#fulano

This is Echo, a student at Hammerlocke University. I’m specifically studying the idea of “magic as a science”, so I’d like to ask a few questions about the specifics of your “Curse”, if you’re willing to interview?

Thanks!

…Hold on.

[Calling Uncle Taro, Uncle Lano, Uncle Max, and Hanako]

¿Quiénes fueron fulano, mengano, zutano y perengano que son tan nombrados?

Realmente fulano, mengano, zutano y perengano no existieron o al menos no hay hecho histórico alguno para que algunos personajes llevasen estos nombres.

Se trata de cuatro formas gramaticales que se utilizan para aludir a alguien del que no se sabe su nombre o no se quiere decir por cualquier motivo.

• La palabra fulano proviene del árabe fulān (فلان) que quiere decir “persona cualquiera” y es el más utilizado de los cuatro, siendo el más socorrido a la hora de echar mano de algún ejemplo: “Ha venido un fulano preguntando por ti” o “Le pondrán una placa conmemorativa que dirá ‘aquí descansa fulano de tal’”. Del árabe llegó al español y de allí se extendió a toda Hispanoamérica.

• Mengano también proviene del árabe: man kān, cuyo significado es ‘quien sea’ y suele utilizarse (en la mayoría de ocasiones) en segundo lugar y acompañado de fulano y/o zutano. Además pueden llevar otros determinantes: “A ese fulano y a ese mengano no los quiero ver por aquí”.

• Zutano proviene de citano y este, muy posiblemente, de la palabra latina scitānus, que significa “sabido”. No se sabe bien el porqué se añadió a la coletilla, pero en algunas ocasiones también se coloca en segunda posición, tras fulano.

• Perengano es una palabra más reciente y la de menos uso de todas ellas. No se han encontrado raíces en otras palabras antiguas y/o de otros idiomas, lo que hace pensar que puede ser una combinación que se realizó del apellido Pérez con la palabra mengano.

Los cuatro pueden ir en diminutivo (Fulanito, Menganita…) y con apellido (De Tal, De Cual…), por aquello de hacerlos más solemnes.

Estas cuatro palabras también tiene su variante al femenino (Fulana, Mengana, Zutana y Perengana) aunque la primera se suele utilizar para calificar despectivamente a una mujer cuando alguien se quiere referir a ella como prostituta: “finalmente resultó ser una fulana”.

• Perico el de los Palotes. Término usado en España y Sudamérica. No se sabe a ciencia cierta de dónde proviene, pero se han encontrado referencias en España al chico que precedía a los Pregoneros tocando el tambor con dos palotes (baquetas). Los pregoneros eran personas que al toque del tambor daban a conocer al pueblo las disposiciones oficiales.

Las primeras referencias a Perico el de los Palotes las encontramos en El tesoro de la Lengua Castellana escrito a principios del siglo XVII por Sebastián de Covarrubias. Los palotes se llamaban a las baquetas para tocar el tambor. En tanto el tal Perico, según Covarrubias, es "un bobo que tañía con dos palotes". El "bobo" que tocaba el tambor estaba detrás del pregonero, que era quien efectivamente se quedaba con el sueldo y las propinas para ambos. En dicha obra aclara que la expresión se empleaba para mostrar indignación por el trato recibido pudiendo así decir el ofendido: "¿Qué pasa?, ¿que soy Perico el de los Palotes?"

Atte.

La Página Perdida.

...

Octavian wondered what Reyna wanted to talk with so much urgency. Couldn't she wait just a little more? His leg was still hurting a lot because of the injury Fulano caused on him in the training.

He hated the attention his limping brought to him and how he could not stop it. At least, he was being able to hide how much pain he was feeling.

He passed in front of some people from the First Cohort.

"Yeah, my dad is really proud of-" Fulano saw Octavian and smiled with malice "Got hurt in the training again, Octavian? Are you sure the legion is the place to you? I mean, you cannot even fight a fake fight."

Octavian did the best to ignore, but he was full of rage. It was Fulano who hurt him and he still was there making fun of him.

...

It was time to deal with that situation. Octavian stood up, ready to go to talk with Fulano. He had all the conversation planned on his head.

The only problem would be getting into where Fulano was. He was problaby in the forum and that was a little too far from where Octavian was. The fact he was limping didn't help the situation.

When Octavian got to the forum, he leaned against a wall and closed his eyes before entering it. He waited his breathing to calm down, he didn't want to look weak.

It took Octavian some minutes to go look after Fulano and some more time to find him. Luckly Fulano was sitting alone on a table.

When Octavian sat down he immediately made eye contact. He knew this could make people unconfortable.

"Wow. I cannot believe you were capable to walk all the way to the forum. Or should I say limp?" Fulano laughed a little "Now you're not even capable of walking right"

Octavain tried to look bored.

"Fulano. Please, enlighten me. You are the legacy of what god? I don't remember it quite well"

Fulano frowned his eyebrows.

"Mercurio... why do you-"

"And this is from your mother side or father side?"

"Father. But-"

"But" Octavian got closer to Fulano "you are not a legacy of Mercurio, are you? No. You are his son." Octavian opened a mischievious grin "Your mother cheated on her husband"

Fulano's eyes were wide open and his breathing was becoming faster.

"It... it is not that simple. She-"

"It would be a pity if her husband discovered that, wouldn't it?"

"You cannot do that!!"

"I? I would do nothing. That is just the way secrets work. They spread really fast. But lucky you. I'm really good and keeping secrets, well... secret. I just need you to do something for me in return."

"Forget it. I'm not going to do shit for you!!!"

"Be careful there you don't want to scream your secret to everyone on the forum, do you?"

Fulano looked like he would punch Octavian. Octavian liked it. He could use the other emotion to his advantage.

"But are you sure about your answer?"

"Of course I am. I-"

"You know in Portuguese fire can be two words. Fogo and incêndio. Fogo is that fire you can get with matches, stoves, etc. It is manageble. You can control it. Incêndio is the opposite. It is the fire that spreads and burns everything on its way. You can't just turn it off. It is out of control. It is fire that can destroy an entire house"

Octavian smiled with his last sentence.

"There is a reason why secrets are often compared to fire. In the moment this secret is like fogo. Only four people know. Your mother, Mercurio, you and me. But how much time until it becomes an incêndio? How much time until other person discovers it? How much time until the number of people who know the secret doubles? How much time until the number of people who know about it becomes ten times bigger? Twenty? Thirty? How much time until it is not a secret anymore and everyone knows it?"

Fulano wasn't looking for Octavian anymore, he was starring the table. But Octavian? Octavian was paying a lot of attention on Fulano's face and expressions.

"How much time until your stepfather discovers it? How much time until he knows everybody knows it? He can find out in the begining of the fire or way later. Personally, I don't know what would be worse."

"You cannot-"

"I am very interested to know how he will react. Will he continue to provide to you after being that humiliated?"

"My father..." Fulano's voice was cracking "My father loves me"

"Stepfather, not father. And that might be true, however how much strenght do you think he has? Does he have the strenght to endure the fact that the child he provided and loved for so long is not his child? Does he have the strenght to deal with the fact he was lied to for years? Does he have the strenght to deal with the public scrutiny? You know well how people here can be mean. Does he have the strenght to look weak? Because that's exactly how he will look like if he does nothing about you and your mother. Especially when your image is so important around here."

"I... he..."

"You know what I think? I think that no. Your father doesn't have the strenght to deal with all of this. And I also think you agree with me. So imagine your stepfather, the man you love so much, dealing with all this. Imagine your poor mother suffering, because she feels so sorry and everyone is being so mean. I mean, she was so young and it was a big mistake. She deeply regrets cheating her husband, why should she pay so much for this? Imagine you, without your home, your friends, your family. With all of that in mind, what do you say about my deal?"

He didn't worry about the silence that fell between them. He knew he had won.

"What do you want me to do?"

"First, stop hurting me on purpose on the trainings and to respect my physhical limits. Second, due to your family, or should I say your stepfather's family you have some influence over the Second Cohort. Besides you also get along with them pretty well. What I want is to you convince them to support me on Senate Meetings."

"How am I supposed to do that? They hate you!!! It will be impossible!!"

"Yeah. Years of bullying made me well aware of how much the Second Cohort hates me." Octavian's voice was harsh "But I guess this makes out deal fair. We both have impossible tasks to do. You need to make the Second Cohort support me and I need to keep a secret a secret."

Octavian stood up.

"I'm going. Just would like to say that it might be better if you don't talk about out deal to anyone. It is easier to deal with only one secret. Have a nice day!"

When he was in the exit of the forum Octavian met Jason.

"What were you and Fulano talking about? He seemed really angry."

"Oh. I just covinced him that my plan to the War Games is way better than his. Maybe I was a little too mean."

"A little? He look furious!!"

"Well, that is on him. He started it all. I'm just answering his endless bullying."

"Bullying? Don't you think you are exaggerating a little Tav?"

I don't know Jason, ask that to my limping leg.

"Yeah. I actually meant teasing. But I forgot the word."

Jason giggled discomfortably.

"This happens with me all time. I really dislike it."

"Me too. Anyway, I'm going. I'm tired."

"Okay. Congrats for having a better plan."

"Thanks Jason."

...

Disco #216: Fulano – Fulano

       La corriente vanguardista de la música, por lo menos en Chile, está armada como un nicho con seguidores y escenarios para poder ir a verlos (antes de la pandemia, claro); pero costó debido a la dictadura causada en este país entre 1973 y 1988. Ahora, si tomamos ese punto, prácticamente todas las corrientes artísticas quedaron truncadas por ese hecho, en un momento donde esa variedad de colores estilísticos pasó a ser sólo blanco, negro y gris.

       Sin embargo, hubo bandas las cuales empezaron a colorear clandestinamente lugares igual de clandestinos, a comienzos y mediados de los ochenta. Y entre la parte vanguardista de esa escena, hay que nombrar a Fulano, un colectivo desprejuiciado de lo que querían tocar, ya que su música es una mezcla entre el jazz rock o fusión, el RIO (Rock in Opposition, vanguardia europea algo nihilista) y el Zeühl (una especie de fusión creada por Magma (#83) a comienzos de los setenta). Teclados, bronces y bajo al servicio de una voz que daba la vida por cantar o gritar, además de ser en varias secciones un instrumento más.

       La historia discográfica de Fulano empieza con el homónimo “Fulano”, un disco editado a finales de la dictadura, burlando la censura en muchos ámbitos e, increíblemente, sonando en radios y tomado en cuenta por la gente. Indudablemente son virtuosos en sus instrumentos, pero es muy posible que la razón para ello sea la poca variedad estilística imperante en esa época, lo que hizo que sea masivo en ese tiempo. Ahora, canciones como “Suite Recoleta” es imposible no tomarlas en cuenta, debido a la belleza que esconden en su virtuosismo.

       Mi llegada a Fulano fue gracias a la radio Futuro (una vez más), sonando varias canciones, tales como la misma “Suite Recoleta”, además de “Fulano” y “Lamentos” (que es de un disco posterior). Siempre me llamaron la atención, hasta que una vez encontré sus discos en páginas de vanguardia y empecé a escucharlos. No es una escucha fácil, gracias al discurso y la complejidad estética de su música, pero era seguro que lo iba a escuchar una y otra vez. Al final, gracias a ello, termina siendo más satisfactoria la escucha.

Cómo voy a creer / dijo el fulanoque el mundo se quedó sin utopías

cómo voy a creer que la esperanza es un olvido o que el placer una tristeza cómo voy a creer / dijo el fulano que el universo es una ruina aunque lo sea o que la muerte es el silencio aunque lo sea cómo voy a creer que el horizonte es la frontera que el mar es nadie que la noche es nada cómo voy a creer / dijo el fulano que tu cuerpo / mengana no es algo más de lo que palpo o que tu amor ese remoto amor que me destinas no es el desnudo de tus ojos la parsimonia de tus manos cómo voy a creer / mengana austral que sos tan sólo lo que miro acaricio o penetro cómo voy a creer / dijo el fulano que la útopia ya no existe si vos / mengana dulce osada / eterna si vos / sos mi utopía.