Testamento [English translation]

This is my last will and testament

that I write with a foot out the door,

that I write with a foot inside the door

of this world and whatever comes next.

I will now split my wealth,

I will now split my inheritance

in six equal parts,

in the manner here described.

One sixth for the bishop

so he can expand his church,

though in truth I don’t know why

if it almost never fills.

Other sixth for the quack

so he can expand his knowledge,

and thus when his patients die

he doesn’t get guilt pangs.

Another sixth for the bachelorettes

for perfumes and silks,

and a shrine to St. Anthony

with room for more candles.

Another sixth for the City Hall

so they can invest in public works,

even though the mayor will do

whatever he feels like doing.

Another sixth to my landlady

to which I owed a thousand debts,

so that maybe she’ll finally

get to fixing those leaks.

And lastly, the other sixth

I leave for my epitaph

where one can read

with neat and clear letters:

Here lie the bones,

for he was but bones when he lived,

of a man whom they even couldn´t

study his anatomy.

Here lie the remains

of a defiant politic

that didn’t turn the other cheek,

though he was hit in both nonetheless.

Of one who harbored no jealousy,

of one who had no prejudice

and thus Death reached him

with a perfectly sound mind.

Of one who didn’t bathe in wine

his stomach and his misfortunes,

and in his eighty years

never saw democracy.