百年孤独这本书怎么样 世纪文学经典:《百年孤独》第10章Part 7

世纪文学经典:《百年孤独》第10章Part 7  

The power of his presence was such that from the first time he was seen in the church everybody took it for granted that a silent and tense duel had been established beeen him and Remedios the Beauty
a secret pact
an irrevocable challenge that would end not only in love but also in death. On the sixth Sunday the gentleman appeared with a yellow rose in his hand. He heard mass standing
as he always did
and at the end he stepped in front of Remedios the Beauty and offered her the solitary rose. She took it with a natural gesture
as if she had been prepared for that homage
and then she uncovered her face and gave her thanks with a smile. That was all she did. Not only for the gentleman
but for all the men who had the unfortunate privilege of seeing her
that was an eternal instant.
From then on the gentleman had a band of musicians play beside the window of Remedios the Beauty
sometimes until dawn. Aureli-ano Segun-do was the only one who felt a cordial passion for him and he tried to break his perseverance. "Don't waste your time any more
" he told him one night. "The women in this house are worse than mules." He offered him his friendship
invited him to bathe in champagne
tried to make him understand that the females of his family had insides made of flint
but he could not weaken his obstinacy. Exasperated by the interminable nights of music
Colonel Aureli-ano Buendía threatened to cure his affliction with a few pistol shots. Nothing made him desist except his own lamentable state of demoralization. From a welldressed and neat individual he became filthy and ragged. It was rumored that he had abandoned power and fortune in his distant nation
although his origins were actually never known. He became argumentative
a barroom brawler
and he would wake up rolling in his own filth in Catarino's store. The saddest part of his drama was that Remedios the Beauty did not notice him not even when he appeared in church dressed like a prince. She accepted the yellow rose without the least bit of malice
amused
rather
by the extravagance of the act
and she lifted her shawl to see his face better
not to show hers.
Actually
Remedios the Beauty was not a creature of this world. Until she was well along in puberty Santa Sofía de la. Piedad had to bathe and dress her
and even when she could take care of herself it was necessary to keep an eye on her so that she would not paint little animals on the walls with a stick daubed in her own excrement. She reached enty without knowing how to read or write
unable to use the silver at the table
wandering naked through the house because her nature rejected all manner of convention. When the young mander of the guard declared his love for her
she rejected him simply because his frivolity startled her. "See how simple he is
" she told Amaranta. "He says that he's dying because of me
as if I were a bad case of colic." When
indeed
they found him dead beside her window
Remedios the Beauty confirmed her first impression.
"You see
" she mented. "He was a plete Simpleton."
It seemed as if some perating lucidity permitted her to see the reality of things beyond any formalism. That at least was the point of view of Colonel Aureli-ano Buendía
for whom Remedios the Beauty was in no way mentally retarded
as was generally believed
but quite the opposite. "It's as if she's e back from enty years of war
" he would say. úrsula
for her part
thanked God for having awarded the family with a creature of exceptional purity
but at the same time she was disturbed by her beauty
for it seemed a contradictory virtue to her
a diabolical trap at the center of her innocence. It was for that reason that she decided to keep her away from the world
to protect her from all earthly temptation
not knowing that Remedios the Beauty
even from the time when she was in her mother's womb
was safe from any contagion. It never entered her head that they would elect her beauty queen of the carnival pandemonium. But Aureli-ano
Segun-do
excited at the caprice of disguising himself as a tiger
brought Father Antonio Isabel to the house in order to convince úrsula that the carnival was not a pagan feast
as she said
but a Catholic tradition. Finally convinced
even though reluctantly
she consented to the coronation.