Platero and I

One of the great classics of modern Spanish literature. Sheer descriptive magic. ?Time "An exquisite book?rich, shimmering, truly incomparable." ?The New Yorker "This enchanting dialogue, or is it a monologue, between a man and his burro has been translated with great skill and sympathy." ?Winthrop Sargeant In this translated Spanish classic, Juan Ram??n Jim??nez tells his burro Platero about their native Andalusian village of Moguer. Their dialogue creates an evanescent portrait of provincial Spain?its streets, homes, animals, children, and eccentrics. With the pure-hearted, silent burro sometimes a witness, sometimes a participant, the routines of daily life take on a certain poignancy. Jim??nez anxiously searches for and removes the long green thorn from Platero's hoof, and the donkey tenderly nuzzles him. On their way home one evening, Platero brays to his girlfriend burro in a field and trots hesitatingly, unwillingly past. Together Platero and his master make friends with the parrot, belonging to a local French doctor, whose sole and frequent pronouncement is "Ce n'est rien."