Bien sé lo que son tentaciones del demonio, y que una de las mayores es ponerle a un hombre en el entendimiento que puede componer e imprimir un libro con que gane tanta fama como dineros, y tantos dineros cuanta fama, y para confirmación de esto quiero que en tu buen donaire y gracia le cuentes este cuento.
    Había en Sevilla un loco que dio en el más gracioso disparate y tema que dio loco en el mundo. Y fue que hizo un cañuto de caña puntiagudo en el fin, y, en cogiendo algún perro en la calle, o en cualquiera otra parte, con el un pie le cogía el suyo, y el otro le alzaba con la mano, y como mejor podía le acomodaba el cañuto en la parte que, soplándole, le ponía redondo como una pelota, y, en teniéndolo de esta suerte, le daba dos palmaditas en la barriga y le soltaba, diciendo a los circunstantes, que siempre eran muchos: “¿Pensarán vuestras mercedes ahora que es poco trabajo hinchar un perro?”
   “¿Pensará vuestra merced ahora que es poco trabajo hacer un libro?”
 

     I know what temptations the devil has to offer, one of the greatest of which consists in putting it into a [boy’s] head that he can [help his mother make her dreams come true] and thereby [win the affection of the girl for whom he yearns, or, to put it more accurately if less delicately, win sexual favors from the girl for whom he lusts]; in confirmation of which I would have you, in your own witty and charming manner, tell him this tale.
    There was in Seville a certain madman whose madness assumed one of the drollest forms that ever was seen in this world.  Taking a hollow reed sharpened at one end, he would catch a dog in the street or somewhere else; and, holding one of the animal’s legs with his foot and raising the other with his hand, he would fix his reed as best he could in a certain part, after which he would blow the dog up, round as a ball.  When he had it in this condition he would give it a couple of slaps on the belly and let it go, remarking to the bystanders, of whom there were always plenty, “Do your Worships think, then, that it is so easy a thing to inflate a dog?”
    So you might ask, “Does your Grace think that it is so easy a thing to [make a mother’s dreams come true]?”
 

Inflating a Dog is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, dialogues, settings, and businesses portrayed in it are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. 

Picador USA will publish Inflating a Dog in the summer of 2002.

For information about publication rights outside the U. S. A., audio rights, serial rights, screen rights, and so on, e-mail the author.

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