Bunuel_Luis_My_Last_Breath

ing, in shorts and bare feet, I ran on a track that belonged to thecavalry of the civil guard. I organized the first interscholastic trackand field teams at the university and even became an amateur boxer.(Of my two matches, one was won by default because my opponentnever showed up, the other lost on points in the fifth round for lackof what they called "combativity." If the truth be known, I spentthe entire five rounds worrying about how to protect my face.)I loved all forms of exercise; one day I even managed to climbthe facade of the Residencia. The muscles I developed during thatperiod remained throughout most of my life; in fact, I still have ahard stomach. I remember toughening up my stomach muscles bylying on my back and having my friends jump up and down on me.My other specialty was arm wrestling; well into a "respectable" middleage, I was still fighting tournaments on bar and restaurant tables.Finally, however, I had to face the real question of what to dowith my life. So many things influenced me, particularly the literarymovement that was shaking Madrid at the time. Yet all in all, itwas a period during which Spain was relatively calm. The onlysignificant political event was the revolt of Abd-el-Krim in Moroccoand the defeat of the Spanish forces at Anual in 192 I, the same yearthat I was supposed to begin my military service. The army wantedme to go to Morocco because I'd met Abd-el-Krim's brother at theResidencia, but I refused the assignment.Traditionally, Spanish law allowed well-off families to buy areduction in their sons' military service, but this law was suspendedin 1921 because of the Moroccan war. I thus found myself in anartillery regiment which, since it had distinguished itself in thecolonial war, was exempt from duty in Morocco. Suddenly, however,circumstances changed, and one morning we were ordered to getready to leave the following day. That evening, I seriously contemplateddesertion; in fact, two of my friends did take off~oneventuallywound up an engineer in Brazil. At the last minute, however,the departure order was canceled and I spent the entire fourteenmonths of my service in Madrid. Absolutely nothing worth men-