Mirrors Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Epigraph

  BORN OF DESIRE

  A FEAST ON FOOT

  THE TROUBLEMAKER

  CAVES

  ORIGIN OF FIRE

  ORIGIN OF BEAUTY

  SAHARA’S GREENERY

  HOW COULD WE?

  AGES

  COUSINS

  GRANDPARENTS

  BRIEF HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION

  ORIGIN OF POLLUTION

  ORIGIN OF SOCIAL CLASSES

  SERFS AND LORDS

  RULERS AND RULED

  ORIGIN OF THE DIVISION OF LABOR

  ORIGIN OF WRITING

  BORN OF CLAY

  ORIGIN OF THE DAYS

  ORIGIN OF THE TAVERN

  RITES OF THE TABLE

  BRIEF HISTORY OF BEER

  BRIEF HISTORY OF WINE

  THE KING WHO WANTED TO LIVE FOREVER

  ANOTHER ADVENTURE IN IMMORTALITY

  BORN OF TEARS

  NILE

  STONE THAT SPEAKS

  WRITING, NO

  WRITING, YES

  OSIRIS

  ISIS

  SAD KING

  ORIGIN OF THE HEN

  HATSHEPUT

  THE OTHER PYRAMID

  GOD OF WAR

  THEATER OF WAR

  ART OF WAR

  HORROR OF WAR

  YELLOW

  YI AND THE DROUGHT

  YU AND THE FLOOD

  ORIGIN OF THE CHINESE BOOK

  FAMILY PORTRAIT IN CHINA

  SILK THAT WAS SPITTLE

  FLIGHT OF THE CHINESE WORM

  THE EMPEROR WHO DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO BUILDING HIS DEATH

  FOOT MURDERERS

  WORD SMUGGLERS

  MALE PANIC

  A DANGEROUS WEAPON

  NINE MOONS

  VICTORIOUS SUN, MOON VANQUISHED

  MEXICANS

  EGYPTIANS

  HEBREWS

  HINDUS

  CHINESE

  ROMANS

  GREEKS

  AMAZONS

  WHEN THE LIVER WAS THE HOME OF THE SOUL

  ORIGIN OF MISOGYNY

  HERACLES

  ORIGIN OF THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

  ORIGIN OF THE POSTAL SERVICE

  ECHO

  THALES

  ORIGIN OF MUSIC

  DIVINE MONOPOLY

  THANKS FOR THE PUNISHMENT

  ORIGIN OF LANGUAGES

  ALL THE RAINS

  RELIGIOUS ORIGIN OF RACISM

  SCIENTIFIC ORIGIN OF RACISM

  THE LOVE OF LOVES

  ALEXANDER

  HOMER

  LITERARY ORIGIN OF THE DOG

  HESIOD

  THE SUICIDE OF TROY

  THE HERO

  FAMILY PORTRAIT IN GREECE

  STRIKE OF CLOSED THIGHS

  THE ART OF DRAWING YOU

  SOCRATES

  OLYMPICS

  PARTHENON AND AFTER

  HIPPOCRATES

  ASPASIA

  SAPPHO

  EPICURIUS

  ORIGIN OF INSECURITY

  SLAVERY ACCORDING TO ARISTOTLE

  WATCH OUT FOR THE BACCHANALIA

  ANTIOCHUS, KING

  SPARTACUS

  ROME TOUR

  JULIUS CAESAR

  SALT OF THE EMPIRE

  CLEOPATRA

  CONTRACEPTIVE METHODS OF PROVEN EFFECTIVENESS

  SHOW BUSINESS

  FAMILY PORTRAIT IN ROME

  THE POET WHO POKED FUN AT ROME

  LAUGH THERAPY

  JOKES

  THE LOOKING-GLASS WORLD MOCKED THE REAL ONE

  FORBIDDEN TO LAUGH

  THE SMILING DIVINITY

  A FATHER WHO NEVER LAUGHS

  THE SON

  WANTED

  THE ASS

  RESURRECTION OF JESUS

  MARYS

  RESURRECTION OF MARY

  ORIGIN OF SANTA CLAUS

  ORIGIN OF HELL

  PRISCILLIAN

  HYPATIA

  THEODORA

  URRACA

  AYESHA

  MOHAMMED

  MOHAMMED’S BIOGRAPHER

  SUKAINA

  MOTHER OF ALL STORYTELLERS

  BAGHDAD

  VOICE OF WINE

  CRUSADES

  DIVINE COMMANDMENTS

  CRAZY ABOUT FRENCH WOMEN

  POET PROPHET

  TROTULA

  SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI

  ORIGIN OF SUGAR

  THE LITTLE CRUSADE AGAINST DOLCINO

  SAINTS VISITED FROM HEAVEN

  SAINTS PORTRAY THE DAUGHTERS OF EVE

  FORBIDDEN TO SING

  FORBIDDEN TO FEEL

  AVICENNA

  A FEUDAL LADY EXPLAINS HOW TO CARE FOR EARTHLY GOODS

  A FEUDAL LORD EXPLAINS HOW TO CARE FOR THE PEASANTS

  FOUNT OF THE FOUNTAIN

  PLAGUES

  WOMEN AGAINST THE PLAGUE

  CURSED WATER

  SAINTS OF THE MIDDLE AGES PRACTICED MEDICINE ON AN INDUSTRIAL SCALE

  ORIGIN OF CHILDHOOD

  GOD’S LITTLE ANGELS

  FATHER OF THE OGRE

  THE TATAR OGRE

  MARCO POLO

  WHAT DID THE CHINESE NOT INVENT?

  THE GREAT FLOATING CITY

  A GENEROUS POPE

  EVIL COPIES GOOD

  ARGUMENTS OF THE FAITH

  THE TORTURER’S CONFESSION

  WE WERE ALL EXECUTIONERS

  MERCENARIES

  OUR LADY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE

  HOLY WARRIOR

  WHEN SHIPS NAVIGATED BY LAND

  THE DEVIL IN DISGUISE

  SHE WALKS LIKE AN ANGEL

  DEVILCIDE

  LEONARDO

  BREASTS

  ORIGIN OF THE FORK

  VISIT TO THE VATICAN

  BOSCH

  PRAISED BE BLINDNESS

  FORBIDDEN TO BE CURIOUS

  THE DANGEROUS VICE OF ASKING

  RESURRECTION OF SERVET

  EUROEVERYTHING

  SOUTH

  BESTIARY

  ORIGIN OF SEA BREEZES

  AFTERMAP

  COLUMBUS

  FACES

  DESTINIES

  AMERIGO

  ISABELLA

  THE AGES OF JUANA LA LOCA

  CHARLES

  LEGACY DENIED

  MAIMONIDES AND AVERROES

  STONE

  WATER AND LIGHT

  FORBIDDEN TO BE

  THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THIS WORLD LIVED IN THE OTHER

  LAST SPARK OF THE TURBANS

  THE DEVIL IS MUSLIM

  THE DEVIL IS JEWISH

  THE DEVIL IS BLACK

  THE DEVIL IS FEMALE

  THE DEVIL IS POOR

  THE DEVIL IS FOREIGN

  THE DEVIL IS HOMOSEXUAL

  THE DEVIL IS GYPSY

  THE DEVIL IS INDIAN

  ORIGIN OF AMERICA

  DRAGON OF EVIL

  AMERICANS

  FACES AND MASKS

  THE FIRST WATER WAR

  ALLIES

  BALL GAME

  OTHER WEAPONS

  ORIGIN OF BACTERIOLOGICAL WARFARE

  OTHER MAPS, SAME STORY

  BEDEVILED

  PALACE ART IN THE MAYAN KINGDOMS

  KILLING FORESTS, THEY DIED

  THE LOST ISLE

  KINGLESS KINGDOMS

  DOOMED BY YOUR PAST

  DOOMED BY YOUR FUTURE

  ANANAS

  DON QUIJOTE

  LABOR RELATIONS

  HEMOPHOBIA

  DEATH BY DOCTOR

  MOLIÈRE

  ORIGIN OF ANESTHESIA

  ORIGIN OF THE VACCINATION

  ORIGIN OF THE PROCESSION

  MASKS<
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  OTHER MASKS

  PASQUINADES

  RECORD OF THE DEVIL’S CONFESSION

  TERESA

  JUANA

  GOODBYE

  TITUBA

  WOMEN POSSESSED

  HENDRICKJE

  RESURRECTION OF VERMEER

  RESURRECTION OF ARCIMBOLDO

  THOMAS MORE

  ERASMUS

  ORIGIN OF THE ELEVATOR

  PRECURSOR OF CAPITALISM

  DANGEROUS CORNERS OF THE CARIBBEAN

  RALEIGH

  FAMILY PORTRAIT IN ENGLAND

  MARE NOSTRUM

  THANKS

  THIS EXECRABLE CREW OF BUTCHERS

  FATHER OF GULLIVER

  CELESTIAL AND TERRESTRIAL

  FREEDOM’S PHILOSOPHER

  CONTRACTS

  BRIEF HISTORY OF TRADE BETWEEN AFRICA AND EUROPE

  HOLY WATER

  CANNIBAL EUROPE

  FASHION

  CAGES UNDER SAIL

  PROGENY OF THE MIDDLE PASSAGE

  FIRST SLAVE REBELLION IN AMERICA

  STUBBORN FREEDOM

  KINGDOM OF THE FREE

  QUEEN OF THE FREE

  ART OF THE FREE

  KING OF THE FREE

  IN SEARCH OF ESCAPED PROPERTY

  HARRIET

  DON’T MISS IT!

  THE AGES OF ROSA MARIA

  BRAZIL SLEPT ON A BED OF GOLD

  DIGESTIONS

  FATHER OF THE MARIONETTE

  ALEIJADINHO

  PALACE ART IN BRAZIL

  THE AGES OF PEDRO

  FREEDOM BETRAYS

  RESURRECTION OF TÚPAC AMARU

  RAIN

  HAVES AND HAVE-NOTS

  MISSING FATHER

  ANOTHER MISSING FATHER

  SALLY

  DEATH TO TEA, LONG LIVE COFFEE

  IN GOD WE TRUST?

  A PROLOGUE TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

  ADVENTURES OF THE MIND IN DARK TIMES

  MOZART

  WIGS

  THE DESPICABLE HUMAN HAND

  THE REVOLUTIONARY HUMAN HAND

  MARIE ANTOINETTE

  THE MARSEILLAISE

  ANTHEMS

  OLYMPE

  THE GUILLOTINE

  THE REVOLUTION LOST ITS HEAD

  BÜCHNER

  WHITE CURSE

  TOUSSAINT

  SLAVERY DIED MANY DEATHS

  DEAD MAN SPEAKING

  THE AGES OF IQBAL

  FORBIDDEN TO BE A WOMAN

  PALACE ART IN FRANCE

  BEETHOVEN

  ORIGIN OF NEWS AGENCIES

  ORIGIN OF THE CROISSANT

  ORIGIN OF FRENCH COOKING

  GOYA

  MARIANA

  FANS

  PALACE ART IN ARGENTINA

  THE INDEPENDENCE THAT WAS NOT

  THE LOSER

  ARTIGAS

  TWO TRAITORS

  CONSTITUTIONS

  AMERICA ACCORDING TO HUMBOLDT

  ORIGIN OF ECOLOGY

  MAP ERASED

  MAP GOBBLED

  MAP BROKEN

  THE PREDESTINED

  MAP CHANGED

  NAME CHANGED

  THE AGES OF ADA

  THE HE’S ARE SHE’S

  FLORA

  CONCEPCIÓN

  VENUS

  THE REAL AMERICA

  DIET OF AIR

  AN OVERPOPULATED COLONY

  ORIGIN OF FAIRY TALES

  A STUBBORN COLONY

  TAJ MAHAL

  MUSIC FOR THE HOURS

  HOKUSAI

  ORIGIN OF MODERN JAPAN

  FREE TRADE? NO THANKS

  WITH BLOOD, WORDS SINK IN

  TRADITIONAL DRESS

  HERE LAY PARAGUAY

  ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE

  ORIGIN OF FREEDOM OF OPPRESSION

  OUR LADY OF THE SEAS, NARCO QUEEN

  HERE LAY CHINA

  LOOTIE

  NATURAL DISASTERS

  OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS

  NATURAL GLORIES

  UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS

  CALLOUSED HANDS

  FLORENCE

  DARWIN’S VOYAGE

  DARWIN’S QUESTIONS

  I’LL SHOW YOU THE WORLD

  ONLY HUMAN

  THE INSANITY OF FREEDOM

  THE GOLD RUSH

  WHITMAN

  EMILY

  UNIVERSAL TARANTULA

  MR. CORPORATION

  DON’T STEP ON MY FLOWERS

  WOMEN OF THE COMMUNE

  LOUISE

  VICTOR HUGO

  LESSON IN COLONIAL CULTURE

  HERE LAY INDIA

  CHINA DISHED UP AT EUROPE’S TABLE

  AFRICA DISHED UP AT EUROPE’S TABLE

  CAPTAIN OF DARKNESS

  TWO QUEENS

  WILDE

  FRIGID RIGID MORALS

  FATHER OF THE BOY SCOUTS

  FATHER OF THE RED CROSS

  CHURCHILL

  COLOSSUS OF RHODES

  THRONE OF GOLD

  ORIGIN OF CONCENTRATION CAMPS

  ORIGIN OF THE WILD WEST

  BUFFALO BILL

  THE AGES OF SITTING BULL

  ORIGIN OF DISAPPEARANCES

  TALLEST STATUE

  LONGEST STREET

  MARTÍ

  MUSCLES

  MARK TWAIN

  KIPLING

  SWORD OF THE EMPIRE

  CIVILIZED RICE

  ORIGIN OF DEMOCRACY

  ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSITY

  ORIGIN OF SADNESS

  OUT OF PLACE

  SOULLESS

  RESURRECTION OF CAMILLE

  VAN GOGH

  THAT SCREAM

  PROPHETS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

  ORIGIN OF ADVERTISING

  POTIONS

  MARKETING

  MARIE

  FATHER OF THE LIGHTBULB

  TESLA

  ORIGIN OF AERIAL BOMBARDMENTS

  THE AGES OF SANTOS DUMONT

  PHOTOGRAPH: A FACE IN THE CROWD

  KAFKA

  NIJINSKY

  ORIGIN OF JAZZ

  RESURRECTION OF DJANGO

  ORIGIN OF THE TANGO

  ORIGIN OF THE SAMBA

  ORIGIN OF HOLLYWOOD

  ORIGIN OF MODERN ART

  ORIGIN OF THE MODERN NOVEL

  THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER

  FORBIDDEN TO BE POOR

  INVISIBLE MEN

  INVISIBLE WOMEN

  FORBIDDEN TO BE A PEASANT

  PHOTOGRAPH: THE THRONE

  RESURRECTION OF ZAPATA

  LENIN

  ALEXANDRA

  STALIN

  ALIBIS

  PHOTOGRAPH: ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE

  THE INQUISITION IN STALIN’S TIME

  ROSA

  ORIGIN OF TWO COUNTRIES

  UNGRATEFUL KING

  THE AGES OF JOSEPHINE

  SARAH

  SURRENDER OF PARIS

  HAREM NIGHTS

  PESSOA’S PERSONS

  WAR STREET

  FORBIDDEN TO WIN ELECTIONS

  FORBIDDEN TO BE FERTILE

  FORBIDDEN TO BE A COUNTRY

  RESURRECTION OF SANDINO

  BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PROPAGATION OF DEMOCRACY IN THE AMERICAS

  FORBIDDEN TO BE A WORKER

  FORBIDDEN TO BE ABNORMAL

  FORBIDDEN TO BE JEWISH

  SOCIAL HYGIENE, RACIAL PURITY

  ROAD RAGE

  VICTORIA

  THE DEVIL IS RED

  LAST WISH

  ROSARIO

  GUERNICA

  THE COMMANDER WHO CAME FROM AFAR

  RAMÓN

  MACHADO

  MATILDE

  CHEAPEST JAILS IN THE WORLD

  RESURRECTION OF CARNIVAL

  FORBIDDEN TO BE BLACK

  INSOLENCE

  BLACK WINGS

  BLACK STAR

  BLACK BLOOD

  BLACK VOICE

  IMPUNITY IS THE DAUGHTER OF OBLIVION
>
  THE GEARS

  FORBIDDEN TO BE INEFFICIENT

  MENGELE

  GOD

  LOVE ME DO

  PHOTOGRAPH: THE FLAG OF VICTORY

  PHOTOGRAPH: MAP OF THE WORLD

  PHOTOGRAPH: ANOTHER FLAG OF VICTORY

  FATHER AND MOTHER OF PENICILLIN

  RESURRECTION OF VIVALDI

  PHOTOGRAPH: A MUSHROOM BIG AS THE SKY

  THE OTHER MUSHROOM

  FATHER OF THE BOMB

  PHOTOGRAPH: SADDEST EYES IN THE WORLD

  HOLLYWOOD HEROES THEY WERE NOT

  TSARS

  ONE WAR DIES, OTHERS ARE BORN

  HO

  IT WAS NO GIFT

  OBJECTIVE NEWS

  SALT OF THE EARTH

  EDUCATION IN FRANCO’S DAY

  JUSTICE IN FRANCO’S DAY

  DORIA

  FAMILY PORTRAIT IN JORDAN

  PHOOLAN

  MAP OF THE COLD WAR

  FATHER OF THE COMPUTER

  MOTHER AND FATHER OF CIVIL RIGHTS

  SOCCER CIVIL RIGHTS

  MARACANÃ

  PELÉ

  MARADONA

  PHOTOGRAPH: THE SCORPION

  BRECHT

  A HUNDRED FLOWERS AND ONLY ONE GARDENER

  RED EMPEROR

  YELLOW EMPEROR

  FORBIDDEN TO BE INDEPENDENT

  RESURRECTION OF LUMUMBA

  MAU MAU

  EUROPE’S LEGACY

  SANKARA

  ORIGIN OF CUBA

  I CAN SO

  PHOTOGRAPH: THE WORLD’S MOST POPULATED EYES

  COMEBACK KID

  FIDEL

  PHOTOGRAPH: FISTS HELD HIGH

  ALI

  THE GARDENER

  THE NINTH

  WALLS

  PHOTOGRAPH: THE WALL FALLS

  DIVINE LIGHT,MURDEROUS LIGHT

  CRIME PAYS

  ANOTHER CASE OF AMNESIA

  PHOTOGRAPH: THIS BULLET DOES NOT LIE

  A KISS OPENED THE DOORS TO HELL

  FAMILY PORTRAIT IN ARGENTINA

  THE AGES OF ANA

  THE NAME MOST TOUCHED

  THE BISHOP WHO DIED TWICE

  GLOBAL TAXES

  THEY ARE NOT NEWS

  CRIMINOLOGY

  LIVE AND DIRECT

  DIRECT AND LIVE

  DANGER IN PRISON

  DANGER IN THE STREET

  DANGER IN THE ANDES

  DANGER ON AIR

  BARBIE GOES TO WAR

  ROBOCOP’S CHILDREN GO TO WAR

  CAMOUFLAGED WARS

  A WOMAN ON THE BANKS OF A RIVER

  LIED-ABOUT WARS

  ORIGIN OF THE EMBRACE

  LYING WARS

  VORACIOUS WARS

  WORLD-KILLING WARS

  THE GIANT AT TULE

  ORIGIN OF ROAD RAGE

  RIDDLE

  BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION

  BHOPAL

  ANIMAL MEDIA

  ARNO

  GANGES

  THE RIVER AND THE FISH

  THE RIVER AND THE DEER

  THE HANDS OF THE TRAIN

  DANGER IN THE JUNGLE

  DANGER AT THE TAP

  DANGER ON THE LAND

  DANGER IN THE SKY

  DANGER IN THE CLOUDS

  INVENTORY OF THE WORLD

  THE ROAD GOES ON

  DANGER IN THE NIGHT

  LOST AND FOUND

  INDEX OF NAMES

  Copyright Page

  No footnotes, no bibliographic sources are included.

  I realized in time that they would have taken up more pages than the nearly six hundred stories themselves.

  Neither have I listed the many collaborators whose assistance allowed Mirrors to become more than just a raving notion. I cannot, however, fail to mention several who had the patience to read the final manuscript and who saved me from more than a few embarrassments: Tim Chapman, Antonio Doñate, Karl Hübener, Carlos Machado, Pilar Royo, and Raquel Villagra. This book is dedicated to them and to the innumerable friends who made this impossible task possible.