VI

A few practical words of advice:
get up early
breakfast as lightly as possible
a cup of hot water should be sufficient
you don’t want your shoes to fit too tightly
never mind about socks or a hat
meat two or three times a week
I am a vegetarian but not to excess
whatever you do don’t eat oysters
all that stuff that comes out of the sea is poison
never kill a bird except when you have to
let us avoid strong spirits
one glass at lunchtime is sufficient
naps should be kept to fifteen minutes at most
as long as you lose consciousness that’s enough
it’s not good for you to sleep too much
Never let gas stay on the stomach
there’s a risk of rupturing the bowels
sexual abstinence during Holy Week
purification every fifteen days
underwear should be faultlessly white
except of course when one’s mother dies
given the extreme gravity of the case
I recommend rigorous mourning
when I passed through that traumatic time
an experience that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy
I decided to dress completely in black
from inside out
which I have done until this very day
twenty years past that fateful date.

en: Sermons and homilies of the Christ of Elqui . English translation by Sandra Reyes ; with a foreword by Miller Williams. Columbia, University of Missouri Press, 1984. 105 p

SISIB - Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades - Universidad de Chile