All The Names - Jose Saramago

otherwise, it's all pretence. If the unknown woman had gone to live abroad, she would be beyond his
reach, she might as well be dead Full stop end of the story murmured Senhor José then he thought, that
might not be the case, for when she departed! she would at least have left a life behind her, perhaps only a
brief life four years five almost nothing or fifteen or twenty a meeting, an infatuation, a disappointment, a
few smiles, a few tears, which seem, at first sight, the same for everyone but which are, in fact, different
for us all. And different each time too. I'll go as far as I can, concluded Senhor José, with unaccustomed
serenity. As if this were the logical conclusion to what he had thought, he went into a stationer's and
bought a thick notebook with lined pages, like the ones students use to make notes on their school
subjects, believing that they are actually learning them as they do so.
It didn't take him long to forge some credentials. Twenty-five years of daily calligraphic practice
beneath the vigilance of zealous senior clerks and demanding deputies had left him with complete mastery
of fingers, wrist and palm, absolute confidence in executing both curved lines and straight, an almost
instinctive feel for thick and thin strokes, a consummate awareness of the degree of fluidity and viscosity
of various inks, which, put to the test on this occasion, resulted in a document capable of resisting the
scrutiny of the most powerful of magnifying lenses. The only incriminating features were his fingerprints
and the invisible traces of sweat that clung to the paper, but the likelihood of either of these being
examined was, of course, negligible. The most competent graphologist called to testify would swear that
the document in question was written by the Registrar himself and was as authentic as if it had been
written in the presence of appropriate witnesses. In support of his worthy colleague's opinion, a
psychologist would add that the content of the letter, the style and the vocabulary offer ample proof that its
author is an extremely authoritarian person, with a harsh, inflexible, secretive nature, convinced of the
Tightness of his own views, scornful of other people's opinions, as even a child would conclude from
reading the text, which says, In the name of the authority conferred on me and which, under oath, I uphold,
apply and defend, I, as Registrar of the Central Registry, declare to all those, be they civil or military,
private or public, who might see, read and examine this letter written and signed by my own hand, that
Senhor so-and-so, a clerk in my service and in the service of the Central Registry which I direct, govern
and administer, has received directly from me the order and commission to find out and investigate
everything regarding the life, past, present and future, of so-and-so, born in this city on such and such a
date, daughter of so-and-so and such and such, and it should be recognised, with no further proof being
required, that, for the duration of the investigation, he is in possession of the absolute powers which I, in
this document and to this end, delegate to him. This is the express wish of the Central Registry and of my
own will. So be it. Trembling with fear, having barely managed to read to the end of this impressive bit of
paper, the above-mentioned child took refuge on her mother's lap, wondering how a clerk like Senhor
José, so timid by nature, so mild in his manners, could possibly have conceived of, imagined, invented
this expression of, to say the very least, despotic power, with no previous model to use as a guide, since
there is no norm nor was there any technical need for the Central Registry ever to have written such a
letter of authority. The frightened child will have to eat a lot of bread and a lot of salt before she begins to
learn from life, by then, she will no longer be surprised to discover that, when the occasion arises, even
the good can become hard and tyrannical, even if only in order to write a letter of authority, forged or
otherwise. They will say to excuse themselves, That wasn't me, I was just writing, acting in the name of
someone else, and they are probably just trying to delude themselves, for, in truth, whether visible or not,
that hardness and despotism, not to say cruelty, came from within them, not from someone else. Even so,
judging what has happened up until now by its effects, it is unlikely that the world will be seriously
damaged by Senhor José's intentions and future actions, therefore let us provisionally suspend judgement
until other events, more enlightening, in both the good and the bad senses, draw us a definitive portrait.
On Saturday, wearing his best suit, with his shirt washed and ironed, his tie almost matching and more
or less correct, the envelope bearing the official seal and containing the letter of authority safe in his