Letter from Monteiro Lobato to Getúlio Vargas (in Portuguese)

São Paulo, 20 de janeiro de 1935

Dr. Getúlio Vargas

   Por intermédio do meu amigo Rônald de Carvalho, procurei no dia 15 do corrente, fazer chegar ao seu conhecimento uma exposição confidencial sobre o caso do petróleo, estou na incerteza se esse escrito chegou a destino. Talvez se perdesse no desastre do dia 20. E como se trata de documento de muita importância pelas revelações que faz, seria de toda conveniência que eu fosse informado a respeito. Nele denuncio as manobras da Standard Oil para senhorear-se das nossas melhores terras potencialmente petrolíferas, confissão feita em carta pelo próprio diretor dos serviços geológicos da Standard Oil of Argentina, que é o tentáculo do polvo que manipula o brasil. E isso com a cooperação efetiva do sr. Victor Oppenheim e Mark Malamphy, elementos seus que essa companhia insinuou ou no Serviço Geológico e agora dirigem tudo lá, sob o olho palerma e inocentíssimo do dr. Fleuri da Rocha. É de tal valor a confissão, que se eu der a público com os respectivos comentários o público ficará seriamente abalado.

   Acabo agora de obter mais uma prova da duplicidade desse Oppenheim, cornaca do Fleuri. Em comunicação reservada que ele enviou para a Argentina ele diz justamente o contrário, quanto às possibilidades petrolíferas do Sul do Brasil, do que faz aqui o Fleuri pelos jornais, com o objetivo de embaraçar a marcha dos trabalhos da Companhia Petróleos.

   O assunto é extremamente sério e faz jus ao exame sereno do Presidente da República, pois que as nossas melhores jazidas de minérios já caíram em mãos estrangeiras e no passo em que as coisas vão o mesmo se dará com as terras potencialmente petrolíferas. E já hoje ninguém poderá negar isso visto que tenho uma carta em que o chefe dos serviços geológicos da Standard ingenuamente confessa tudo, e declara que a intenção dessa companhia é manter o Brasil em estado de "escravização petrolífera".

   Aproveito o ensejo para lembrar que ainda não recebi os papéis, ou estudos preliminares do serviço que V. Excia. Tinha em vista organizar, por ocasião do encontro que tivemos em fins do ano passado, no Palácio Guanabara.

Respeitosamente,

J. B. Monteiro Lobato

"Retrato" by Cecília Meireles (in Portuguese)

Eu não tinha este rosto de hoje,

assim calmo, assim triste, assim magro,

nem estes olhos tão vazios,

nem o lábio amargo.

Eu não tinha estas mãos sem força,

tão paradas e frias e mortas;

eu não tinha este coração

que nem se mostra.

Eu não dei por esta mudança,

tão simples, tão certa, tão fácil:

- Em que espelho ficou perdida a minha face?

"Laudes Creaturarum" by St. Francis of Assisi (in Italian)

Altissimu, onnipotente bon Signore,

Tue so' le laude, la gloria e l'honore et onne benedictione.

Ad Te solo, Altissimo, se konfano,

et nullu homo ène dignu te mentovare.

Ad Te solo, Altissimo, se konfano,

et nullu homo ène dignu te mentovare.

Laudato sie, mi' Signore cum tucte le Tue creature,

spetialmente messor lo frate Sole,

lo qual è iorno, et allumini noi per lui.

Et ellu è bellu e radiante cum grande splendore:

de Te, Altissimo, porta significatione.

Laudato si', mi Signore, per sora Luna e le stelle:

in celu l'ài formate clarite et pretiose et belle.

Laudato si', mi' Signore, per frate Vento

et per aere et nubilo et sereno et onne tempo,

per lo quale, a le Tue creature dài sustentamento.

Laudato si', mi Signore, per sor'Acqua.

la quale è multo utile et humile et pretiosa et casta.

Laudato si', mi Signore, per frate Focu,

per lo quale ennallumini la nocte:

ed ello è bello et iocundo et robustoso et forte.

Laudato si', mi Signore, per sora nostra matre Terra,

la quale ne sustenta et governa,

et produce diversi fructi con coloriti fior et herba.

Laudato si', mi Signore, per quelli che perdonano per lo Tuo amore

et sostengono infrmitate et tribulatione.

Beati quelli ke 'l sosterranno in pace,

ka da Te, Altissimo, sirano incoronati.

Laudato s' mi Signore, per sora nostra Morte corporale,

da la quale nullu homo vivente pò skappare:

guai a quelli ke morrano ne le peccata mortali;

beati quelli ke trovarà ne le Tue sanctissime voluntati,

ka la morte secunda no 'l farrà male.

Laudate et benedicete mi Signore et rengratiate

e serviateli cum grande humilitate.

"The Hunting Of The Snark an Agony in Eight Fits" by Lewis Carroll (Fist the First) (in English)

Fit the First

THE LANDING

     "Just the place for a Snark!" the Bellman cried,

          As he landed his crew with care;

     Supporting each man on the top of the tide

          By a finger entwined in his hair.

     "Just the place for a Snark!  I have said it twice:

          That alone should encourage the crew.

     Just the place for a Snark!  I have said it thrice:

          What I tell you three times is true."

     The crew was complete: it included a Boots—

          A maker of Bonnets and Hoods—

     A Barrister, brought to arrange their disputes—

          And a Broker, to value their goods.

     A Billiard-marker, whose skill was immense,

          Might perhaps have won more than his share—

     But a Banker, engaged at enormous expense,

          Had the whole of their cash in his care.

     There was also a Beaver, that paced on the deck,

          Or would sit making lace in the bow:

     And had often (the Bellman said) saved them from wreck,

          Though none of the sailors knew how.

     There was one who was famed for the number of things

          He forgot when he entered the ship:

     His umbrella, his watch, all his jewels and rings,

          And the clothes he had bought for the trip.

     He had forty-two boxes, all carefully packed,

          With his name painted clearly on each:

     But, since he omitted to mention the fact,

          They were all left behind on the beach.

     The loss of his clothes hardly mattered, because

          He had seven coats on when he came,

     With three pairs of boots—but the worst of it was,

          He had wholly forgotten his name.

     He would answer to "Hi!" or to any loud cry,

          Such as "Fry me!" or "Fritter my wig!"

     To "What-you-may-call-um!" or "What-was-his-name!"

          But especially "Thing-um-a-jig!"

     While, for those who preferred a more forcible word,

          He had different names from these:

     His intimate friends called him "Candle-ends,"

          And his enemies "Toasted-cheese."

     "His form is ungainly—his intellect small—"

          (So the Bellman would often remark)

     "But his courage is perfect!  And that, after all,

          Is the thing that one needs with a Snark."

     He would joke with hyenas, returning their stare

          With an impudent wag of the head:

     And he once went a walk, paw-in-paw, with a bear,

          "Just to keep up its spirits," he said.

     He came as a Baker: but owned, when too late—

          And it drove the poor Bellman half-mad—

     He could only bake Bridecake—for which, I may state,

          No materials were to be had.

     The last of the crew needs especial remark,

          Though he looked an incredible dunce:

     He had just one idea—but, that one being "Snark,"

          The good Bellman engaged him at once.

     He came as a Butcher: but gravely declared,

          When the ship had been sailing a week,

     He could only kill Beavers.  The Bellman looked scared,

          And was almost too frightened to speak:

     But at length he explained, in a tremulous tone,

          There was only one Beaver on board;

     And that was a tame one he had of his own,

          Whose death would be deeply deplored.

     The Beaver, who happened to hear the remark,

          Protested, with tears in its eyes,

     That not even the rapture of hunting the Snark

          Could atone for that dismal surprise!

     It strongly advised that the Butcher should be

          Conveyed in a separate ship:

     But the Bellman declared that would never agree

          With the plans he had made for the trip:

     Navigation was always a difficult art,

          Though with only one ship and one bell:

     And he feared he must really decline, for his part,

          Undertaking another as well.

     The Beaver's best course was, no doubt, to procure

          A second-hand dagger-proof coat—

     So the Baker advised it—and next, to insure

          Its life in some Office of note:

     This the Banker suggested, and offered for hire

          (On moderate terms), or for sale,

     Two excellent Policies, one Against Fire,

          And one Against Damage From Hail.

     Yet still, ever after that sorrowful day,

          Whenever the Butcher was by,

     The Beaver kept looking the opposite way,

          And appeared unaccountably shy.

Untitled Poem by José Thiesen (in Portuguese)

Minha face no espelho
Me olha e sorri.
Minha corrida ao espelho
Levou-me ao nada,
Vazio de angústia brava.
Louco, furioso, no espelho
Recordo o caminho feito.
Quero voltar mas o
Regresso no espelho
É ir mais fundo no vazio
Que ocuparei um dia.

The Return of Doctor Crime by Anonymous (in English)

All Winners Comics Vol.1 #7, December, 1942

"The Song of Songs of Solomon" (Chapter I in Spanish)

1 The Song of Songs of Solomon.

2 Bride: Let him kiss me with kisses of his mouth!

More delightful is your love than wine!

3 Your name spoken is a spreading perfume -

that is why the maidens love you.

4 Draw me!-

Daughters of Jerusalem: We will follow you eagerly!

Bride: Bring me, O king, to your chambers.

Daughters of Jerusalem: With you we rejoice and exult,

we extol your love; it is beyond wine:

how rightly you are loved!

(First Poem)

5 Bride: I am as dark-but lovely,

O daughters of Jerusalem -

As the tents of Kedar,

as the curtains of Salma.

6 Do not stare at me because I am swarthy,

because the sun has burned me.

My brothers have been angry with me;

they charged me with the care of the vineyards:

my own vineyard I have not cared for.

7 Bride: Tell me, you whom my heart loves,

where you pasture your flock,

where you give them rest at midday,

Lest I be found wandering

after the flocks of your companions.

8 Bridegroom: If you do not know,

O most beautiful among women,

Follow the tracks of the flock

and pasture the young ones

near the shepherds' camps.

9 Bridegroom: To the steeds of Pharaoh's chariots

would I liken you, my beloved:

10 Your cheeks lovely in pendants,

your neck in jewels.

11 We will make pendants of gold for you,

and silver ornaments.

12 Bride: For the king's banquet

my nard gives forth its fragrance.

13 My lover is for me a sachet of myrrh

to rest in my bosom.

14 My lover is for me a cluster of henna

from the vineyards of Engedi.

15 Bridegroom: Ah, you are beautiful, my beloved,

ah, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves!

16 Bride: Ah, you are beautiful, my lover -

yes, you are lovely.

Our couch, too, is verdant;

17 the beams of our house are cedars,

our rafters, cypresses.