Chapter XXXVIII. The Accursed.

 The news that the prisoners were going to depart spread quickly through the town. At first, the news was heard with terror; afterward¹, came tears and lamentations.

 

The members of the families of the prisoners were running about madly. They would go from the convent to the cuartel from the cuartel to the tribunal, and not finding consolation³ anywhere, they filled the air with cries and moans. The curate had shut himself up because he was ill. The alferez had increased his guards, who received the supplicants with the butts⁴ of their guns. The gobernadorcillo, a useless being, anyway, seemed more stupid and useless than ever.

 

The sun was burning hot, but none of the unhappy women who were gathered in front of the cuartel thought of that. Doray, the gay and happy wife of Don Filipo, wandered about, with her tender little child in her arms. Both were crying.

 

“Get out of the sun,” they said to her. “Your son will catch a fever.”

 

“What is the use of his living if he has no father to educate him?” replied the dispirited woman.

 

“Your husband is innocent. Perhaps he will return.”

 

“Yes, when we are in our graves.”

 

Capitana Tinay wept and cried for her son, Antonio. The courageous⁵ Capitana Maria gazed toward the small grate, behind which were her twins, her only sons.

 

There, too, was the mother-in-law of the cocoanut tree pruner⁶. She was not crying; she was walking to and fro, gesticulating, with shirt sleeves rolled up, and haranguing⁷ the public.

 

“Have you ever seen anything equal to it?” said she. “They arrest my Andong, wound him, put him in the [245]stocks, and take him to the capital, all because he happened to be in the cuartel yard.”

 

But few people had any sympathy for the Mussulman mother-in-law.

 

“Don Crisostomo is to blame for all of this,” sighed a woman.

 

The school teacher also was wandering about in the crowd. ?or Juan was no longer rubbing his hands, nor was he carrying his yard stick and plumb⁸ line. He had heard the bad news and, faithful to his custom of seeing the future as a thing that had already happened, he was dressed in mourning, mourning for the death of Ibarra.

 

At two o’clock in the afternoon, an uncovered cart, drawn⁹ by two oxen, stopped in front of the tribunal.

 

The cart was surrounded by the crowd. They wanted to destroy it.

 

“Don’t do that!” said Capitana Maria. “Do you want them to walk?”

 

This remark stopped the relatives of the prisoners. Twenty soldiers came out and surrounded the cart. Then came the prisoners.

 

The first was Don Filipo; he was tied. He greeted his wife with a smile. Doray broke into a bitter lamentation² and two soldiers had to work hard to keep her from embracing her husband. Antonio, the son of Captain Tinay, next appeared, crying like a child—a fact which made the family cry all the more. The imbecile, Andong, broke out in a wail¹⁰ when he saw his mother-in-law, the cause of his misfortune. Albino, the former seminary student, came out with his hands tied, as did also the twin sons of Capitana Maria. These three youths were serious and grave. The last who came was Ibarra. The young man was pale. He looked about for the face of Maria Clara.

 

“That is the one who is to blame!” cried many voices. “He is to blame and he will go free.”

 

“My son-in-law has done nothing and he is handcuffed.”

 

Ibarra turned to the guards.

 

“Tie me, and tie me well, elbow to elbow,” said he.

 

“We have no orders.” [246]

 

“Tie me!”

 

The soldiers obeyed.

 

The alferez appeared on horse-back, armed to the teeth. Ten or fifteen more soldiers followed him.

 

Each of the prisoners had there in the crowd his family praying for him, weeping for him, and calling him by the most affectionate names. Ibarra was the only exception. Even ?or Juan himself and the school-teacher had disappeared.

 

“What have you done to my husband and my son?” said Doray to Ibarra, crying. “See my poor boy! You have deprived him of a father!”

 

The grief of the people was changed to wrath¹¹ against the young man, accused of having provoked the riot. The alferez gave orders to depart.

 

“You are a coward!” cried the mother-in-law of Andong to Ibarra. “While the others were fighting for you, you were hiding. Coward!”

 

“Curses upon you!” shouted an old man following him. “Cursed be the gold hoarded¹² up by your family to disturb our peace! Curse him! Curse him!”

 

“May they hang you, heretic!” cried one of Albino’s relatives. And unable to restrain himself, he picked up a stone and threw it at Ibarra.

 

The example was quickly imitated, and a shower of dust and stones fell on the unfortunate youth.

 

Ibarra suffered it all, impassive, without wrath, without a complaint—the unjust vengeance¹³ of suffering hearts. This was the leave-taking, the “adios” tendered to him by his town, the center of all his affections. He bowed his head. Perhaps he was thinking of another man, whipped through the streets of Manila, of an old woman falling dead at the sight of the head of her son. Perhaps the history of Elias was passing before his eyes.

 

The cortége moved slowly on and away.

 

Of the persons who appeared in a few opened windows, those who showed the most compassion¹⁴ for the unfortunate young man were the indifferent and the curious. All his friends had hidden themselves; yes, even Captain Basilio, who forbade his daughter Sinang to weep.

 

Ibarra saw the smouldering ruins of his house, of the [247]house of his fathers where he had been born, where he had lived the sweetest days of his infancy¹⁵ and childhood. Tears, for a long time suppressed, burst from his eyes. He bowed his head and wept, wept without the consolation of being able to hide his weeping, tied as he was by the elbows. Nor did that grief awaken¹⁶ compassion in anybody. Now he had neither fatherland, home, love, friends or future.

 

From a height a man contemplated¹⁷ the funeral-like caravan¹⁸. He was old, pale, thin, wrapped in a woollen blanket and was leaning with fatigue¹⁹ on a cane²⁰. It was old Tasio, who as soon as he heard of what had happened wanted to leave his bed and attend, but his strength would not permit it. The old man followed with his eyes the cart until it disappeared in the distance. He stood for some time, pensive²¹ and his head bowed down; then he arose, and laboriously²² started on the road to his house, resting at every step.

 

The following day, shepherds found him dead on the very threshold of his solitary²³ retreat.

1 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

2 lamentation   

n.悲叹，哀悼

参考例句：

• This ingredient does not invite or generally produce lugubrious lamentation. 这一要素并不引起，或者说通常不产生故作悲伤的叹息。 来自哲学部分
• Much lamentation followed the death of the old king. 老国王晏驾，人们悲恸不已。 来自辞典例句

3 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

4 butts   

笑柄( butt的名词复数 )； （武器或工具的）粗大的一端； 屁股； 烟蒂

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。
• The house butts to a cemetery. 这所房子和墓地相连。

5 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

6 pruner   

修枝剪

参考例句：

7 haranguing   

v.高谈阔论( harangue的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He continued in his customary, haranguing style. 他继续以他一贯的夸夸其谈的手法讲下去。 来自辞典例句
• That lady was still haranguing the girl. 那位女士仍然对那女孩喋喋不休地训斥。 来自互联网

8 plumb   

adv.精确地，完全地；v.了解意义，测水深

参考例句：

• No one could plumb the mystery.没人能看破这秘密。
• It was unprofitable to plumb that sort of thing.这种事弄个水落石出没有什么好处。

9 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

10 wail   

vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸

参考例句：

• Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
• One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。

11 wrath   

n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒

参考例句：

• His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
• The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。

12 hoarded   

v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It owned great properties and often hoarded huge treasures. 它拥有庞大的财产，同时往往窖藏巨额的财宝。 来自辞典例句
• Sylvia among them, good-naturedly applaud so much long-hoarded treasure of useless knowing. 西尔维亚也在他们中间，为那些长期珍藏的无用知识，友好地、起劲地鼓掌。 来自互联网

13 vengeance   

n.报复，报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
• For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。

14 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

15 infancy   

n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期

参考例句：

• He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
• Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

16 awaken   

vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起

参考例句：

• Old people awaken early in the morning.老年人早晨醒得早。
• Please awaken me at six.请于六点叫醒我。

17 contemplated   

adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The doctor contemplated the difficult operation he had to perform. 医生仔细地考虑他所要做的棘手的手术。
• The government has contemplated reforming the entire tax system. 政府打算改革整个税收体制。

18 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。

19 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

20 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

21 pensive   

a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的

参考例句：

• He looked suddenly sombre,pensive.他突然看起来很阴郁，一副忧虑的样子。
• He became so pensive that she didn't like to break into his thought.他陷入沉思之中,她不想打断他的思路。

22 laboriously   

adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地

参考例句：

• She is tracing laboriously now. 她正在费力地写。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She is laboriously copying out an old manuscript. 她正在费劲地抄出一份旧的手稿。 来自辞典例句

23 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。