Desde ese instante, aquella cajita de música se convirtió en el juguete preferido de la niña. No solo podía pasar horas y horas escuchando la melodía que brotaba de la caja musical, sino que trataba de imitar a la bailarina y simulaba bailar ballet por toda la casa. Era tanta su obsesión, que hizo que su madre la inscribiera en una academia de baile a la que asistía cada día de la semana.
La niña se hizo joven y se perfeccionó como bailarina: su delgadez, frescura, elegancia, la hicieron sobresalir entre todas. Aunque ya era grande y experta, no dejaba de abrir su caja musical para deleitarse con los sonidos que brotaban de ella y para admirar la perfecta silueta de la bailarina, sus impecables movimientos, su insuperable técnica. En su interior, la joven quería ser como aquella bailarina: esbelta, perfecta, sublime.
Nadie se dio cuenta que la joven comenzó a cargar su caja de música para todos lados. A la hora de ejercitarse, la abría y veía a la bailarina, lo cual la incentivaba a esforzarse al máximo. Igual ocurría cuando comía: ver aquella figura estilizada, hacía que perdiera el apetito y dejara la comida a un lado. Esta práctica hizo que la joven se descompensara mucho, ya que obligaba a su cuerpo a bailar hasta el límite y sin alimento. Cuando los padres se dieron cuenta, ya era muy tarde: la joven sufría un gran desequilibrio alimenticio que la llevó a la muerte.
Con los meses, un niña llegó a la tienda de reliquias e inmediatamente escuchó la música de piano que brotaba de algún lado. Atraída por aquellos acordes, se acercó a una de las vitrinas: allí estaba una cajita de terciopelo rojo con bordes dorados, abierta, y con una linda bailarina dando vueltas en ella. "Yo la quiero, yo la quiero", dijo la niña insistiéndole a su madre. El vendedor, con la mejor de las sonrisas, se la puso en las manos y dijo: "Tómala. Es tuya. Te la regalo. Seguro tú sabrás hacer buen uso de ella."
From that moment on, that little music box became the little girl's favorite toy. Not only could she spend hours and hours listening to the melody coming out of the music box, but she tried to imitate the ballerina and pretended to dance ballet all over the house. Her obsession was so great that her mother enrolled her in a dance academy, which she attended every day of the week.
The girl became young and perfected herself as a dancer: her slenderness, freshness, elegance, made her stand out from the rest. Even though she was grown up and an expert, she never stopped opening her music box to delight in the sounds that flowed from it and to admire the perfect silhouette of the dancer, her impeccable movements, her unsurpassed technique. Deep inside, the young woman wanted to be like that dancer: slender, perfect, sublime.
No one noticed that the young woman began to carry her music box everywhere she went. When it was time to exercise, she would open it and see the dancer, which encouraged her to do her best. The same happened when she ate: seeing that stylized figure made her lose her appetite and leave food aside. This practice caused the young girl to become very unbalanced, as it forced her body to dance to the limit and without food. By the time her parents realized it, it was too late: the young woman was suffering from a major nutritional imbalance that led to her death.
As the months went by, a little girl came to the heirloom store and immediately heard piano music coming from somewhere. Attracted by those chords, she approached one of the showcases: there was a little red velvet box with golden edges, open, and with a pretty dancer twirling around in it. "I want it, I want it," said the little girl insistently to her mother. The salesman, with the best of smiles, put it in her hands and said, "Take it. It's yours. I'm giving it to you. I'm sure you will know how to make good use of it.
