TEHRAN – “Memories of a Cow” by Spanish writer Bernardo Atxaga has recently been published in Persian by Qoqnus Publications in Tehran.

Translated by Alireza Shafiei-Nasab, the 1991 novel is about Mo, a young cow, who hears her Inner Voice urging her to begin writing her memoirs. Having ignored her Inner Voice’s advice once before, with near-fatal consequences, she decides, this time, to do as she is told. 

Mo looks back on her life, beginning with the crucial moment when she met another cow, who introduced herself as La Vache qui Rit, and assured Mo that there was nothing more stupid in this world than a stupid cow. 

Mo spends her life trying to prove to her friend that, despite being a cow, she is not at all stupid. Besides, she has her Inner Voice and a great desire to live.

Bernardo Atxaga’s book of short stories, “Obabakoak” (“Individuals and Things of Obaba”), published in 1988 won him much fame and several prizes, such as Spain’s National Literature Prize. So far, the book has been translated into more than 20 languages.

Photo: Front cover of the Persian edition of Bernardo Atxaga’s “Memories of a Cow”

ABU/MG