El Jardín de los Nombres
(The Garden of Names)
Elena Irigoyen descubrio la primera nota un sábado de marzo, doblada entre las hojas de un rosal que llevaba meses sin florecer.
Elena Irigoyen discovered the first note on a Saturday in March, folded between the leaves of a rosebush that had not bloomed for months.
Alguien habia escrito con letra diminuta: <<Si cuidas esta planta con paciencia, te prometera flores antes de que termine la primavera.>> Elena miro a su alrededor, pero el jardín comunitario del barrio de Gracia estaba desierto.
Someone had written in tiny handwriting: <<If you care for this plant with patience, it will promise you flowers before spring ends.>> Elena looked around, but the community garden in the Gracia neighbourhood was deserted.
Guardo la nota en el bolsillo de su abrigo y, sin saber por que, sonrio.
She kept the note in the pocket of her coat and, without knowing why, smiled.
Durante las semanas siguientes, Elena encontro mas notas.
Over the following weeks, Elena found more notes.
Quien las escribiera parecia conocer cada rincón del jardín y hablaba de las plantas como si fueran personas con historias propias.
Whoever wrote them seemed to know every corner of the garden and spoke about the plants as if they were people with their own stories.
Una decia: <<El jazmin de la esquina fue plantado por una mujer que queria que su marido, al volver del trabajo, oliera algo hermoso antes de abrir la puerta.>> Otra explicaba que los girasoles habian sido sembrados por los niños de una escuela cercana que ya no existia.
One said: <<The jasmine in the corner was planted by a woman who wanted her husband, upon returning from work, to smell something beautiful before opening the door.>> Another explained that the sunflowers had been sown by the children of a nearby school that no longer existed.
Elena empezo a responder, dejando sus propias notas entre las macetas.
Elena began to respond, leaving her own notes among the flower pots.
Así comenzo un dialogo que duro tres meses.
Thus began a dialogue that lasted three months.
Elena le conto que se habia mudado a Barcelona tras un divorcio y que el jardín era el único lugar donde no se sentia extranjera.
Elena told him that she had moved to Barcelona after a divorce and that the garden was the only place where she did not feel like a foreigner.
El desconocido respondio que el también habia llegado al barrio buscando empezar de nuevo, y que cuidar las plantas le habia ensenado que las cosas rotas podian volver a crecer si se les daba tiempo.
The stranger replied that he too had arrived in the neighbourhood looking to start over, and that caring for the plants had taught him that broken things could grow again if given time.
Ninguno de los dos firmo jamás con su nombre.
Neither of them ever signed with their name.
Ella lo llamaba <<el jardinero>> y el la llamaba <<la lectora>>, porque Elena siempre traia un libro.
She called him <<the gardener>> and he called her <<the reader>>, because Elena always brought a book.
Una tarde de junio, Elena encontro una nota distinta a las demas.
One afternoon in June, Elena found a note different from the others.
No hablaba de plantas ni de historias ajenas.
It did not speak of plants or other people's stories.
Decia: <<Mañana, a las siete, estare sentado en el banco junto al naranjo.
It said: <<Tomorrow, at seven, I will be sitting on the bench by the orange tree.
Si quisieras conocer al jardinero, solo tendrias que venir.
If you wished to meet the gardener, you would only have to come.
Pero si prefieres que sigamos siendo palabras en un papel, lo entendere.
But if you prefer that we continue being words on a piece of paper, I will understand.
A veces las cosas mas bellas son las que no se tocan.>> Elena leyo la nota varias veces.
Sometimes the most beautiful things are those that are not touched.>> Elena read the note several times.
La doblo con cuidado y se la guardo en el bolsillo, junto a todas las demas.
She folded it carefully and put it in her pocket, alongside all the others.
Aquella noche apenas durmio.
That night she barely slept.
Se pregunto si no seria mejor que las cosas quedaran como estaban.
She wondered whether it might not be better for things to remain as they were.
Habia algo perfecto en aquella relación construida unicamente con palabras, algo que tal vez se romperia en cuanto los dos se miraran a los ojos.
There was something perfect about that relationship built solely with words, something that would perhaps break the moment the two of them looked each other in the eye.
Pero también penso en lo que el jardinero habia escrito una vez sobre los rosales: que una flor que nunca se abre no es una flor, sino una promesa que se niega a cumplirse.
But she also thought about what the gardener had once written about the rosebushes: that a flower that never opens is not a flower, but a promise that refuses to be fulfilled.
Al día siguiente, a las siete menos diez, Elena cruzo la verja del jardín con el corazón latiendole en la garganta.
The next day, at ten to seven, Elena crossed the garden gate with her heart beating in her throat.
Vio a un hombre de pelo canoso sentado en el banco, con un libro entre las manos.
She saw a grey-haired man sitting on the bench, with a book in his hands.
El levanto la mirada y sonrio como si la hubiera reconocido, aunque jamás se habian visto. <<Traje un libro>>, dijo Elena, <<por si acaso no vinieras.>> El hombre se rio. <<Yo también>>, respondio, mostrando la cubierta del suyo.
He raised his gaze and smiled as if he had recognised her, although they had never met. <<I brought a book,>> said Elena, <<in case you did not come.>> The man laughed. <<Me too,>> he replied, showing the cover of his.
Era el mismo titulo.
It was the same title.
Se miraron durante un instante que parecio contener todos los meses de palabras escritas entre las hojas.
They looked at each other for a moment that seemed to contain all the months of words written among the leaves.
Luego el se movio hacia un lado del banco, y Elena se sento junto a el, en el espacio que parecia haber estado esperandola desde siempre.
Then he moved to one side of the bench, and Elena sat down beside him, in the space that seemed to have been waiting for her all along.
Key Vocabulary
el rosal rosebush
florecer to bloom, to flower
el desconocido stranger, unknown person
la maceta flower pot, plant pot
la verja gate, railing
canoso/a grey-haired
cumplirse to be fulfilled, to come true
sembrar to sow, to plant
mudarse to move (house)
empezar de nuevo to start over, to begin again