One of my favourite scenes in “The English Patient” is the one where Kristin Scott-Thomas tells Ralph Fiennes and Colin Firth the story of Candaules, while sitting around a camp fire in the desert.
But who was Candaules?
According to Herodotus, Candaules was the King of Sardes and was married – how strange ^_*** - to a beautiful woman.
Gyges, who was his favourite bodyguard and his confident, knew how much the King was in love with his wife, the Queen.
Candaules was always eulogizing her extreme beauty as according to him, she was the most beautiful creature on Earth. For that reason he said to Gyges: “Well a man always believes his eyes better than his ears” and contrived to show her entirely naked to him.
Gyges was horrified and asked his King not to make a criminal of him.
“I will hide you behind the door of our bedroom; you will be able to gaze on her at your leisure, as she leaves her clothes on a chair by the door.”
Came the night and the Queen did as expected; she took her clothes off, one by one and put them on the chair. She stood there naked and then walked to her bed, shuddering as she saw Gyges hidden in the dark. She said nothing at all as she realized what the king had done to her, but decided to have her revenge.
The next morning she sent her most reliable servant for Gyges. There was nothing strange in that and the soldier presented himself to the Queen who abruptly gave him two choices: “Kill Candaules and seize his throne with me or die yourself on the spot, but one of you has to die; either my husband for betraying me, or you for seeing me naked when you shouldn’t”.
Gyges was torn but had no alternative and he decided to live.
Came the night again and he followed the queen to her bedroom. She put a knife into his hands and hid him behind the same door where he stood the previous night. When Candaules was asleep, Gyges stabbed him, as accorded...
He married his window and usurped his throne... but as he had several opponents in his court, he was submitted to Apollo who spoke through the Delphic Oracle confirming him as King of Lydia.
END OF THE STORY
Morality:
Never leave a chair next to your bedroom door ^_***.
Meritxell Melgar
ReplyDeleteEl Paciente Inglés es una de mis películas favoritas. Tiene todos los elementos necesarios para caer rendido. La Royal Geographical Society, El Cairo, varias historias de amor ( la de los Cliffton, la del Conde Almásy con Katherine, la de Kipp y Hanna), el monasterio de la Toscana, el libro de Herodoto y la descripción de una sociedad ociosa que tras la II Guerra Mundial ya jamás ha vuelto a ser como antes. Creo que si bien todas las guerras son crueles, la II gran guerra dejó al mundo huérfano de inocencia. Ya no se trataba de una guerra por conquistar países, fue la guerra del mal en mayúscula.
En cuantos a escenas memorables de la película yo me quedo con tres:
a. cuando Katherine va a buscar a Almásy a su casa en el Cairo (la escena en la que entra, la de la bañera y cuando y él reclama una parte de su cuello para poder darle el nombre del bósforo de Almásy)
b. cuando Kipp lleva a Hanna a la iglesia en la Toscana y con ayuda de una bengala y de una polea le enseña frescos (Impresionante)
c. cuando Almásy lleva a Katherine a la cueva, y ve que lleva el dedal de azafrán y le pregunta “Lo llevas puesto?” y ella contesta “Claro tonto, lo llevo puesto porque siempre te he querido” (Para llorar de bonito y no parar nunca más en la vida)
Gracias Yolanda por hacernos recordar tanta belleza. X.X.X. Meri