Bunuel_Luis_My_Last_Breath

Swan Song 253changed. Until I turned seventy-five, I found old age rather agreeable.It was a tremendous relief to be rid at last of nagging desires;I no longer wanted anything-no more houses by the sea or fancycars or works of art. "Down with I'umur feu!" I'd say to myself."Long live friendship!" Whenever I saw an old man in the street orin the lobby of a hotel, I'd turn to whoever was with me and say:"Have you seen Buiiuel lately? It's incredible. Even last year, he wasso strong~and now, what terrible deterioration!" I enjoyedat early senility, I loved reading Simone de Beauvoir's La Vieillesse,I no longer showed myself in bathing suits at public swimmingpools, and I traveled less and less. But my life remained active andwell balanced; I made my last movie at seventy-seven.During the last five years, however, true old age has begun.Whole series of petty annoyances attack me; I've begun to complainabout my legs, my eyes, my head, my lapses of memory, my weakcoordination. In 1979 I spent three days in the hospital plugged intoan IV; at the end of the third day, I tore out the tubes, got out ofbed, and went home. But in 1980 I was back in again for a prostateoperation, and in 1981 it was the gall bladder. The enemy is everywhere,and I'm painfully conscious of my decrepitude.The diagnosis couldn't be simpler: I'm an old man, and that'sall there is to it. I'm only happy at home following my daily routine:wake up, have a cup of coffee, exercise for half an hour, wash, havea second cup of coffee, eat something, walk around the block, waituntil noon. My eyes are weak, and I need a magnifying glass and aspecial light in order to read. My deafness keeps me from listeningto music, so I wait, I think, I remember, filled with a desperateimpatience and constantly looking at my watch.Noon's the sacred moment of the aperitif, which I drink veryslowly in my study. After lunch, I doze in my chair until midafternoon,and then, from three to five, I read a bit and look at mywatch, waiting for six o'clock and my predinner aperitif. SometimesI cheat, but only by fifteen minutes or so. Sometimes, too, friendscome by to chat. Dinner's at seven, with my wife, and then I go tobed.