I take back what I wrote about chance-generated works. They are fascinating precisely because of admixture of randomness and intentionality. Double-blind clinical trials.

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We translate according to a "domestic" agenda, in other words, for our own needs. That is why we don't habitually translate contemporary poetry into Ancient Greek or Sanskrit. So when I'm translating into Spanish, I am thinking primarily of an audience in Spain. Do they need to know Barbara Guest. I think they do!

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The aphorism has always been a favorite form of mine. Blake and Gertrude Stein: "I write for myself and strangers." "What's the use of being a little boy if you're going to grow up to be a man?" "Stop, I did not drag my father past this tree!" I founded an avant-garde movement when I was in High School called "schmoe" and wrote "The proverbs of Schmoe," now lost. I came up with the name by sticking my finger randomly into a dictionary of slang. I was the only member of this movement, needless to say, though a few of my friends were amused bystanders. Virtually everyone I knew in High School now has a Ph.D. in some scientific field. Why did Jim change his name to Ned? Did he ever return from Nepal?