Eight o'clock in the evening. They have dined at the cider mill, all the players except the vicar, under the patronage1 of Itchoua; they have lounged for a long time afterward2, languid in the smoke of smuggled3 cigarettes and listening to the marvellous improvisations of the two Iragola brothers, of the Mendiazpi mountain—while outside, on the street, the girls in small groups holding one another's arms, looked at the windows, found pleasure in observing on the smoky panes4 the round shadows of the heads of the men covered with similar caps—
Now, on the square, the brass5 band plays the first measures of the fandango, and the young men, the young girls, all those of the village and several also of the mountain who have remained to dance, arrive in impatient groups. There are some dancing already on the road, not to lose anything.
And soon the fandango turns, turns, in the light of the new moon the horns of which seem to pose, lithe6 and light, on the enormous and heavy mountain. In the couples that dance without ever touching7 each other, there is never a separation; before one another always and at an equal distance, the boy and the girl make evolutions with a rhythmic8 grace, as if they were tied together by some invisible magnet.
It has gone into hiding, the crescent of the moon, fallen, one would think, in the black mountain; then lanterns are brought and hooked to the trunks of the plane-trees and the young men can see better their partners who, opposite them swing with an air of fleeing continually, but without increasing their distance ever: almost all pretty, their hair elegantly dressed, a kerchief on the neck, and wearing with ease gowns in the fashion of to-day. The men, somewhat grave always, accompany the music with snaps of their fingers in the air: shaven and sunburnt faces to which labor9 in the fields, in smuggling10 or at sea, has given a special thinness, almost ascetic11; still, by the ampleness of their brown necks, by the width of their shoulders, one divines their great strength, the strength of that old, sober and religious race.
The fandango turns and oscillates, to the tune12 of an ancient waltz. All the arms, extended and raised, agitate13 themselves in the air, rise or fall with pretty, cadenced15 motions following the oscillations of bodies. The rope soled sandals make this dance silent and infinitely16 light; one hears only the frou-frou of gowns, and ever the snap of fingers imitating the noise of castanets. With a Spanish grace, the girls, whose wide sleeves expand like wings, swing their tightened17 waists above their vigorous and supple18 hips19—
Facing one another, Ramuntcho and Gracieuse said nothing at first, captivated by the childish joy of moving quickly in cadence14, to the sound of music. It is very chaste20, that manner of dancing without the slightest touch of bodies.
But there were also, in the course of the evening, waltzes and quadrilles, and even walks arm-in-arm during which the lovers could touch each other and talk.
“Then, my Ramuntcho,” said Gracieuse, “it is of that game that you expect to make your future, is it not?”
They were walking now arm-in-arm, under the plane-trees shedding their leaves in the night of November, lukewarm as a night of May, during an interval21 of silence when the musicians were resting.
“Yes,” replied Ramuntcho, “in our country it is a trade, like any other, where one may earn a living, as long as strength lasts—and one may go from time to time to South America, you know, as Irun and Gorosteguy have done, and bring back twenty, thirty thousand francs for a season, earned honestly at Buenos Ayres.”
“Oh, the Americas—” exclaimed Gracieuse in a joyful22 enthusiasm—“the Americas, what happiness! It was always my wish to go across the sea to those countries!—And we would look for your uncle Ignacio, then go to my cousin, Bidegaina, who has a farm on the Uruguay, in the prairies—”
She ceased talking, the little girl who had never gone out of that
village which the mountains enclose; she stopped to think of these
far-off lands which haunted her young head because she had, like most
Indians, who pass their adventurous24 lives on the other side of the ocean
and return to the cherished village only very late, to die. And, while
she dreamed, her nose in the air, her eyes in the black of the clouds
and of the summits, Ramuntcho felt his blood running faster, his
heart beating quicker in the intense joy of what she had just said so
spontaneously. And, inclining his head toward her, he asked, as if to
jest, in a voice infinitely soft and childish:
“We would go? Is that what you said: we would go, you with me? This
signifies therefore that you would consent, a little later, when we
become of age, to marry me?”
He perceived through the darkness the gentle black light of Gracieuse's eyes, which rose toward him with an expression of astonishment25 and of reproach.
“Then—you did not know?”
“I wanted to make you say it, you see—You had never said it to me, do you know?—”
He held tighter the arm of his little betrothed26 and their walk became slower. It is true that they had never said it, not only because it seemed to them that it was not necessary to say, but especially because they were stopped at the moment of speaking by a sort of terror—the terror of being mistaken about each other's sentiment—and now they knew, they were sure. Then they had the consciousness of having passed together the grave and solemn threshold of life. And, leaning on one another, they faltered27, almost, in their slackened promenade28, like two children intoxicated29 by youthfulness, joy and hope.
“But do you think your mother will consent?” said Ramuntcho timidly, after the long, delightful30 silence—
“Ah, that is the trouble,” replied the little girl with a sigh of anxiety—“Arrochkoa, my brother, will be for us, it is probable. But mother?—Will mother consent?—But, it will not happen soon, in any case—You have to serve in the army.”
“No, if you do not want me to! No, I need not serve! I am a Guipuzcoan, like my mother; I shall be enrolled31 only if I wish to be—Whatever you say, I'll do—”
“My Ramuntcho, I would like better to wait for you longer and that you become naturalized, and that you become a soldier like the others. I tell you this, since you ask—”
“Truly, is it what you wish? Well, so much the better. Oh, to be a Frenchman or a Spaniard is indifferent to me. I shall do as you wish. I like as well one as the other: I am a Basque like you, like all of us; I care not for the rest! But as for being a soldier somewhere, on this side of the frontier or on the other, yes, I prefer it. In the first place, one who goes away looks as if he were running away; and then, it would please me to be a soldier, frankly32.”
“Well, my Ramuntcho, since it is all the same to you, serve as a soldier in France, to please me.”
“It is understood, Gatchutcha!—You will see me wearing red trousers. I shall call on you in the dress of a soldier, like Bidegarray, like Joachim. As soon as I have served my three years, we will marry, if your mother consents!”
After a moment of silence Gracieuse said, in a low, solemn voice:
“Listen, my Ramuntcho—I am like you: I am afraid of her—of my mother—But listen—if she refuses, we shall do together anything, anything that you wish, for this is the only thing in the world in which I shall not obey her—”
Then, silence returned between them, now that they were engaged, the incomparable silence of young joys, of joys new and not yet tried, which need to hush33, which need to meditate34 in order to understand themselves better in their profoundness. They walked in short steps and at random35 toward the church, in the soft obscurity which the lanterns troubled no longer, intoxicated by their innocent contact and by feeling that they were walking together in the path where no one had followed them—
But the noise of the brass instruments suddenly arose anew, in a sort of slow waltz, oddly rhythmic. And the two children, at the fandango's appeal, without having consulted each other, and as if it was a compulsory36 thing which may not be disputed, ran, not to lose a moment, toward the place where the couples were dancing. Quickly, quickly placing themselves opposite each other, they began again to swing in measure, without talking to each other, with the same pretty gestures of their arms, the same supple motions of their hips. From time to time, without loss of step or distance, both ran, in a direct line like arrows. But this was only an habitual37 variation of the dance,—and, ever in measure, quickly, as if they were gliding38, they returned to their starting point.
Gracieuse had in dancing the same passionate39 ardor40 as in praying at the white chapels,—the same ardor which later doubtless, she would have in embracing Ramuntcho when caresses41 between them would not be forbidden. And at moments, at every fifth or sixth measure, at the same time as her light and strong partner, she turned round completely, the bust42 bent43 with Spanish grace, the head thrown backward, the lips half open on the whiteness of the teeth, a distinguished44 and proud grace disengaging itself from her little personality, still so mysterious, which to Ramuntcho only revealed itself a little.
During all this beautiful evening of November, they danced before each other, mute and charming, with intervals45 of promenade in which they hardly talked—intoxicated in silence by the delicious thought with which their minds were filled.
And, until the curfew rang in the church, this dance under the branches of autumn, these little lanterns, this little festival in this corner closed to the world, threw a little light and joyful noise into the vast night which the mountains, standing46 everywhere like giants of shadow, made more dumb and more black.
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1
patronage
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| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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3
smuggled
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| 水货 | |
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panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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5
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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6
lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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7
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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8
rhythmic
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| adj.有节奏的，有韵律的 | |
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9
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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10
smuggling
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| n.走私 | |
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11
ascetic
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| adj.禁欲的；严肃的 | |
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12
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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13
agitate
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| vi.(for,against)煽动，鼓动；vt.搅动 | |
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14
cadence
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| n.（说话声调的）抑扬顿挫 | |
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15
cadenced
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| adj.音调整齐的，有节奏的 | |
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16
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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17
tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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18
supple
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| adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺 | |
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19
hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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20
chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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21
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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22
joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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23
nomadic
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| adj.流浪的；游牧的 | |
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24
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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25
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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26
betrothed
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| n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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27
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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28
promenade
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| n./v.散步 | |
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29
intoxicated
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| 喝醉的，极其兴奋的 | |
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30
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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31
enrolled
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| adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起 | |
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32
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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33
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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34
meditate
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| v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想 | |
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35
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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36
compulsory
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| n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的 | |
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37
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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38
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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39
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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40
ardor
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| n.热情，狂热 | |
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41
caresses
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| 爱抚，抚摸( caress的名词复数 ) | |
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42
bust
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| vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部 | |
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43
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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44
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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45
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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46
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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