When Rosarito left him so abruptly1 the Penitentiary2 looked toward the garden wall, and seeing the faces of Licurgo and his companion, said to himself:
He remained thoughtful for some moments, his cloak, grasped with both hands, folded over his abdomen4, his eyes fixed5 on the ground, his gold-rimmed spectacles slipping gently toward the point of his nose, his under-lip moist and projecting, and his iron-gray eyebrows6 gathered in a slight frown. He was a pious7 and holy man, of uncommon8 learning and of irreproachable9 clerical habits, a little past his sixtieth year, affable in his manners, courteous10 and kind, and greatly addicted11 to giving advice and counsel to both men and women. For many years past he had been master of Latin and rhetoric12 in the Institute, which noble profession had supplied him with a large fund of quotations13 from Horace and of florid metaphors14, which he employed with wit and opportuneness15. Nothing more need be said regarding this personage, but that, as soon as he heard the trot17 of the animals approaching the Calle del Condestable, he arranged the folds of his cloak, straightened his hat, which was not altogether correctly placed upon his venerable head, and, walking toward the house, murmured:
Meanwhile Pepe was alighting from his nag16, and Doña Perfecta, her face bathed in tears and barely able to utter a few trembling words, the sincere expression of her affection, was receiving him at the gate itself in her loving arms.
“Pepe—but how tall you are! And with a beard. Why, it seems only yesterday that I held you in my lap. And now you are a man, a grown-up man. Well, well! How the years pass! This is my daughter Rosario.”
As she said this they reached the parlor19 on the ground floor, which was generally used as a reception-room, and Doña Perfecta presented her daughter to Pepe.
Rosario was a girl of delicate and fragile appearance, that revealed a tendency to pensive20 melancholy21. In her delicate and pure countenance22 there was something of the soft, pearly pallor which most novelists attribute to their heroines, and without which sentimental23 varnish24 it appears that no Enriquieta or Julia can be interesting. But what chiefly distinguished25 Rosario was that her face expressed so much sweetness and modesty26 that the absence of the perfections it lacked was not observed. This is not to say that she was plain; but, on the other hand, it is true that it would be an exaggeration to call her beautiful in the strictest meaning of the word. The real beauty of Doña Perfecta’s daughter consisted in a species of transparency, different from that of pearl, alabaster27, marble, or any of the other substances used in descriptions of the human countenance; a species of transparency through which the inmost depths of her soul were clearly visible; depths not cavernous and gloomy, like those of the sea, but like those of a clear and placid28 river. But the material was wanting there for a complete personality. The channel was wanting, the banks were wanting. The vast wealth of her spirit overflowed29, threatening to wash away the narrow borders. When her cousin saluted30 her she blushed crimson31, and uttered only a few unintelligible32 words.
“You must be fainting with hunger,” said Doña Perfecta to her nephew. “You shall have your breakfast at once.”
“With your permission,” responded the traveller, “I will first go and get rid of the dust of the journey.”
“That is a sensible idea,” said the señora. “Rosario, take your cousin to the room that we have prepared for him. Don’t delay, nephew. I am going to give the necessary orders.”
Rosario took her cousin to a handsome apartment situated33 on the ground floor. The moment he entered it Pepe recognized in all the details of the room the diligent34 and loving hand of a woman. All was arranged with perfect taste, and the purity and freshness of everything in this charming nest invited to repose35. The guest observed minute details that made him smile.
“Here is the bell,” said Rosario, taking in her hand the bell-rope, the tassel36 of which hung over the head of the bed. “All you have to do is to stretch out your hand. The writing-table is placed so that you will have the light from the left. See, in this basket you can throw the waste papers. Do you smoke?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” responded Pepe Rey.
“Well, then, you can throw the ends of your cigars here,” she said, touching37 with the tip of her shoe a utensil38 of gilt-brass filled with sand. “There is nothing uglier than to see the floor covered with cigar-ends. Here is the washstand. For your clothes you have a wardrobe and a bureau. I think this is a bad place for the watch-case; it would be better beside the bed. If the light annoys you, all you have to do is to lower the shade with this cord; see, this way.”
Rosarito opened one of the windows.
“Look,” she said, “this window opens into the garden. The sun comes in here in the afternoon. Here we have hung the cage of a canary that sings as if he was crazy. If his singing disturbs you we will take it away.”
She opened another window on the opposite side of the room.
“This other window,” she continued, “looks out on the street. Look; from here you can see the cathedral; it is very handsome, and full of beautiful things. A great many English people come to see it. Don’t open both windows at the same time, because draughts40 are very bad.”
“My dear cousin,” said Pepe, his soul inundated41 with an inexplicable42 joy; “in all that is before my eyes I see an angel’s hand that can be only yours. What a beautiful room this is! It seems to me as if I had lived in it all my life. It invites to peace.”
Rosarito made no answer to these affectionate expressions, and left the room, smiling.
“Make no delay,” she said from the door; “the dining-room too is down stairs—in the centre of this hall.”
Uncle Licurgo came in with the luggage. Pepe rewarded him with a liberality to which the countryman was not accustomed, and the latter, after humbly43 thanking the engineer, raised his hand to his head with a hesitating movement, and in an embarrassed tone, and mumbling44 his words, he said hesitatingly:
“When will it be most convenient for me to speak to Señor Don José about a—a little matter of business?”
“A little matter of business? At once,” responded Pepe, opening one of his trunks.
“This is not a suitable time,” said the countryman. “When Señor Don José has rested it will be time enough. There are more days than sausages, as the saying is; and after one day comes another. Rest now, Señor Don José. Whenever you want to take a ride—the nag is not bad. Well, good-day, Señor Don José. I am much obliged to you. Ah! I had forgotten,” he added, returning a few moments later. “If you have any message for the municipal judge—I am going now to speak to him about our little affair.”
“Give him my compliments,” said Pepe gayly, no better way of getting rid of the Spartan45 legislator occurring to him.
“Good-by, then, Señor Don José.”
“Good-by.”
The engineer had not yet taken his clothes out of the trunk when for the third time the shrewd eyes and the crafty46 face of Uncle Licurgo appeared in the door-way.
“I beg your pardon, Señor Don José,” he said, displaying his brilliantly white teeth in an affected47 smile, “but—I wanted to say that if you wish to settle the matter by means of friendly arbitrations—— Although, as the saying is, ‘Ask other people’s opinion of something that concerns only yourself, and some will say it is white and others black.’”
“Will you get away from here, man?”
“I say that, because I hate the law. I don’t want to have anything to do with the law. Well, good-by, again, Señor Don José. God give you long life to help the poor!”
“Good-by, man, good-by.”
Pepe turned the key in the lock of the door, saying to himself:
“The people of this town appear to be very litigious.”
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1
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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penitentiary
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| n.感化院；监狱 | |
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prodigy
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| n.惊人的事物，奇迹，神童，天才，预兆 | |
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abdomen
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| n.腹，下腹(胸部到腿部的部分) | |
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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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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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7
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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8
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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9
irreproachable
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| adj.不可指责的，无过失的 | |
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10
courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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addicted
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| adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的 | |
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rhetoric
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| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
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quotations
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| n.引用( quotation的名词复数 )；[商业]行情（报告）；（货物或股票的）市价；时价 | |
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metaphors
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| 隐喻( metaphor的名词复数 ) | |
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opportuneness
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| n.恰好，适时，及时 | |
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nag
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| v.(对…)不停地唠叨；n.爱唠叨的人 | |
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17
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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paragon
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| n.模范，典型 | |
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parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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pensive
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| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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varnish
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| n.清漆；v.上清漆；粉饰 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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alabaster
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| adj.雪白的；n.雪花石膏；条纹大理石 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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overflowed
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| 溢出的 | |
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saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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32
unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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diligent
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| adj.勤勉的，勤奋的 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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tassel
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| n.流苏，穗；v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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utensil
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| n.器皿，用具 | |
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enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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draughts
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| n. <英>国际跳棋 | |
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41
inundated
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| v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付 | |
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42
inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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43
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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44
mumbling
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的现在分词 ) | |
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45
spartan
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| adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人 | |
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46
crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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47
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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