百年孤独这本书怎么样 世纪文学经典:《百年孤独》第4章Part 1

世纪文学经典:《百年孤独》第4章Part 1  

Chapter 4 Page 1
THE NEW HOUSE
white
like a dove
was inaugurated with a dance. úrsula had got that idea from the afternoon when she saw Rebeca and Amaranta changed into adolescents
and it could almost have been said that the main reason behind the construction was a desire to have a proper place for the girls to receive visitors. In order that nothing would be lacking in splendor she worked like a galley slave as the repairs were under way
so that before they were finished she had ordered costly necessities for the decorations
the table service
and the marvelous invention that was to arouse the astonishment of the town and the jubilation of the young people: the pianola. They delivered it broken down
packed in several boxes that were unloaded along with the Viennese furniture
the Bohemian crystal
the table service from the Indies Company
the tablecloths from Holland
and a rich variety of lamps and candlesticks
hangings and drapes. The import house sent along at its own expense an Italian expert
Pietro Crespi
to assemble and tune the pianola
to instruct the purchasers in its functioning
and to teach them how to dance the latest music printed on its six paper rolls.
Pietro Crespi was young and blond
the most handsome and well mannered man who had ever been seen in Macondo
so scrupulous in his dress that in spite of the suffocating heat he would work in his brocade vest and heavy coat of dark cloth. Soaked in sweat
keeping a reverent distance from the owners of the house
he spent several weeks shut up is the parlor with a dedication much like that of Aureliano in his silverwork. One morning
without opening the door
without calling anyone to witness the miracle
he placed the first roll in the pianola and the tormenting hammering and the constant noise of wooden lathings ceased in a silence that was startled at the order and neatness of the music. They all ran to the parlor. José Arcadio Buendía was as if struck by lightning
not because of the beauty of the melody
but because of the automatic working of the keys of the pianola
and he set up Melquíades' camera with the hope of getting a daguerreotype of the invisible player. That day the Italian had lunch with them. Rebeca and Amaranta
serving the table
were intimidated by the way in which the angelic man with pale and ringless hands manipulated the utensils. In the living room
next to the parlor
Pietro Crespi taught them how to dance. He showed them the steps without touching them
keeping time with a metronome
under the friendly eye of úrsula
who did not leave the room for a moment while her daughters had their lesson. Pietro Crespi wore special pants on those days
very elastic and tight
and dancing slippers
"You don't have to worry so much
" José Arcadio Buendía told her. "The man's a fairy." But she did not leave off her vigilance until the apprenticeship was over and the Italian left Macondo. Then they began to anize the party. úrsula drew up a strict guest list
in which the only ones invited were the descendants of the founders
except for the family of Pilar Ternera
who by then had had o more children by unknown fathers. It was truly a highclass list
except that it was determined by feelings of friendship
for those favored were not only the oldest friends of José Arcadio Buendía's house since before they undertook the exodus and the founding of Macondo
but also their sons and grandsons
who were the constant panions of Aureliano and Arcadio since infancy
and their daughters
who were the only ones who visited the house to embroider with Rebeca and Amaranta. Don Apolinar Moscote
the benevolent ruler whose activity had been reduced to the maintenance from his scanty resources of o policemen armed with wooden clubs
was a figurehead. In older to support the household expenses his daughters had opened a sewing shop
where they made felt flowers as well as guava delicacies
and wrote love notes to order. But in spite of being modest and hard-working
the most beautiful girls in Iowa
and the most skilled at the new dances
they did not manage to be considered for the party.
While úrsula and the girls unpacked furniture
polished silverware
and hung pictures of maidens in boats full of roses
which gave a breath of new life to the naked areas that the masons had built
José Arcadio Buendía stopped his pursuit of the image of God
convinced of His nonexistence
and he took the pianola apart in order to decipher its magical secret. Two days before the party
swamped in a shower of leftover keys and hammers
bungling in the midst of a mixup of strings that would unroll in one direction and roll up again in the other
he succeeded in a fashion in putting the instrument back together. There had never been as many surprises and as much dashing about as in those days
but the new pitch lamps were lighted on the designated day and hour. The house was opened
still smelling of resin and damp whitewash
and the children and grandchildren of the founders saw the porch with ferns and begonias
the quiet rooms
the garden saturated with the fragrance of the roses
and they gathered together in the parlor
facing the unknown invention that had been covered with a white sheet. Those who were familiar with the piano
popular in other towns in the swamp
felt a little disheartened
but more bitter was úrsula's disappointment when she put in the first roll so that Amaranta and Rebeca could begin the dancing and the mechanism did not work. Melquíades
almost blind by then
crumbling with decrepitude
used the arts of his timeless wisdom in an attempt to fix it. Finally José Arcadio Buendía managed
by mistake
to move a device that was stuck and the music came out
first in a burst and then in a flow of mixed-up notes. Beating against the strings that had been put in without order or concert and had been tuned with temerity
the hammers let go. But the stubborn descendants of the enty-one intrepid people who plowed through the mountains in search of the sea to the west avoided the reefs of the melodic mix-up and the dancing went on until dawn.