"The Form of the Sword" (original

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

title: "La forma de la espada", sometimes translated as "The Shape of the Sword") is a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

Argentinian Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

author

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known bo ...

, first published in July 1942 in ''

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal '' Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argentina. Its motto is: "''La Nac ...

'', and included in the 1944 collection ''

Ficciones ' (in English: "Fictions") is a collection of short stories by Argentine writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges, originally written and published in Spanish between 1941 and 1956. Thirteen stories from ''Ficciones'' were first published by New Direc ...

'', part two (''Artifices''). The first English translation appeared in ''New World Writing No. 4'', in 1953. In the story, an Irishman, now living near

Tacuarembó Tacuarembó ( Guarani: ''Takuarembo'', literally: "Bamboo shoot") is the capital city of the Tacuarembó Department in north-central Uruguay. Location and geography The city is located on Km. 390 of Route 5, south-southwest of Rivera, the c ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, recounts his experiences in the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

and how he received the large

scar A scar (or scar tissue) is an area of fibrous tissue that replaces normal skin after an injury. Scars result from the biological process of wound repair in the skin, as well as in other organs, and tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a na ...

on his face.Jorge Luis Borges: "La forma de la espada" (del libro Ficciones)
/ref>

Synopsis

Borges starts the story narrating as himself as he is forced to stop in a small town run by the unnamed Irishman, who is known as strict but fair. Borges ingratiates himself with the Irishman, and they go out to drink together on the patio. Borges gets drunk and asks about the origin of a crescent-shaped scar on the Irishman's face. His story is as follows: The Irishman describes the war and the introduction of a new comrade, John Vincent Moon, into their band of rebels. He explains that the new comrade was a coward and was arrogant about his mental capabilities but terrified of being hurt. He describes how he himself saved Moon's life when soldiers attacked them. A bullet scraped Moon in the shoulder as they escaped, but the wound was only superficial. He and Moon fled together to a general's house, where they stayed for ten days. The ninth day, he went out to avenge the death of some comrades. Moon always stayed at the house, pleading his injury. When the Irishman returned on their last day in the house, he heard Moon on the telephone, selling him to the police. The Irishman recounts how he chased Moon, cornered him and marked a moon-shaped scar on his forehead just before the police captured him. At this point, Borges interrupts the story here to ask what happened to Moon. The Irishman tells Borges he only is telling him the rest of this story because he is a stranger, because his disdain will not hurt so much. Then he proceeds to reveal that Moon fled with "

Judas Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betr ...

' money" while his comrade (apparently) was killed. His story ends with the line: "I denounced the man who protected me: I am Vincent Moon. Now despise me."

References

Short stories by Jorge Luis Borges 1942 short stories {{1940s-story-stub