At the first phrase, we are greeted with the phrase "Nadie lo vio desembarcar en la unanime noche...", translating to "Nobody saw him coming in the anonymous night. It is giving us some background knowledge, telling us that it is currently a very trainquil night, with the adjective use of "anonymous". After, we get a phrase "...Nadie vio la canoa de bambu sumiendose en el fango sagrado...". We are introduced a character in the story who is anonymous, but we'll give him a name: Borges. The so-called Borges arrives on a bamboo canoe, heading South. Soon after, he arrives on land, where a small village takes place. To make it simple, we'll name the village "Bambu". Once Borges arrives on land, he is greeted by frightened villagers, thinking that he was a mage, or a deity. So just to be safe, they gave Borges food and water. After the warm welcome of the villagers, he went to the forest. That was when he found the Circular Ruins. He noticed there was a huge statue, which resembled as a flower, a horse, and a tiger. But, since Borges was fatigued, he decided to rest on the cold, hard pedestal. And while he was sleeping, he was dreaming as well.
This is Chapter 2 of the Analysis. We'll have a brief overview on his dreams now. Pretend we are in Borges dreams.
In the magical dreams of Borges, he was having a dream about him teaching his students about life. He'd state that only "the worthy and the students who want to test their limits shall move on to the world." There were a few students, merely a handful. Borges decided that he would need a different way of teaching how the universe works. He would sign them tests, and one by one, students were chosen and dropping out. But, there was one particular student who had a personality just like Borges. A timid young boy, eager to learn everything. Borges had seen himself in the student, so he decided to go personally teach him.
Suddenly, Borges woke up on the pedestal. He didn't want to wake up, and tried to go back to sleep. But, he realises that he is stricken with insomnia and cannot fall back asleep. He'd walk in the forest to tire himself, trying to fall back to sleep. After hours, he finally slept and went back to his dream. In his mind, he begins to dream a man piece by piece, beginning with his heart and slowly adding other organs and features. The creation takes over a year and it was agonizing.
The wizard quit working on his creation, and woke up to a surprise. The timid boy he met in his class in his dreams were real. Almost as if there was an intersection of dreams and reality. We'll call this boy "Jose". But, he viewed the boy as a son, since they both had such common personality. Unfortunately, Borges has been told by the Fire Gods to send the Creation of Borges to another ruined temple, so he lets him go, erasing Jose's memory first. This way, the boy will never know that he is simply just a dream, and will believe himself to be a real person.
Later, the magician hears that the man he dreamed into existence has the ability to walk on fire without being burned. When a forest fire spreads and engulfs the temple, the magician accepts death and walks into the flames. He was left to realise that he was not burning, and that he, like his so called "son", was dreamed up by someone else and he is not a real person.
This story somewhat relates to The Matrix, as it says that human life could just be some computer simulation. But, instead it is human life that could be just a mere dream of a stranger. We may be in simulations, or in dreams, but I think what Jorge Luis Borges tries to tell us is about his work of infinity and invincibility.
