I saw nothing but that light then as I drew blood. And then this next thing, this next thing was… sound. A dull roar at first and then a pounding like the pounding of a drum, growing louder and louder, as if some enormous creature were coming up on one slowly trough a dark and alien forest, pounding as he came, a huge drum. And then there came the pounding of another drum, as if another giant were coming yards behind him, and each giant, intent on his own drum, gave no notice to the rhythm of the other. The sound grew louder and louder until it seemed to fill not just my hearing but all my senses, to be throbbing in my lips and fingers, in the flesh of my temples, in my veins. Above all, in my veins, drum and then the other drum; and then Lestat pulled his wrist free suddenly, and I opened my eyes and checked myself in a moment of reaching for his wrist, grabbing it, forcing it back to my mouth at all costs; I checked myself because I realized that the drum was my heart, and the second drum had been his.

It was as if I had only just been able to see colors and shapes for the first time. I was so enthralled with the buttons on Lestat's black coat that I looked at nothing else for a long time. Then Lestat began to laugh, and I heard his laughter as I had never heard anything before. His heart I still heard like the beating of a drum, and now came this metallic laughter. It was confusing, each sound running into the next sound, like the mingling reverberations of bells, until I learned to separate the sounds, and then they overlapped, each soft but distinct, increasing but discrete, peals of laughter.

Then shall happen what seems great tidings: the Wolf shall swallow the sun; and this shall seem to men a great harm. Then the other wolf shall seize the moon, and he also shall work great ruin; the stars shall vanish from the heavens. Then shall come to pass these tidings also: all the earth shall tremble so, and the crags, that trees shall be torn up from the earth, and the crags fall to ruin; and all fetters and bonds shall be broken and rent. Then shall Fenris-Wolf get loose; then the sea shall gush forth upon the land, because the Midgard Serpent stirs in giant wrath and advances up onto the land. Then that too shall happen, that Naglfar shall be loosened, the ship which is so named. (It is made of dead men's nails; wherefore a warning is desirable, that if a man die with unshorn nails, that man adds much material to the ship Naglfar, which gods and men were fain to have finished late.) Yet in this sea-flood Naglfar shall float. Hrymr is the name of the giant who steers Naglfar. Fenris-Wolf shall advance with gaping mouth, and his lower jaw shall be against the earth, but the upper against heaven,—he would gape yet more if there were room for it; fires blaze from his eyes and nostrils.

…a river of clear water that ran along a bed of polished stones, which were white and enormous, like prehistoric eggs.

So there was Zeus, father of gods and men, pacing beside Lake Triton in Libya. Every step he took reverberated with the crashing headache that hammered inside his skull. He thought his head would burst. He roared. It took Hermes to see what had to be done. He called up Hephaestus the smith-god, or maybe Prometheus the Titan, or maybe both of them, so great was that headache. And between them, they swung the axe and split Zeus's head right open.

And then

Out sprang Athene!

Full-grown, and fully-armoured too, shaking that golden spear of hers, a bellow of a war-cry on her lips, in a great shower of golden rain.

[Robert A. Taylor:] “When I sat down at the LINC it had a little six-inch green and white display that looked like an oscilloscope […] You could turn up the speed, type an A on the keyboard, and the A would appear on the screen very quickly—the A was made of dots, like a dot-matrix printout […] You could see that this machine was building up a complicated reality through millions and millions of yes-no decisions.”

THE POOL PLAYERS.
SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL.
We real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.

Instructions on how to climb a staircase

No one will have failed to observe that frequently the floor bends in such a way that one part rises at a right angle to the plane formed by the floor and then the following section arranges itself parallel to the flatness, so as to provide a step to a new perpendicular, a process which is repeated in a spiral or in a broken line to highly variable elevations. Ducking down and placing the left hand on one of the vertical parts and right hand upon the the corresponding horizontal, one is in momentary possesion of a step or stair. Each one of these steps, formed as we have seen by two elements, is situated somewhat higher and further than the one prior, a principle which gives the idea of a staircase, while whatever other combination, producing perhaps more beautiful or picturesque shapes, would surely be incapable of translating one from the ground floor to the first floor.

You tackle a stairway face on, for if you try it backwards or sideways, it ends up being particularly uncomfortable. The natural stance consists of holding oneself upright, arms hanging easily at the sides, head erect but not so much so that the eyes no longer see the steps immediately above, while one tramps up, breathing lightly and with regularity. To climb a staircase one begins by lifting that part of the body located below and to the right, usually encased in leather or deerskin, and which, with a few exceptions, fits exactly on the stair. Said part set down on the first step (to abbreviate we shall call it “the foot”), one draws up the equivalent part on the left side (also called “foot” but not to be confused with “the foot” cited above), and lifting this other part to the level of “the foot,” makes it continue along until it is set in place on the second step, at which point the foot will rest, and “the foot” will rest on the first. (The first steps are always the most difficult, until you acquire the necessary coordination. The coincidence of names between the foot and “the foot” makes the explanation more difficult. Be especially careful not to raise, at the same time, the foot and “the foot.”)

Having arrived by this method at the second step, it's easy enough to repeat the movements alternately, until one reaches the top of the staircase. One gets off it easily, with a light tap of the heel to fix it in place, to make sure it will not move until one is ready to come down.

Instructions on how to cry

Putting the reasons for crying aside for the moment, we might concentrate on the correct way to cry, which, be it understood, means a weeping that doesn't turn into a big commotion nor proves an affront to the smile with its parallel and dull similarity. The average, everyday weeping consists of a general contraction of the face and a spasmodic sound accompanied by tears and mucus, this last toward the end, since the cry ends at the point when one energetically blows one's nose.

In order to cry, steer the imagination toward yourself, and if this proves impossible owing to having contracted the habit of believing in the exterior world, think of a duck covered with ants or of those gulfs in the Strait of Magellan into which no one sails, ever.

Coming to the weeping itself, cover the face decorously, using both hands, palms inward. Children are to cry with the sleeve of the dress or shirt pressed against the face, preferably in a corner of the room. Average duration of the cry, three minutes.

I swallow my soup. Then in the midst of what I am reading, I think: “The soup is in me, I have it in this pouch which I will never see, my stomach.” I feel with two fingers and I touch the mass, the motion of the food there inside. And I am this, a bag with food inside of it.

I am reading The Waves […]. A foot below my eyes some soup is slowly moving about in my stomach pouch, a hair is growing on my thigh, an imperceptible sebaceous cyst is coming out of my shoulder.

Anyone who doesn't read Cortázar is doomed. Not to read him is a serious invisible disease which in time can have terrible consequences. Something similar to a man who has never tasted peaches. He would quietly become sadder… and, probably, little by little, he would lose his hair.

This book [Cronopios and Famas] is a golden nettle. Those who poke at it gingerly and are stung will still bring away tiny splinters of pure gold.

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes
—The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

…his perception and his memory were infallible.

We, in a glance, perceive three wine glasses on the table; Funes saw all the shoots, clusters and grapes of the vine. He remembered the shapes of the clouds in the south at dawn on the 30th of April of 1882, and he could compare them in his recollection with the marbled grain in the design of a leather-bound book, which he had seen only once, and with the lines in the spray which an oar raised in the Rio Negro on the eve of the battle of Quebracho. These recollections were not simple; each visual image was linked to muscular sensations, thermal sensations, etc. He could reconstruct all his dreams, all his fancies. Two or three times he had reconstructed an entire day.

[…]

A circumference on a blackboard, a rectangular triangle, a rhomb, are forms which we can fully intuit; the same held true with Ireneo for the tempestuous mane of a stallion, a herd of cattle in a pass, the ever-changing flame or the innumerable ash, the many faces of a dead man during the course of a protracted wake. He could perceive I do not know how many stars in the sky.

Reading Jorge Luis Borges is an experience akin to having the top of one's head removed for repairs. First comes the unfamiliar breeze tickling your cerebral cortex; then disorientation, even mild discomfort; and finally, the sense that the world has been irrevocably altered—and in this case, rendered infinitely more complex.

Why should we cherish all sentient beings?
Because sentient beings are the roots of the tree-of-awakening.
The Bodhisattvas and the Buddhas are the flowers and fruits.
Compassion is the water for the roots.

Fifty classes of beings assembled, from myriad bodhisattvas to infinite numbers of bees and insects […] Buddha Sakyamuni lay down on his right side [dying] his head placed in the north and his feet south. His face facing west and his back east, he immediately entered four stages of meditation, and attained Parinirvana […] Thereupon, the arhats,, who were in the state of complete freedom from worldly attachment, forgot their rule of asceticism; bodhisattvas, who were making efforts to reach a higher state of bodhisattvahood, let go their wisdom of knowing the brirthlessness of myriad beings. Guhyapada threw away his vajra staff and howled into the sky. Great Brahma threw away his net and collapsed on the ground. The king of myriad lions threw himself on the ground and wailed. The water birds, wild geese, and ducks felt deep sorrow. Lion, tiger, boor, and deer all stood hoof-to-hoof, forgetting to attack one another. Gibbons and dogs saddened by grief dropped their heads; […] the great earth shook and quaked; the great mountains collapsed; plants and trees, groves and forest, all cried out their grief.

Arjuna: “Krishna, I totally accept as truth all that you have told me. Neither the gods nor demons, Lord, know Thy personality.

Indeed, you alone know yourself by your own potencies, origin of all, lord of all beings, God of gods, supreme person, lord of the universe!

Please tell me in detail of your divine powers by which you pervade all these worlds and abide in them.

How shall I meditate on you? In what various forms are you to be remembered, Blessed lord?

Tell me again in detail, Janardan [Krishna], of your mighty potencies and glories, for I never tire of hearing your ambrosial words.”

Krishna: “Yes, I will tell you of my splendorous manifestations, but only of those which are prominent, Arjuna, for my opulence is limitless.

I am the Self, Gudakesa, seated in the hearts of all creatures. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings.

Of the Adityas I am Visnu, of lights I am the radiant sun, I am Marici of the Maruts, and among the stars I am the moon.

Of the Vedas I am the Sama Veda; of the devas [gods] I am Indra; of the senses I am the mind, and in living beings I am the living force [knowledge].

Of all the Rudras I am Lord Siva; of the Yaksas and Raksasas I am the lord of wealth [Kuvera]; of the Vasus I am fire [Agni], and of mountains I am Meru.

Of priests, Arjuna, know me to be the chief, Brhaspati, the lord of devotion. Of generals I am Skanda, the lord of war; and of bodies of water I am the ocean.

Of the great sages I am Bhrgu; of vibrations I am the supernatural om. Of sacrifices I am the chanting of the holy names [japa], and of immovable things I am the Himalayas.

Of all trees I am the holy fig tree, and among sages and devas I am Narada. Of singers of the gods [Gandharvas] I am Citraratha, and among perfected beings I am the sage Kapila.

Of horses know me to be Uccaihsrava, who rose out of the ocean, born of the elixir of immortality; of lordly elephants I am Airavata, and among men I am the monarch.

Of weapons I am the thunderbolt; among cows I am the surabhi, givers of abundant milk. Of procreators I am Kandarpa, the god of love, and of serpents I am Vasuki, the chief.

Of the celestial Naga snakes I am Ananta; of the aquatic deities I am Varuna. Of departed ancestors I am Aryama, and among the dispensers of law I am Yama, lord of death.

Among the Daitya demons I am the devoted Prahlada; among subduers I am time; among beasts I am the lion, and among birds I am Garuda, the feathered carrier of Visnu.

Of purifiers I am the wind; of the wielders of weapons I am Rama; of fishes I am the shark, and of flowing rivers I am the Ganges.

Of all creations I am the beginning and the end and also the middle, Arjuna. Of all sciences I am the giant science of the self, and among logicians I am the conclusive truth.

Of letters I am the letter A, and among compound words I am the dual compound. I am also inexhaustible time, and of creators I am Brahma, whose manifold faces turn everywhere.

I am all-devouring death, and I am the generator of all things yet to be. Among women I am fame, fortune, speech, memory, intelligence, faithfulness and patience.

Of hymns I am the Brhat-sama sung to the lord Indra, and of poetry I am the Gayatri verse, sung daily by Brahmanas. Of months I am November and December, and of seasons I am flower-bearing spring.

I am also the gambling of cheats, and of the splendid I am the splendor. I am victory, I am adventure, and I am the strength of the strong.

Of the descendants of Vrsni I am Vasudeva, and of the Pandavs I am Arjuna. Of the sages I am Vyasa, and among great thinkers I am Usana.

Among punishments I am the rod of chastisement, and of those who seek victory I am morality. Of secret things I am silence, and of the wise I am wisdom.

Furthermore, Arjuna, I am the generating seed of all existences. There is no being —moving or unmoving— that can exist without me.

Mighty conqueror of enemies, there's no end to my divine manifestations. What I have spoken to you is but a mere indication of my infinite opulences.

Know that all beautiful, glorious, and mighty creations spring from but a spark of my splendor.

But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of myself I pervade and support this entire universe.”

The stupendous aqueducts, so justly celebrated by the praises of Augustus himself, replenished the Thermoe, or baths, which had been constructed in every part of the city, with Imperial magnificence. The baths of Antoninus Caracalla, which were open, at stated hours, for the indiscriminate service of the senators and the people, contained above sixteen hundred seats of marble; and more than three thousand were reckoned in the baths of Diocletian. The walls of the lofty apartments were covered with curious mosaics, that imitated the art of the pencil in the elegance of design, and the variety of colors. The Egyptian granite was beautifully encrusted with the precious green marble of Numidia; the perpetual stream of hot water was poured into the capacious basins, through so many wide mouths of bright and massy silver; and the meanest Roman could purchase, with a small copper coin, the daily enjoyment of a scene of pomp and luxury, which might excite the envy of the kings of Asia.