百年孤独这本书怎么样 世纪文学经典:《百年孤独》第15章Part4

世纪文学经典:《百年孤独》第15章Part4  

Martial law enabled the army to assume the functions of arbitrator in the controversy
but no effort at conciliation was made. As soon as they appeared in Macondo
the soldiers put aside their rifles and cut and loaded the bananas and started the trains running. The workers
who had been content to wait until then
went into the woods with no other weapons but their working machetes and they began to sabotage the sabotage. They burned plantations and missaries
tore up tracks to impede the passage of the trains that began to open their path with machine-gun fire
and they cut telegraph and telephone wires. The irrigation ditches were stained with blood. Mr. Brown
who was alive in the electrified chicken coop
was taken out of Macondo with his family and those of his fellow countrymen and brought to a safe place under the protection of the army. The situation was threatening to lead to a bloody and unequal civil war when the authorities called upon the workers to gather in Macondo. The summons announced that the civil and military leader of the province would arrive on the following Friday ready to intercede in the conflict.
Jos?Arcadio Segundo was in the crowd that had gathered at the station on Friday since early in the morning. He had taken part in a meeting of union leaders and had been missioned
along with Colonel Gavilán
to mingle in the crowd and orient it according to how things went. He did not feel well and a salty paste was beginning to collect on his palate when he noticed that the army had set up machine-gun emplacements around the small square and that the wired city of the banana pany was protected by artillery pieces. Around elve o’clock
waiting for a train that was not arriving
more than three thousand people
workers
women
and children
had spilled out of the open space in front of the station and were pressing into the neighboring streets
which the army had closed off with rows of machine guns. At that time it all seemed more like a jubilant fair than a waiting crowd. They had brought over the fritter and drink stands from the Street of the Turks and the people were in good spirits as they borethe tedium of waiting and the scorching sun. A short time before three o’clock the rumor spread that the official train would not arrive until the following day. The crowd let out a sigh of disappointment. An army lieutenant then climbed up onto the roof of the station where there were four machine-gun emplacements aiming at the crowd and called for silence. Next to Jos?Arcadio Segundo there was a barefooted woman
very fat
with o children beeen the ages of four and seven. She was carrying the smaller one and she asked Jos?Arcadio Segundo
without knowing him
if he would lift up the other one so that he could hear better. Jos?Arcadio Segundo put the child on his shoulders. Many years later that child would still tell
to the disbelief of all
that he had seen the lieutenant reading Decree No. 4 of the civil and military leader of the province through an old phonograph horn. It had been signed by General Carlos Cortes Vargas and his secretary
Major Enrique García Isaza
and in three articles of eightywords he declared the strikers to be a “bunch of hoodlums?and he authorized the army to shoot to kill.
After the decree was read
in the midst of a deafening hoot of protest
a captain took the place of the lieutenant on the roof of the station and with the horn he signaled that he wanted to speak. The crowd was quiet again.
“Ladies and gentlemen
?the captain said in a low voice that was slow and a little tired. “you have five minutes to withdraw.?
The redoubled hooting and shouting drowned out the bugle call that announced the start of the count. No one moved.
Five minutes have passed
?the captain said in the same tone. “One more minute and we’ll open fire.?
Jos?Arcadio Segundo
sweating ice
lowered the child and gave him to the woman. “Those bastards might just shoot
?she murmured. Jos?Arcadio Segundo did not have time to speak because at that instant he recognized the hoarse voice of Colonel Gavilán echoing the words of the woman with a shout. Intoxicated by the tension
by the miraculous depth of the silence
and furthermore convinced that nothing could move that crowd held tight in a fascination with death
Jos?Arcadio Segundo raised himself up over the heads in front of him and for the first time in his life he raised his voice.
“You bastards!?he shouted. “Take the extra minute and stick it up your ass!?
After his shout something happened that did not bring on fright but a kind of hallucination. The captain gave the order to fire and fourteen machine guns answered at once. But it all seemed like a farce. It was as if the machine guns had been loaded with caps
because their panting rattle could be heard and their incandescent spitting could be seen
but not the slightest reaction was perceived
not a cry
not even a sigh among the pact crowd that seemed petrified by an instantaneous invulnerability. Suddenly
on one side-of the station
a cry of death tore open the enchantment: “Aaaagh
Mother.?A seismic voice
a volcanic breath. the roar of a cataclysm broke out in the center of the crowd with a great potential of expansion. Jos?Arcadio Segundo barely had time to pick up the child while the mother with the other one was swallowed up by the crowd that swirled about in panic.
Many years later that child would still tell
in spite of people thinking that he was a crazy old man
how Jos?Arcadio Segundo had lifted him over his head and hauled him
almost in the air
as if floating on the terror of the crowd
toward a nearby street. The child’s privileged position allowed him to see at that moment that the wild mass was starting to get to the corner and the row of machine guns opened fire. Several voices shouted at the same time:
“Get down! Get down!?