百年孤独(英文版)-第83部分
按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
ued with small ticks； and the skin was hardened with the scales of a remora fish； but unlike the priest’s description； its human parts were more like those of a sickly angel than of a man； for its hands were tense and agile； its eyes large and gloomy； and on its shoulder blades it had the scarredover and calloused stumps of powerful wings which must have been chopped off by a woodsman’s ax。 They hung it to an almond tree in the square by its ankles so that everyone could see it； and when it began to rot they burned it in a bonfire； for they could not determine whether its bastard nature was that of an animal to be thrown into the river or a human being to be buried。 It was never established whether it had really caused the death of the birds； but the newly married women did not bear the predicted monsters； nor did the intensity of the heat decrease。
Rebeca died at the end of that year。 Argénida； her lifelong servant； asked the authorities for help to knock down the door to the bedroom where her mistress had been locked in for three days； and they found her； on her solitary bed； curled up like a shrimp； with her head bald from ringworm and her finger in her mouth。 Aureliano Segundo took charge of the funeral and tried to restore the house in order to sell it； but the destruction was so far advanced in it that the walls became scaly as soon as they were painted and there was not enough mortar to stop the weeds from cracking the floors and the ivy from rotting the beams。
That was how everything went after the deluge。 The indolence of the people was in contrast to the voracity of oblivion； which little by little was undermining memories in a pitiless way； to such an extreme that at that time； on another anniversary of the Treaty of Neerlandia； some emissaries from the president of the republic arrived in Macondo to award at last the decoration rejected several times by Colonel Aureliano Buendía； and they spent a whole afternoon looking for someone who could tell them where they could find one of his descendants。 Aureliano Segundo was tempted to accept it； thinking that it was a medal of solid gold； but Petra Cotes convinced him that it was not proper when the emissaries already had some proclamations and speeches ready for the ceremony。 It was also around that time that the gypsies returned； the last heirs to Melquíades？science； and they found the town so defeated and its inhabitants so removed from the rest of the world that once more they went through the houses dragging magnetized ingots as if that really were the Babylonian wise men’s latest discovery； and once again they concentrated the sun’s rays with the giant magnifying glass； and there was no lack of people standing openmouthed watching kettles fall and pots roll and who paid fifty cents to be startled as a gypsy woman put in her false teeth and took them out again。 A brokendown yellow train that neither brought anyone in nor took anyone out and that scarcely paused at the deserted station was the only thing that was left of the long train to which Mr。 Brown would couple his glasstopped coach with the episcopal lounging chairs and of the fruit trains with one hundred twenty cars which took a whole afternoon to pass by。 The ecclesiastical delegates who had e to investigate the report of the strange death of the birds and the sacrifice of the Wandering Jew found Father Antonio Isabel playing blind man’s buff with the children； and thinking that his report was the product of a hallucination； they took him off to an asylum。 A short time later they sent Father Augusto Angel； a crusader of the new breed； intransigent； audacious； daring； who personally rang the bells several times a day so that the peoples spirits would not get drowsy； and who went from house to house waking up the sleepers to go to mass but before a year was out he too was conquered by the negligence that one breathed in with the air； by the hot dust that made everything old and clogged up； and by the drowsiness caused by lunchtime meatballs in the unbearable heat of siesta time。
With ？rsula’s death the house again fell into a neglect from which it could not be rescued even by a will as resolute and vigorous as that of Amaranta ？rsula； who many years later； being a happy； modern woman without prejudices； with her feet on the ground； opened doors and windows in order to drive away the rain； restored the garden； exterminated the red ants who were already walking across the porch in broad daylight； and tried in vain to reawaken the fotten spirit of hospitality。 Fernanda’s cloistered passion built in impenetrable dike against ？rsula’s torrential hundred years。 Not only did she refuse to open doors when the arid wind passed through； but she had the windows nailed shut with boards in the shape of a cross； obeying the paternal order of being buried alive。 The expensive correspondence with the invisible doctors ended in failure。 After numerous postponements； she shut herself up in her room on the date and hour agreed upon； covered only by a white sheet and with her head pointed north； and at one o’clock in the morning she felt that they were covering her head with a handkerchief soaked in a glacial liquid。 When she woke up the sun was shining in the window and she had a barbarous stitch in the shape of an arc that began at her crotch and ended at her sternum。 But before she could plete the prescribed rest she received a disturbed letter from the invisible doctors； who mid they had inspected her for six hours without finding anything that corresponded to the symptoms so many times and so scrupulously described by her。 Actually； her pernicious habit of not calling things by their names had brought about a new confusion； for the only thing that the telepathic surgeons had found was a drop in the uterus which could be corrected by the use of a pessary。 The disillusioned Fernanda tried to obtain more precise information； but the unknown correspondents did not answer her letters any more。 She felt so defeated by the weight of an unknown word that she decided to put shame behind her and ask what a pessary was； and only then did she discover that the French doctor had hanged himself to a beam three months earlier and had been buried against the wishes of the townspeople by a former panion in arms of Colonel Aureliano Buendía。 Then she confided in her son Jos？Arcadio and the latter sent her the pessaries from Rome along with a pamphlet explaining their use； which she flushed down the toilet after mitting it to memory so that no one would learn the nature of her troubles。 It was a useless precaution because the only people who lived in the house scarcely paid any attention to her。 Santa Sofía de la Piedad was wandering about in her solitary old age； cooking the little that they ate and almost pletely dedicated to the care of Jos？Arcadio Segundo。 Amaranta ？rsula； who had inherited certain attractions of Remedios the Beauty； spent the time that she had formerly wasted tormenting ？rsula at her schoolwork； and she began to show good judgment and a dedication to study that brought back to Aureliano Segundo the high hopes that Meme had inspired in him。 He had promised her to send her to finish her studies in Brussels； in accord with a custom established during the time of the banana pany； and that illusion had brought him to attempt to revive the lands devastated by the deluge。 The few times that he appeared at the house were for Amaranta ？rsula； because with time he had bee a stranger to Fernanda and little Aureliano was being withdrawn as he approached puberty。 Aureliano Segundo had faith that Fernanda’s heart would soften with old age so that the child could join in the life of the town where no one certainly would make any effort to speculate suspiciously about his origins。 But Aureliano himself seemed to prefer the cloister of solitude and he did not show the least desire to know the world that began at the street door of the house。 When ？rsula had the door of Melquíades？room opened he began to linger about it； peeping through the halfopened door； and no one knew at what moment he became close to Jos？Arcadio Segundo in a link of mutual affection。 Aureliano Segundo discovered that friendship a long time after
