"Good-evening, my dear Dona Baltasara. Are you also going to-night to the Christmas Eve mass? For my part, I was intending to go to the parish church to hear it, but what has happened—where is Vicente going, do you ask? Why, where the crowd goes. And I must say, to tell the truth, that ever since Maese Perez died, it seems as if a marble slab1 was on my heart whenever I go to Santa Ines. Poor dear man! He was a saint! I know one thing—I keep a piece of his cloak as a relic2, and he deserves it. I solemnly believe that if the archbishop would stir in the matter, our grandchildren would see his image among the saints on the altars. But, of course, he won't do that. The dead and absent have no friends, as they say. It's all the latest thing, nowadays; you understand me. What? You do not know what has happened? Well, it's true you are not exactly in our situation. From our house to the church, and from the church to our house—a word here and another one there—on the wing—without any curiosity whatever—I easily find out all the news.
"Well, then, it's a settled thing that the organist of San Roman—that squint-eye, who is always slandering3 other organists—that great blunderer, who seems more like a butcher than a master of sol fa—is going to play this Christmas Eve in Maese Perez's old place. Of course, you know, for everybody knows it, and it is a public matter in all Seville, that no one dared to try it. His daughter would not, though she is a professor of music herself. After her father's death she went into the convent as a novice4. Her unwillingness5 to play was the most natural thing in the world; accustomed as she was to those marvellous performances, any other playing must have appeared bad to her, not to speak of her desire to avoid comparisons. But when the sisterhood had already decided6 that in honor of the dead organist, and as a token of respect to his memory, the organ should not be played to-night, here comes this fellow along, and says that he is ready to play it.
"Ignorance is the boldest of all things. It is true, the fault is not his, so much as theirs who have consented to this profanation7, but that is the way of the world. But, I say, there's no small bit of people coming. Any one would say that nothing had changed since last year. The same distinguished8 persons, the same elegant costumes, the crowding at the door, the same excitement in the portico9, the same throng10 in the church. Alas11! if the dead man were to rise, he would feel like dying again to hear his organ played by inferior hands. The fact is, if what the people of the neighborhood tell me is true, they are getting a fine reception ready for the intruder. When the time comes for him to touch the keys, there is going to break out a racket made by timbrels, drums, and horse-fiddles, so that you can't hear anything else. But hush12! there's the hero of the occasion going into the church. Goodness! what gaudy13 clothes, what a neckcloth, what a high and mighty14 air! Come, hurry up, the archbishop came only a moment ago, and the mass is going to begin. Come on; I guess this night will give us something to talk about for many a day!"
Saying this, the worthy15 woman, whom the reader recognizes by her abrupt16 talkativeness, went into the Church of Santa Ines, opening for herself a path, in her usual way, by shoving and elbowing through the crowd.
The ceremony had already begun. The church was as brilliant as the year before.
The new organist, after passing between the rows of the faithful in the nave17, and going to kiss the archbishop's ring, had gone up to the organ-loft18, where he was trying one stop of the organ after another, with an affected19 and ridiculous gravity.
A low, confused noise was heard coming from the common people clustered at the rear of the church, a sure augury20 of the coming storm, which would not be long in breaking.
"He is an ignoramus," said others, "who, after having made a perfect rattle22 out of the organ in his own church, comes here to profane23 Maese Perez's."
And while one was taking off his cloak so as to be ready to beat his drum to good advantage, and another was testing his timbrel, and all were more and more buzzing out in talk, only here and there could one be found to defend even that curious person, whose proud and pedantic24 bearing so strongly contrasted with the modest appearance and kind affability of Maese Perez.
At last the looked-for moment arrived, when the priest, after bowing low and murmuring the sacred words, took the host in his hands. The bells gave forth26 a peal27, like a rain of crystal notes; the transparent28 waves of incense29 rose, and the organ sounded.
But its first chord was drowned by a horrible clamor which filled the whole church. Bagpipes30, horns, timbrels, drums, every instrument known to the populace, lifted up their discordant31 voices all at once.
The confusion and clangor lasted but a few seconds. As the noises began, so they ended, all together.
The second chord, full, bold, magnificent, sustained itself, pouring from the organ's metal tubes like a cascade32 of inexhaustible and sonorous33 harmony.
Celestial34 songs like those that caress35 the ear in moments of ecstasy36; songs which the soul perceives, but which the lip cannot repeat; single notes of a distant melody, which sound at intervals37, borne on the breeze; the rustle38 of leaves kissing each other on the trees with a murmur25 like rain; trills of larks39 which rise with quivering songs from among the flowers like a flight of arrows to the sky; nameless sounds, overwhelming as the roar of a tempest; fluttering hymns40, which seemed to be mounting to the throne of the Lord like a mixture of light and sound—all were expressed by the organ's hundred voices, with more vigor41, more subtle poetry, more weird42 coloring, than had ever been known before.
When the organist came down from the loft the crowd which pressed up to the stairway was so great, and their eagerness to see and greet him so intense, that the chief judge, fearing, and not without reason, that he would be suffocated43 among them all, ordered some of the officers to open a path for the organist, with their staves of office, so that he could reach the high altar, where the prelate was waiting for him.
"You perceive," said the archbishop, "that I have come all the way from my palace to hear you. Now, are you going to be as cruel as Maese Perez? He would never save me the journey, by going to play the Christmas Eve mass in the cathedral."
"Next year," replied the organist, "I promise to give you the pleasure; since, for all the gold in the world, I would never play this organ again."
"But why not?" interrupted the prelate.
"Because," returned the organist, endeavoring to repress the agitation44 which revealed itself in the pallor of his face—"because it is so old and poor; one cannot express one's self on it satisfactorily."
The archbishop withdrew, followed by his attendants. One after another the litters of the great folk disappeared in the windings45 of the neighboring streets. The group in the portico scattered46. The sexton was locking up the doors, when two women were perceived, who had stopped to cross themselves and mutter a prayer, and who were now going on their way into Duenas Alley47.
"What would you have, my dear Dona Baltasara?" one was saying. "That's the way I am. Every crazy person with his whim48. The barefooted Capuchins might assure me that it was so, and I would not believe it. That man never played what we have heard. Why, I have heard him a thousand times in San Bartolome, his parish church; the priest had to send him away he was so poor a player. You felt like plugging your ears with cotton. Why, all you need is to look at his face, and that is the mirror of the soul, they say. I remember, as if I was seeing him now, poor man—I remember Maese Perez's face, nights like this, when he came down from the organ-loft, after having entranced the audience with his splendors49. What a gracious smile! What a happy glow on his face! Old as he was, he seemed like an angel. But this creature came plunging50 down as if a dog were barking at him on the landing, and all the color of a dead man, while his—come, dear Dona Baltasara, believe me, and believe what I say: there is some great mystery about this."
Thus conversing51, the two women turned the corner of the alley, and disappeared. There is no need of saying who one of them was.
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1
slab
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| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
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relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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slandering
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| [法]口头诽谤行为 | |
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novice
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| adj.新手的，生手的 | |
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unwillingness
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| n. 不愿意，不情愿 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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profanation
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| n.亵渎 | |
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8
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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9
portico
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| n.柱廊，门廊 | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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13
gaudy
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| adj.华而不实的；俗丽的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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nave
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| n.教堂的中部；本堂 | |
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loft
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| n.阁楼，顶楼 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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augury
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| n.预言，征兆，占卦 | |
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21
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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22
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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23
profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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24
pedantic
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| adj.卖弄学问的；迂腐的 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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peal
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| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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28
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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29
incense
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| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
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30
bagpipes
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| n.风笛；风笛( bagpipe的名词复数 ) | |
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31
discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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32
cascade
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| n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下 | |
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33
sonorous
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| adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇 | |
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34
celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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caress
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| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
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36
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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37
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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38
rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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39
larks
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| n.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的名词复数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了v.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的第三人称单数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了 | |
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40
hymns
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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41
vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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42
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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43
suffocated
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| （使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气 | |
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44
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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45
windings
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| （道路、河流等）蜿蜒的，弯曲的( winding的名词复数 )； 缠绕( wind的现在分词 )； 卷绕； 转动（把手） | |
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46
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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47
alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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48
whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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49
splendors
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| n.华丽( splendor的名词复数 )；壮丽；光辉；显赫 | |
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50
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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51
conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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