Dona Perfecta
Page 8
CHAPTER VII
THE DISAGREEMENT INCREASES
"Perhaps you think," said Dona Perfecta, with a tinge of conceit in hertones, "that Senor Don Inocencio is going to remain silent and not giveyou an answer to each and every one of those points."
"Oh, no!" exclaimed the canon, arching his eyebrows. "I will not attemptto measure my poor abilities with a champion so valiant and at the sametime so well armed. Senor Don Jose knows every thing; that is to say, hehas at his command the whole arsenal of the exact sciences. Of courseI know that the doctrines he upholds are false; but I have neither thetalent nor the eloquence to combat them. I would employ theologicalarguments, drawn from revelation, from faith, from the Divine Word; butalas! Senor Don Jose, who is an eminent savant, would laugh at theology,at faith, at revelation, at the holy prophets, at the gospel. A poorignorant priest, an unhappy man who knows neither mathematics, norGerman philosophy with its _ego_ and its _non ego_, a poor dominie, whoknows only the science of God and something of the Latin poets, cannotenter into combat with so valiant a champion."
Pepe Rey burst into a frank laugh.
"I see that Senor Don Inocencio," he said, "has taken seriously all thenonsense I have been talking. Come, Senor Canon, regard the whole matteras a jest, and let it end there. I am quite sure that my opinions do notin reality differ greatly from yours. You are a pious and learned man;it is I who am ignorant. If I have allowed myself to speak in jest,pardon me, all of you--that is my way."
"Thanks!" responded the presbyter, visibly annoyed. "Is that the way youwant to get out of it now? I am well aware, we are all well aware, thatthe views you have sustained are your own. It could not be otherwise.You are the man of the age. It cannot be denied that you have awonderful, a truly wonderful intellect. While you were talking, at thesame time that I inwardly deplored errors so great, I could not butadmire, I will confess it frankly, the loftiness of expression, theprodigious fluency, the surprising method of your reasoning, the forceof your arguments. What a head, Senora Dona Perfecta, what a head youryoung nephew has! When I was in Madrid and they took me to the Atheneum,I confess that I was amazed to see the wonderful talent which God hasbestowed on the atheists and the Protestants."
"Senor Don Inocencio," said Dona Perfecta, looking alternately at hernephew and her friend, "I think that in judging this boy you are morethan benevolent. Don't get angry, Pepe, or mind what I say, for I amneither a savante, nor a philosopher, nor a theologian; but it seems tome that Senor Don Inocencio has just given a proof of his great modestyand Christian charity in not crushing you as he could have done if hehad wished."
"Oh, senora!" said the ecclesiastic.
"That is the way with him," continued Dona Perfecta, "always pretendingto know nothing. And he knows more than the seven doctors put together.Ah, Senor Don Inocencio, how well the name you have suits you! But don'taffect an unseasonable humility now. Why, my nephew has no pretensions.All he knows is what he has been taught. If he has been taught error,what more can he desire than that you should enlighten him and take himout of the limbo of his false doctrines?"
"Just so; I desire nothing more than that the Senor Penitentiary shouldtake me out,"--murmured Pepe, comprehending that without intending it,he had got himself into a labyrinth.
"I am a poor priest, whose only learning is some knowledge of theancients," responded Don Inocencio. "I recognize the immense value, froma worldly point of view, of Senor Don Jose's scientific knowledge, andbefore so brilliant an oracle I prostrate myself and am silent."
So saying, the canon folded his hands across his breast and bent hishead. Pepe Rey was somewhat disturbed because of the turn which his mindhad chosen to give to an idle discussion jestingly followed up, andin which he had engaged only to enliven the conversation a little. Hethought that the most prudent course to pursue would be to end at onceso dangerous a debate, and for this purpose he addressed a question toSenor Don Cayetano when the latter, shaking off the drowsiness whichhad overcome him after the dessert, offered the guests the indispensabletoothpicks stuck in a china peacock with outspread tail.
"Yesterday I discovered a hand grasping the handle of an amphora, onwhich there are a number of hieratic characters. I will show it to you,"said Don Cayetano, delighted to introduce a favorite theme.
"I suppose that Senor de Rey is very expert in archaeological mattersalso," said the canon, who, still implacable, pursued his victim to hislast retreat.
"Of course," said Dona Perfecta. "What is there that these cleverchildren of our day do not understand? They have all the sciences attheir fingers' ends. The universities and the academics teach them everything in a twinkling, giving them a patent of learning."
"Oh, that is unjust!" responded the canon, observing the painedexpression of the engineer's countenance.
"My aunt is right," declared Pepe. "At the present day we learn a littleof every thing, and leave school with the rudiments of various studies."
"I was saying," continued the canon, "that you are no doubt a greatarchaeologist."
"I know absolutely nothing of that science," responded the young man."Ruins are ruins, and I have never cared to cover myself with dust goingamong them."
Don Cayetano made an expressive grimace.
"That is not to say that I condemn archaeology," said Dona Perfecta'snephew quickly, observing with pain that he could not utter a wordwithout wounding some one. "I know that from that dust issues history.Those studies are delightful and very useful."
"You," said the Penitentiary, putting his toothpick into the last ofhis back teeth, "are no doubt more inclined to controversial studies. Anexcellent idea has just occurred to me, Senor Don Jose; you ought to bea lawyer."
"Law is a profession which I abhor," replied Pepe Rey. "I know manyestimable lawyers, among them my father, who is the best of men; but,in spite of so favorable a specimen, I could never had brought myself topractise a profession which consists in defending with equal readinessthe _pro_ and the _contra_ of a question. I know of no greatermisjudgment, no greater prejudice, no greater blindness, than parentsshow in their eagerness to dedicate their sons to the law. The chief andthe most terrible plague of Spain is the crowd of our young lawyers, forwhose existence a fabulous number of lawsuits are necessary. Lawsuitsmultiply in proportion to the demand. And even thus, numbers are leftwithout employment, and, as a jurisconsult cannot put his hand tothe plough or seat himself at the loom, the result is that brilliantsquadron of idlers full of pretensions, who clamor for places, embarrassthe administration, agitate public opinion, and breed revolutions. Insome way they must make a living. It would be a greater misfortune ifthere were lawsuits enough for all of them."
"Pepe, for Heaven's sake, take care what you say," said Dona Perfecta,in a tone of marked severity. "But excuse him, Senor Don Inocencio, forhe is not aware that you have a nephew who, although he has only latelyleft the university, is a prodigy in the law."
"I speak in general terms," said Pepe, with firmness. "Being, as I am,the son of a distinguished lawyer, I cannot be ignorant of the factthat there are many men who practise that noble profession with honor tothemselves."
"No; my nephew is only a boy yet," said the canon, with affectedhumility. "Far be it from me to assert that he is a prodigy of learning,like Senor de Rey. In time, who can tell? His talents are neitherbrilliant nor seductive. Of course, Jacinto's ideas are solid and hisjudgment is sound. What he knows he knows thoroughly. He is unacquaintedwith sophistries and hollow phrases."
Pepe Rey appeared every moment more and more disturbed. The idea that,without desiring it, his opinions should be in opposition to those ofthe friends of his aunt, vexed him, and he resolved to remain silentlest he and Don Inocencio should end by throwing the plates at eachother's heads. Fortunately the cathedral bell, calling the canon to theimportant duties of the choir, extricated him from his painful position.The venerable ecclesiastic rose and took leave of every one, treatingRey with as much amiability and kindness as if they had been old anddea
r friends. The canon, after offering his services to Pepe for allthat he might require, promised to present his nephew to him in orderthat the young man might accompany him to see the town, speaking in themost affectionate terms and deigning, on leaving the room, to pat himon the shoulder. Pepe Rey, accepting with pleasure these formulas ofconcord, nevertheless felt indescribably relieved when the priest hadleft the dining-room and the house.