The Disk

Short story by Jorge Luis Borges

"The Disk"
Short story by Jorge Luis Borges
Original title	El Disco
Country	Argentina
Language	Spanish
Genre(s)	Fantasy, short story
Publication
Published in	The Book of Sand
Media type	Print
Publication date	1975
Published in English	1977
Pages	4 (Dutton 1977 ed.)

"The Disk" is a 1975 short story written by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. It appears in the collection The Book of Sand.

Synopsis

The story deals with a woodcutter who lives in the midst of a deep wood in old England and who has never seen the sea. He tells the reader of the time a man appeared at his door and asked for lodging.

The woodcutter notes that the man was elderly, the visitor referring to England as "Saxony" which usage at the time was a sign of age. The next day the visitor wishes to leave. Before he does, he claims that he is a King and is descended from Odin. He tells the woodcutter that he is exiled, but that he will always be a king because he holds the Disk of Odin.

The visitor claims the Disk of Odin is the sole thing in the world that has but one side. The visitor opens his hand and "shows" the disk. The woodcutter sees only an empty palm but when he touches it he feels a chill in his fingers and sees a flash. He lies that he has a full chest of gold and wants to trade it for the disk, but the visitor declines. When the visitor turns to leave, the woodcutter kills him with an axe and the visitor drops the disk face side down.

The woodcutter drags the visitor's body and throws it into the river. He then comes back and searches for the disk, which he never finds.

References

Borges, Jorge (1999) [1975]. El libro de arena (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Alianza Editorial S.A. ISBN 84-206-3313-5. OCLC 40141633.

Jorge Luis Borges

Bibliography

Original
collections

A Universal History of Infamy	"Man on Pink Corner" "On Exactitude in Science"
Ficciones	"Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" "The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim" "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote" "The Circular Ruins" "The Lottery in Babylon" "An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain" "The Library of Babel" "The Garden of Forking Paths" "Funes the Memorious" "The Form of the Sword" "Theme of the Traitor and the Hero" "Death and the Compass" "The Secret Miracle" "Three Versions of Judas" "The End" "The Sect of the Phoenix" "The South"
The Aleph	"The Immortal" "The Dead Man" "The Theologians" "Story of the Warrior and the Captive" "Emma Zunz" "The House of Asterion" "Deutsches Requiem" "Averroes's Search" "The Zahir" "The Writing of the God" "The Two Kings and the Two Labyrinths" "The Wait" "The Man on the Threshold" "The Aleph"
Otras Inquisiciones (1937–1952)	"The Analytical Language of John Wilkins"
Dreamtigers	"Borges and I"
Dr. Brodie's Report	"The Encounter" "The Gospel According to Mark"
The Book of Sand	"The Other" "Ulrikke" "The Congress" "There Are More Things" "The Disk" "The Book of Sand"
Shakespeare's Memory	"Blue Tigers" "Shakespeare's Memory"