Esta es una traducción al inglés con un tono literario y moderno, buscando capturar la sutileza psicológica del niño y la atmósfera introspectiva del texto original.
What He Could Mimic
Chapter 4: The Answer
He attempted to lift the corners of his mouth as he had observed in others, but it was a futile effort; his reflection remained unchanged. Quickly shifting focus, he used his hands to force the gesture, but now the expression lacked any semblance of nature.
The teacher had been right in her assessment: even if he could force a smile with his hands, he would also need to learn to smile with his eyes. Yet, he hadn’t the slightest inkling of how such a thing was achieved.
Expressions were a mystery to him. Despite his keen interest in observing them, replication remained a distant goal. After all, expressions weren’t supposed to be something one learned through conscious effort.
However, however unorthodox it might be, learning to express before learning to feel might be the very thing to jumpstart his stagnant emotional development—taking advantage of this window of age where his detachment did not yet seem a problem.
Of course, he wasn’t actually thinking in such complex terms. Nor would it be accurate to say he sought a sense of belonging or a way to better navigate his environment. Instead, it was something far more primal: a pure, childish curiosity that drove this urge to imitate whatever caught his eye.
For that simple reason, the boy continued to touch the areas around his eyes, trying to mirror his teacher’s gaze. He wasn’t sure what differentiated an "eye-smile" from a normal look, but he could at least sense that it carried a different weight.
He soon realized he wasn't even certain which movements to look for near his eyes, so he decided to return to practicing the mouth—this time, without the help of his hands.
Unfortunately, his practice was cut short. His parents called out to him, noting he had been in the bathroom longer than usual. When he emerged and they asked what had taken so long, he simply said he had been "training."
It was a curious choice of words, one he had overheard from classmates who dreamt of being professional athletes. He intuitively felt it fit the context.
His parents were momentarily perplexed, but then smiled affectionately, pleased that their son seemed to have found a particular interest. They offered him words of encouragement to keep up the hard work.
Naturally, he didn’t miss the opportunity to observe this close-up example of a genuine smile. He confirmed he had brushed his teeth well and went to bed after receiving their goodnights.
The hours passed and the next day arrived. The morning unfolded like any other, each family member attending to their responsibilities. Later, the boy held his mother's hand as they walked home. Nothing particularly interesting had happened, yet she was happy to listen to his account of the school day.
Once home, they had lunch, cleared the table, and began to play together. She took the opportunity to ask him if he loved his parents, then waited as he pondered his answer.
The previous night, she had spoken with her husband about their son’s habit of saying "I don't know," recounting the slip-up when she had asked him about his feelings and the reaction she received. They decided it would be best for her to ask during the day and him at night, so the boy wouldn't suspect anything was amiss and would instead see it as a routine.
She waited patiently and received the same answer as always. After that, they set the matter aside and the day proceeded much like the one before: he met the usual children at the park while his mother chatted with neighbors, had a snack at home, and played with his blocks until his father arrived.
He went to greet him and, when asked for a hug, he complied without hesitation. They joined him in his play while he recounted his school day—the same story he had told his mother earlier.
Later, they set the dinner table and shared a quiet conversation, where he once again settled into the role of an observer. His recent fascination with smiling led him to pay closer attention to their facial gestures, trying to pinpoint exactly what created the sensation of a true smile.
He wasn't looking for anything specific; he had no way of knowing about the muscles involved, let alone how they were meant to move. But since the day before, he had been studying various people, watching the contours of their eyes when they wore the expression he desired.
Through this, he noticed a common thread. As far as he could recall, every one of them displayed wrinkles at the corners of their eyes. Some were deep, others faint, but they always appeared when people smiled.
Reaching this realization while watching his parents linger over dinner, the boy gave thanks for the meal and retreated to the bathroom to try and recreate those lines. His parents, confused, followed him with their eyes.
In front of the mirror, the boy stared at his reflection, trying to replicate those eye-wrinkles, but he quickly hit a snag. He didn’t yet know how to move his facial muscles with any precision. Furthermore, he couldn't linger too long, lest his parents become suspicious.
He decided to postpone his training and went to help clear the table. They didn't ask questions, assuming he had simply been in a hurry to use the facilities.
They spent a relaxed evening together until bedtime approached. He walked calmly to the bathroom and finished his task quickly but thoroughly.
Now he had to think. He had taken a step forward by discovering the existence of those eye-wrinkles, but now he had to take a step back to the basics. First, he had to learn to smile with his mouth without using his hands.
He started with his fingers, lifting the corners of his mouth while looking in the mirror. He realized it looked like an exaggerated grimace and lowered his hands, but then the expression felt insufficient.
He repeated this dynamic—raising and lowering his fingers—until he found a position that looked right. He felt satisfied. It was clear there was a long way to go, but at least he now knew how he should look when smiling unassisted.
To avoid another inquiry about his delay, he ended his training for the night. He approached his parents in the living room, said goodnight, and finished his day.
The parents stayed up a bit longer to discuss their interactions with their son, exchanging opinions and theories. They decided they would try different questions and requests to uncover the reason behind his enigmatic responses.
The week continued in this fashion: the boy practicing a smile to surprise his parents, while the parents tested various questions to understand his mind. It might have seemed like an overreaction, but it was only natural that a child with such a serious and persistent nature would have parents equally earnest in their goals.
By Friday night, they finally reached a conclusion regarding the mystery that troubled them. Throughout the week, they had tested different requests and found a distinct pattern.
When asked to do something specific, he did it without hesitation or discomfort. The same applied to factual questions. If asked the color of an object, he answered perfectly; the same went for things they were sure he knew, like his teacher’s name.
However, there was one consistent scenario where he gave that curious answer: "I don't know." It might sound obvious, but that truly was the situation, and they couldn't help but feel a bit foolish for not realizing it sooner.
They understood this because, on different days, they had asked if the sky was sunny or cloudy. They were sure he knew those words, and they got the answers they expected.
Until one day, the weather was what one would call "partly cloudy"—a concept he didn't know. This caused him to stare fixedly at the sky in silence until he finally responded with, "I don't know."
To be fair, it was a possibility more remote than they had imagined. At that age, it is quite rare for a child to answer that way; usually, they try to guess when they are unsure.
Regardless, the important thing was that they now understood the when. Now they had to focus on the why: discovering why their son wasn't sure if he loved them.
That was the question that had started it all. To get to the bottom of it, they had to solve this riddle. But it wasn't time to unveil the mystery just yet. They decided to wait and observe his development for a few more months, resolving to take him to a specialist if this continued past his fifth birthday.
They would also use that opportunity to ask about his lack of facial expressions, though they had recently learned to identify the minuscule shifts in his face. It was still disconcerting that he was so different from other children his age, and it was inevitable that they wanted to be sure it wasn't something...
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