世紀文學經典:《百年孤獨》第19章Part9

From that night on Aureliano, took refuge in the compassionate tenderness and understanding of his unknown great-great-grandmother. Sitting in her wicker rocking chair, she would recall the past, reconstruct the grandeur and misfortunes of the family and the splendor of Macondo, which was now erased, while ?lvaro frightened the crocodiles with his noisy laughter and Alfonso invented outlandish stories about the bitterns who had pecked out the eyes of four customers who misbehaved the week before, and Gabriel was in the room of the pensive mulatto girl who did not collect in money but in letters to a smuggler boyfriend who was in prison on the other side of the Orinoco because the border guards had caught him and had made him sit on a chamberpot that filled up with a mixture of shit and diamonds. That true brothel, with that maternal proprietress, was the world of which Aureliano had dreamed during his prolonged captivity. He felt so well, so close to perfect companionship, that he thought of no other refuge on the afternoon on which Amaranta ?rsula had made his illusions crumble. He was ready to unburden himself with words so that someone could break the knots that bound his chest, but he only managed to let out a fluid, warm, and restorative weeping in Pilar Ternera’s lap. She let him finish, scratching his head with the tips of her fingers, and without his having revealed that he was weeping from love, she recognized immediately the oldest sobs in the history of man.
“It’s all right, child,?she consoled him. “Now tell me who it is.?
When Aureliano told her, Pilar Ternera let out a deep laugh, the old expansive laugh that ended up as a cooing of doves. There was no mystery in the heart of a Buendía that was impenetrable for her because a century of cards and experience had taught her that the history of the family was a machine with unavoidable repetitions, a turning wheel that would have gone on spilling into eternity were it not for the progressive and irremediable wearing of the axle.
“Don’t worry,?she said, smiling. “Wherever she is right now, she’s waiting for you.?
It was half past four in the afternoon when Amaranta ?rsula came out of her bath. Aureliano saw her go by his room with a robe of soft folds and a towel wrapped around her head like a turban. He followed her almost on tiptoes, stumbling from drunkenness, and he went into the nuptial bedroom just as she opened the robe and closed it again in fright. He made a silent signal toward the next room where the door was half open and where Aureliano knew that Gaston was beginning to write a letter.
“Go away,?she said voicelessly.

從那天晚上起，奧雷連諾·布恩蒂亞就在他並不認識的高祖母那裏得到了同情和照顧。她一坐上柳條搖椅，就會想起過去，想起當年這一家的興旺和沒落，想起馬孔多昔日的光輝，而這光輝現在已經泯滅了。這時阿爾伐羅正在嘿嘿怪笑地嚇唬鱷魚，阿爾豐索給麻屑編了個怪誕可笑的故事，說一星期之前，這些鳥兒把四個行爲不端的顧客的眼珠子啄了出來。加布裏埃爾呆在神情憂鬱的混血姑娘的房間裏。這姑娘沒有收斂錢幣，而在給一位從事走私活動的男朋友寫信。那個男朋友已被邊防警察抓走，目前正在奧裏諾科河（在委內瑞拉境內，往東流入大西洋。）對岸蹲監獄。警察讓他坐在一個裝滿了糞便和鑽石的便盆上。這個真正的妓院有一個慈祥的鴇母，正是奧雷連諾·布恩蒂亞在長期的禁錮期間夢寐以求的地方。他感到妙不可言，簡直象是領受到了最美好的情誼，使他再也不想去別處存身了。他打算用話語來解脫自己的負擔，以便有人來割斷纏在他胸上的繩索，但他只是伏在皮拉。 苔列娜的大腿上傷心地哭了一通。皮拉·苔列娜讓他哭完，用指尖撫摸着他的頭，他雖然沒有顯露出他是因爲情慾而傷心，可她卻一下子猜透了男人自古以來的傷心事。
“好了，孩子，”她安慰他。“你就告訴我，她是誰。”
奧雷連諾·布恩蒂亞告訴她之後，皮拉·苔列娜發出一陣大笑，一種胸襟豁達的笑聲，最後就象鴿子咕咕地叫了。奧雷連諾·布恩蒂亞心中沒有她猜不透的祕密，因爲一個世紀的歲月和經驗告訴她，家庭的演變就象一架機器，不可避免地要有反覆，就象一隻輪子，若不是由於無可補救的磨損而需要更換新輪軸，它就會永遠轉動下去。
“不要煩惱，”她笑着說。“不管她在哪兒，她一定會等着你。”
午後一點半，阿瑪蘭塔·烏蘇娜從浴室出來。奧雷連諾。 布恩蒂亞看見她從門口走過，穿着一件衣裙柔軟的浴衣，頭上包着頭巾似的手絹。他幾乎踮着腳尖，趁着醉意趔趔趄趄地尾隨在她身後。正當她解開浴衣時，他踏進了這間幽會用的臥房。她吃了一驚，忙把衣服合上。他一聲不響，向隔壁一指，那間屋門半掩着，奧雷連諾·布恩蒂亞知道加斯東正在那裏寫信。
“走開，”她小聲說。