Dona Perfecta
Page 24
CHAPTER XXII
"DESPERTA!"
"With regard to the guerillas," said Dona Perfecta, when they hadfinished drinking, "all I will say is--do as your conscience dictates toyou."
"I know nothing about dictations," cried Ramos. "I will do whatever themistress pleases!"
"I can give you no advice on so important a matter," answered DonaPerfecta with the cautiousness and moderation which so well became her."This is a very serious business, and I can give you no advice aboutit."
"But your opinion----"
"My opinion is that you should open your eyes and see, that you shouldopen your ears and hear. Consult your own heart--I will grant that youhave a great heart. Consult that judge, that wise counsellor, and do asit bids you."
Caballuco reflected; he meditated as much as a sword can meditate.
"We counted ourselves yesterday in Naharilla Alta," said Vejarruco,"and we were thirteen--ready for any little undertaking. But as we wereafraid the mistress might be vexed, we did nothing. It is time now forthe shearing."
"Don't mind about the shearing," said Dona Perfecta. "There will be timeenough for it. It won't be left undone for that."
"My two boys quarrelled with each other yesterday," said Licurgo,"because one of them wanted to join Francisco Acero and the otherdidn't. 'Easy, boys, easy,' I said to them; 'all in good time. Wait; weknow how to fight here as well as they do anywhere else.'"
"Last night," said Uncle Paso Largo, "Roque Pelosmalos told me that themoment Senor Ramos said half a word they would all be ready, with theirarms in their hands. What a pity that the two Burguillos brothers wentto work in the fields in Lugarnoble!"
"Go for them you," said the mistress quickly. "Senor Lucas, do youprovide Uncle Paso Largo with a horse."
"And if the mistress tells me to do so, and Senor Ramos agrees," saidFrasquito Gonzalez, "I will go to Villahorrenda to see if Robustiano,the forester, and his brother Pedro will also--"
"I think that is a good idea. Robustiano will not venture to come toOrbajosa, because he owes me a trifle. You can tell him that I forgivehim the six dollars and a half. These poor people who sacrificethemselves with so little. Is it not so, Senor Don Inocencio?"
"Our good Ramos here tells me," answered the canon, "that his friendsare displeased with him for his lukewarmness; but that, as soon as theysee that he has decided, they will all put the cartridge-box in theirbelts."
"What, have you decided to take to the roads?" said the mistress. "Ihave not advised you to do any such thing, and if you do it, it is ofyour own free-will. Neither has Senor Don Inocencio said a word to youto that effect. But if that is your decision, you have no doubt strongreasons for coming to it. Tell me, Cristobal, will you have some supper?Will you take something--speak frankly."
"As far as my advising Senor Ramos to take the field is concerned,"said Don Inocencio, looking over his spectacles, "Dona Perfecta is quiteright. I, as an ecclesiastic, could advise nothing of the kind. I knowthat some priests do so, and even themselves take up arms; but thatseems to me improper, very improper, and I for one will not follow theirexample. I carry my scrupulosity so far as not to say a word to SenorRamos about the delicate question of his taking up arms. I know thatOrbajosa desires it; I know that all the inhabitants of this noble citywould bless him for it; I know that deeds are going to be done hereworthy of being recorded in history; but notwithstanding, let me beallowed to maintain a discreet silence."
"Very well said," said Dona Perfecta. "I don't approve of ecclesiasticstaking any part in such matters. That is the way an enlightened priestought to act. Of course we know that on serious and solemn occasions, aswhen our country and our faith are in danger, for instance, it is withinthe province of an ecclesiastic to incite men to the conflict and evento take a part in it. Since God himself has taken part in celebratedbattles, under the form of angels and saints, his ministers may verywell do so also. During the wars against the infidels how many bishopsheaded the Castilian troops!"
"A great many, and some of them were illustrious warriors. But thesetimes are not like those senora. It is true that, if we examine thematter closely, the faith is in greater danger now than it was then.For what do the troops that occupy our city and the surrounding villagesrepresent? What do they represent? Are they any thing else but the vileinstruments of which the atheists and Protestants who infest Madrid makeuse for their perfidious conquests and the extermination of the faith?In that centre of corruption, of scandal, of irreligion and unbelief,a few malignant men, bought by foreign gold, occupy themselves indestroying in our Spain the deeds of faith. Why, what do you suppose?They allow us to say mass and you to hear it through the remnant ofconsideration, for shame's sake--but, the day least expected--For mypart, I am tranquil. I am not a man to disturb myself about any worldlyand temporal interest. Dona Perfecta is well aware of that; all who knowme are aware of it. My mind is at rest, and the triumph of the wickeddoes not terrify me. I know well that terrible days are in store for us;that all of us who wear the sacerdotal garb have our lives hanging bya hair, for Spain, doubt it not, will witness scenes like those of theFrench Revolution, in which thousands of pious ecclesiastics perishedin a single day. But I am not troubled. When the hour to kill strikes, Iwill present my neck. I have lived long enough. Of what use am I? None,none!"
"May I be devoured by dogs," exclaimed Vejarruco, shaking his fist,which had all the hardness and the strength of a hammer, "if we do notsoon make an end of that thievish rabble!"
"They say that next week they will begin to pull down the cathedral,"observed Frasquito.
"I suppose they will pull it down with pickaxes and hammers," said thecanon, smiling. "There are artificers who, without those implements, canbuild more rapidly than they can pull down. You all know that, accordingto holy tradition, our beautiful chapel of the Sagrario was pulled downby the Moors in a month, and immediately afterward rebuilt by the angelsin a single night. Let them pull it down; let them pull it down!"
"In Madrid, as the curate of Naharilla told us the other night," saidVejarruco, "there are so few churches left standing that some of thepriests say mass in the middle of the street, and as they are beaten andinsulted and spat upon, there are many who don't wish to say it."
"Fortunately here, my children," observed Don Inocencio, "we have notyet had scenes of that nature. Why? Because they know what kind ofpeople you are; because they have heard of your ardent piety and yourvalor. I don't envy the first ones who lay hands on our priests and ourreligion. Of course it is not necessary to say that, if they are notstopped in time, they will commit atrocities. Poor Spain, so holy and someek and so good! Who would have believed she would ever arrive at suchextremities! But I maintain that impiety will not triumph, no. There arecourageous people still; there are people still like those of old. Am Inot right, Senor Ramos?"
"Yes, senor, that there are," answered the latter.
"I have a blind faith in the triumph of the law of God. Some one muststand up in defence of it. If not one, it will be another. The palm ofvictory, and with it eternal glory, some one must bear. The wicked willperish, if not to-day, to-morrow. That which goes against the law ofGod will fall irremediably. Let it be in this manner or in that, fall itmust. Neither its sophistries, nor its evasions, nor its artifices willsave it. The hand of God is raised against it and will infalliblystrike it. Let us pity them and desire their repentance. As for you, mychildren, do not expect that I shall say a word to you about the stepwhich you are no doubt going to take. I know that you are good; I knowthat your generous determination and the noble end which you have inview will wash away from you all the stain of the sin of shedding blood.I know that God will bless you; that your victory, the same as yourdeath, will exalt you in the eyes of men and in the eyes of God. I knowthat you deserve palms and glory and all sorts of honors; but in spiteof this, my children, my lips will not incite you to the combat. Theyhave never done it, and they will not do it now. Act according to theimpulse of your own noble hearts. If the
y bid you to remain in yourhouses, remain in them; if they bid you to leave them--why, then, leavethem. I will resign myself to be a martyr and to bow my neck to theexecutioner, if that vile army remains here. But if a noble and ardentand pious impulse of the sons of Orbajosa contributes to the greatwork of the extirpation of our country's ills, I shall hold myself thehappiest of men, solely in being your fellow-townsman; and all mylife of study, of penitence, of resignation, will seem to me lessmeritorious, less deserving of heaven, than a single one of your heroicdays."
"Impossible to say more or to say it better!" exclaimed Dona Perfecta,in a burst of enthusiasm.
Caballuco had leaned forward in his chair and was resting his elbowson his knees; when the canon ended he took his hand and kissed it withfervor.
"A better man was never born," said Uncle Licurgo, wiping, or pretendingto wipe away a tear.
"Long life to the Senor Penitentiary!" cried Frasquito Gonzalez, risingto his feet and throwing his cap up to the ceiling.
"Silence!" said Dona Perfecta. "Sit down, Frasquito! You are one ofthose with whom it is always much cry and little wool."
"Blessed be God who gave you that eloquent tongue!" exclaimed Cristobal,inflamed with admiration. "What a pair I have before me! While these twolive what need is there of any one else? All the people in Spain oughtto be like them. But how could that be, when there is nothing in it butroguery! In Madrid, which is the capital where the law and the mandarinscome from, every thing is robbery and cheating. Poor religion, what astate they have brought it to! There is nothing to be seen but crimes.Senor Don Inocencio, Senora Dona Perfecta, by my father's soul, by thesoul of my grandfather, by the salvation of my own soul, I swear that Iwish to die!"
"To die!"
"That I wish those rascally dogs may kill me, and I say that I wish theymay kill me, because I cannot cut them in quarters. I am very little."
"Ramos, you are great," said Dona Perfecta solemnly.
"Great? Great? Very great, as far as my courage is concerned; but have Ifortresses, have I cavalry, have I artillery?"
"That is a thing, Ramos," said Dona Perfecta, smiling, "about which Iwould not concern myself. Has not the enemy what you lack?"
"Yes."
"Take it from him, then."
"We will take it from him, yes, senora. When I say that we will take itfrom him--"
"My dear Ramos," exclaimed Don Inocencio, "yours is an enviableposition. To distinguish yourself, to raise yourself above the basemultitude, to put yourself on an equality with the greatest heroes ofthe earth, to be able to say that the hand of God guides your hand--oh,what grandeur and honor! My friend, this is not flattery. What dignity,what nobleness, what magnanimity! No; men of such a temper cannot die.The Lord goes with them, and the bullet and the steel of the enemy arearrested in their course; they do not dare--how should they dare--totouch them, coming from the musket and the hand of heretics? DearCaballuco, seeing you, seeing your bravery and your nobility, there cometo my mind involuntarily the verses of that ballad on the conquest ofthe Empire of Trebizond:
"'Came the valiant Roland Armed at every point, On his war-horse mounted, The gallant Briador; His good sword Durlindana Girded to his side, Couched for the attack his lance, On his arm his buckler stout, Through his helmet's visor Flashing fire he came; Quivering like a slender reed Shaken by the wind his lance, And all the host united Defying haughtily.'"
"Very good," exclaimed Licurgo, clapping his hands. "And I say like DonRenialdos:
"'Let none the wrath of Don Renialdos Dare brave and hope to escape unscathed; For he who seeks with him a quarrel, Shall pay so dearly for his rashness That he, and all his cause who champion, Shall at my hand or meet destruction Or chastisement severe shall suffer.'"
"Ramos, you will take some supper, you will eat something; won't you?"said the mistress of the house.
"Nothing, nothing;" answered the Centaur. "Or if you give me any thing,let it be a plate of gunpowder."
And bursting into a boisterous laugh, he walked up and down the roomseveral times, attentively observed by every one; then, stopping besidethe group, he looked fixedly at Dona Perfecta and thundered forth thesewords:
"I say that there is nothing more to be said. Long live Orbajosa! deathto Madrid!"
And he brought his hand down on the table with such violence that thefloor shook.
"What a valiant spirit!" said Don Inocencio.
"What a fist you have!"
Every one was looking at the table, which had been split in two by theblow.
Then they looked at the never-enough-to-be-admired Renialdos orCaballuco. Undoubtedly there was in his handsome countenance, in hisgreen eyes animated by a strange, feline glow, in his black hair, in hisherculean frame, a certain expression and air of grandeur--a trace, orrather a memory, of the grand races that dominated the world. But hisgeneral aspect was one of pitiable degeneration, and it was difficult todiscover the noble and heroic filiation in the brutality of the present.He resembled Don Cayetano's great men as the mule resembles the horse.