2 ?b90

122
also be the rhythm of intercourse, and since the entry into the womb is
an act of creation on the part of the father's sperm and a return to the
origins,, to the depths of the Unconscioust on the part of Cemi, I would
say that both a physical and a spiritual union are implied. That of
Cemi with his mother represents a spiritual oneness, his preference for
the contemplative mode of thinking, "produciendo un 9mbito donde su re-
spiraci6n parecia zafar sus cordeles" (1.187). The "blanco tegumento
algoso" seems to be connected with "la descarga del sudor po .r el canal
del brazo" (1.185). so it does seem as if the child's re-entry into the
womb is directly linked with sexual intercourse. Father and child be-
come almost indistinguishable, but I think this is partly because Lezama
is using the same symbolism to represent two different types of union.
The horror of "el boquete infernal de aquella piscina, que parecia buscar
el centro de la tierra, el infierno de los griegos" (1,185) is a vivid
evocation of a second death, of the return to the womb. It is unlikely,
in the dream of a five year old, to be the horror of the vagina which
Fronesis later feels. One should remember that Cemi regularly suffers
a simulated death in his asthma attacks, and is predisposed to this type
of sensitivity, to loss of consciousness and the feeling of falling into
darkness. Violante is mentioned to give the dream-like sensation of
observing yourself acting in your own dreams. It is really himself that
Cemi sees teetering on the brink. The sperm which stay in the womb have
distinctive markings of red and blue but the colours may only have the
vague meaning which Pdrez Firmat ascribes to them (red for lust and the
genital area of the female). When the arm finally relaxes, it is bathed
in dew, which may represent the moisture of the vagina or the sperm, or
roc10 may be used as a sign of fertility, even the potential for creation
which is encouraged by Rialta in her son. His father'has now disappeared
completely, so the episode could be another fore-runner of the death of