Zaragoza. English

by Benito Pérez Galdós

  CHAPTER IX

  From that day, as memorable in the second siege as Eras in the firstsiege, began the great work in whose frenzy and exaltation bothbesiegers and besieged lived for the next month and a half. The sortiesmade during the first days of January were not of much importance. TheFrench, having finished their first parallel, advanced in a zig-zagtowards opening their second, and worked on it with so much activitythat very soon we saw our two best positions in the Mediodia, San Jos?and the redoubt del Pilar, threatened by siege batteries, every onewith a dozen cannon. I must be excused for saying that we did not ceaseto make trouble for them, keeping up an incessant fire, and surprisingthem with sudden skirmishes, but this was all. Junot, who now took theplace of Moncey, carried forward the work with great diligence.

  Our battalion remained in the redoubt raised at the outer end of theHuerva bridge. The radius of our fire was considerable, crossing thatof San Jos?. The batteries of Los Martires, of the Botanical Garden,and of the Torre del Pino further within the city were less importantthan the two bodies holding the advanced positions, and served asauxiliaries.

  Numbers of Saragossan volunteers were with us in the garrison, someof the soldiers of the guard, and various armed peasants who ratherelected themselves to our corps than came into it by our choice.Eight cannons held the redoubt. Don Domingo Larripa was our leader.The artillery was commanded by Don Francisco Betbez?. As chief ofengineers, we had the great Simono, high official of that distinguishedservice, and a man of such quality that he was able to quote himself asa model of all good military men, both in valor and in knowledge.

  The redoubt was a work sufficiently strong for the purpose, and notlacking in any material requisite for defending itself. Over theentrance gate at the extremity of the bridge its constructors hadplaced a tablet with this inscription,--

  _The indestructible redoubt of our Lady of the Pillar. Saragossans! Diefor the Virgin del Pilar or conquer!_

  We had our lodging within the redoubt, and though the place was notaltogether bad, we went on poorly enough. The rations were providedby a committee recommended by the military administration; but thiscommittee, to our sorrow, was not able to attend to us properly. Bygood fortune, and to the honor of that generous people, food was sentto us from the neighboring houses, the best of their provisions; and wewere frequently visited by the charitable women, who since the battleof the thirty-first had taken it upon themselves to nurse and care forour poor wounded heroes.

  I have not spoken of Pirli. Pirli was a boy from outside the city, arustic about twenty years of age, and in such jolly condition that themost dangerous situations only moved him to a nervous and feverish joy.I never saw him sad. He met the French singing; and when the bulletswhistled past his head, he capered about, making a thousand grotesquegestures, throwing up his hands and fairly dancing. When the firewas thick as hail, he called the bullets "hailstones." He called thecannon-balls "hot cakes;" he called the hand-grenades, "se?oras;" andthe powder he called "black flour," using other queer terms which I donot now remember. Pirli, although not at all a serious person, was acharming companion.

  I do not know whether I have spoken of Tio Garces. He was a man offorty-five years, a native of Garrapinillos, very brave, bronzed,sawed-off looking, with limbs of steel; there was no one so activeor so imperturbable under fire. He was somewhat talkative, and was alittle inclined to be imprudent in his conversation, but with a certainwit in his garrulity. He had a small estate in the environs, and avery modest house; but he had levelled it with his own hands, and cutdown his pear-trees, so that the enemy could not use them. I heard ofa thousand of his valorous deeds in the first siege, and he wore adecoration on his right sleeve, the embroidered shield of distinctionof the sixteenth of August. He dressed badly, and went almosthalf-naked, not because he lacked clothing, but because he had nottime to put it on. He and others like him were without doubt those whoinspired the celebrated phrase of which I have already made mention:"Their bodies were clothed only in glory." He slept without shelter,and ate less than an anchorite; indeed with two pieces of bread and acouple of bites of dried beef hard as hide, he had rations for the day.

  He was a man somewhat given to meditation. When he saw the works of thesecond parallel, he said, looking at the French: "Thanks be to God,they are drawing near. Cuerno! Cuerno! these people are a trial toone's patience!"

  "What a hurry you are in, uncle Garces," we said to him.

  "I should say so. I want to plant my trees again before winter is over.And next month I want to build my little house again."

  Truly Tio Garces should have worn a tablet on his brow like that on thebridge, reading, "An unconquerable man."

  But who comes there, advancing slowly along the valley of the Huerva,leaning upon a thick stick and followed by a lively little dog whichbarked at all the passers-by, merely for mischief, without anyintention of biting? It is the friar, Father Mateo del Busto, readerand qualifier of the order of Saint Francis de Paula, chaplain of thesecond company of Saragossa volunteers, an important man, who, in spiteof his age, was seen during the first siege in all places of danger,succoring the wounded, helping the dying, carrying ammunition to thewell, and cheering all by his gentle accents. Entering the redoubt, heshowed us a large and heavy basket which he had toiled to bring here,and in which was food better than that of our ordinary table.

  "These cakes," said he, placing it on the ground, and taking out one byone things which he named as he produced them, "have been given me inthe house of that most excellent lady, the Countess de Bureta, and thisin the house of Don Pedro Ric. Here you have a couple of slices of hamfrom my convent, which was for Father Loshollos, whose stomach is notstrong, but he renounced this luxury and gave it to me to take to you.See, how does this bottle of wine look to you? How much would thoseforeign fellows yonder give for it?"

  We all looked towards the plain. The little dog, leaping impudentlyupon the wall, began to bark at the French lines.

  "I have also brought you a couple of pounds of dried fruit which hasbeen kept in the dispensary at our house. We were going to preservethem in liquor, but you taste them first of any one, my brave boys.I have not forgotten thee at all, my beloved Pirli," he continued,turning to the boy of that name; "and as you are half naked, andwithout a cloak, I have brought you a magnificent covering. Do you seethis bundle? Well, here is an old gown that I have kept to give to apoor man. Now, I present it to you as a covering for your body. It isunsuitable clothing for a soldier; but if the gown does not make themonk, neither does the uniform make the soldier. Put it on, and youwill be very comfortable in it."

  The friar gave our friend his parcel, and Pirli put on the garment,laughing and dancing about; and as he was still carrying on his headthe engineer's helmet which he had taken in the enemy's camp on thethirty-first, he presented a figure stranger than can readily beimagined.

  A little later, several women also arrived with baskets of provisions.The arrival of femininity swiftly transformed the aspect of theredoubt. I do not know from where they produced a guitar; it is certainthat they produced one from somewhere. One of those present graciouslybegan to play the measures of that incomparable, divine, immortaldance, the _jota_, and in a moment a great revelry of dancing was goingon.

  Pirli, whose grotesque figure began in a French engineer and ended ina Spanish friar, was the most carried away of any of the dancers, andcould not keep tune with his partner, a most graceful girl in Spanishhighland dress, who was called Manuela, whom I noticed the first momentthat I saw her. She was about twenty-two years of age, and was slender,of a pure pale complexion. The excitement of the dance quickly flushedher cheeks, and by degrees her movements grew more lively, unmindful offatigue. With her eyes half shut, her cheeks rosy, her arms moving tothe music of the sweet strains, she shook her skirts with lively grace;taking her steps lightly, and presenting to us now her brow, and nowher shoulders, Manuela held us enchanted.

  The ardor of the dancing crowd, the lively music, and the enthusiasm
ofthe rest of the dancers augmented her own, until at last, breathlesswith fatigue, she dropped her arms and fell to earth like a stone or apomegranate.

  Pirli stood over her, and surrounded her by a sort of corral formed ofhimself and the basket of provisions.

  "Let us see what you have brought us, Manuelilla," said Pirli. "If'twere not for thee and Father Busto, we should die of hunger. And ifit were not for this little dance with which we get rid of the badtaste of the 'hot cakes' and the 'se?oras,' what would become of uspoor soldiers?"

  "I bring you whatever there is," replied Manuela, opening the basketof provisions. "Wait a little. If the siege lasts, you will be eatingbricks."

  "We shall have bullets mixed with black flour," said Pirli."Manuelilla, have you got over being afraid of the bullets yet?" Sayingthis, he seized his gun, and shot it off into the air. The girl gave asharp scream, and, startled, sprang up as if to escape.

  "It is nothing, daughter," said the friar; "brave women are not afraidof powder. On the contrary, they should take as much pleasure in it asin the sound of castanets and mandolins."

  "When I hear a ball," said Manuela, coming slowly and timidly back,"there is not a drop of blood left in my veins."

  At this moment the French, wishing to try the artillery of theirsecond parallel, shot off a cannon, and the ball came against the wallof the redoubt, shattering the loose bricks into a thousand pieces.Everybody rose to look at the enemy. The highland girl cried out interror; and Tio Garces was moved to scream through a loop-hole at theFrench, heaping upon them the most insolent words, accompanied by manyexclamations. The little dog, running from one end of the place to theother, barked furiously.

  "Manuela, let us dance another jota to the sound of this music, andviva the Virgin del Pilar," cried Pirli, jumping about like one out ofhis senses.

  Manuela rose on tiptoe, impelled by curiosity, and slowly stretched upher head to look at the camp from the wall. Then, casting her glanceover the level plain, she seemed to dissipate, little by little, theterrors of her fainting spirit; and at last we saw her surveyingthe enemy's lines with a certain serenity, and even with a littlecomplacency.

  "One, two, three cannon!" she said, counting the fiery mouths whichwere discernible at that distance. "Come, little boys, don't be afraid.This is nothing to you!"

  Over near San Jos? was heard the booming of guns, and on our redoubtsounded the drum calling to arms. From the neighboring stronghold hadsallied forth a little column that exchanged distant shots with theFrench workmen. Some of these, running to their left, placed themselveswithin arm's length of our fire. We all ran to the walls, disposedto send them a few hailstones, and without waiting orders, some of usdischarged our guns with loud huzzas.

  All the women fled by the bridge towards the city except Manuela. Didfear prevent her from moving? No. Her fear was great; she trembled, andher teeth chattered; her face grew pale; but an irresistible curiositykept her in the redoubt. She fastened her gaze on the sharp-shooters,and on the cannon that was about to be discharged.

  "Manuela, are you not going?" said Augustine. "Doesn't it frighten youto look at all that?"

  The girl, with her attention fixed on the spectacle, terrified,trembling, with white lips and palpitating bosom, neither moved norspoke.

  "Manuelilla," said Pirli, running up to her, "take my gun and shoot itoff."

  Contrary to what we expected, Manuelilla did not show any sign ofterror.

  "Take it, please," cried Pirli, making her take the gun. "Put yourthumb here. Aim over yonder. Fire! Viva the second artillery woman!Viva Manuela Sancho and the Virgin del Pilar!"

  The girl took the gun, and, to judge by her actions, and the stupor ofher looks, it seemed as if she did not know what she was doing. But,raising the gun with a trembling hand, she aimed at the field, pulledthe trigger, and fired.

  A thousand fiery shouts of applause greeted the discharge, and thegirl left the gun. She was radiant with satisfaction, and her delightdeepened the roses in her cheeks.

  "Do you see? You have already lost your fear?" said the priest. "Thereis nothing more in these things than taking hold of them. All theSaragossan women ought to do the same, and then Augustina Casta Alvarezwould not be the one glorious exception to her sex."

  "Bring another gun," exclaimed the girl; "I wish to fire again."

  "They have already marched off, if you please! Aren't you a good one!"said Pirli, preparing to make an onslaught on the provision basket."To-morrow, if you like, you shall be invited for a few 'hot cakes.'Well, let us make ourselves comfortable and eat."

  The friar, calling his little dog, said to him: "That is enough, myson; don't bark so, nor take it so much to heart that you make yourselfhoarse. Keep your boldness until to-morrow. To-day, we have no wishto employ it, for if I am not mistaken they are hurrying away to getbehind their works."

  In fact the skirmish at San Jos? had concluded, and for the moment theFrench were not in sight. A short time afterwards the sound of theguitar was renewed, and the women returning, the sweet undulations ofthe jota began again with Manuela Sancho and the great Pirli in thefirst line.