“It was during these sanguinary skirmishes that his wife first began to appear on horseback at his right hand. Rendered proud and self-confident by his successes, Ruiz no longer charged at the head of his partida, but presumptuously2, like a general directing the movements of an army, he remained in the rear, well mounted and motionless on an eminence3, sending out his orders. She was seen repeatedly at his side, and for a long time was mistaken for a man. There was much talk then of a mysterious white-faced chief, to whom the defeats of our troops were ascribed. She rode like an Indian woman, astride, wearing a broad-rimmed man’s hat and a dark poncho4. Afterwards, in the day of their greatest prosperity, this poncho was embroidered5 in gold, and she wore then, also, the sword of poor Don Antonio de Leyva. This veteran Chilean officer, having the misfortune to be surrounded with his small force, and running short of ammunition6, found his death at the hands of the Arauco Indians, the allies and auxiliaries7 of Gaspar Ruiz. This was the fatal affair long remembered afterwards as the ‘Massacre of the Island.’ The sword of the unhappy officer was presented to her by Peneleo, the Araucanian chief; for these Indians, struck by her aspect, the deathly pallor of her face, which no exposure to the weather seemed to affect, and her calm indifference8 under fire, looked upon her as a supernatural being, or at least as a witch. By this superstition9 the prestige and authority of Gaspar Ruiz amongst these ignorant people were greatly augmented10. She must have savoured her vengeance11 to the full on that day when she buckled12 on the sword of Don Antonio de Leyva. It never left her side, unless she put on her woman’s clothes—not that she would or could ever use it, but she loved to feel it beating upon her thigh13 as a perpetual reminder14 and symbol of the dishonour15 to the arms of the Republic. She was insatiable. Moreover, on the path she had led Gaspar Ruiz upon, there is no stopping. Escaped prisoners—and they were not many—used to relate how with a few whispered words she could change the expression of his face and revive his flagging animosity. They told how after every skirmish, after every raid, after every successful action, he would ride up to her and look into her face. Its haughty16-calm was never relaxed. Her embrace, senores, must have been as cold as the embrace of a statue. He tried to melt her icy heart in a stream of warm blood. Some English naval17 officers who visited him at that time noticed the strange character of his infatuation.”
At the movement of surprise and curiosity in his audience General Santierra paused for a moment.
“Yes—English naval officers,” he repeated. “Ruiz had consented to receive them to arrange for the liberation of some prisoners of your nationality. In the territory upon which he ranged, from sea coast to the Cordillera, there was a bay where the ships of that time, after rounding Gape18 Horn, used to resort for wood and water. There, decoying the crew on shore, he captured first the whaling brig Hersalia, and afterwards made himself master by surprise of two more ships, one English and one American.
“It was rumoured19 at the time that he dreamed of setting up a navy of his own. But that, of course, was impossible. Still, manning the brig with part of her own crew, and putting an officer and a good many men of his own on board, he sent her off to the Spanish Governor of the island of Chiloe with a report of his exploits, and a demand for assistance in the war against the rebels. The Governor could not do much for him; but he sent in return two light field-pieces, a letter of compliments, with a colonel’s commission in the royal forces, and a great Spanish flag. This standard with much ceremony was hoisted20 over his house in the heart of the Arauco country. Surely on that day she may have smiled on her guasso husband with a less haughty reserve.
“The senior officer of the English squadron on our coast made representations to our Government as to these captures. But Gaspar Ruiz refused to treat with us. Then an English frigate21 proceeded to the bay, and her captain, doctor, and two lieutenants22 travelled inland under a safe conduct. They were well received, and spent three days as guests of the partisan23 chief. A sort of military, barbaric state was kept up at the residence. It was furnished with the loot of frontier towns. When first admitted to the principal sala, they saw his wife lying down (she was not in good health then), with Gaspar Ruiz sitting at the foot of the couch. His-hat was lying on the floor, and his hands reposed24 on the hilt of his sword.
“During that first conversation he never removed his big hands from the sword-hilt, except once, to arrange the coverings about her, with gentle, careful touches. They noticed that when ever she spoke25 he would fix his eyes upon her in a kind of expectant, breathless attention, and seemingly forget the existence of the world and his own existence too. In the course of the farewell banquet, at which she was present reclining on her couch, he burst forth26 into complaints of the treatment he had received. After General San Martin’s departure he had been beset27 by spies, slandered28 by civil officials, his services ignored, his liberty and even his life threatened by the Chilian Government. He got up from the table, thundered execrations pacing the room wildly, then sat down on the couch at his wife’s feet, his breast heaving, his eyes fixed29 on the floor. She reclined on her back, her head on the cushions, her eyes nearly closed.
“‘And now I am an honoured Spanish officer,’ he added in a calm voice.
“The captain of the English frigate then took the opportunity to inform him gently that Lima had fallen, and that by the terms of a convention the Spaniards were withdrawing from the whole continent.
“Gaspar Ruiz raised his head, and without hesitation30, speaking with suppressed vehemence31, declared, that if not a single Spanish soldier were left in the whole of South America he would persist in carrying on the contest against Chile to the last drop of blood. When he finished that mad tirade32 his wife’s long white hand was raised, and she just caressed33 his knee with the tips of her fingers for a fraction of a second.
“For the rest of the officers’ stay, which did not extend for more than half an hour after the banquet, that ferocious34 chieftain of a desperate partida overflowed35 with amiability36 and kindness. He had been hospitable37 before, but now it seemed as though he could not do enough for the comfort and safety of his visitors’ journey back to their ship.
“Nothing, I have been told, could have presented a greater contrast to his late violence or the habitual38 taciturn reserve of his manner. Like a man elated beyond measure by an unexpected happiness, he overflowed with good-will, amiability, and attentions. He embraced the officers like brothers, almost with tears in his eyes. The released prisoners were presented each with a piece of gold. At the last moment, suddenly, he declared he could do no less than restore to the masters of the merchant vessels39 all their private property. This unexpected generosity40 caused some delay in the departure of the party, and their first march was very short.
“Late in the evening Gaspar Ruiz rode up with an escort, to their camp fires, bringing along with him a mule41 loaded with cases of wine. He had come, he said, to drink a stirrup cup with his English friends, whom he would never see again. He was mellow42 and joyous43 in his temper. He told stories of his own exploits, laughed like a boy, borrowed a guitar from the Englishmen’s chief muleteer, and sitting cross-legged on his superfine poncho spread before the glow of the embers, sang a guasso love-song in a tender voice. Then his head dropped on his breast, his hands fell to the ground; the guitar rolled off his knees—and a great hush44 fell over the camp after the love-song of the implacable partisan who had made so many of our people weep for destroyed homes and for loves cut short.
“Before anybody could make a sound he sprang up from the ground and called for his horse. ‘Adios, my friends!’ he cried, ‘Go with God. I love you. And tell them well in Santiago that between Gaspar Ruiz, colonel of the King of Spain, and the republican carrion-crows of Chile there is war to the last breath—war! war! war!’
“With a great yell of ‘War! war! war!’ which his escort took up, they rode away, and the sound of hoofs45 and of voices died out in the distance between the slopes of the hills.
“The two young English officers were convinced that Ruiz was mad. How do you say that?—tile loose—eh? But the doctor, an observant Scotsman with much shrewdness and philosophy in his character, told me that it was a very curious case of possession. I met him many years afterwards, but he remembered the experience very well. He told me too that in his opinion that woman did not lead Gaspar Ruiz into the practice of sanguinary treachery by direct persuasion46, but by the subtle way of awakening47 and keeping alive in his simple mind a burning sense of an irreparable wrong. Maybe, maybe. But I would say that she poured half of her vengeful soul into the strong clay of that man, as you may pour intoxication48, madness, poison into an empty cup.
“If he wanted war he got it in earnest when our victorious49 army began to return from Peru. Systematic50 operations were planned against this blot51 on the honour and prosperity of our hardly-won independence. General Robles commanded, with his well-known ruthless severity. Savage52 reprisals53 were exercised on both sides, and no quarter was given in the field. Having won my promotion54 in the Peru campaign, I was a captain on the staff.
“Gaspar Ruiz found himself hard pressed; at the same time we heard by means of a fugitive55 priest who had been carried off from his village presbytery, and galloped56 eighty miles into the hills to perform the christening ceremony, that a daughter was born to them. To celebrate the event, I suppose, Ruiz executed one or two brilliant forays clear away at the rear of our forces, and defeated the detachments sent out to cut off his retreat. General Robles nearly had a stroke of apoplexy from rage. He found another cause of insomnia57 than the bites of mosquitoes; but against this one, senores, tumblers of raw brandy had no more effect than so much water. He took to railing and storming at me about my strong man. And from our impatience58 to end this inglorious campaign, I am afraid that we young officers became reckless and apt to take undue59 risks on service.
“Nevertheless, slowly, inch by inch as it were, our columns were closing upon Gaspar Ruiz, though he had managed to raise all the Araucanian nation of wild Indians against us. Then a year or more later our Government became aware through its agents and spies that he had actually entered into alliance with Carreras, the so-called dictator of the so-called republic of Mendoza, on the other side of the mountains. Whether Gaspar Ruiz had a deep political intention, or whether he wished only to secure a safe retreat for his wife and child while he pursued remorselessly against us his war of surprises and massacres60, I cannot tell. The alliance, however, was a fact. Defeated in his attempt to check our advance from the sea, he retreated with his usual swiftness, and preparing for another hard and hazardous61 tussle62 began by sending his wife with the little girl across the Pequena range of mountains, on the frontier of Mendoza.”
《Heart of Darkness黑暗的心》
《Heart of Darkness黑暗的心》
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1
entrenched
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| adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯) | |
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presumptuously
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| adv.自以为是地，专横地，冒失地 | |
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eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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poncho
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| n.斗篷，雨衣 | |
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embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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auxiliaries
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| n.助动词 ( auxiliary的名词复数 )；辅助工，辅助人员 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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Augmented
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| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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buckled
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| a. 有带扣的 | |
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thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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reminder
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| n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示 | |
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15
dishonour
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| n./vt.拒付（支票、汇票、票据等）；vt.凌辱，使丢脸；n.不名誉，耻辱，不光彩 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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gape
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| v.张口，打呵欠，目瞪口呆地凝视 | |
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rumoured
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| adj.谣传的；传说的；风 | |
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hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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frigate
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| n.护航舰，大型驱逐舰 | |
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lieutenants
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| n.陆军中尉( lieutenant的名词复数 )；副职官员；空军；仅低于…官阶的官员 | |
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partisan
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| adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒 | |
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reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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slandered
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| 造谣中伤( slander的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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tirade
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| n.冗长的攻击性演说 | |
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caressed
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| 爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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overflowed
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| 溢出的 | |
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amiability
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| n.和蔼可亲的，亲切的，友善的 | |
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hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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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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45
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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46
persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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47
awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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48
intoxication
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| n.wild excitement;drunkenness；poisoning | |
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49
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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50
systematic
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| adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的 | |
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51
blot
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| vt.弄脏（用吸墨纸）吸干；n.污点，污渍 | |
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52
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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53
reprisals
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| n.报复（行为）( reprisal的名词复数 ) | |
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54
promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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55
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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56
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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57
insomnia
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| n.失眠，失眠症 | |
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58
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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59
undue
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| adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的 | |
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60
massacres
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| 大屠杀( massacre的名词复数 )； 惨败 | |
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61
hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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tussle
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| n.&v.扭打，搏斗，争辩 | |
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