百年孤独这本书怎么样 世纪文学经典:《百年孤独》第9章Part 11

世纪文学经典:《百年孤独》第9章Part 11  

He was out of danger. The bullet had followed such a neat path that the doctor was able to put a cord soaked in iodine in through the chest and withdraw it from the back. "That was my masterpiece
" he said with satisfaction. "It was the only point where a bullet could pass through without harming any vital an." Colonel Aureli-ano Buendía saw himself surrounded by charitable novices who intoned desperate psalms for the repose of his soul and then he was sorry that he had not shot himself in the roof of the mouth as he had considered doing if only to mock the prediction of Pilar Ternera.
"If I still had the authority
" he told the doctor
"I'd have you shot out of hand. Not for having saved my life but for having made a fool of me."
The failure of his death brought back his lost prestige in a few hours. The same people who invented the story that he had sold the war for a room with walls made of gold bricks defined the attempt at suicide as an act of honor and proclaimed him a martyr. Then
when he rejected the Order of Merit awarded him by the president of the republic
even his most bitter enemies filed through the room asking him to withdraw recognition of the armistice and to start a new war. The house was filled with gifts meant as amends. Impressed finally by the massive support of his former rades in arms
Colonel Aureli-ano Buendía did not put aside the possibility of pleasing them. On the contrary
at a certain moment he seemed so enthusiastic with the idea of a new war that Colonel Geri-neldo Márquez thought that he was only waiting for a pretext to proclaim it. The pretext was offered
in fact
when the president of the republic refused to award any military pensions to former batants
Liberal or Conservative
until each case was examined by a special mission and the award approved by the congress. "That's an outrage
" thundered Colonel Aureli-ano Buendía. "They'll die of old age waiting for the mail to e." For the first time he left the rocker that úrsula had bought for his convalescence
and
walking about the bedroom
he dictated a strong message to the president of the republic. In that telegram which was never made public
he denounced the first violation of the Treaty of Neerlandia and threatened to proclaim war to the death if the assignment of pensions was not resolved within o weeks. His attitude was so just that it allowed him to hope even for the support of former Conservative batants. But the only reply from the government was the reinforcement of the military guard that had been placed at the door of his house with the pretext of protecting him
and the prohibition of all types of visits
Similar methods were adopted all through the country with other leaders who bore watching. It was an operation that was so timely
drastic
and effective that o months after the armistice
when Colonel Aureli-ano Buendía had recovered
his most dedicated conspirators were dead or exiled or had been assimilated forever into public administration.
Colonel Aureli-ano Buendía left his room in December and it was sufficient for him to look at the porch in order not to think about war again. With a vitality that seemed impossible at her age
úrsula had rejuvenated the house again. "Now they're going to see who I am
" she said when she saw that her son was going to live. "There won't be a better
more open house in all the world than this madhouse." She had it washed and painted
changed the furniture
restored the garden and planted new flowers
and opened doors and windows so that the dazzling light of summer would perate even into the bedrooms. She decreed an end to the numerous superimposed periods of mourning and she herself exchanged her rigorous old gowns for youthful clothing. The music of the pianola again made the house merry. When she heard it
Amaranta thought of Pietro Crespi
his evening gardenia
and his smell of lavender
and in the depths of her withered heart a clean rancor flourished
purified by time. One afternoon when she was trying to put the parlor in order
úrsula asked for the help of the soldiers who were guarding the house. The young mander of the guard gave them permission. Little by little
úrsula began assigning them new chores. She invited them to eat
gave them clothing and shoes
and taught them how to read and write. When the government withdrew the guard
one of them continued living in the house and was in her service for many years. On New Year's Day
driven mad by rebuffs from Remedios the Beauty
the young mander of the guard was found dead under her window.