August 11, 2011

Kiss the Bishop


One evening, Borges was invited to some dinner with conspicuous and boring people. He was rather shy and preferred to stay at home with his Mom and Beppo, the cat. But there he was that evening, trying to do small talk with a boring woman, a "big fan" of his literature, bla bla bla, the usual bullshit.

Borges excused himself telling her that he had to "greet the Bishop". She understood, and he in fact went to the restrooms to take a leak. I am not sure if this was a typical saying of him, or if he used it only that time.

In any case, the misfortune was on his side. A bit later, he met the same woman again. And she was excited again of meeting Borges again: "Did you meet the Bishop?", she asked him quite glad. "Yes". "Did you remember that you have to kiss the Bishop? Not the usual handshaking"...

Borges smiled prickly, turned around and left her wondering what had she done wrong.



Rogelio Cuéllar, Borges taking a pee (1973)

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