Platero and I

In this translated Spanish classic, Juan Ramón Jiménez tells his burro Platero about their native Andalusian village of Moguer. Their dialogue creates an evanescent portrait of provincial Spain--its streets, homes, animals, children, and eccentrics. With the pure-hearted, silent burro sometimes a witness, sometimes a participant, the routines of daily life take on a certain poignancy. Jiménez anxiously searches for and removes the long green thorn from Platero's hoof, and the donkey tenderly nuzzles him. On their way home one evening, Platero brays to his girlfriend burro in a field and trots hesitatingly, unwillingly past. Together Platero and his master make friends with the parrot, belonging to a local French doctor, whose sole and frequent pronouncement is "Ce n'est rien."