Every one looked toward the door, at which appeared the imposing1 figure of the Centaur2, serious-looking and frowning; embarrassed by his anxiety to salute3 the company politely; savagely5 handsome, but disfigured by the violence which he did himself in smiling civilly and treading softly and holding his herculean arms in a correct posture6.
“Come in, Señor Ramos,” said Pepe Rey.
“Let him say it.”
“I ought not to allow such ridiculous questions to be discussed in my house.”
“What is Señor Ramos’ business with me?”
Caballuco uttered a few words.
“Enough, enough!” exclaimed Doña Perfecta. “Don’t trouble my nephew any more. Pepe, don’t mind this simpleton. Do you wish me to tell you the cause of the great Caballuco’s anger?” she said, turning to the others.
“Anger? I think I can imagine,” said the Penitentiary8, leaning back in his chair and laughing with boisterous9 hilarity10.
“Hold your tongue, man, for Heaven’s sake! And don’t tire us any more with that nonsense.”
“Señor Caballuco,” said the canon, “it is not to be wondered at that gentlemen from the capital should cut out the rough riders of this savage4 country.”
“In two words, Pepe, the question is this: Caballuco is—”
She could not go on for laughing.
“Is—I don’t know just what,” said Don Inocencio, “of one of the Troya girls, of Mariquita Juana, if I am not mistaken.”
“And he is jealous! After his horse, the first thing in creation for him is Mariquilla Troya.”
“A pretty insinuation that!” exclaimed Doña Perfecta. “Poor Cristobal! Did you suppose that a person like my nephew—let us hear, what were you going to say to him? Speak.”
“Señor Don José and I will talk together presently,” responded the bravo of the town brusquely.
And without another word he left the room.
Shortly afterward12 Pepe Rey left the dining-room to retire to his own room. In the hall he found himself face to face with his Trojan antagonist13, and he could not repress a smile at the sight of the fierce and gloomy countenance14 of the offended lover.
“A word with you,” said the latter, planting himself insolently16 in front of the engineer. “Do you know who I am?”
As he spoke17 he laid his heavy hand on the young man’s shoulder with such insolent15 familiarity that the latter, incensed18, flung him off with violence, saying:
“It is not necessary to crush one to say that.”
The bravo, somewhat disconcerted, recovered himself in a moment, and looking at Rey with provoking boldness, repeated his refrain:
“Do you know who I am?”
He pushed the bully20 roughly aside and went into his room. As traced on the excited brain of our unfortunate friend at this moment, his plan of action might be summed up briefly21 and definitely as follows: To break Caballuco’s head without loss of time; then to take leave of his aunt in severe but polite words which should reach her soul; to bid a cold adieu to the canon and give an embrace to the inoffensive Don Cayetano; to administer a thrashing to Uncle Licurgo, by way of winding22 up the entertainment, and leave Orbajosa that very night, shaking the dust from his shoes at the city gates.
But in the midst of all these mortifications and persecutions the unfortunate young man had not ceased to think of another unhappy being, whom he believed to be in a situation even more painful and distressing23 than his own. One of the maid-servants followed the engineer into his room.
“Did you give her my message?” he asked.
“Yes, señor, and she gave me this.”
Rey took from the girl’s hand a fragment of a newspaper, on the margin24 of which he read these words:
“They say you are going away. I shall die if you do.”
When he returned to the dining-room Uncle Licurgo looked in at the door and asked:
“At what hour do you want the horse?”
“At no hour,” answered Rey quickly.
“Then you are not going to-night?” said Doña Perfecta. “Well, it is better to wait until to-morrow.”
“I am not going to-morrow, either.”
“When are you going, then?”
“We will see presently,” said the young man coldly, looking at his aunt with imperturbable25 calmness. “For the present I do not intend to go away.”
Doña Perfecta turned first red, then pale. She looked at the canon, who had taken off his gold spectacles to wipe them, and then fixed27 her eyes successively on each of the other persons in the room, including Caballuco, who, entering shortly before, had seated himself on the edge of a chair. Doña Perfecta looked at them as a general looks at his trusty body-guard. Then she studied the thoughtful and serene28 countenance of her nephew—of that enemy, who, by a strategic movement, suddenly reappeared before her when she believed him to be in shameful29 flight.
点击收听单词发音
1 imposing | |
adj.使人难忘的,壮丽的,堂皇的,雄伟的 | |
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2 centaur | |
n.人首马身的怪物 | |
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3 salute | |
vi.行礼,致意,问候,放礼炮;vt.向…致意,迎接,赞扬;n.招呼,敬礼,礼炮 | |
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4 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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5 savagely | |
adv. 野蛮地,残酷地 | |
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6 posture | |
n.姿势,姿态,心态,态度;v.作出某种姿势 | |
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7 absurdity | |
n.荒谬,愚蠢;谬论 | |
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8 penitentiary | |
n.感化院;监狱 | |
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9 boisterous | |
adj.喧闹的,欢闹的 | |
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10 hilarity | |
n.欢乐;热闹 | |
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11 growled | |
v.(动物)发狺狺声, (雷)作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 );低声咆哮着说 | |
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12 afterward | |
adv.后来;以后 | |
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13 antagonist | |
n.敌人,对抗者,对手 | |
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14 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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15 insolent | |
adj.傲慢的,无理的 | |
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16 insolently | |
adv.自豪地,自傲地 | |
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17 spoke | |
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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18 incensed | |
盛怒的 | |
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19 brute | |
n.野兽,兽性 | |
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20 bully | |
n.恃强欺弱者,小流氓;vt.威胁,欺侮 | |
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21 briefly | |
adv.简单地,简短地 | |
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22 winding | |
n.绕,缠,绕组,线圈 | |
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23 distressing | |
a.使人痛苦的 | |
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24 margin | |
n.页边空白;差额;余地,余裕;边,边缘 | |
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25 imperturbable | |
adj.镇静的 | |
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26 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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27 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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28 serene | |
adj. 安详的,宁静的,平静的 | |
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29 shameful | |
adj.可耻的,不道德的 | |
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30 alas | |
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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