"And what part of the country are you from?" said John Joseph to his guest, as he offered her a slice of a magnificent watermelon, which sparkled like a garnet in the light.
"From Treveles, in the Alpujarras," she answered.
"I was there when I served the king," responded John Joseph. "Those are poor villages. Treveles is a village overhanging the ravine of Poqueira."
"That is true," replied the poor woman, whose sorrowful face brightened a little at the recollection, so dear to the heart, of the place where she was born and where her home was.
"And by the same token," continued John Joseph, "you can see from there the peaks of Mulha Hasem and Veleta, that don't reach the sky because the Almighty1 wouldn't let them, and not because they didn't try."
"And why do they call that peak the Veleta, [a weather-vane.] John Joseph?
Is it because it has one on it?"
"If it has, I never saw it."
"It has none now," said the stranger, "but it had one in former times, when Moors2 and Christians3 went fighting one another through the mountains. It was guarded by an angel who kept it pointed4 toward Spain, and then the Christians conquered; but if he neglected his task, the devil came and made it point toward Barbary, and then the Moors conquered."
"But, in spite of all the devil could do, we drove them out; yes, and we would have done it if there had been ten times as many of them!" said the ex-soldier.
"And were you ever on those peaks?" said the mistress of the house to her guest.
"I was never there myself," answered the latter; "but my Manuel has been there a hundred times. Once he went there with an Englishman who wanted to see them. Between the two peaks there is a ravine that is full of water; and that is a cauldron that the demons5 made. From the middle of it come strange sounds that are caused by the hammering of the demons mending the cauldron. The whole place is a desert, full of naked rocks, and so awesome6 and solitary7 that the Englishman said it was like the Dead Sea—a sea that it seems there is in some of those far-off countries."
"Oh, mother! and why did it die?" asked the girl.
"How should I know?" answered the mother.
"Father," said the girl, repeating her question: "why did that sea die?
Did the Moors kill it?"
"What a question!" returned the father, who did not wish to confess his ignorance of the matter, as his wife had done: "it died because everything in the world dies, even the seas."
"And is the whole mountain like that?" asked Maria.
"No, for lower down there are trees,—chestnuts, oaks and shrubs8, and some fine apple trees planted by the Moors, whose fruit is sent to Granada to be sold."
"And I was told," continued John Joseph, "that there are wild goats there that run faster than water down a hill, that leap like grasshoppers9, and that are so sagacious that they always station one of their number on a height to keep watch, and when danger is approaching he strikes the rock with his foot, and then the others scamper10 off and disappear like a flight of partridges."
"That is all true," responded the guest; "and there are owls11 there, too, a kind of birds with wings and a human face."
"What is that you are saying, Senora?" cried John Joseph, "who ever saw such birds as those?"
"My Manuel has seen them, and every one who has ever climbed up those heights; and you must know that the owls and the mountain-goats have been there ever since the time when Jesus was in the world. He came to those solitudes12, that were then shady meadows in which tame and handsome goats browsed13, watched by their shepherds. The Lord, who was tired, entered a goat-herd's hut, and asked the goat-herds to prepare a kid for supper for Himself and St. John and St. Peter, who were with Him. The goat-herds, who were wicked Moors, said that they had none; but the Lord insisted, and then what did those heartless wretches14 do? They killed a cat, cooked it, and set it on the table. But the Lord, as you may suppose, who sees into all hearts and knows everything that is going on, however secret it may be thought, knew perfectly15 well what the goat-herds had done, and sitting down at the table He said:
'If you are a kid,
Remain fried.
But if you are a cat,
Jump from the plate.'
"Instantly the animal straightened itself up and ran off. The Lord, to punish the goat-herds, turned them into owls and their flocks into wild goats."
At this moment a moan was heard; they all hurried to the sick man's bedside. His improvement had been only momentary16; the fever, caused by a cerebral17 attack, had reached its height, and in a few hours terminated his life, without his having returned to consciousness for a single instant.
It is an easy matter to describe a violent and noisy grief which rebels against misfortune; but it is not easy to describe a profound, silent, humble18, and resigned grief. The poor widow who had lost everything, even the strength to work, raised her eyes to heaven, clasped her hands and bowed her head, while her life, which her chilled heart was unable to maintain, slowly ebbed19 away.
She was not sent away by the kind and charitable people who had sheltered her; but she knew that she would be a heavy burden upon them; and although she was submissive to the will of the Lord, she prayed to Him to grant her a speedy and contrite20 end, as a release from all her sufferings; and the Lord granted her prayer.
One night she saw with ineffable21 joy the bed on which she lay surrounded by kind, devout22, and compassionate23 souls; the house was lighted up; an altar stood in front of her humble cot, on which she saw the image of our Lord, to whom she had prayed, with arms opened to those who call upon Him. Every one brought flowers, those universal interpreters of human feeling, which enhance the splendor24 of the most august solemnities and lend poetry and beauty to the gayest festival; and which, as if they were angels' gifts, are found, like these, in the hut and in the palace, in royal gardens and in the fields.
A bell sounded in the distance that with its silvery voice seemed to say:
"Here cometh the Lord, who giveth a peaceful death."
And thus it was; for when the solemn act of receiving the Last Sacrament was ended, the sick woman raised her eyes, in which a gleam of her lost happiness shone.
"I am leaving this valley of tears," she said, in a faint voice, "and through the mercy of God I am going to His presence to ask Him to watch over this poor boy, this poor orphan25—"
"Orphan, did you say?" cried John Joseph. "Don't you know, then, that he is our son?"
The dying woman leaned her pale face against her son's forehead, on which a tear fell, and said to him, "Child of my heart, pay to our benefactors26 your own debt and that of your parents; as for me, I can only pray to God that He will bless them as I bless them."
"John Joseph," said the priest, "the blessing27 of the dying is the most precious legacy28 they can leave to those who survive them."
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1
almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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moors
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| v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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awesome
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| adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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grasshoppers
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| n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 )；蝗虫；蚂蚱；（孩子）矮小的 | |
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scamper
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| v.奔跑，快跑 | |
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owls
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| n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 ) | |
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12
solitudes
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| n.独居( solitude的名词复数 )；孤独；荒僻的地方；人迹罕至的地方 | |
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13
browsed
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| v.吃草( browse的过去式和过去分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息 | |
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14
wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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cerebral
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| adj.脑的，大脑的；有智力的，理智型的 | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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ebbed
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| （指潮水）退( ebb的过去式和过去分词 )； 落； 减少； 衰落 | |
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20
contrite
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| adj.悔悟了的，后悔的，痛悔的 | |
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ineffable
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| adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的 | |
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devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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compassionate
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| adj.有同情心的，表示同情的 | |
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splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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orphan
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| n.孤儿；adj.无父母的 | |
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benefactors
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| n.捐助者，施主( benefactor的名词复数 )；恩人 | |
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27
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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legacy
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| n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
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