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LA TIENDA DE LOS FANTASMASTHE SHOP OF GHOSTS

Casi todo lo mejor y ms valioso del universo puede comprarse por medio penique. Exceptuando, por supuesto, el sol, la luna, las estrellas, la tierra, la gente, las tormentas y otras baratijas. Las tienes gratis. Adems, dejo de lado otra cosa, que no puedo mencionar en este peridico, cuyo precio ms bajo es la mitad de medio penique. Este principio general resultar enseguida evidente. En la calle detrs de m, puedes montar en un tranva elctrico por medio penique. Subirte a un tranva elctrico es como subirte a un castillo volador en un cuento de hadas. Puedes hacerte con un buen puado de chucheras de colores por la mitad de un penique. Tambin tienes la oportunidad de leer este articulo por medio penique, junto con, por supuesto, otras cosas menos importantes.Nearly all the best and most precious things in the universe you can get for a halfpenny. I make an exception, of course, of the sun, the moon, the earth, people, stars, thunderstorms, and such trifles. You can get them for nothing. Also I make an exception of another thing, which I am not allowed to mention in this paper, and of which the lowest price is a penny halfpenny. But the general principle will be at once apparent. In the street behind me, for instance, you can now get a ride on an electric tram for a halfpenny. To be on an electric tram is to be on a flying castle in a fairy tale. You can get quite a large number of brightly coloured sweets for a halfpenny. Also you can get the chance of reading this article for a halfpenny; along, of course, with other and irrelevant matter.

Pero si quiere descubrir la enorme cantidad de cosas asombrosas que puedes conseguir por medio penique, haz lo que yo hice anoche. Estamp la nariz contra el escaparate de una de las tiendas ms pequeas y peor iluminadas de uno de los callejones ms estrechos y oscuros del barrio de Battersea. Pero por oscuro que fuese ese rectngulo de luz, resplandeca con todos los colores que Dios cre, utilizando la expresin que una vez escuche a un nio. Los juguetes de los pobres son todos como los nios que los compran. Sucios pero todos alegres. Por mi parte, prefiero la alegra a la limpieza. La primera es del alma y la segunda del cuerpo. Les ruego que me disculpen, es que soy demcrata. S que estoy trasnochado en el mundo actual.But if you want to see what a vast and bewildering array of valuable things you can get at a halfpenny each you should do as I was doing last night. I was gluing my nose against the glass of a very small and dimly lit toy shop in one of the greyest and leanest of the streets of Battersea. But dim as was that square of light, it was filled (as a child once said to me) with all the colours God ever made. Those toys of the poor were like the children who buy them; they were all dirty; but they were all bright. For my part, I think brightness more important than cleanliness; since the first is of the soul, and the second of the body. You must excuse me; I am a democrat; I know I am out of fashion in the modern world.

Mientras miraba aquel palacio de maravillas liliputienses, los pequeos autobuses verdes, los pequeos elefantes azules, los muequitos negros y las pequeas arcas de Noe rojas, deb caer en una especie de trance antinatural. El escaparate iluminado se transform en el brillante escenario en que uno contempla una comedia muy entretenida. Me olvide de las casas grises y de la gente triste a mis espaldas como uno se olvida del pblico y las galeras oscuras en el teatro. Me pareca que los objetos detrs del cristal eran pequeos no por su tamao, sino a causa de la distancia. El autobs verde era realmente un autobs verde. Un autobs verde del barrio de Bayswater, que estuviese recorriendo un enorme desierto, al hacer su ruta diaria hasta Bayswater. El elefante ya no era azul por la pintura sino por la distancia. El muequito era realmente un hombre de raza negra recortndose contra el brillante follaje tropical de la tierra en que cada planta tiene un color ardiente y solo el ser humano es oscuro. El arca de Noe roja era en verdad la enorme nave de la salvacin del mundo, flotando en un mar acrecentado por la lluvia, en el rojo primer amanecer de la esperanza.As I looked at that palace of pigmy wonders, at small green omnibuses, at small blue elephants, at small black dolls, and small red Noah's arks, I must have fallen into some sort of unnatural trance. That lit shop-window became like the brilliantly lit stage when one is watching some highly coloured comedy. I forgot the grey houses and the grimy people behind me as one forgets the dark galleries and the dim crowds at a theatre. It seemed as if the little objects behind the glass were small, not because they were toys, but because they were objects far away. The green omnibus was really a green omnibus, a green Bayswater omnibus, passing across some huge desert on its ordinary way to Bayswater. The blue elephant was no longer blue with paint; he was blue with distance. The black doll was really a negro relieved against passionate tropic foliage in the land where every weed is flaming and only man is black. The red Noah's ark was really the enormous ship of earthly salvation riding on the rain-swollen sea, red in the first morning of hope.

Creo que todos tenemos estos extraordinarios instantes de abstraccin, estos brillantes momentos con la mente en blanco. En momentos semejantes, podemos mirar a la cara a nuestro mejor amigo y ver gafas y bigotes imaginarios. Por lo general estn marcados por lo lento que se desarrollan y lo abrupto de su fin. El regreso a la actividad mental normal es a menudo tan repentino como tropezarse con alguien. A menudo, uno termina chocndose de verdad contra alguien, al menos en mi caso. Pero de todos modos, el despertar es claro y, por lo general, completo. Pues bien, en esta ocasin, aunque una ola de cordura me arrastro a la conciencia de que en realidad solamente estaba mirando una humilde y diminuta juguetera, de alguna extraa manera la curacin no pareca ser definitiva. Algo que no poda controlar segua dicindome que me haba adentrado en una atmsfera extraa, o que haba hecho algo raro. Me senta como si hubiese obrado un milagro o cometido un pecado. Era como si de alguna forma hubiese atravesado una frontera del alma.Every one, I suppose, knows such stunning instants of abstraction, such brilliant blanks in the mind. In such moments one can see the face of one's own best friend as an unmeaning pattern of spectacles or moustaches. They are commonly marked by the two signs of the slowness of their growth and the suddenness of their termination. The return to real thinking is often as abrupt as bumping into a man. Very often indeed (in my case) it is bumping into a man. But in any case the awakening is always emphatic and, generally speaking, it is always complete. Now, in this case, I did come back with a shock of sanity to the consciousness that I was, after all, only staring into a dingy little toy-shop; but in some strange way the mental cure did not seem to be final. There was still in my mind an unmanageable something that told me that I had strayed into some odd atmosphere, or that I had already done some odd thing. I felt as if I had worked a miracle or committed a sin. It was as if I had at any rate, stepped across some border in the soul.

Para librarme de esta sensacin onrica tan peligrosa, entr en la tienda e intent comprar algunos soldaditos de madera. El dependiente era muy anciano y estaba muy deteriorado. Con medio rostro y toda la cabeza cubiertos de despeinado cabello cano. Un cabello tan increblemente blanco que pareca artificial. Y aunque pareca senil y enfermo no se reflejaba sufrimiento en sus ojos. Era como si, poco a poco, se estuviese quedando dormido en una decadencia amable. Me dio los soldaditos de madera pero, cuando coloqu el dinero sobre el mostrador, aparent no verlo en un primer momento. Parpade dbilmente mirndolo y lo apart dbilmente.To shake off this dangerous and dreamy sense I went into the shop and tried to buy wooden soldiers. The man in the shop was very old and broken, with confused white hair covering his head and half his face, hair so startlingly white that it looked almost artificial. Yet though he was senile and even sick, there was nothing of suffering in his eyes; he looked rather as if he were gradually falling asleep in a not unkindly decay. He gave me the wooden soldiers, but when I put down the money he did not at first seem to see it; then he blinked at it feebly, and then he pushed it feebly away.

-No, no dijo confuso Nunca lo he hecho as. Nunca. Aqu somos muy anticuados."No, no," he said vaguely. "I never have. I never have. We are rather old-fashioned here."

-No aceptar dinero me parece algo a la ms rabiosa ltima moda ms que anticuado."Not taking money," I replied, "seems to me more like an uncommonly new fashion than an old one."

-Nunca lo he hecho as contest el anciano sonndose los mocos Siempre he dado regalos y soy demasiado viejo para cambiar."I never have," said the old man, blinking and blowing his nose; "I've always given presents. I'm too old to stop."

-Por el amor de Dios! dije - Qu quiere decir? Est hablando como si fuese Pap Nel."Good heavens!" I said. "What can you mean? Why, you might be Father Christmas."

-Soy Pap Nel- dijo disculpndose y volvi a sonarse los mocos."I am Father Christmas," he said apologetically, and blew his nose again.

En el exterior, las farolas no podan estar encendidas. En cualquier caso, era imposible ver nada ms all del escaparate iluminado. No se escuchaban pasos ni voces por la calle. Pareca que me hubiese internado en un nuevo mundo en el que el sol no brillaba. Pero algo haba soltado las amarras del sentido comn y no poda sorprenderme ms que de una manera somnolienta.The lamps could not have been lighted yet in the street outside. At any rate, I could see nothing against the darkness but the shining shop-window. There were no sounds of steps or voices in the street; I might have strayed into some new and sunless world. But something had cut the chords of common sense, and I could not feel even surprise except sleepily.

-Pareces enfermo, Pap Nel Algo me impuls a decir eso.Something made me say, "You look ill, Father Christmas."

-Estoy agonizando."I am dying," he said.

Guard silencio y fue l quien habl de nuevo.I did not speak, and it was he who spoke again.

-Todos los nuevos se han marchado. No lo entiendo. Se meten conmigo por razones tan raras e incoherentes. Los cientficos, todos los innovadores. Dicen que les doy a la gente supersticiones y les vuelvo demasiado ilusos, que les doy carnes horneadas y les hago demasiado materialistas. Dicen que mis partes celestiales son demasiado celestiales, que mis partes mundanas son demasiado mundanas. No s lo que quieren, de eso si que estoy seguro. Cmo puede algo celestial serlo demasiado? Cmo puede algo mundano ser demasiado mundano? Cmo se puede ser demasiado bueno o demasiado alegre? No lo entiendo. Pero hay algo que entiendo demasiado bien: esta gente moderna est viva y yo muerto."All the new people have left my shop. I cannot understand it. They seem to object to me on such curious and inconsistent sort of grounds, these scientific men, and these innovators. They say that I give people superstitions and make them too visionary; they say I give people sausages and make them too coarse. They say my heavenly parts are too heavenly; they say my earthly parts are too earthly; I dont know what they want, I'm sure. How can heavenly things be too heavenly, or earthly things too earthly? How can one be too good, or too jolly? I don't understand. But I understand one thing well enough. These modern people are living and I am dead."

-T sabrs si ests muerto repliqu pero a lo que ellos hacen no lo llamo vivir."You may be dead," I replied. "You ought to know. But as for what they are doing, do not call it living."

Un silencio cay entre nosotros que, de alguna manera, esper ver roto. No haba durado unos segundos, cuando, en medio de la total tranquilidad, escuch unos pasos que, cada vez ms rpidos, se acercaban por la calle. Al instante, una figura se lanz al interior de la tienda y quedo enmarcada en el umbral. Vesta una chistera blanca, echada hacia atrs como con prisa, anticuados pantalones negros ceidos, anticuados chaleco y chaqueta de colores brillantes y un fantstico abrigo viejo. Tena los ojos, abiertos y brillantes, de un actor de carcter, una cara plida y nerviosa y la barba muy recortada. Abarc al anciano y su tienda en una mirada que fue de verdad como una explosin y lanz la exclamacin de un hombre por completo estupefacto.A silence fell suddenly between us which I somehow expected to be unbroken. But it had not fallen for more than a few seconds when, in the utter stillness, I distinctly heard a very rapid step coming nearer and nearer along the street. The next moment a figure flung itself into the shop and stood framed in the doorway. He wore a large white hat tilted back as if in impatience; he had tight black old-fashioned pantaloons, a gaudy old-fashioned stock and waistcoat, and an old fantastic coat. He had large, wide-open, luminous eyes like those of an arresting actor; he had a pale, nervous face, and a fringe of beard. He took in the shop and the old man in a look that seemed literally a flash and uttered the exclamation of a man utterly staggered.

-Buen Dios! No puedes ser t! grit Vine a preguntar dnde estaba tu tumba."Good lord!" he cried out; "it can't be you! It isn't you! I came to ask where your grave was."

-An no he fallecido, Sr. Dickens contest el anciano con su dbil sonrisa Pero me estoy muriendo aadi como tranquilizndole"I'm not dead yet, Mr. Dickens," said the old gentleman, with a feeble smile; "but I'm dying," he hastened to add reassuringly.

-Pero a paseo con todo si no agonizaba en mis tiempos dijo el Sr. Charles Dickens alegremente Y no pareces ni un da ms viejo."But, dash it all, you were dying in my time," said Mr. Charles Dickens with animation; "and you don't look a day older."

-Llev as mucho tiempo Dijo Pap Nel."I've felt like this for a long time," said Father Christmas.

El Sr. Charles Dickens le dio la espalda y sac la cabeza por la puerta, metindola en la oscuridad.Mr. Dickens turned his back and put his head out of the door into the darkness.

-Dick bram a todo pulmn sigue vivo."Dick," he roared at the top of his voice; "he's still alive."

Otra sombra oscureci el umbral, entr un caballero mucho mayor y ms fuerte que llevaba puesta una enorme peluca empolvada. Abanicaba su sofocado rostro con un sombrero militar correspondiente a la moda de la poca de la reina Ana. Andaba erguido como un soldado y en su cara haba una expresin arrogante que era repentinamente desmentida por sus ojos. Humildes como los de un perro. Su espada hacia mucho ruido, como si la tienda fuese demasiado pequea para ella.Another shadow darkened the doorway, and a much larger and more full-blooded gentleman in an enormous periwig came in, fanning his flushed face with a military hat of the cut of Queen Anne. He carried his head well back like a soldier, and his hot face had even a look of arrogance, which was suddenly contradicted by his eyes, which were literally as humble as a dog's. His sword made a great clatter, as if the shop were too small for it.

- En verdad dijo Sir Richard Steele Es cuestin harto prodigiosa, pues este hombre se acercaba a su ltimo aliento cuando escrib sobre Sir Roger de Coverley y su da de navidad."Indeed," said Sir Richard Steele, "'tis a most prodigious matter, for the man was dying when I wrote about Sir Roger de Coverley and his Christmas Day."

Mis sentidos se embotaban y el cuarto se oscureca. Pareca repleto de recin llegados.My senses were growing dimmer and the room darker. It seemed to be filled with newcomers.

-Se ha dado siempre por entendido dijo un hombre gordo que ladeaba la cabeza en un gesto obstinado y humorstico ( Me parece que era Ben Johnson)- Se ha dando siempre por entendido, cnsul Jacobo, bajo nuestro rey Jaime o bajo su difunta Majestad la reina, que costumbres tan buenas y saludables decaan. Y que era previsible su desaparicin. Este anciano canoso no esta ahora menos robusto que cuando yo le eche el ojo."It hath ever been understood," said a burly man, who carried his head humorously and obstinately a little on one side (I think he was Ben Jonson) "It hath ever been understood, consule Jacobo, under our King James and her late Majesty, that such good and hearty customs were fallen sick, and like to pass from the world. This grey beard most surely was no lustier when I knew him than now."

Y creo que tambin escuch a un hombre vestido con malla verde, como Robin Hood, decir en una mezcla de ingls y francs normando Pero s lo vi agonizante.And I also thought I heard a green-clad man, like Robin Hood, say in some mixed Norman French, "But I saw the man dying."

- Llevo as mucho tiempo Dijo Pap Nel otra vez a su dbil manera."I have felt like this a long time," said Father Christmas, in his feeble way again.

El Sr. Charles Dickens de repente se le acerc y se inclin delante de l.Mr. Charles Dickens suddenly leant across to him.

-Desde cuando? pregunt - Desde qu naciste?"Since when?" he asked. "Since you were born?"

-S- contest el anciano y se dej caer en su silla temblando Siempre he agonizado."Yes," said the old man, and sank shaking into a chair. "I have been always dying."

El Sr.Charles Dickens se quit el sombrero haciendo una reverencia como la hara un hombre que llamase a la multitud a amotinarse.Mr. Dickens took off his hat with a flourish like a man calling a mob to rise.

-Ahora lo entiendo grit Nunca morirs."I understand it now," he cried, "you will never die."

HISTORIA DE UNA HORATHE STORY OF AN HOURSabiendo que la seora Mallard padeca del corazn, se tomaron muchas precauciones antes de darle la noticia de la muerte de su marido.

Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.

Fue su hermana Josephine quien se lo dijo, con frases entrecortadas e insinuaciones veladas que lo revelaban y ocultaban a medias. El amigo de su marido, Richards, estaba tambin all, cerca de ella. Fue l quien se encontraba en la oficina del peridico cuando recibieron la noticia del accidente ferroviario y el nombre de Brently Mallard encabezaba la lista de muertos. Tan slo se haba tomado el tiempo necesario para asegurarse, mediante un segundo telegrama, de que era verdad, y se haba precipitado a impedir que cualquier otro amigo, menos prudente y considerado, diera la triste noticia.

It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing. Her husband's friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard's name leading the list of "killed." He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message.

Ella no escuch la historia como otras muchas mujeres la han escuchado, con paralizante incapacidad de aceptar su significado. Inmediatamente se ech a llorar con repentino y violento abandono, en brazos de su hermana. Cuando la tormenta de dolor amain, se retir a su habitacin, sola. No quiso que nadie la siguiera.

She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her.

Frente a la ventana abierta haba un amplio y confortable silln. Agobiada por el desfallecimiento fsico que rondaba su cuerpo y pareca alcanzar su espritu, se hundi en l.

There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.

En la plaza frente a su casa, poda ver las copas de los rboles temblando por la reciente llegada de la primavera. En el aire se perciba el delicioso aliento de la lluvia. Abajo, en la calle, un buhonero gritaba sus quincallas. Le llegaban dbilmente las notas de una cancin que alguien cantaba a lo lejos, e innumerables gorriones gorjeaban en los aleros.

She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.

Retazos de cielo azul asomaban por entre las nubes, que frente a su ventana, en el poniente, se reunan y apilaban unas sobre otras.

There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window.

Se sent con la cabeza hacia atrs, apoyada en el cojn de la silla, casi inmvil, excepto cuando un sollozo le suba a la garganta y la sacuda, como el nio que ha llorado al irse a dormir y contina sollozando en sus sueos.

She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.

Era joven, de rostro hermoso y tranquilo, y sus facciones revelaban contencin y cierto carcter. Pero sus ojos tenan ahora la expresin opaca, la vista clavada en la lejana, en uno de aquellos retazos de cielo azul. La mirada no indicaba reflexin, sino ms bien ensimismamiento.

She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.

Senta que algo llegaba a ella y lo esperaba con temor. De qu se trataba? No lo saba, era demasiado sutil y esquivo para nombrarlo. Pero lo senta surgir furtivamente del cielo y alcanzarla a travs de los sonidos, los aromas y el color que impregnaban el aire.

There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air.

Su pecho suba y bajaba agitadamente. Empezaba a reconocer aquello que se aproximaba para poseerla, y luchaba con voluntad para rechazarlo, tan dbilmente como si lo hiciera con sus blancas y estilizadas manos. Cuando se abandon, sus labios entreabiertos susurraron una palabrita. La murmur una y otra vez: Libre, libre, libre!. La mirada vaca y la expresin de terror que la haba precedido desaparecieron de sus ojos, que permanecan agudos y brillantes. El pulso le lata rpido y el fluir de la sangre templaba y relajaba cada centmetro de su cuerpo.

Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been. When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under hte breath: "free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.

No se detuvo a pensar si aquella invasin de alegra era monstruosa o no. Una percepcin clara y exaltada le permita descartar la posibilidad como algo trivial. Saba que llorara de nuevo al ver las manos cariosas y frgiles cruzadas en la postura de la muerte; que el rostro que siempre la haba mirado con amor estara inmvil, gris y muerto. Pero ms all de aquel momento amargo, vio una larga procesin de aos por llegar que seran slo suyos. Y extendi sus brazos abiertos dndoles la bienvenida.

She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial. She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that owuld belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.

No habra nadie para quien vivir durante los aos venideros; ella tendra las riendas de su propia vida. Ninguna voluntad poderosa doblegara la suya con esa ciega insistencia con que los hombres y mujeres creen tener derecho a imponer su ntima voluntad a un semejante. Que la intencin fuera amable o cruel, no haca que el acto pareciera menos delictivo en aquel breve momento de iluminacin en que ella lo consideraba.

There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they ahve a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination.

Y a pesar de esto, ella le haba amado, a veces; otras no. Pero qu importaba!. Qu podra el amor, ese misterio sin resolver, significar frente a esta energa que repentinamente reconoca como el impulso ms poderoso de su ser!

And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!

"Libre, libre en cuerpo y alma!" continu susurrando.

"Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering.

Josephine, arrodillada frente a la puerta cerrada, con los labios pegados a la cerradura le imploraba que la dejara pasar. Louise, abre la puerta, te lo ruego, brela, te vas a poner enferma. Qu ests haciendo, Louise? Por lo que ms quieras, abre la puerta.

Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhold, imploring for admission. "Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door--you will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heaven's sake open the door."

Vete. No voy a ponerme enferma. No; estaba embebida en el mismsimo elixir de la vida que entraba por la ventana abierta.

"Go away. I am not making myself ill". No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window.

Su imaginacin corra desaforada por aquellos das desplegados ante ella: das de primavera, das de verano y toda clase de das, que seran slo suyos. Musit una rpida oracin para que la vida fuese larga. Y pensar que tan slo ayer senta escalofros ante la idea de que la vida pudiera durar demasiado!

Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.

Por fin se levant y ante la insistencia de su hermana, abri la puerta. Tena los ojos con brillo febril y se conduca inconscientemente como una diosa de la Victoria. Agarr a su hermana por la cintura y juntas descendieron las escaleras. Richards, erguido, las esperaba al final.

She arose at length and opened the door to her sister's importunities. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. She clasped her sister's waist, and together they descended the stairs. Richards stood waiting for them at the bottom.

Alguien intentaba abrir la puerta con una llave. Fue Brently Mallard quien entr, un poco sucio del viaje, llevando con aplomo su maletn y el paraguas. Haba estado lejos del lugar del accidente y ni siquiera saba que haba habido uno. Permaneci de pie, sorprendido por el penetrante grito de Josephine y el rpido movimiento de Richards para que su esposa no lo viera.

Some one was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephine's piercing cry; at Richards' quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife.

Cuando los mdicos llegaron dijeron que ella haba muerto del corazn -de la alegra que mata. When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease--of the joy that kills.

EL ARTE DE LEER Y EL ARTE DE HACER EL AMORTHE ART OF READING AND THE ART OF LOVE MAKING

No se ran. El arte de leer es como el arte de hacer el amor.Do not laugh. The art of reading is like the art of love making.

Ambas artes son estados de integracin, de unidad, de interaccin, de comunicacin con otro ser, es decir, stos se encuentran en comunin. Cuando leemos estamos en comunin con los personajes, cuando hacemos el amor lo estamos con quin amamos.Both arts are states of integration, of unity, of interaction, of communication with another being, that is, these beings are in communion. When we read we are in communion with the characters. When we make love, we are in communion with the one we love.

Podemos definir que todo proceso tiene etapas de preparacin, desarrollo, y resultado o final, y es aqu donde deseo detenerme en este anlisis y comparacin de estas artes.We can say that all processes have preparation, development and outcome or final stages, and here is where I want to delve in to this analysis and comparison of these arts.

- La preparacin:- Preparation:

Todos entendemos y sabemos que para hacer el amor con arte es deseable un preludio que se inicia con la mirada, la voz, los gestos de atraccin e insinuacin. Esto puede comenzar tan temprano como la eleccin de la vestimenta, para una cena previa a la luz de las velas, acompaada de msica romntica y un buen vino para beberlo con moderacin. Lo que realmente hace esta pareja es ahuyentar los problemas de la realidad, los ajetreos cotidianos y aislarse del mundo, para dedicarse en cuerpo y alma el uno al otro.We all understand and know that, to make love with art, it is best to have a prelude that starts with the look, the voice, the attraction and insinuating gestures. This may start as early as when we choose our clothes for a prior dinner with candlelight, accompanied by romantic music and a good wine to be consumed in moderation. What this couple is actually doing is keeping away the problems of reality, the everyday bustle, and isolating themselves from the world, to dedicate themselves to each other in body and soul.

S, para leer con arte tambin necesitamos un prembulo que se inicia buscando un lugar cmodo, iluminado, silencioso, apartndose de los ruidos, interrupciones y concentrarse para hacer caso omiso de lo que nos rodea. Para introducirse en el mundo que nos presenta el libro, debemos abandonar la realidad en que vivimos. Una buena prctica es leer o releer el ttulo del libro. Si se inicia su lectura, pensar y meditar en lo que nos evoca el ttulo, nos ayudar a entrar en ese mundo nuevo; si vamos a continuar la lectura iniciada a otra hora u otro da, rememorar los acontecimientos y visualizar los personajes y el lugar de la accin nos har llegar rpidamente al inicio de leer con arte, estaremos como quien dice el uno para el otro en cuerpo y alma con el libro. Y por qu no acariciarlo y percibir su olor? Me he sorprendido hacindolo!Yes, to read with art we also need a preamble that starts by finding a comfortable, illuminated, quiet place, away from noise and interruptions, where we can focus and disregard what surrounds us. To enter the world the book offers us, we must abandon the reality we live in. A good exercise is reading and re-reading the title of the book. If we start reading, thinking and meditating on what the title evokes it will help us to enter that new world; if we are going to continue reading at another time or day, remembering the events and visualizing the characters, and the place of the action will help us to quickly reach the point of reading with art, we will be, as they say, giving our body and soul to the book. And why not caress and smell it? I have caught myself doing it!

Dijimos anteriormente que luego de la preparacin, entramos en el desarrollo del proceso.We said above that after the preparation, we go into the process of development.

- El desarrollo:- The development:

inicia en el arte de amar,con caricias que son sentimientos transmitidos a travs de nuestros sentidos: el tacto, el olfato, el gusto, la vista, el odo. S, aspirar el perfume del ser amado y demostrar que se disfruta es una caricia; un beso tambin lo es; se acaricia con la vista y con un suspiro, en fin, todo este juego amoroso para demostrar el sentimiento del amor. Disfrutamos de este dar y recibir amor, en esta etapa. Quizs, este galanteo amoroso sea ms placentero que el final.The art of love starts with caresses that are feelings transmitted through our senses: touch, smell, taste, sight, hearing. Yes, smelling the perfume of the loved one and showing that we enjoy it is a caress; so is a kiss. Anyway, this whole loving game is started with sight and with a whisper caress to express the feeling of love. At this stage, we enjoy giving and receiving love. Perhaps, this loving courtship is more pleasant than the end.

Ustedes se preguntarn: Cul es la analoga con el Arte de leer? Bueno, durante la lectura con arte del cuento, novela, o poema, tambin utilizamos nuestros cinco sentidos para imaginarnos lo que nos transmite el narrador, y en sus palabras, frases, versos, prrafos y captulos, nos entrega amor como alimento de nuestro espritu. Los lectores le retribuimos leyendo la obra.You might wonder: what is the analogy to the art of reading? Well, during the reading of the tale, novel or poem with art, we also use our five senses to imagine what the narrator transmits to us with his words, phrases, verses, paragraphs and chapters. They give us love as food to our spirit. Readers pay them back by reading their work.

- El resultado- The result:

En ambos artes se refieren al disfrute que culmina el proceso. Tanto el arte de amar como el de leer, tienen un final, luego de pasar por un clmax de goce o disfrute. Podramos decir que se produce la entrega total del sentimiento de amor. En ambos, despus del clmax y final, se experimenta tambin una etapa de vuelta a la realidad, que en el caso del arte de amar se hace con preocupacin por el otro y en el del arte de leer se considera y medita lo que nos comunic el autor. Ahora he tomado conciencia por qu a mi primer libro de cuentos lo titul: Orgasmo de colores, cuentos inolvidablesBoth arts refer to the enjoyment that ends the process. Both the art of love and the art of reading have an end, after reaching a climax of enjoyment or pleasure. We could say that what happens is the total surrender to the feeling of love. In both cases, after the climax and the end, we also go through a stage of returning to reality, which in the case of the art of love it manifests itself through care for the other and, in the art of reading, through a consideration and meditation of what the author communicated to us. Now I am aware as to why I titled my first book of short stories: Orgasm of Colors, Unforgettable Stories

Descargar audiolibro archivo mp3]2:56(Haga clic en la palabra deseada en Ingls para saber su significado y pronunciacin)

En el paraso terrenal, en el da luminoso en que las flores fueron creadas, y antes de que Eva fuese tentada por la serpiente, el maligno espritu se acerc a la ms linda rosa nueva en el momento en que ella tenda, a la caricia del celeste sol, la roja virginidad de sus labios.On Paradise, on the clear day when flowers were created, and before Eve was tempted by the serpent, the evil spirit approached the most beautiful of all the roses on the moment she was spreading the red virginity of her petals to the warm rays of the sun in the sky.

-Eres bella.- You are beautiful.

-Lo soy -dijo la rosa.- I know I am.

-Bella y feliz prosigui el diablo-. Tienes el color, la gracia y el aroma. Pero- Beautiful and happy. You have colour, gracefulness, perfume; but...

-Pero?...- But?...

-No eres til. No miras esos altos rboles llenos de bellotas? sos, a ms de ser frondosos, dan alimento a muchedumbres de seres animados que se detienen bajo sus ramas. Rosa, ser bella es poco- You are not useful. Don't you see those trees full of acorns? They, besides giving shade, give also food to many living beings that rest below their branches. Rose, to be beautiful is not enough...

La rosa entonces tentada como despus lo sera la mujer- dese la utilidad, de tal modo que hubo palidez en su prpura.The rose then - tempted as the woman would later be tempted - wished to become useful, and her glamour paled.

Pas el buen Dios despus del alba siguiente.The next day God came her way.

-Padre dijo aquella princesa floral, temblando en su perfumada belleza-, queris hacerme til?- Father - said the flower princess, trembling in her perfumed beauty - will you make me useful?

-Sea, hija ma contest el Seor, sonriendo.- Be it so, my daughter - said the Lord and smiled.

Y entonces vio el mundo la primera col.And then the world saw the first cabbage.

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LOS RATONES Y EL GATOTHE MICE AND THE CAT

Una gran familia de ratones viva en una gran mansin. La vida fue siempre buena con ellos ya que siempre haba comida en abundancia, sobre todo en la cocina.There lived several families of mice in a big mansion. Life was good for them as there was always an abundance of food, especially in the kitchen.

Pero un da, el dueo de la casa trajo un gato. Desde entonces la vida de los ratones fue miserable.But one day, the master of the mansion brought home a cat. Since then, life became miserable for the mice.

El gato merodeaba da y noche. Los ratones no osaban salir de sus madrigueras porque el gato estaba siempre al acecho.Day or night, the cat would prowl the mansion. The mice dared not come out of their dens because the cat was always lurking around.

Con el paso de los das los ratones estaban ms y ms dbiles porque no se aventuraban a salir de sus madrigueras para buscar comida.As the days passed, the mice became weaker and weaker because they could not venture out of their dens to find food.

Finalmente, un viejo ratn dijo: No podemos continuar as o moriremos de hambre y de sed muy pronto. Tenemos que encontrar un modo de ocuparnos del gato.Finally, an old mouse said, "We cannot go on like this, or we will all die of hunger and thirst very soon. We have to find a way to deal with the cat."

Efectivamente, tenemos que idear un plan dijo otro ratn. Reunmonos todos los ratones esta noche y veamos si podemos pensar en algo."Indeed, we have to come up with a plan," agreed another mouse. "Lets get all the mice together tonight and see if we can think of something."

Enseguida anocheci. Todos los ratones se haban juntado en el lugar acostumbrado de reunin en la casa.Soon, it was nightfall. All the mice had gathered at their usual meeting place in the mansion.

El ratn ms anciano se aclar la voz y dijo: Estoy seguro de que ninguno de nosotros ha sido feliz ltimamente debido a nuestro comn enemigo, el gato.The eldest mouse cleared his throat and said, "Im sure all of us have not been very happy of late because of our common enemy, the cat."

Todos los ratones asintieron con la cabeza.All the mice nodded their heads and muttered their agreement.

Elanciano ratn continu: Tenemos que actuar juntos y pensar en un plan para deshacernos del gato sino un da vamos a acabar siendo su comidaThe eldest mouse continued, "We must therefore act together now and come up with a plan to deal with the cat. Or we will all end up as the cats meal one day"

Unos de los ratones sugiri matar al gato y a todos los dems le pareci una buena idea.One of the mice suggested killing the cat, and every mouse agreed it was a good idea.

De modo que los ratones empezaron a idear la mejor manera para matar al gato. Pero tan pronto como uno propona un plan los dems lo rechazaban porque era inviable.So, the mice began discussing various plans about how to kill the cat. But as soon as someone proposed a new plan, others would reject it as unworkable.

Por fin, un joven ratn dijo: Es posible que no podamos matar al gato pero quizs podamos pensar en algo para saber su paradero. De esa forma, cuando sepamos que viene tendremos tiempo para salir corriendoFinally, a young mouse said, "We may not be able to kill the cat, but perhaps we can think of a way to know its whereabouts. That way, if we know it is coming, we will have time to run"

Los otros ratones aplaudieron la propuesta.The other mice cheered at the suggestion.

El joven ratn continu: Tengo un plan. Es realmente simple. Todo lo que tenemos que hacer es colgar un cascabelalrededor del cuello del gato. Por donde vaya sonar.The young mouse continued, "I have a plan. Its very simple, really. All we need to do is to hang a bell around the cats neck. Wherever it goes, the bell will ring.

Si el cascabeles grande podremos incluso escuchar cuando el gato est viniendo antes de que est demasiado cerca.If the bell is really big, we can even hear when the cat is coming before it is even close!"

Todos los ratones saltaron de alborozo y aplaudieron la idea.All the mice jumped and clapped at the idea.

De repente, un ratn sabio dijo: Esa es una idea brillante. Ahora.. Quin pondr el cascabel algato?Suddenly, a wise old mouse said, "That is a very brilliant idea. Now, who will hang the bell around the cats neck?"

Moraleja:Una cosa es decir lo que debera hacerse y otra bien diferente hacerlo.Moral: It is one thing to say that something should be done, but quite another to do it.

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EL LOBO Y EL CABRITILLOTHE WOLF AND THE LITTLE GOAT

Era temprano en la maana y el momento en el que las cabras iban a pastar. El cabritillo y su mam seguan al rebao hacia el campo donde circunvalaban un arroyo.It was early morning and time for the goats tograze. Little Goat and his mother were following the flock to the field when theybypassedastream.

Uno de los perros que guardaba el rebao dijo :El que est sediento puede parar para beber. Yo me quedar a su lado y vigilar.One of the dogs which was guarding the flock said, "Anyone who is thirsty may stop for a drink. I will stand guard over you."

El cabritillo estaba sediento, de modo que se dirig al arroyo. Justo en el momento en que estaba a punto de beber del arroyo el cabritillo vi su propio reflejo en el agua. All, justo en su cabeza, haban crecido dos cuernos. El cabritillo estaba tan contento que salt y grit: Tengo cuernos! Tengo cuernos!.Little Goat was thirsty, so he crossed over to the stream. Just as he was about to drink from the stream, Little Goat saw his own reflection in the water. There, right on his head, were two newly grown horns! Little Goat was so excited that he jumped up and cried, "Ive got horns! Ive got horns!"

Rpidamente corri hacia su madre y le mostr sus cuernos.He quickly ran over to his mother and showed her his newly grown horns.

Eso es estupendo cario dijo la madre, pero tus cuernos son an muy pequeos, de modo que no te alejes de los perros o el lobo te atrapar."Thats great, dear," said his mother. "But your horns are still tiny. So, dont wander away from the dogs or the wolf will catch you".

Pero el cabritillo no escuchara: No voy a temer al lobo nunca ms!. Tengo cuernos! Luchar con l si se acerca!.But Little Goat wouldnt listen. "Im not scared of the wolf anymore! Ive got horns! I will fight him if he comes close!"

Enseguida empez a anocher y los perros estaban llevando el rebao de vuelta a casa.Soon, it was late afternoon and the dogs were ushering the flock back home.

Como de costumbre, la mam del cabritillo llam a su hijo: Ven con mam cario, es hora de volver a casa.As usual, Little Goats mother called out to her son, "Come to mommy, dear! Its time to go home!"

Pero esta vez el cabritillo no escuchara:But this time, Little Goat would not listen:

Tengo cuernos pens Ahora soy una cabra grande y no le tengo miedo al lobo. Comer un poco ms de hierba y crecer todava ms."Ive got horns!" Little Goat thought to himself. "Im a big goat now and Im not scared of the wolf. I will eat some more grass and then I will grow bigger!"

As, el cabritillo sigui mordisqueando la hierba mientras que el rebao comenzaba su regreso a casa.So, Little Goat keptnibblingon the grass while theflockstarted their journey home.

De repente, una gran sombra cay sobre el cabritillo. Cuando levant la mirada el cabritillo estaba muy asustado. Era un lobo enorme!Suddenly, a big shadow loomed over Little Goat. When he looked up, Little Goat was very frightened. It was a very big wolf!

El cabritillo corri despavorido por el campo llamando a su madre. Pero tanto las cabras como los perros se haban ido ya a casa.Little Goat ran wildly about the field, screaming for his mother. But all the goats had gone home, and so had the dogs.

El lobo se puso delante del cabritillo y dijo: Hola amiguito! Pareces tan irresistible!The wolf sprang before Little Goat and grinned. "Hello, little fellow. You look so irresistible!"

El cabritillo saba que no poda correr ms deprisa que el lobo. As dijo: Por favor seor Lobo. S que usted va a comerme pero podra concederme un deseo por favor?Little Goat knew he could notoutrunthe wolf, so he said, "Please, Mr Wolf. I know you are going to eat me. But could you please grant me a wish?"

Un deseo? sonri el lobo. Qu deseo encanto?."A wish?" smiled the wolf. "What wish, my little sweetie?"

Me gustara escuchar alguna msica maravillosa antes de morir, de modo que podra cantar una cancin para m por favor?."I would love to hear some beautiful music before I die, so could you please sing me a song?"

El lobo pens por un momento y dijo: Una cancin antes del festn? Me encanta eso!The wolf thought for a while and said, "A song before a feast? I love that!"

As, el lobo comenz a cantar. Pero poco repar en que el rebao y los perros no haban ido lejos.So, the wolf began piping away. But little did he realise that the flock and the dogs had not gone far.

Pronto, dos de los perros del rebao escucharon el canto del lobo. Reconocieron que era una cancin que el lobo cantaba antes de un festn. Inmediatamente, los dos perros corrieron de vuelta al campo.Soon, two of the dogs among the flock had heard the wolfs piping. They recognised that it was a song a wolf sang before a feast. Immediately, the two dogsrushedback to the field.

Cuando el lobo vi que venan los perros, huy tan rpido como pudo* Por qu no me habr yo callado y comido el cabritillo? se maldeca el lobo as mismo.

*Falta en la grabacin sonoraWhen the wolf saw the dogs coming, he ran away as fast as he could. "Why didnt I just shut up and eat that goat?" the wolf cursed himself.

Moraleja:No dejes que nada te desve de tu propsito.Moral: Do not let anything turn you from your purpose.

EL ASTRNOMO THE ASTRONOMER Un astrnomo sola salir por las noches para observar las estrellas. An Astronomer used to go out at night to observe the stars. Una noche, mientras paseaba por los suburbios con toda su atencin puesta en el cielo, cay accidentalmente en un pozo profundo. One evening, as he wandered through the suburbs with his whole attention fixed on the sky, he fell accidentally into a deep well. Mientras lloraba y se lamentaba por sus heridas y magulladuras, y daba gritos pidiendo ayuda, un vecino corri hacia el pozo, y comprendiendo lo que haba sucedido dijo : Escuche atentamente viejo amigo, tanto esfuerzo en ver lo que hay en el cielo...para no ver lo que hay en la tierra?While he lamented and bewailedhis soresand bruises, and cried loudly for help, a neighbor ran to the well, and learning what had happened said: "Harkye, old fellow, why, in strivingto pryinto what is in heaven, do you not manage to see what is on earth?"

Moraleja:Est bien mirar y conocer a nuestro alrededor, pero antes hay que saber donde se est paradoMoral: Its ok to look and know all what is around but first of all we have to know were we are stoppedDouble-click any English word!

[Download Spanish Audiobook mp3]26:17(Haga clic en la palabra deseada en Ingls para saber su significado y pronunciacin)

UN SEOR MUY VIEJO CON UNAS ALAS ENORMESA VERY OLD MAN WITH ENORMOUS WINGS

Al tercer da de lluvia haban matado tantos cangrejos dentro de la casa, que Pelayo tuvo que atravesar su patio anegado para tirarlos al mar, pues el nio recin nacido haba pasado la noche con calenturas y se pensaba que era causa de la pestilencia. El mundo estaba triste desde el martes. El cielo y el mar eran una misma cosa de ceniza, y las arenas de la playa, que en marzo fulguraban como polvo de lumbre, se haban convertido en un caldo de lodo y mariscos podridos. La luz era tan mansa al medioda, que cuando Pelayo regresaba a la casa despus de haber tirado los cangrejos, le cost trabajo ver qu era lo que se mova y se quejaba en el fondo del patio. Tuvo que acercarse mucho para descubrir que era un hombre viejo, que estaba tumbado boca abajo en el lodazal, y a pesar de sus grandes esfuerzos no poda levantarse, porque se lo impedan sus enormes alas.On the third day of rain they had killed so many crabs inside the house that Pelayo had to cross his drenched courtyard and throw them into the sea, because the newborn child had a temperature all night and they thought it was due to the stench. The world had been sad since Tuesday. Sea and sky were a single ash-gray thing and the sands of the beach, which on March nights glimmered like powdered light, had become a stew of mud and rotten shellfish. The light was so weak at noon that when Pelayo was coming back to the house after throwing away the crabs, it was hard for him to see what it was that was moving and groaning in the rear of the courtyard. He had to go very close to see that it was an old man, a very old man, lying face down in the mud, who, in spite of his tremendous efforts, couldn't get up, impeded by his enormous wings.

Asustado por aquella pesadilla, Pelayo corri en busca de Elisenda, su mujer, que estaba ponindole compresas al nio enfermo, y la llev hasta el fondo del patio. Ambos observaron el cuerpo cado con un callado estupor. Estaba vestido como un trapero. Le quedaban apenas unas hilachas descoloridas en el crneo pelado y muy pocos dientes en la boca, y su lastimosa condicin de bisabuelo ensopado lo haba desprovisto de toda grandeza. Sus alas de gallinazo grande, sucias y medio desplumadas, estaban encalladas para siempre en el lodazal. Tanto lo observaron, y con tanta atencin, que Pelayo y Elisenda se sobrepusieron muy pronto del asombro y acabaron por encontrarlo familiar. Entonces se atrevieron a hablarle, y l les contest en un dialecto incomprensible pero con una buena voz de navegante. Fue as como pasaron por alto el inconveniente de las alas, y concluyeron con muy buen juicio que era un nufrago solitario de alguna nave extranjera abatida por el temporal. Sin embargo, llamaron para que lo viera a una vecina que saba todas las cosas de la vida y la muerte, y a ella le bast con una mirada para sacarlos del error.Frightened by that nightmare, Pelayo ran to get Elisenda, his wife, who was putting compresses on the sick child, and he took her to the rear of the courtyard. They both looked at the fallen body with a mute stupor. He was dressed like a rag picker. There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth in his mouth, and his pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather took away and sense of grandeur he might have had. His huge buzzard wings, dirty and half plucked were forever entangled in the mud. They looked at him so long and so closely that Pelayo and Elisenda very soon overcame their surprise and in the end found him familiar. Then they dared speak to him, and he answered in an incomprehensible dialect with a strong sailor's voice. That was how they skipped over the inconvenience of the wings and quite intelligently concluded that he was a lonely castaway from some foreign ship wrecked by the storm. And yet, they called in a neighbor woman who knew everything about life and death to see him, and all she needed was one look to show them their mistake.

Es un ngel les dijo. Seguro que vena por el nio, pero el pobre est tan viejo que lo ha tumbado la lluvia."He's an angel," she told them. "He must have been coming for the child, but the poor fellow is so old that the rain knocked him down."

Al da siguiente todo el mundo saba que en casa de Pelayo tenan cautivo un ngel de carne y hueso. Contra el criterio de la vecina sabia, para quien los ngeles de estos tiempos eran sobrevivientes fugitivos de una conspiracin celestial, no haban tenido corazn para matarlo a palos. Pelayo estuvo vigilndolo toda la tarde desde la cocina, armado con un garrote de alguacil, y antes de acostarse lo sac a rastras del lodazal y lo encerr con las gallinas en el gallinero alumbrado. A media noche, cuando termin la lluvia, Pelayo y Elisenda seguan matando cangrejos. Poco despus el nio despert sin fiebre y con deseos de comer. Entonces se sintieron magnnimos y decidieron poner al ngel en una balsa con agua dulce y provisiones para tres das, y abandonarlo a su suerte en altamar. Pero cuando salieron al patio con las primeras luces, encontraron a todo el vecindario frente al gallinero, retozando con el ngel sin la menor devocin y echndole cosas de comer por los huecos de las alambradas, como si no fuera una criatura sobrenatural sino un animal de circo.On the following day everyone knew that a flesh-and-blood angel was held captive in Pelayo's house. Against the judgment of the wise neighbor woman, for whom angels in those times were the fugitive survivors of a spiritual conspiracy, they did not have the heart to club him to death. Pelayo watched over him all afternoon from the kitchen, armed with his bailiff's club, and before going to bed he dragged him out of the mud and locked him up with the hens in the wire chicken coop. In the middle of the night, when the rain stopped, Pelayo and Elisenda were still killing crabs. A short time afterward the child woke up without a fever and with a desire to eat. Then they felt magnanimous and decided to put the angel on a raft with fresh water and provisions for three days and leave him to his fate on the high seas. But when they went out into the courtyard with the first light of dawn, they found the whole neighborhood in front of the chicken coop having fun with the angel, without the slightest reverence, tossing him things to eat through the openings in the wire as if weren't a supernatural creature but a circus animal.

El padre Gonzaga lleg antes de las siete alarmado por la desproporcin de la noticia. A esa hora ya haban acudido curiosos menos frvolos que los del amanecer, y haban hecho toda clase de conjeturas sobre el porvenir del cautivo. Los ms simples pensaban que sera nombrado alcalde del mundo. Otros, de espritu ms spero, suponan que sera ascendido a general de cinco estrellas para que ganara todas las guerras. Algunos visionarios esperaban que fuera conservado como semental para implantar en la tierra una estirpe de hombres alados y sabios que se hicieran cargo del Universo. Pero el padre Gonzaga, antes de ser cura, haba sido leador macizo. Asomado a las alambradas repas un instante su catecismo, y todava pidi que le abrieran la puerta para examinar de cerca de aquel varn de lstima que ms pareca una enorme gallina decrpita entre las gallinas absortas. Estaba echado en un rincn, secndose al sol las alas extendidas, entre las cscaras de fruta y las sobras de desayunos que le haban tirado los madrugadores. Ajeno a las impertinencias del mundo, apenas si levant sus ojos de anticuario y murmur algo en su dialecto cuando el padre Gonzaga entr en el gallinero y le dio los buenos das en latn. El prroco tuvo la primera sospecha de impostura al comprobar que no entenda la lengua de Dios ni saba saludar a sus ministros. Luego observ que visto de cerca resultaba demasiado humano: tena un insoportable olor de intemperie, el revs de las alas sembrado de algas parasitarias y las plumas mayores maltratadas por vientos terrestres, y nada de su naturaleza miserable estaba de acuerdo con la egregia dignidad de los ngeles. Entonces abandon el gallinero, y con un breve sermn previno a los curiosos contra los riesgos de la ingenuidad. Les record que el demonio tena la mala costumbre de recurrir a artificios de carnaval para confundir a los incautos. Argument que si las alas no eran el elemento esencial para determinar las diferencias entre un gaviln y un aeroplano, mucho menos podan serlo para reconocer a los ngeles. Sin embargo, prometi escribir una carta a su obispo, para que ste escribiera otra al Sumo Pontfice, de modo que el veredicto final viniera de los tribunales ms altos.Father Gonzaga arrived before seven o'clock, alarmed at the strange news. By that time onlookers less frivolous than those at dawn had already arrived and they were making all kinds of conjectures concerning the captive's future. The simplest among them thought that he should be named mayor of the world. Others of sterner mind felt that he should be promoted to the rank of five-star general in order to win all wars. Some visionaries hoped that he could be put to stud in order to implant the earth a race of winged wise men who could take charge of the universe. But Father Gonzaga, before becoming a priest, had been a robust woodcutter. Standing by the wire, he reviewed his catechism in an instant and asked them to open the door so that he could take a close look at that pitiful man who looked more like a huge decrepit hen among the fascinated chickens. He was lying in the corner drying his open wings in the sunlight among the fruit peels and breakfast leftovers that the early risers had thrown him. Alien to the impertinences of the world, he only lifted his antiquarian eyes and murmured something in his dialect when Father Gonzaga went into the chicken coop and said good morning to him in Latin. The parish priest had his first suspicion of an imposter when he saw that he did not understand the language of God or know how to greet His ministers. Then he noticed that seen close up he was much too human: he had an unbearable smell of the outdoors, the back side of his wings was strewn with parasites and his main feathers had been mistreated by terrestrial winds, and nothing about him measured up to the proud dignity of angels. The he came out of the chicken coop and in a brief sermon warned the curious against the risks of being ingenuous. He reminded them that the devil had the bad habit of making use of carnival tricks in order to confuse the unwary. He argued that if wings were not the essential element in determining the different between a hawk and an airplane, they were even less so in the recognition of angels. Nevertheless, he promised to write a letter to his bishop so that the latter would write his primate so that the latter would write to the Supreme Pontiff in order to get the final verdict from the highest courts.

Su prudencia cay en corazones estriles. La noticia del ngel cautivo se divulg con tanta rapidez, que al cabo de pocas horas haba en el patio un alboroto de mercado, y tuvieron que llevar la tropa con bayonetas para espantar el tumulto que ya estaba a punto de tumbar la casa. Elisenda, con el espinazo torcido de tanto barrer basura de feria, tuvo entonces la buena idea de tapiar el patio y cobrar cinco centavos por la entrada para ver al ngel.His prudence fell on sterile hearts. The news of the captive angel spread with such rapidity that after a few hours the courtyard had the bustle of a marketplace and they had to call in troops with fixed bayonets to disperse the mob that was about to knock the house down. Elisenda, her spine all twisted from sweeping up so much marketplace trash, then got the idea of fencing in the yard and charging five cents admission to see the angel.

Vinieron curiosos hasta de la Martinica. Vino una feria ambulante con un acrbata volador, que pas zumbando varias veces por encima de la muchedumbre, pero nadie le hizo caso porque sus alas no eran de ngel sino de murcilago sideral. Vinieron en busca de salud los enfermos ms desdichados del Caribe: una pobre mujer que desde nia estaba contando los latidos de su corazn y ya no le alcanzaban los nmeros, un jamaicano que no poda dormir porque lo atormentaba el ruido de las estrellas, un sonmbulo que se levantaba de noche a deshacer dormido las cosas que haba hecho despierto, y muchos otros de menor gravedad. En medio de aquel desorden de naufragio que haca temblar la tierra, Pelayo y Elisenda estaban felices de cansancio, porque en menos de una semana atiborraron de plata los dormitorios, y todava la fila de peregrinos que esperaban su turno para entrar llegaba hasta el otro lado del horizonte.The curious came from far away. A traveling carnival arrived with a flying acrobat who buzzed over the crowd several times, but no one paid any attention to him because his wings were not those of an angel but, rather, those of a sidereal bat. The most unfortunate invalids on earth came in search of health: a poor woman who since childhood has been counting her heartbeats and had run out of numbers; a Portuguese man who couldn't sleep because the noise of the stars disturbed him; a sleepwalker who got up at night to undo the things he had done while awake; and many others with less serious ailments. In the midst of that shipwreck disorder that made the earth tremble, Pelayo and Elisenda were happy with fatigue, for in less than a week they had crammed their rooms with money and the line of pilgrims waiting their turn to enter still reached beyond the horizon.

El ngel era el nico que no participaba de su propio acontecimiento. El tiempo se le iba buscando acomodo en su nido prestado, aturdido por el calor de infierno de las lmparas de aceite y las velas de sacrificio que le arrimaban a las alambradas. Al principio trataron de que comiera cristales de alcanfor, que, de acuerdo con la sabidura de la vecina sabia, era el alimento especfico de los ngeles. Pero l los despreciaba, como despreci sin probarlos los almuerzos papales que le llevaban los penitentes, y nunca se supo si fue por ngel o por viejo que termin comiendo nada ms que papillas de berenjena. Su nica virtud sobrenatural pareca ser la paciencia. Sobre todo en los primeros tiempos, cuando le picoteaban las gallinas en busca de los parsitos estelares que proliferaban en sus alas, y los baldados le arrancaban plumas para tocarse con ellas sus defectos, y hasta los ms piadosos le tiraban piedras tratando de que se levantara para verlo de cuerpo entero. La nica vez que consiguieron alterarlo fue cuando le abrasaron el costado con un hierro de marcar novillos, porque llevaba tantas horas de estar inmvil que lo creyeron muerto. Despert sobresaltado, despotricando en lengua hermtica y con los ojos en lgrimas, y dio un par de aletazos que provocaron un remolino de estircol de gallinero y polvo lunar, y un ventarrn de pnico que no pareca de este mundo. Aunque muchos creyeron que su reaccin no haba sido de rabia sino de dolor, desde entonces se cuidaron de no molestarlo, porque la mayora entendi que su pasividad no era la de un hroe en uso de buen retiro sino la de un cataclismo en reposo.The angel was the only one who took no part in his own act. He spent his time trying to get comfortable in his borrowed nest, befuddled by the hellish heat of the oil lamps and sacramental candles that had been placed along the wire. At first they tried to make him eat some mothballs, which, according to the wisdom of the wise neighbor woman, were the food prescribed for angels. But he turned them down, just as he turned down the papal lunches that the penitents brought him, and they never found out whether it was because he was an angel or because he was an old man that in the end ate nothing but eggplant mush. His only supernatural virtue seemed to be patience. Especially during the first days, when the hens pecked at him, searching for the stellar parasites that proliferated in his wings, and the cripples pulled out feathers to touch their defective parts with, and even the most merciful threw stones at him, trying to get him to rise so they could see him standing. The only time they succeeded in arousing him was when they burned his side with an iron for branding steers, for he had been motionless for so many hours that they thought he was dead. He awoke with a start, ranting in his hermetic language and with tears in his eyes, and he flapped his wings a couple of times, which brought on a whirlwind of chicken dung and lunar dust and a gale of panic that did not seem to be of this world. Although many thought that his reaction had not been one of rage but of pain, from then on they were careful not to annoy him, because the majority understood that his passivity was not that of a hero taking his ease but that of a cataclysm in repose.

El padre Gonzaga se enfrent a la frivolidad de la muchedumbre con frmulas de inspiracin domstica, mientras le llegaba un juicio terminante sobre la naturaleza del cautivo. Pero el correo de Roma haba perdido la nocin de la urgencia. El tiempo se les iba en averiguar si el convicto tena ombligo, si su dialecto tena algo que ver con el arameo, si poda caber muchas veces en la punta de un alfiler, o si no sera simplemente un noruego con alas. Aquellas cartas de parsimonia habran ido y venido hasta el fin de los siglos, si un acontecimiento providencial no hubiera puesto trmino a las tribulaciones del prroco.Father Gonzaga held back the crowd's frivolity with formulas of maidservant inspiration while awaiting the arrival of a final judgment on the nature of the captive. But the mail from Rome showed no sense of urgency. They spent their time finding out in the prisoner had a navel, if his dialect had any connection with Aramaic, how many times he could fit on the head of a pin, or whether he wasn't just a Norwegian with wings. Those meager letters might have come and gone until the end of time if a providential event had not put an end to the priest's tribulations.

Sucedi que por esos das, entre muchas otras atracciones de las ferias errantes del Caribe, llevaron al pueblo el espectculo triste de la mujer que se haba convertido en araa por desobedecer a sus padres. La entrada para verla no slo costaba menos que la entrada para ver al ngel, sino que permitan hacerle toda clase de preguntas sobre su absurda condicin, y examinarla al derecho y al revs, de modo que nadie pusiera en duda la verdad del horror. Era una tarntula espantosa del tamao de un carnero y con la cabeza de una doncella triste. Pero lo ms desgarrador no era su figura de disparate, sino la sincera afliccin con que contaba los pormenores de su desgracia: siendo casi una nia se haba escapado de la casa de sus padres para ir a un baile, y cuando regresaba por el bosque despus de haber bailado toda la noche sin permiso, un trueno pavoroso abri el cielo en dos mitades, y por aquella grieta sali el relmpago de azufre que la convirti en araa. Su nico alimento eran las bolitas de carne molida que las almas caritativas quisieran echarle en la boca. Semejante espectculo, cargado de tanta verdad humana y de tan temible escarmiento, tena que derrotar sin proponrselo al de un ngel despectivo que apenas si se dignaba mirar a los mortales. Adems los escasos milagros que se le atribuan al ngel revelaban un cierto desorden mental, como el del ciego que no recobr la visin pero le salieron tres dientes nuevos, y el del paraltico que no pudo andar pero estuvo a punto de ganarse la lotera, y el del leproso a quien le nacieron girasoles en las heridas. Aquellos milagros de consolacin que ms bien parecan entretenimientos de burla, haban quebrantado ya la reputacin del ngel cuando la mujer convertida en araa termin de aniquilarla. Fue as como el padre Gonzaga se cur para siempre del insomnio, y el patio de Pelayo volvi a quedar tan solitario como en los tiempos en que llovi tres das y los cangrejos caminaban por los dormitorios.It so happened that during those days, among so many other carnival attractions, there arrived in the town the traveling show of the woman who had been changed into a spider for having disobeyed her parents. The admission to see her was not only less than the admission to see the angel, but people were permitted to ask her all manner of questions about her absurd state and to examine her up and down so that no one would ever doubt the truth of her horror. She was a frightful tarantula the size of a ram and with the head of a sad maiden. What was most heartrending, however, was not her outlandish shape but the sincere affliction with which she recounted the details of her misfortune. While still practically a child she had sneaked out of her parents' house to go to a dance, and while she was coming back through the woods after having danced all night without permission, a fearful thunderclap rent the sky in tow and through the crack came the lightning bolt of brimstone that changed her into a spider. Her only nourishment came from the meatballs that charitable souls chose to toss into her mouth. A spectacle like that, full of so much human truth and with such a fearful lesson, was bound to defeat without even trying that of a haughty angel who scarcely deigned to look at mortals. Besides, the few miracles attributed to the angel showed a certain mental disorder, like the blind man who didn't recover his sight but grew three new teeth, or the paralytic who didn't get to walk but almost won the lottery, and the leper whose sores sprouted sunflowers. Those consolation miracles, which were more like mocking fun, had already ruined the angel's reputation when the woman who had been changed into a spider finally crushed him completely. That was how Father Gonzaga was cured forever of his insomnia and Pelayo's courtyard went back to being as empty as during the time it had rained for three days and crabs walked through the bedrooms.

Los dueos de la casa no tuvieron nada que lamentar. Con el dinero recaudado construyeron una mansin de dos plantas, con balcones y jardines, y con sardineles muy altos para que no se metieran los cangrejos del invierno, y con barras de hierro en las ventanas para que no se metieran los ngeles. Pelayo estableci adems un criadero de conejos muy cerca del pueblo y renunci para siempre a su mal empleo de alguacil, y Elisenda se compr unas zapatillas satinadas de tacones altos y muchos vestidos de seda tornasol, de los que usaban las seoras ms codiciadas en los domingos de aquellos tiempos. El gallinero fue lo nico que no mereci atencin. Si alguna vez lo lavaron con creolina y quemaron las lgrimas de mirra en su interior, no fue por hacerle honor al ngel, sino por conjurar la pestilencia de muladar que ya andaba como un fantasma por todas partes y estaba volviendo vieja la casa nueva. Al principio, cuando el nio aprendi a caminar, se cuidaron de que no estuviera cerca del gallinero. Pero luego se fueron olvidando del temor y acostumbrndose a la peste, y antes de que el nio mudara los dientes se haba metido a jugar dentro del gallinero, cuyas alambradas podridas se caan a pedazos. El ngel no fue menos displicente con l que con el resto de los mortales, pero soportaba las infamias ms ingeniosas con una mansedumbre de perro sin ilusiones. Ambos contrajeron la varicela al mismo tiempo. El mdico que atendi al nio no resisti la tentacin de auscultar al ngel, y encontr tantos soplos en el corazn y tantos ruidos en los riones, que no le pareci posible que estuviera vivo. Lo que ms le asombr, sin embargo, fue la lgica de sus alas. Resultaban tan naturales en aquel organismo completamente humano, que no poda entender por qu no las tenan tambin los otros hombres.The owners of the house had no reason to lament. With the money they saved they built a two-story mansion with balconies and gardens and high netting so that crabs wouldn't get in during the winter, and with iron bars on the windows so that angels wouldn't get in. Pelayo also set up a rabbit warren close to town and have up his job as a bailiff for good, and Elisenda bought some satin pumps with high heels and many dresses of iridescent silk, the kind worn on Sunday by the most desirable women in those times. The chicken coop was the only thing that didn't receive any attention. If they washed it down with creolin and burned tears of myrrh inside it every so often, it was not in homage to the angel but to drive away the dungheap stench that still hung everywhere like a ghost and was turning the new house into an old one. At first, when the child learned to walk, they were careful that he not get too close to the chicken coop. But then they began to lose their fears and got used to the smell, and before they child got his second teeth he'd gone inside the chicken coop to play, where the wires were falling apart. The angel was no less standoffish with him than with the other mortals, but he tolerated the most ingenious infamies with the patience of a dog who had no illusions. They both came down with the chicken pox at the same time. The doctor who took care of the child couldn't resist the temptation to listen to the angel's heart, and he found so much whistling in the heart and so many sounds in his kidneys that it seemed impossible for him to be alive. What surprised him most, however, was the logic of his wings. They seemed so natural on that completely human organism that he couldn't understand why other men didn't have them too.

Cuando el nio fue a la escuela, haca mucho tiempo que el sol y la lluvia haban desbaratado el gallinero. El ngel andaba arrastrndose por ac y por all como un moribundo sin dueo. Lo sacaban a escobazos de un dormitorio y un momento despus lo encontraban en la cocina. Pareca estar en tantos lugares al mismo tiempo, que llegaron a pensar que se desdoblaba, que se repeta a s mismo por toda la casa, y la exasperada Elisenda gritaba fuera de quicio que era una desgracia vivir en aquel infierno lleno de ngeles. Apenas si poda comer, sus ojos de anticuario se le haban vuelto tan turbios que andaba tropezando con los horcones, y ya no le quedaban sino las cnulas peladas de las ltimas plumas. Pelayo le ech encima una manta y le hizo la caridad de dejarlo dormir en el cobertizo, y slo entonces advirtieron que pasaba la noche con calenturas delirantes en trabalenguas de noruego viejo. Fue esa una de las pocas veces en que se alarmaron, porque pensaban que se iba a morir, y ni siquiera la vecina sabia haba podido decirles qu se haca con los ngeles muertos.When the child began school it had been some time since the sun and rain had caused the collapse of the chicken coop. The angel went dragging himself about here and there like a stray dying man. They would drive him out of the bedroom with a broom and a moment later find him in the kitchen. He seemed to be in so many places at the same time that they grew to think that he'd be duplicated, that he was reproducing himself all through the house, and the exasperated and unhinged Elisenda shouted that it was awful living in that hell full of angels. He could scarcely eat and his antiquarian eyes had also become so foggy that he went about bumping into posts. All he had left were the bare cannulae of his last feathers. Pelayo threw a blanket over him and extended him the charity of letting him sleep in the shed, and only then did they notice that he had a temperature at night, and was delirious with the tongue twisters of an old Norwegian. That was one of the few times they became alarmed, for they thought he was going to die and not even the wise neighbor woman had been able to tell them what to do with dead angels.

Sin embargo, no slo sobrevivi a su peor invierno, sino que pareci mejor con los primeros soles. Se qued inmvil muchos das en el rincn ms apartado del patio, donde nadie lo viera, y a principios de diciembre empezaron a nacerle en las alas unas plumas grandes y duras, plumas de pajarraco viejo, que ms bien parecan un nuevo percance de la decrepitud. Pero l deba conocer la razn de estos cambios, porque se cuidaba muy bien de que nadie los notara, y de que nadie oyera las canciones de navegantes que a veces cantaba bajo las estrellas. Una maana, Elisenda estaba cortando rebanadas de cebolla para el almuerzo, cuando un viento que pareca de alta mar se meti en la cocina. Entonces se asom por la ventana, y sorprendi al ngel en las primeras tentativas del vuelo. Eran tan torpes, que abri con las uas un surco de arado en las hortalizas y estuvo a punto de desbaratar el cobertizo con aquellos aletazos indignos que resbalaban en la luz y no encontraban asidero en el aire. Pero logr ganar altura. Elisenda exhal un suspiro de descanso, por ella y por l, cuando lo vio pasar por encima de las ltimas casas, sustentndose de cualquier modo con un azaroso aleteo de buitre senil. Sigui vindolo hasta cuando acab de cortar la cebolla, y sigui vindolo hasta cuando ya no era posible que lo pudiera ver, porque entonces ya no era un estorbo en su vida, sino un punto imaginario en el horizonte del mar.And yet he not only survived his worst winter, but seemed improved with the first sunny days. He remained motionless for several days in the farthest corner of the courtyard, where no one would see him, and at the beginning of December some large, stiff feathers began to grow on his wings, the feathers of a scarecrow, which looked more like another misfortune of decrepitude. But he must have known the reason for those changes, for he was quite careful that no one should notice them, that no one should hear the sea chanteys that he sometimes sang under the stars. One morning Elisenda was cutting some bunches of onions for lunch when a wind that seemed to come from the high seas blew into the kitchen. Then she went to the window and caught the angel in his first attempts at flight. They were so clumsy that his fingernails opened a furrow in the vegetable patch and he was on the point of knocking the shed down with the ungainly flapping that slipped on the light and couldn't get a grip on the air. But he did manage to gain altitude. Elisenda let out a sigh of relief, for herself and for him, when she watched him pass over the last houses, holding himself up in some way with the risky flapping of a senile vulture. She kept watching him even when she was through cutting the onions and she kept on watching until it was no longer possible for her to see him, because then he was no longer an annoyance in her life but an imaginary dot on the horizon of the sea.

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[Descargar audiolibro archivo mp3] 35:32(Haga clic en la palabra deseada en Ingls para saber su significado y pronunciacin)EL INVITADO AMBICIOSO

THE AMBITIOUS GUEST

Este suceso se inici al caer la tarde de un da de septiembre. En aquel momento se hallaba la familia congregada alrededor de la lumbre del hogar, mantenido con pias secas, maderos robados por las torrenteras de las montaas y troncos de los rboles tronchados por el viento. Los padres de aquella familia reflejaban en sus rostros una alegra serena; los nios rean; la hija mayor, a los diecisiete aos, era una imagen viva de la felicidad, y la abuela, acomodada en el mejor lugar, y aplicada a su calceta, era, como la hija mayor, una imagen repetida de la felicidad, slo que en el invierno de la vida. Todos los all reunidos haban llegado a puerto de reposo en el lugar ms horrible de Nueva Inglaterra. La familia viva en el Tajo de las Montaas Blancas, donde el viento soplaba con violencia todos los das del ao y llevaban en su entraa, en el invierno, un fro de acero que descargaba despiadado sobre la casa de madera en su paso al valle del Saco. El lugar donde la familia haba construido su hogar era fro, y, adems de fro, amenazado por un constante peligro. Por encima de sus cabezas se alzaba, en efecto, una enorme montaa tan escarpada y agreste, que las piedras se desprendan con frecuencia, y rodando con estrpito desde lo alto, los sobresaltaban en la noche.One September night a family had gathered round their hearth, and piled it high with the driftwood of mountain streams, the dry cones of the pine, and the splintered ruins of great trees that had come crashing down the precipice. Up the chimney roared the fire, and brightened the room with its broad blaze. The faces of the father and mother had a sober gladness; the children laughed; the eldest daughter was the image of Happiness at seventeen; and the aged grandmother, who sat knitting in the warmest place, was the image of Happiness grown old. They had found the "herb, heart's-ease," in the bleakest spot of all New England. This family were situated in the Notch of the White Hills, where the wind was sharp throughout the year, and pitilessly cold in the winter,--giving their cottage all its fresh inclemency before it descended on the valley of the Saco. They dwelt in a cold spot and a dangerous one; for a mountain towered above their heads, so steep, that the stones would often rumble down its sides and startle them at midnight.La muchacha acababa de decir algo chistoso, que haba provocado la risa de toda la familia, cuando el viento que corra a travs del Tajo pareci detenerse ante la casa, sacudiendo la puerta con un lamento infinito antes de continuar hacia el valle. Aunque nada extraordinario representaba aquella violencia, la familia se sinti un momento sobrecogida. Ya volva a resurgir la alegra en sus rostros, cuando pudieron or que el picaporte de la puerta de entrada era alzado desde afuera, tal vez por algn transente, cuyos pasos hubieran sido ahogados por el bramido del viento coincidente con su llegada. The daughter had just uttered some simple jest that filled them all with mirth, when the wind came through the Notch and seemed to pause before their cottage--rattling the door, with a sound of wailing and lamentation, before it passed into the valley. For a moment it saddened them, though there was nothing unusual in the tones. But the family were glad again when they perceived that the latch was lifted by some traveller, whose footsteps had been unheard amid the dreary blast which heralded his approach, and wailed as he was entering, and went moaning away from the door. Aunque vivan en aquella soledad, los miembros de la familia tenan ocasin de relacionarse a diario con el mundo exterior. El romntico paso del Tajo es una gran arteria a travs de la cual discurre constantemente la sangre y la vida del comercio interior entre Maine, por un lado, y las Montaas Verdes y las orillas del San Lorenzo por el otro. La diligencia pasaba habitualmente por la puerta de la casa, y los caminantes, sin ms compaa que su bastn, se detenan aqu para cambiar algunas palabras, a fin de que el sentimiento de la soledad no les acobardase antes de atravesar el desfiladero o alcanzar la primera casa del valle. Tambin el tratante en camino hacia el mercado de Portland haca un alto all para pernoctar, y se sentaba al calor de la lumbre algn rato ms de lo corriente, si era soltero, con la esperanza de robar un beso a la hija de la casa al partir. La morada de la familia era, en efecto, una de aquellas posadas primitivas en las que el viajero pagaba slo por la comida y la cama, recibiendo, a cambio, una acogida imposible de pagar con todo el oro del mundo. Por eso, cuando se oyeron los pasos del desconocido entre la puerta de fuera y la de la habitacin, toda la familia se puso en pie, la abuela, los nios y todos los dems, como si se dispusieran a dar la bienvenida a alguien de la familia, a cuyo destino se hallara vinculado el suyo propio. Though they dwelt in such a solitude, these people held daily converse with the world. The romantic pass of the Notch is a great artery, through which the life-blood of internal commerce is continually throbbing between Maine, on one side, and the Green Mountains and the shores of the St. Lawrence, on the other. The stage-coach always drew up before the door of the cottage. The wayfarer, with no companion but his staff, paused here to exchange a word, that the sense of loneliness might not utterly overcome him ere he could pass through the cleft of the mountain, or reach the first house in the valley. And here the teamster, on his way to Portland market, would put up for the night; and, if a bachelor, might sit an hour beyond the usual bedtime, and steal a kiss from the mountain maid at parting. It was one of those primitive taverns where the traveller pays only for food and lodging, but meets with a homely kindness beyond all price. When the footsteps were heard, therefore, between the outer door and the inner one, the whole family rose up, grandmother, children and all, as if about to welcome some one who belonged to them, and whose fate was linked with theirs. La puerta se abri y dio paso a un hombre joven. Al principio, su rostro se hallaba cubierto por la expresin de melancola y casi desesperacin del que camina solo y al oscurecer por un lugar abrupto y siniestro, pero pronto sus rasgos cobraron brillo y serenidad al comprobar la cordial acogida con que se le reciba. Su corazn pareca querer saltarle del pecho hacia todos los all reunidos, desde la anciana que secaba una silla con su delantal, hasta el nio que le tenda los brazos. Una mirada y una sonrisa colocaron en seguida al desconocido en trminos de inocente familiaridad con la mayor de las hijas. The door was opened by a young man. His face at first wore the melancholy expression, almost despondency, of one who travels a wild and bleak road, at nightfall and alone, but soon brightened up when he saw the kindly warmth of his reception. He felt his heart spring forward to meet them all, from the old woman, who wiped a chair with her apron, to the little child that held out its arms to him. One glance and smile placed the stranger on a footing of innocent familiarity with the eldest daughter. -No hay nada mejor que un fuego as! -exclam-. Sobre todo cuando se forma a su alrededor un crculo tan amable! Estoy completamente aterido. El Tajo es algo as como un tubo por el que soplan dos fuelles gigantescos; desde Barlett me viene azotando la cara un viento huracanado. "Ah, this fire is the right thing!" cried he; "especially when there is such a pleasant circle round it. I am quite benumbed; for the Notch is just like the pipe of a great pair of bellows; it has blown a terrible blast in my face all the way from Bartlett." -Se dirige usted a Vermont? -pregunt el dueo de la casa, mientras ayudaba al joven a descargarse del morral que llevaba a las espaldas. "Then you are going towards Vermont?" said the master of the house, as he helped to take a light knapsack off the young man's shoulders. -S, voy a Burlington, y an ms all -replic ste-. Mi intencin hubiese sido haber llegado esta noche a la casa de Ethan Crawford, pero en una ruta como sta un hombre a pie tarda siempre ms de lo calculado. Pero mi decisin est ya tomada, porque cuando veo arder esta lumbre y contemplo los rostros alegres de todos ustedes, me parece que lo han encendido precisamente para m, y que la familia entera estaba esperando mi llegada. As, pues, me sentar, si me lo permiten, entre ustedes y me instalar aqu por esta noche. "Yes; to Burlington, and far enough beyond," replied he. "I meant to have been at Ethan Crawford's to-night; but a pedestrian lingers along such a road as this. It is no matter; for, when I saw this good fire, and all your cheerful faces, I felt as if you had kindled it on purpose for me, and were waiting my arrival. So I shall sit down among you, and make myself at home." El recin llegado acababa de aproximar su silla al fuego, cuando se oy afuera algo as como un pisar de gigante que se repeta por la escarpadura de la montaa acercndose con estrpito y pasando a grandes zancadas al lado de la casa. La familia entera detuvo el aliento mientras dur el ruido, conociendo como conocan lo que significaba, y el forastero hizo lo mismo instintivamente. The frank-hearted stranger had just drawn his chair to the fire when something like a heavy footstep was heard without, rushing down the steep side of the mountain, as with long and rapid strides, and taking such a leap in passi