabin.
I presume I don’t have to explain who is the one experiencing the metamorphosis here.
Due to security considerations, these verses were only sung in a low voice and before a selected audience of political prisoners.
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Published on: 23 September 2015
of the example of a servile being
the owner of his garments but not his mind.
A despicable, obedient biped
who sickened craving power
despite his suffering
but sobbed like a madman
because he couldn’t be brave
living in a subjugated skin.
Then he grew a fierce fang,
claws grew out of each limb
and with them, he dug a lair in the dirt.
Finally, the beast in him was born.
His hunger became so voracious
His cruelty knew no bounds
And his brain was a stomach
a tomb for all fantasy
a prison of imagination.
After three years of training
He decided to fulfil his greatest aspiration,
Attack the home of the regent
who was a sharp and eloquent man.
He readied the battalion
cleaned the cannon barrel
and ordered the troops to fire
while he shined the boot
that he would wear as a dictator.
And as of that moment
No one could save that man
from going down into the animal’s den
where he ended up
just like his ancestor.
Related testimonies:
- The Black King (El rey negro) Sergio Vesely, Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1975
One cold winter night of 1975, the small clinic of Melinka, in the Puchuncaví Detention Camp, became the setting for a touching story.
- National Anthem of Chile Boris Chornik Aberbuch, Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, March 1975
The Puchuncaví detention camp’s daily routine included mandatory participation in the ceremonies of raising and taking down the Chilean flag on the flagpole at the entrance to the camp.
- Dreams of my Imprisonment (Sueños de mi encierro) Mario Patricio Cordero Cedraschi, Cárcel de Valparaíso, Winter of 1975
I’d spent two years in prison and there was no end in sight for my time in jail. I observed during visiting hours that many prisoners had children, a wife, family.
- Ode to Joy (Himno a la alegría) Luis Madariaga, Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1974 - 1976
In prison, we would sing the 'Ode to Joy' when a comrade was released or sent to exile.
- To Sing by Improvising (Pa’ cantar de un improviso) Claudio Enrique Durán Pardo (Kila Chico), Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, June 1975
We made a Venezuelan cuatro from a large plank of wood attached to one of the walls of the "ranch" where we ate.
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