The breath of the wind became warm again, blew from the south; none of the shivers of a moment ago remained; on the contrary, a summer sun and atmosphere, on the reddened woods, on the rusty1 ferns, on the roads where continued to fall the sad leaves. But the sky was gathering2 thick clouds, which suddenly came out from the rear of the mountains as if they had stayed there in ambush3 to appear all at the same signal.
The ball-game had not yet been arranged and groups were disputing violently when he reached the square. Quickly, he was surrounded, he was welcomed, designated by acclamation to go into the game and sustain the honor of his county. He did not dare, not having played for three years and distrusting his unaccustomed arm. At last, he yielded and began to undress—but to whom would he trust his waistcoat now?—The image reappeared to him, suddenly, of Gracieuse, seated on the nearest steps and extending her hands to receive it. To whom would he throw his waistcoat to-day? It is intrusted ordinarily to some friend, as the toreadors do with their gilt4 silk mantles5.—He threw it at random6, this time, anywhere, on the granite7 of the old benches flowered with belated scabwort—
The match began. Out of practice at first, uncertain, he missed several times the little bounding thing which is to be caught in the air.
Then, he went to his work with a rage, regained8 his former ease and became himself again superbly. His muscles had gained in strength what they had perhaps lost in skill; again he was applauded, he knew the physical intoxication9 of moving, of leaping, of feeling his muscles play like supple10 and violent springs, of hearing around him the ardent11 murmur12 of the crowd.
But then came the instant of rest which interrupts ordinarily the long disputed games; the moment when one sits halting, the blood in ebulition, the hands reddened, trembling,—and when one regains13 the course of ideas which the game suppresses.
Above the assembled heads, above the woolen15 caps and the hair ornamented16 with kerchiefs, was accentuated17 that stormy sky which the southern winds, when they are about to finish, bring always. The air had assumed an absolute limpidity18, as if it had become rarified, rarified unto emptiness. The mountains seemed to have advanced extraordinarily19; the Pyrenees were crushing the village; the Spanish summits or the French summits were there, all equally near, as if pasted on one another, exaggerating their burned, brown colors, their intense and sombre, violet tints20. Large clouds, which seemed as solid as terrestrial things, were displayed in the form of bows, veiling the sun, casting an obscurity which was like an eclipse. And here and there, through some rent, bordered with dazzling silver, one could see the profound blue green of a sky almost African. All this country, the unstable21 climate of which changes between a morning and an evening, became for several hours strangely southern in aspect, in temperature and in light.
Ramuntcho breathed that dry and suave22 air, come from the South in order to vivify the lungs. It was the true weather of his native land. It was even the characteristic weather of that land of the Bay of Biscay, the weather which he liked best formerly23, and which to-day filled him with physical comfort—as much as with disturbance24 of mind, for all that was preparing, all that was amassing25 above, with airs of ferocious26 menace, impressed him with the sentiment of a heaven deaf to prayers, without thoughts as without master, a simple focus of storms, of blind forces creating, recreating and destroying. And, during these minutes of halting meditation27, where men in Basque caps of a temperament28 other than his, surrounded him to congratulate him, he made no reply, he did not listen, he felt only the ephemeral plenitude of his own vigor29, of his youth, of his will, and he said to himself that he wished to use harshly and desperately30 all things, to try anything, without the obstacle of vain fears, of vain church scruples31, in order to take back the young girl whom his soul and his flesh desired, who was the unique one and the betrothed—
When the game had ended gloriously for him, he returned alone, sad and resolute,—proud of having won, of having known how to preserve his agile32 skilfulness33, and realizing that it was a means in life, a source of money and of strength, to have remained one of the chief ball-players of the Basque country.
Under the black sky, there were still the same tints exaggerated by everything, the same sombre horizon. And still the same breaths from the south, dry and warm, agitors of muscles and of thought.
However, the clouds had descended34, descended, and soon this weather, these appearances would change and finish. He knew it, as do all the countrymen accustomed to look at the sky: it was only the announcement of an autumn squall to close the series of lukewarm winds,—of a decisive shake-up to finish despoiling35 the woods of their leaves. Immediately after would come the long showers, chilling everything, the mists making the mountains confused and distant. And it would be the dull rain of winter, stopping the saps, making temporary projects languid, extinguishing ardor36 and revolt—
Now the first drops of water were beginning to fall on the road, separate and heavy on the strewn leaves.
Rambling39 in his house he tried, in order to make it less sinister40, to light in the large, lower chimney a fire of branches, but it went out smoking. Outside, torrents41 of rain fell. Through the windows, as through gray shrouds42, the village hardly appeared, effaced43 under a winter squall. The wind and the rain whipped the walls of the isolated44 house, around which, once more, would thicken the grand blackness of the country in rainy nights—that grand blackness, that grand silence, to which he had long been unaccustomed. And in his childish heart, came little by little, a cold of solitude45 and of abandonment; he lost even his energy, the consciousness of his love, of his strength and of his youth; he felt vanishing, before the misty46 evening, all his projects of struggle and of resistance. The future which he had formed a moment ago became miserable47 or chimerical48 in his eyes, that future of a pelota player, of a poor amuser of the crowds, at the mercy of a malady49 or of a moment of weakness—His hopes of the day-time were going out, based, doubtless, on unstable things, fleeing now in the night—
Then he felt transported, as in his childhood, toward that soft refuge which was his mother; he went up, on tiptoe, to see her, even asleep, and to remain there, near her bed, while she slept.
And, when he had lighted in the room, far from her, a discreet50 lamp, she appeared to him more changed than she had been by the fever of yesterday; the possibility presented itself, more frightful51 to his mind, of losing her, of being alone, of never feeling again on his cheek the caress52 of her head.—Moreover, for the first time, she seemed old to him, and, in the memory of all the deceptions53 which she had suffered because of him, he felt a pity for her, a tender and infinite pity, at sight of her wrinkles which he had not before observed, of her hair recently whitened at the temples. Oh, a desolate54 pity and hopeless, with the conviction that it was too late now to arrange life better.—And something painful, against which there was no possible resistance, shook his chest, contracted his young face; objects became confused to his view, and, in the need of imploring, of asking for mercy, he let himself fall on his knees, his forehead on his mother's bed, weeping at last, weeping hot tears—
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1
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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4
gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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mantles
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| vt.&vi.覆盖（mantle的第三人称单数形式） | |
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6
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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granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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intoxication
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| n.wild excitement;drunkenness；poisoning | |
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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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ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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12
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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13
regains
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| 复得( regain的第三人称单数 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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14
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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15
woolen
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| adj.羊毛(制)的；毛纺的 | |
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16
ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17
accentuated
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| v.重读( accentuate的过去式和过去分词 )；使突出；使恶化；加重音符号于 | |
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limpidity
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| n.清澈，透明 | |
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extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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unstable
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| adj.不稳定的，易变的 | |
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suave
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| adj.温和的；柔和的；文雅的 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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amassing
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| v.积累，积聚( amass的现在分词 ) | |
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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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meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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agile
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| adj.敏捷的，灵活的 | |
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skilfulness
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| 巧妙 | |
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34
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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despoiling
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| v.掠夺，抢劫( despoil的现在分词 ) | |
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ardor
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| n.热情，狂热 | |
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37
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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40
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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41
torrents
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| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
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42
shrouds
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| n.裹尸布( shroud的名词复数 )；寿衣；遮蔽物；覆盖物v.隐瞒( shroud的第三人称单数 )；保密 | |
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43
effaced
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| v.擦掉( efface的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；超越；使黯然失色 | |
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44
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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45
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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46
misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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47
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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48
chimerical
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| adj.荒诞不经的，梦幻的 | |
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49
malady
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| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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50
discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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51
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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52
caress
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| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
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53
deceptions
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| 欺骗( deception的名词复数 )； 骗术，诡计 | |
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54
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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