Chapter 9 Chapter 5 (2)

Such was the condition of their life during the learning to play the harp.Evocative accidents are a thing of the past.At the beginning, when she went into the bathroom to help him take a bath, even though the gums between them were constantly decaying, even though they had to eat poisonous eggplant every day, even though they had to be angry with the stupid sisters and the mother who gave birth to these sisters, he still had enough. Feelings to ask her to soap him.She took the remaining scum of love between them brought back from Europe and wiped it off for him. The two gradually put aside their old feud, and finally rolled together on the floor, covered in fragrant soap, listening to the girl's voice in her ears. What the servants say in the washroom: "They don't make any more babies because they don't."

Sometimes, when they came back from a wild party, the nostalgia behind the door overwhelmed them all at once.And so a delicious quarrel breaks out, and everything goes back to the way it was before, and five minutes later it's the honeymoon-crazed couple again. But, except in this rare case, one is always more weary than the other when sleeping.She stayed in the bathroom for a while, rolled a cigarette with incense paper, smoked alone, and comforted herself like the time when she was a girl at home when she was young and she was the sole master of her body.She always had headaches, maybe it was too hot—perpetually hot, maybe it was sleeping too much, maybe it was menstruating.Menstruation, menstruation without end.Menstruation was so profuse that Dr. Urbino dared to say in class—just to vent his embarrassment—that, after ten years of marriage, a woman's menstruation could reach up to three times a week.

To make matters worse, Fermina was caught up in the worst of times that would inevitably happen sooner or later: her father's unprofitable and never-before-seen deals came to light.The governor summoned Urbino to his office and told him about his literati's illegal activities. This most serious scam was carried out under the protection of the son-in-law's power. It is hard to imagine that the son-in-law and his wife would not know about it.Dr. Urbino knew that the only thing he had to defend was his own reputation, because it was the only one that hadn't been ruined.So he tried his best to cover up the scandal with his guarantee.

In this way, Lorenzo Daza boarded the first ship to go abroad, and he never returned.He had returned to his homeland, as one sometimes makes short trips to cheat homesickness, but beneath the surface there was something real: for some time he had boarded a ship from his homeland just to drink a glass of water. The spring water from my hometown was transported here.He left without a longing hug, protesting his innocence and trying to convince his son-in-law that he was the scapegoat for some political conspiracy.He left, crying the little girl, as he had called her since Fermina was married, leaving the grandson, crying the place where he had become rich and free.Here, he started his business with ignorant business and turned his daughter into a noble lady.He dragged his old and sick body away, but he still lived for a long time, and no one who was cheated by him wanted him to live that long.When Fermina received the news of her father's death, she couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. In order to avoid people's inquiries, she did not wear mourning for her father, but for several months, when she was locked in the bathroom and smoked, she always didn't know. So Di was sobbing, but in fact she was crying for her father.

One of the most absurd aspects of their relationship is that during those unfortunate years, the two appeared to be harmonious in public.In fact, those years were their crowning glory in the triumph of overcoming unspoken hostility.She didn't want to admit the fact that those years were extraordinary and rare, and therefore counterintuitive.However, this was easy for Fermina to deal with.Social life, which made Fermina have all kinds of doubts, is actually nothing more than a series of atavistic agreements, Chen Xiangyin etiquette, pre-thought-out words, people use this to fool me in society, I fooled you so as not to kill each other.The main sign of this vulgar paradise is the fear of people and things that you don't understand.She summed up this point into a simpler sentence: "The crux of social life is to learn to control timidity, and the crux of married life is to learn to control aversion." Since she dragged the endless tail of the bride's wedding dress into colorful.In the hall of the social club filled with aromas and reverberating waltz music, when I found that a large group of sweaty men and slightly trembling women did not know how to escape her, a glamorous and menacing figure from the alien world, my heart felt like a vision Discovered this truth.She had just turned twenty-one, and she had hardly been outside except from home to school.But she glanced around and knew that her enemy was not frightened with hatred, but dazed with fright.She did not frighten them as she did when she first entered the door, but magnanimously helped them understand her.No one is different from what she imagined, just like she thinks about cities, she doesn't think those cities are more beautiful or uglier than before, but they are the same as she imagined in her heart, let's take Paris as an example, although it is raining , the shop owner is greedy, and Che Yao speaks rudely, but in her memory, Paris is always the most beautiful city in the world, not because Paris is actually the most beautiful or not, but because Paris and her happiest years were the most beautiful city in the world. linked together.As for Dr. Urbino, he used against others the same weapons that were used against him, only with greater skill and sanctimonious manipulation.They appeared on all occasions: picnics, lantern riddles, theatrical performances, fundraising balls, patriotic games, first balloon rides.They are everywhere and almost always the promoters and moderators.No one could have imagined a happier couple, a more mellow couple, than they had during the most unhappy years of their lives.

The house left by his father offered Fermina a refuge from the suffocating atmosphere of the family palace.Once out of sight, she sneaked off to Gospel Park, where she received new girlfriends and certain school or drawing classes. In that house she passed her quiet hours like an unwed mother.She re-bought Xiangwuqiu, retrieved the stray cats, and handed them over to Placidia to feed them.Placidihong was old, crippled by rheumatoid arthritis, but still had the ambition to bring the house back to life.Fermina opened the sewing room where Ariza had first seen her and where Dr. Urbino had made her stick out her tongue in order to understand her heart. It has become a temple to remember the past.

One steamy afternoon, before a storm came, she went to close the balcony window and saw Florentino Ariza sitting on his usual bench under the almond tree in the small park, wearing his mother's Her father's blouse had been turned into a dress, and a book was spread out on her knees, but instead of the elderly Ariza she had seen occasionally, she saw him as a young man in her memory.She shuddered, thinking that the vision was a notification from the god of death, and she felt sad for it.She even opened her mouth to say to herself that maybe she was happy with him, that she lived alone with him in the house that she had renovated for him with as much love as he had renovated for her with the same love. the same.This supposition alone terrified her, for it made her realize how unfortunate she was.So she did her best to force her husband to stop arguing with her evasively, to fight with her, to fight with her, to cry with her for the lost paradise, until the rooster crowed five times, and the dawn shone through the palace curtains, The sun became as red as fire.The husband, swollen from a night's talk, exhausted from a sleepless night, hardened from crying dry his tears, tightened his bootlaces, tightened his belt, tightened up all that was left of him as a man, and said to her, she Now, darling, let's go find the love we lost in Europe, tomorrow and never again.So true was this decision that he made an agreement with Da Fu Bank, his global wealth manager, to sell immediately the vast fortune that had been scattered from the beginning in various sales, investments and bonds, only He himself knew exactly that property was not as inexhaustible as the legend said.No matter what it is, it is folded into stamped gold and remitted to foreign banks little by little until there is no palm-sized land left in this cruel motherland as the burial place for him and his wife.

Contrary to what Fermina thought, Ariza still existed, alive and well.When she arrived at the port in a yellow mule-drawn carriage with her husband and son, Ariza was standing on the pier where the French ocean-going ships were berthed.He saw them disembark just as he had seen them countless times in public: in their clothes and shoes. They lead the son, who has been educated so that people can imagine what he will look like when he grows up, exactly like his father.Urbino took off his hat and greeted Ariza with a smile: "Let's go find the lost love." Fermina nodded to him, and Ariza took off his hat and bowed slightly body.She glanced at him, showing no sympathy for his premature baldness.It was him, as she had seen him in the past: the shadow of someone she had never seen through.

Ariza wasn't at his luckiest, either.The work is getting harder, he is tired of sneaking around, and time is like a stagnant pool.The mother's health deteriorated to the last moment, and her memory was completely lost: almost blank.Sometimes, she even turned to look at her son—the son was still sitting on the sofa reading a book—and asked him in panic, "Whose son are you?" The son always told the truth, but she immediately interrupted him. . "Then tell me, child," she asked her son, "who was born to me?" She gained weight several times and couldn't move anymore. She stayed in the shop with nothing to sell all day long, starting from the first time the cock crowed and getting up until the next dawn, because she only slept very little for a while.She crowned flowers on her head, put on lipstick, dusted her face and arms, and asked whoever she met who she was dressed like.The neighbors knew she was expecting the same answer: "You are Martinez the Cockroach." This identity, a reference to a character in a children's story, was the only identity that could satisfy her.She continued to toss her head, shaking a handful of pink feathers, and then did it all over again: wearing a paper wreath, rubbing perfume on her eyelids, putting rouge on her lips, and using handfuls of Dust on her face, and once again asked anyone who was closest to her, "Who am I dressed like?" She became the butt of jokes in the neighborhood.One night, Ariza sent someone to dismantle the counters and cabinets of the old shop, blocked the door facing the street, and arranged her bedroom as she had described the bedroom of the little cockroach Martinez. From then on, she No one asked who she was anymore.

At the suggestion of her uncle, Leon XII, Florentino Ariza found a very old woman to take care of her mother, but the poor old woman was always half asleep and sometimes it gave the impression that she too forgot that she was who.So Ariza stayed at home as soon as she left the office until she put her mother to sleep.He stopped playing dominoes at the Merchant Club, and he hadn't seen his old friends for a long time, because since that hideous meeting with Olympiji Suletta , Something extremely profound changed in his heart. It was an explosive scene.One afternoon during the October storms that got us through, Florentino Ariza saw a small, nimble girl from the car one afternoon after she had brought her uncle Leon XII home.She was wearing a gown with wide ruffles of muslin, like a wedding dress.She was running around in a panic because the wind broke her umbrella and blew her limply towards the sea.He got her into the car, turned the corner, and drove her home.Her house was rebuilt from a small temple. It stands facing the sea, and the pigeon pets in the courtyard can be seen from the street.On the way she told him that she had been married to a grocer less than a year ago.Ariza met him many times on the company steamer, where he unloaded pottery of all kinds to sell and pigeons in cages the size of the mothers on riverboats. It's like the rattan cage used to put newborn babies.Judging from the whole body of Olympia Suletta, it seems that she grew up in a beekeeper's house, with plump hips, a flat upper body, hair like copper wire, sun spots on her face, and two round eyes that swayed around. The distance between them is wider than ordinary people, and their voice is high-pitched-a voice that is only used when making wisecracks.Ariza found her more funny than attractive, and when he took her home he forgot about her.She lives with her husband, father-in-law and other members of the family.

A few days later, Ariza saw her husband again at the port, this time he was not unloading but loading.As the ship weighed anchor, Ariza clearly heard a demonic voice.That afternoon, after taking his uncle Leon XII home, he passed Olympia Suletta's house by pretending to happen, and over the fence he saw her feeding the cooing pigeons.He shouted to her in the car: "How much is a pigeon?" She recognized him and replied happily: "Not for sale." He asked: "Then how can I get one?" She continued to feed while Said: "When I met a woman who raised pigeons and got lost in the heavy rain, I drove her home in a car." That night, when Ariza returned home, she brought a gift from Olimpia Suletta to express her gratitude. : A homing pigeon with a metal ring on its thigh. The next afternoon, when it was time to feed, the beautiful girl saw the dove that had been sent back with the flock, and she thought it had escaped.But when she grabbed it to examine it, she found a note wrapped around the metal ring: a letter of affection.That was the first time Ariza left a written trace, and it won't be the last, although this time he left it without his signature.The next day was Wednesday, when he was about to enter the house in the afternoon, a wild boy handed him a cage containing the original carrier pigeon, and brought him a message: the wife who kept the pigeon asked him to give this to him Yes, let him tell him, please close the cage, or the pigeon will fly away, this is the last time to return it to him.He didn't know how to explain it: maybe the pigeon had lost the letter on the way, maybe the pigeon woman was playing dumb, maybe she was sending the pigeon back so he could put it back.However, in the last case, she should have sent the pigeon back with a letter. On Saturday morning, after much deliberation, Ariza sent the pigeons free with an unsigned letter.This time I didn't wait until the next day.In the afternoon, the child brought him another cage and sent a message saying that he sent back the pigeon that flew away again. It was a courtesy to return it to him the day before yesterday, and it was a pity to return it to him this time. If you let it fly away again, it really won't be sent back.Transito played with the pigeon late into the night, and she took it out of the cage and tucked it under her arm, trying to lull it to sleep with nursery rhymes.Suddenly, she found a note wrapped around the metal ring on the pigeon's leg, with only one line on it: I don't want people without names and surnames.Asasa finished reading the note in ecstasy, as if it were the climax of first love.That night, he tossed and turned impatiently on the bed, barely sleeping all night.Early the next morning, before going to work, he released the dove, enclosed a dutifully signed courtship letter, and stuck one of the freshest, reddest and most fragrant roses in the garden in the metal box. circle. Finally, after three months of pursuit, the beautiful pigeon-raising woman still said: "I am not such a person." But she never refused to receive letters, nor did she refuse to go to Ariza to arrange appointments that seemed to be accidental.He has changed: this lover who never shows his face, this person who wants to possess everything without pulling anything out, this person who never leaves a trace, this "hunter" who hides his head and shows his tail, jumped into the street, signed letter after letter. Letters, obscene presents after obscene presents, boldly wandering to the pigeon-woman's house again and again--twice even when her husband was neither traveling nor at the market.Counting from the time when he first explored Fengyue, this was the only time he felt pierced by a spear. Six months after they met, they finally met in the barn of a repainted steamer docked at the pier. It was a charming afternoon.Olympiki Suleta's love is lively and cheerful, the love of a chattering pigeon-woman who likes to stay naked for hours, slowly and tenderly, like real love.The barn was disassembled and half-painted, and it was pleasant to leave the scent of turpentine in the memory of a happy afternoon.In the cemetery, under the shock of a strange inspiration, Ariza opened a can of red paint that was within reach from the bed, wet his forefinger, and wrote a line on the belly of the beautiful pigeon girl: "This sister It’s mine.” That night, Olimpi dumb Suletta didn’t remember the words on her stomach, and took off her clothes in front of her husband. The husband didn’t say a word, and even the rhythm of breathing didn’t change. Violently, while she was in her pajamas, he went into the bathroom to get the razor and slaughtered her. Ariza learned about it a few days later when her absconding husband was caught and told the press why and how he had committed the crime.For many years after that he thought of those signed letters with horror.Ariza calculated the time that the murderer would spend in prison—he knew Ariza well because of his shipping business, but what Ariza feared most was not a stab in the neck or making a fool of himself in public, but Fermina know of his infidelity. During the years of waiting, one day the old woman who took care of Transito had to stay longer than expected in the market due to an unseasonal rain, and returned to find that Transito had died. died.She was sitting in a rocking chair, as usual, gaudyly painted, with flowers in her hair, eyes wide open, and a mischievous smile on her face.She had been dead for two hours when the old woman who nursed her found her.Not long before she died, she distributed the gold and jade jewelry buried in the crock under the bed to the children in the neighborhood to eat as candy. The most valuable items were never found again.Ariza buried her in the ancient "God's Hand Ranch" — then known as the Cholera Cemetery — and planted a rose on her grave. The first few times she visited her mother's grave, Florentino Ariza discovered that the pigeon breeder Olympiana Suleta was buried nearby. There was no tombstone, but before the cement slab had hardened, someone had carved the deceased's name and name with her finger. date. It must have been a bloody joke played by her husband, he thought horribly.When the roses were in bloom, if no one was in sight, he would pick a rose and put it on her grave.Later, he simply cut a rose from his mother's grave and cut it on her grave.Two roses grew like crazy, and Ariza had to bring shears and other pruning tools to trim them.But the roses made him too hard to cut, and after a few years, two roses spread like weeds among the graves.From then on, the well-known cholera cemetery was called Rose Cemetery, until a mayor who was unwilling to face up to the wisdom of the people cut down the rose bushes one night, and hung a sign of the Republic on the arch of the entrance of the cemetery. Book: Manmin Cemetery. After her mother's death, Florentino Ariza re-indulged in frenzied activities: going to work; taking turns with her hit-and-miss friends; playing dominoes at commercial clubs; To the cemetery.Depraved and horrifying in his actions, The Wanderer makes him oblivious to his growing age.However, one Sunday in December, facing a rose bush that had triumphed over the shears, and seeing swallows standing on a wire that had just been erected, he suddenly realized that many years had passed since his mother's death, and Olin A longer time had elapsed since Pina Suleta was murdered, and a longer time had elapsed since that distant December afternoon when Fermina wrote back to him, agreed, and said she would love him forever. years.Until that afternoon, he had been at ease, as if the passage of time was only for others.Just this past week, he had met one of the thousands of couples on the street who had become famous for his love letters, but had failed to recognize their eldest son, his godson.He covered up his embarrassment lightly with a customary quip: "Boy, grown up!" Even after his body gave him distress signals, he still fooled around because he was always as solid as a rock.Transcito used to say, "My son has never had anything but cholera." She confused lovesickness with cholera, long before she lost her memory.However, in any case, she was wrong: her son had secretly contracted gonorrhea six times—according to the doctor, it was actually not six times, but one, and it just happened repeatedly after the treatment failed.In addition, he had a lymphadenitis once, a balanitis four times, and a scrotum six times, but neither he nor the other men regarded these as diseases, they regarded them as trophies. He had just turned forty when he went to the doctor for inexplicable pain in various parts of his body.After repeated examinations, the doctor told me, "Age is not forgiving." When he returned home, he never even asked himself if these pains had any relationship to his life.The only parameter point of his past is the morning dew love with Fermina, and only things related to her are related to his life.On the afternoon he saw the swallow squatting on the wire, he looked back, starting from his earliest memory, to his past, to the love affairs that happened every now and then, to the countless reefs he had to cross to climb to the commanding position, to the The past events that gave rise to a desperate determination to marry Fermina.Only at this moment did he realize that time had passed. A cold shiver made his eyes go black, and he couldn't help throwing away the flower planting tools in his hand.Leaning against the cemetery wall kept me from falling over from the first blow of old age. "Too bad," he said to himself in horror, "thirty years!" That's how, of course, thirty years had passed for Fermina too, but for her they were the happiest and most memorable thirty years of her life.Those terrible days and nights at the Marquis of Casalduero were consigned to the dustbin of memory.She lives in a new home in Manga City, guarding a husband who, if she had to choose again, she would give up the whole world and choose her again, has a son who is inheriting the family business in medical school, and a son with her. Daughter who had been so identical in her youth that she sometimes thought she was a reprint of herself, she became the absolute master of her own destiny.After that ill-fated trip, in which she had intended not to return home, lest she live another day of endless suspense, she made three trips to Europe. Maybe God finally heard someone's prayer: After living in Paris for two years, just as Fermina and Urbino were just beginning to look for the remaining love in the ruins, a telegram arrived in the middle of the night and woke them up from their sleep. Wake up, Donna Blanca is dying.The telegram announcing the death followed immediately.They immediately set off for home.When Fermina got off the boat, the mourning clothes on her body could no longer cover her big belly.She was pregnant again, which is true, and the news of her mother-in-law's death produced a gloating folk song with a refrain that was quite popular in those days: Beauty goes to Paris, what's there in Paris? Go with an empty belly and give birth to a baby when you come back. Although the lyrics were vulgar, Dr. Urbino would sing the song on demand at the Society Club until many years later when he was in a good mood. There has never been a definitive statement about the existence of the famous ruins of the Marquis of Casalduero and its emblem.It was originally sold to the City Treasury for a decent price.Later, when a Dutch archaeologist dug there to prove that Columbus's real tomb—the fifth tomb—was in the Marquis, it was resold to the central government at a high price.Dr. Urbino's sisters entered the convent of Saleciana and lived a life of stagnant captivity.Fermina lived in her father's old house until Villa Manga was completed.As soon as she moved into the villa, she became the master of the house, and moved in the English furniture brought back from the wedding trip and the supplementary furniture ordered after the old trip was restored.From the very first day, she brought back all kinds of strange birds that she personally bought on the sailboat from the Antilles, and filled every corner of the house.She moved in with her husband who was hers again, a son who had grown up a lot, and a daughter named Ofelia, who was born four months after returning from abroad.Dr. Urbino knew that it was impossible to fully restore his original appearance, because most of the love he hoped for had been given to his children by his wife, but he gradually got used to enjoying the remaining love and enjoying himself.The longing for husband and wife came true when I least expected it.One day at a dinner party, a delicacy that Fermina didn't understand was served, and she ordered a lot. She felt that the taste was better than the delicacies of mountains and seas, so she ordered another one that was equal to the first time. three servings.Just as she was regretting this, she heard that the two big plates of delicacies just now were eggplant puree.She surrendered with grace and grace.From that day on, in Villa Manga, as in Casalduero, eggplants appeared on the tables in different ways every three days, and each way made her feel good.Dr. Urbino often talked about it in his spare time in old age. He really hoped to have another daughter and give her his beloved name: Aubergine Urbino. Fermina figured it out that private life, in contrast to social life, was fickle and unpredictable.It is not easy for her to find the difference between children and adults, but after analysis, she still prefers children because their ideas are more real.As soon as her thoughts matured and she abandoned all kinds of fantasies, she began to regret that she had never become the person she had dreamed of in the past.As a young girl, in Gospel Park, she often wanted to be someone she didn't even dare to tell herself: a senior maid.In social situations,.She became the most favored, flattered, and therefore suspicious woman, but she was not in any way more demanding of herself, nor less self-forgiving than she was in her household.She had always felt that she was living at the mercy of her husband: absolute sovereign of the happy empire he had built for himself and for himself alone.She knew that her husband loved her more than anything, more than anyone in the world.But the reason why he loves her is only for himself, and let her perform the sacred duty for him. If there was one thing that tormented her, it was the three meals a day.Because not only must the three meals be prepared on time, they must be impeccable, and they must be completely in line with his taste, and he is not allowed to ask her what she likes to eat.If you ask her—like countless useless politenesses in family etiquette,? He will continue to read the newspaper, and without raising his eyes, he will ask and answer: "Whatever." He spoke the truth, and said it with a pleasing face, for he felt that there was no husband who was less domineering than himself.But when it comes to eating, he is not "casual", it must be according to his taste, and there must be no difference: beef must not taste like beef, fish must not taste like fish, pork must not have spots, and chicken must not have a hair .Even when asparagus wasn't in season, it had to be done for him at any cost, so that he could be content with the vapors of his own scented urine.She doesn't blame him, only life.But he is the unyielding protagonist of life.At the slightest hint of doubt, he would push the plate at table L and say, "This meal was cooked without emotion." In this regard, he was inspired.A few times, he had just tasted the chamomile tea and pushed it away, saying only one word: "It smells like windows." She and the maids were amazed, because no one I have never heard of anyone drinking boiled window water, but when they tried to figure it out and tasted the herbal tea, they realized that it smelled like windows. He was a perfect husband who never picked up anything that fell on the floor and never turned off the lights or closed the doors. In the morning, before daybreak, if a button was missing from his coat, she heard him say: "A man needs two wives, one for love and one for buttoning." Every day, at the first sip of coffee and the first spoonful of hot soup, he would let out a horrific howl—afterwards no one was afraid—followed by a long sigh: “When I leave you, You'll understand that it's because I'm tired of this kind of dry mouth." He asserted that they put extra effort into the meals when he was unable to eat because he was taking laxatives.He insisted that it was his wife who was playing tricks. Later, when his wife didn't take the laxative with him, he refused to take the medicine. Annoyed by his unreasonableness, she asked him for a strange gift on her birthday: he would take care of the housework for a day.He jumped at it, and literally took the job from scratch.He made a big breakfast, but forgot that she didn't like fried eggs or coffee with milk.Then he ordered a birthday lunch for eight guests, ordered the house to be tidied up, and tried to manage it better than her, but before noon he had to surrender without shame.He finds himself clueless about what goes where, especially in the kitchen.The maids also conspired to play tricks on him, causing him to turn everything upside down.It's ten o'clock, and I haven't decided what to make for lunch, because the sanitation at home has not been done, the bedroom has not been cleaned, the toilet has not been cleaned, the toilet paper has been forgotten, the bed sheets have been forgotten, and the car has not been sent to pick up the children. The responsibilities of the maids are also covered up: he ordered the cook to make the bed, and let the maid who cleaned the room do the cooking.At eleven o'clock, the guests were about to arrive, but the house was still in a mess.Fermina had to return to power.She laughed half-deadly, but instead of showing the smug look she had thought she would, she sympathized with her husband's ineptitude as a housekeeper.He excused himself with an old-fashioned reason: "My housekeeper is better than your cure." However, the lesson is beneficial, not only for him, as the stars change, the two come to wise conclusions from different paths, it is impossible to live together in another way, and it is impossible to love in another way: the world There is nothing harder in the world than love. During the icing on the cake of his new life, Fermina saw Ariza on several public occasions, and the more often he saw him, the higher his position rose.But she was already very natural when she saw him, and more than once she forgot to say hello to him because she was absent-minded.She had heard him talked about a lot, because in the business world his careful but inexorable ascension to the Caribbean Inland Line was a constant topic of conversation.She saw that his demeanor became more relaxed, and his pretentious restraint turned into an aloofness that kept people at a distance. A little fat made his figure more moderate, and his youthful appearance was beneficial to him. Measures were taken generously.The only thing that went against the trend of the times was the slovenliness: the coat was ill-fitting, the hat was always the same, the ties were those bar ties from his mother's shop that were sold to poets, and the umbrellas were worn out.Gradually Fermina got used to seeing him in a different way, and later she ceased to associate him with the sad-faced young man who sat under the window of the Parc du Gospel and mourned her.In any case, she was never indifferent when she saw him, and she was always glad to hear good news about him, because it lessened her guilt somewhat. Yet just when she thinks she has wiped him completely from her memory, he resurfaces from the most unexpected places as her nostalgic ghost.那是暮年的前兆，每当听到雨前的雷声，她就觉得生活中发生了一件不可弥补的事。十月间，每天下午三点钟从维亚努埃瓦山传来的那声孤零零的震耳欲聋而分秒不差的雷声，成了她不可愈合的伤痕，年复一年，雷声唤起的记忆越来越鲜明。新的记忆几天后就在脑中模糊了，但多年前在伊尔德布兰达表姐家乡的旅行却活龙活现，晃如发生在昨日，一幕幕往事宛然在目。她还记得那个名叫马纳乌雷的小镇，坐落在山上，唯一的街道笔直而翠绿。她记得那里的吉祥鸟，记得那座吓人的房子，每天，她都穿着那件浸透了皮特拉模拉莱斯的永远也流不干的泪水的睡衣醒来，皮特拉模拉莱斯就是在她睡的那张床上殉情身亡的。她还记得当时的番石榴的味道，后来就再没有那种味道的番石榴了。她记得，在圣胡安?塞萨尔镇，她在金光灿灿的下午和那群叽叽喳喳吵闹不休的表姐妹们一起去散步，走近电报局的时候，她的心哈哈地跳个不住，分不清哪是雨声，哪是心跳的声音，她咬紧牙关，免得心从嘴里跳出来。她想方设法卖掉了父亲的房子，因为她无法忍受回忆少年时代的痛苦，无法忍受在阳台上看见满目凄凉的小公园，无法忍受振子花在炎热的夜晚散发的潮湿的香气，无法忍受在那个决定命运的二月的下午照的那张古装夫人照片使她感到的恐怖，无法忍受不管她把脸转向何处都会唤起她对那个时代的回忆，而这些回忆又是和对阿里萨的回忆纠缠在一起的。不过，她始终保持了足够的镇静，记住那些回忆不是爱，也不是后悔，而是曾使她伤心落泪的烦恼。她不知道，她正在受到使阿里萨的难以数计的爱害者失身的同情心的同样的威胁。 她和丈夫相依为命。当时，也正是丈夫最需要她的那个时期，因为他比她年长十岁，独自在衰老的深渊中挣扎，而且更糟糕的是他是男人，是他们二人中较弱的一个。后来，他们完全心心相印了，在成亲不到三十年的时候，就象成了分成两半的一个人似的，经常为对方猜到了自己的心事，或发生一个抢先把另一个想说的话公之于众的滑稽的事故而不快。他们共同克服了日常生活中的误解，说来就来的抱怨，互相取笑打诨，并不时过上一刻其乐无穷的夫妻生活。那是他们相亲相爱最为得体的时期，没有匆忙，没有过度，双方都更明白并更感谢他们对夫妻生活中的急流险滩取得的胜利。当然，生活还将给他们带来性命攸关的考验，但这已经无关紧要了，他们已经到了彼岸。 为了庆祝新世纪的到来，组织了一次全新的公众活动节目。其中最值得纪念的是气球首航。这是乌尔比诺医生无穷无尽的首创精神的成果。全市二分之一的人口聚集在阿尔塞纳尔海滨，观赏这个挂着彩旗的网球上天，它将把第一批邮件运往东北一百六十七公里处的沼泽地圣?胡安市去。乌尔比诺医生伉俪同飞行师以及其他六位贵宾一起登上柳条编的悬舱。他们带了一封省长致圣?胡安市政府的贺信，信中称此次通航为史无前例的首次空邮。《商业日报》记者向乌尔比诺医生采访，问他如不幸遇难，将留下什么遗言。医生不假思索地作了肯定将遭万人唾骂的回答。 “我认为，”他说，“十九世纪使所有的人都有所改变，唯独我们置身事外。” 气球冉冉上升。人们情绪激昂，高唱国歌。在吵吵嚷嚷的人群中，阿里萨发现自己的观点正与某君相同，此君认为这种冒险对妇女太不适合，更不用说对费尔米纳这样年岁的太太了。but no matter.乘坐气球并不那么危险，至少就感觉而言，既不危险，也不沉闷。气球在蓝宝中平静地飞行，凭着柔和的顺风，飞得很稳，很低，先是沿着雪山的峰顶，然后进入大沼泽的上空，最后顺利地到达了目的地。 他们象上帝那样从天上俯瞰古老的英雄的卡塔赫纳城的废墟。这是世界上最美丽的城市。三百年来，它的居民抗御了英国的包围和海盗的骚扰，如今却由于对霍乱的恐惧而被遗弃。他们看到了完好无缺的城墙，看到了杂草丛生的街道，看到了被三色量吞没的古堡、石殿、金祭坛，也看到了祭坛上由于瘟疫、无人照料而被腐蚀的历任总督雕像。 他们飞越特洛哈?德?卡塔卡上空时，看到了涂着红红绿绿颜色的水上人家，饲养雷晰的小棚，湖心花园里连绵不断的凤仙花，以及令人赏心悦目的棉科植物。 听到大声呼喊以后，数百名赤条条的孩子从窗口，从屋顶，从他们以惊人的本领驾驶的独木舟上，纷纷跃入水中。他们象鲜鱼般地潜入水中，打捞气球上那位戴羽毛帽的“仙女”投给他们的衣物包、食品袋，以及装在用蜡封口的水瓶里的咳嗽药水。 飞过郁郁葱葱的香蕉种植园时，费尔米纳想起了自己三、四岁时携着母亲的手在林间散步的情景。当时的母亲，在同她一样穿麦斯林纱衣的其他妇女中，也仿佛是个孩子。大家都打着白色的伞，戴着纱帽。飞行师一直在通过望远镜观察世界，他说：“这里好象没有生物。”他把望远镜递给乌尔比诺医生。医生目光所及之处，除了种植园里的牛车、铁轨、地界和干涸的水渠，便是狼藉的尸体。有人说，霍乱正在大沼泽地的村镇中肆虐。医生一边议论，一边继续朝镜筒里张望。 “看来是一种非常特殊的霍乱，”他说，“因为每个死者的后脑勺上都中了致命的一枪。” 飞过浪花飞溅的海滩以后，他们安全地降落在一片灼热的沙滩上，开裂的硝石地面烫得象烈火一般，市政府当局的人士正在那里恭候，除了普通的遮阳伞，别无其它足以蔽荫。小学生们随着歌声挥舞小旗。前来迎接的还有戴金纸后冠的美女，他们手中的鲜花已被太阳烤焦。盖拉镇的舞蹈女郎们也来了，这个镇子是加勒比海沿岸最繁华的所在，费尔米纳真想回去看看自己的故乡，以便印下自己最初而遥远的回忆，但在瘟疫的威慑下只得作罢。乌尔比诺医生递交了那封历史性的贺信，可借此信被放错了地方，它的下落从此无从查考。全体随行人员几乎被催眠似的演说所窒息。飞行师想使气球再度起飞，没有成功。大家只好骑上螺子转赴老镇渡口，那儿是沼泽与大海的会合处。费尔米纳断言，她幼年曾随母亲乘牛车路过这个地方，她长大后曾多次向父亲提到这件事，但父亲生前一直固执地认为没有这种可能。 “我也记得那次旅行，清清楚楚，决不会错，”父亲告诉她，“但那至少是你出生之前五年的事。” 三天以后，这支探险队回到了出发点。天色已晚，一阵风暴弄得他们狼狈不堪，但象英雄一般受到了隆重的欢迎。自然，阿里萨也出现在欢迎的人群之中，他从费尔米纳脸上辨出了恐惧的印记。但当天下午他在由她丈夫赞助的自行车表演会上看到她时，她已毫无倦容了。费尔米纳骑的是一辆不同寻常的两轮脚踏车，说得确切一点，更象是一种马戏团的道具，她坐在高大的前轮上，但后轮很小，几乎难以支撑。对她所穿的红花边灯笼裤，太太们议论纷纷，绅士们困惑不解；但对她摘熟的车技，个个赞不绝口。 这一次，同过去一样，对阿里萨来说，费尔米纳都是一个突如其来旋即转瞬即逝的形象。每当他企图去试探自己的命运时，她总是迅速隐没了，只是在她心上留下渴望的痛苦。这些形象，记录着他生命的节奏，使他体会到光阴的残酷。时光在无情的流逝，他不仅在自己身上察觉到一百，也从费尔米纳身上那些细微的变化中感受到了。 一天晚上，阿里萨走进堂?桑乔饭店——这是一家殖民时期的高级餐厅，找了个旮旯坐下，他单独到这里来吃点心的时候总是这样。突然，在餐厅尽头的大镜中看到了费尔米纳。她和丈夫以及其他两对夫妇坐在一张餐桌上，角度正好使他得以通过镜子欣赏她的绰约风姿，她非常洒脱，象焰火爆炸般谈笑风生，噙在眼里的激动的热泪，更使她显得神采奕奕：爱丽思又从镜中现身了。 阿里萨屏息凝神地尽情观察，看她进食，看她拒饮，也看她同堂?桑乔四世打趣。他在自己冷清清的桌上，同度了生活的片刻。在一个多小时之内，他心族摇曳，始终没有被她察觉。他喝了四杯咖啡消磨时光，直到目送她杂在那群人中珊珊离去。 他们几乎在他身边擦过去，以致尽管她的同伴身上也散发出香气，他还是辨出了她身上特殊的气息。 从这天晚上起，几乎有一年的时间，他死气白赖地缠住那家饭店的主人，他愿意出钱，愿意办事，愿意献出他生活中最宝贵的东西，只求饭店的主人把那面镜子卖给他。可这谈何容易！因为堂?桑乔老头相信一种传说：这个镜框是维也纳的细木工匠一手雕刻的，和玛丽姬?安托涅塔收藏的镜框同属一对，是绝无仅有的稀世之珍，而且后者早已无影无踪了。他坚持再三，饭店的主人终于同意转让，阿里萨就把这面大镜子放在他家的客厅里，倒不是看上镜框的做工精致，而是因为他情人的形象曾经占领这面镜子的内部空间达两小时之久。 阿里萨每次见到费尔米纳时，她几乎总是挽着丈夫的手臂，他们十分和谐地在自己特有的环境中活动，颇有一种逞罗人特有的令人惊异的温顺劲儿。只有在向他打招呼的时候，夫妻俩的表现才有所不同。真的，乌尔比诺医生同他握手时，显得既热烈又亲切，有时还拍拍他的肩膀。费尔米纳则相反，一举一动都彬彬有礼，循规蹈矩，严肃得不容他看出她还在顾念旧情的任何痕迹。他们生活在两个背道而驰的世界里。每当他竭尽全力要缩小相互间的距离时，她总是在朝着相反的方向迈步。 过了好久他才敢于设想，那种冷漠其实只是抗拒恐惧心理的保护层而已。他是在本地船厂所造的第一艘内河轮船的命名礼仪式上，也就是阿里萨第一次作为加勒比内河航运公司第一副董事长，代表叔叔莱昂十二同本市全体显贵一起，出席这一礼仪时突然悟到这一点的。这一巧合，使这次活动具有一种特别在严的气氛。 阿里萨在船厅里忙着接待客人，那里还散发着一股新刷的油漆和沥青的气味。 这时，码头上突然响起了一阵雷鸣般的掌声，乐队也奏起了凯旋曲。他看见这位梦寐以求的美人挽着丈夫的手臂，透着是后般的成熟的风采，在身穿制服的仪仗队中穿过时，他不得不控制住几乎与生俱来的激动和战栗。人们从窗户里暴风雨般地向乌尔比诺夫妇抛洒彩带和花瓣，他们则招手回报人们的欢呼。费尔米纳容光焕发，使人不敢逼视，她的高跟小鞋，狐尾周围，钟形帽子，一身金黄色的王室装束，在米宾中显得无与伦比。 阿里萨和省府要员在震耳欲聋的音乐和鞭炮声中站在舰桥上迎候他们。汽笛三声长鸣，使码头笼罩在蒸汽之中。乌尔比诺医生以其特有的潇洒自如的神态，同列队接待的人—一致意，使他们每一个人都觉得他对自己有一种特殊的感情：首先是身着华丽制服的船长，接着是大主教，尔后是省长夫妇、市长夫妇，以及刚到任的一位来自安第斯的军事长官。紧接在政府要员之后，就是穿黑色呢服的阿里萨，侧身于如此众多的知名人士之中，人们几乎注意不到他的存在。费尔米纳向军事长官打过招呼以后，对向她伸过手来的阿里萨仿佛迟疑了一下。长官很愿意为他们介绍，就问她是否同这位绅士相识。她不置可否，只是带着沙龙式的微笑将手伸向阿里萨。 这种情景过去已出现过两次，今后也一定还会继续出现，阿里萨一向将它领会为费尔米纳个性的特有表现。然而，那天下午，他发挥了自己的想象力，向自己提出了一个问题：这种残酷的冷漠是不是在掩盖着一场爱情的风暴。 这种设想激起了他对旧清的眷念，使他无法平静。他又回到费尔米纳别墅的周围徘徊，感到和多年前在福音公园里的漫步同样亲切。现在，他的意图不是让她看到自己，而是要使自己能够看到她，知道她还继续活在这个世界上。可是，在新的条件下，他要使自己的行动不被人察觉是困难的。 拉?曼加区坐落在一个半荒凉的岛上，一条蓝色的运河把它同古老的城市隔开。 岛上灌木丛生，是殖民地时期恋人们周末的藏身之所。西班牙人建的石桥已在几年前被拆除，新建了一座空心水泥桥，以便骡车能够通过。当时，拉?曼加区的居民们不得不忍受一种设计不周的折磨：本市的第一座电站同他们相距咫尺，隆隆的响声仿佛是连续不断的地震，使他们难以成眠。连乌尔比诺医生也无法使人把电站迁到更远的地方去，尽管他付出了最大的努力，看来在那里盖电厂是出于上帝的旨意，非人力所能挽回。一天晚上，电厂锅炉爆炸，声响令人毛骨悚然。锅炉腾空而起，飞过新建的房屋，越过半座城市，摧毁了古老而又好客的圣胡利安修道院的大回廊。 那座已变成废墟的建筑年初已被遗弃，但是锅炉还是造成了四名犯人的死亡，他们是那天晚上从地方监狱逃出来的，当时正躲在修道院的小教堂里栖身。 那一片幽静的郊区，本来有着美妙的谈情说爱的传统，然而一经成为高级住宅区，对无技可依的恋人们就不那么适宜了。大街上，夏天尘土飞扬，冬天泥泞难行，整年冷冷清清。稀稀落落的住宅掩映在树木成荫的花园之中，摩西式的平台取代了往昔的飞檐阳台，仿佛是故意同偷情的恋人过不去似的。还好，当时流行一种专供下午游览乘坐的单马四轮带篷车，终点是一块高地；从那儿眺望十月绚丽的晚霞，比从灯塔上还清楚，还可以看到悄悄游来窥视海滩的鲨鱼。每星期四，白色远洋巨轮从海港运河通过时，几乎伸手可及。阿里萨在办公室紧张地工作一天之后，经常祖上一辆四轮马车。在炎热的月份，人们通常都把车篷折起，他却总是独自一个人藏在座位深处，不愿惹人注意。他随时向车夫发出命令，要他拉到意料不到的地方，为的是不让车夫察觉他有什么歹心。实际上，他在出游时唯一感兴趣的，只是那幢半掩映在枝叶繁茂的芭蕉和芒果树中的粉红色大理石结构的房子，有点象美国路易斯安娜州棉区的田园别墅的走了样的复制品。 费尔米纳的子女们差不多在下午五点以前回家，阿里萨看着他们坐自备马车回来，然后又看见乌尔比诺医生的例行出诊。尽管在那儿几乎转悠了一年，他却没能见到他所渴望的迹象出现。 六月的一个下午，大雨倾盆而下，他仍然坚持这一独自出行的计划。马在泥泞中滑倒了。阿里萨恐惧地意识到自己正好处在费尔米纳别墅的对面，他慌了，不顾这种惊慌可能被车夫发现，紧张地向他恳求道：“这儿不能停！别的地方都行，千万别停在这儿！” 车夫被他弄得莫名其妙，试图不卸车辕把马扶起来，结果车轴断了。阿里萨急忙从车上下来，羞愧地站在那里，听任大雨浇淋，直到来了别的同样的车，应诺他上车，才回了家。他在车外等候时，乌尔比诺家的一名女佣见到他在齐膝的泥中挨淋，女佣递给他一把伞，请他到平台上去躲一躲。阿里萨做梦也没想到会遇上那么好的运气，不过那个下午，他死也不愿让费尔米纳看见他那样的狼狈相。 乌尔比诺一家住在老城时，每个星期天他们都从家里步行到大教堂听八点钟的弥撒。对他们来说，听弥撒与其说是宗教礼节，倒不如说是世俗社交。搬家后的最初几年，礼拜天他们仍乘车到大教堂去听弥撒，有时也在公园的棕桐树下，在友人的聚谈会上呆一阵子。但是，当拉?曼加区建立了教士会神学院的礼拜堂以后，便只在非常隆重的场合才到大教堂去。神学院的教堂建得不坏，而且有自己的海滩和公墓。阿里萨对这些变化毫无所知，在教区咖啡馆平台上白等了几个星期天，直到第三次弥撒结束，人们一批批地出来。后来他发现自己搞错了，就转上新教堂。八月的四个星期天，他都在那儿见到了乌尔比诺大夫带着子女准时出席八点钟的弥撒。 唯独没见费尔米纳露面。一个星期天，他去参观教堂附近的公墓，拉慢加的这两位居民们也在那里为自己建造豪华的墓地。在冬天的木棉树下一见那座讲究的坟墓，阿里萨的心就不禁怦然跳动。墓已经建成，灵堂上镶有哥特式的彩色玻璃窗，陈列着大理石天使像，全家的集体墓碑上写着金字，自然也有唐娜?费尔米纳?达萨?德乌尔比诺?德拉卡耶这个名字，接着是丈夫的名字，墓志铭是“同享安描”。 那一年的其它时间，费尔米纳没有参加任何民众的和社交的活动，连圣诞节活动也没有参加，而在圣诞节活动中，她和丈夫通常总是最有气派的贵宾和主角。最引人注意的是她在歌剧表演季节开幕式上依然缺席。幕间休息时，阿里萨发现有人在不指名地议论她。他们说，有人在六月里的一天夜里看到她乘古纳德公司的远洋轮到巴拿马去了，上船时脸上蒙着黑纱，以免被人看出那种说不出口的病正在慢慢地吞噬着她的生命。有人问，到底是什么病如此可怕，竟使这位显赫的夫人也一筹莫展，得到的回答是凄楚的：“象她这样高贵的夫人，不可能害别的病，只能是肺结核。” 阿里萨知道，他们家乡的有钱人不病则已，一病就是大病；也可能突然死去，而且几乎总是在盛大节日前后，结果由于哀悼活动，把节日也冲掉了；要么在令人讨厌的慢性病中折磨得奄奄一息，其病患的内情到头来还是人人皆知。到巴拿马去幽居，几乎是富人生活中迫不得已的悔罪活动。 他们在基督再临派的医院中一切听从上帝摆布。那所医院是个巨大的白色大棚，坐落在冲积平原上，环境十分幽静。在那儿，病人们失去了对自己残生的概念，生活在孤独的病室中，谁也说不清那石炭酸气味是健康的气味还是死亡的气味。康复的人带着五颜六色的礼物回到家乡，慷慨地广为馈赠，自己则不无烦恼地争取继续活下去。有的人回来时，肚子上落下了手术疤痕，伤口仿佛是用修鞋匠的麻绳缝合的，使人觉得那种手术实在太野蛮。他们在家人面前撩起衬衣，将它与别的死于过分幸福的人们的伤疤互相比较。余下的日子，他们就来回讲述在三氯甲烷的驱使下如何看见天使出现的幻觉。相反，从来没有人了解那些没有生还的人的想法，在这些人中，最悲惨的莫过于那些死于肺结核的人了。他们的死亡，更多的是由于凄风苦雨，而不是由于疾病本身的折磨。 到底是死是生，二者必居其一，阿里萨真不知道该为费尔米纳选择何种结局。 但是，他首先想了解的是实情，哪怕是令人无法忍受的实情。可是，尽管他千方百计地打听，最后还是没有得到她的下落。他感到不可思议的是，居然没有一个人哪怕能告诉他一点迹象，以便让他判断传言的真实程度。内河航船是他主管的天地，那里对他没有任何隐情，任何秘密。可是，谁也没听说过什么戴黑面纱的女人。在这座城市里，一切都保不了密，甚至有许多事，尤其是富人的事，在发生之前就满城风雨了，唯独这件事竟无人知晓。然而，也没有人对费尔米纳的失踪做过什么解释。阿里萨继续在拉?曼加区徘徊，心不在焉地到神学院教堂听弥撒，参加一些本来不感兴趣的公众活动。可是，随着时间的过去，上述传说似乎越来越可信了。乌尔比诺家里看上去一切正常，唯独主妇不在。 在东奔西跑的打听中，他又得到了一些以前并不了解，或者说他并不想去打听的消息，其中之一就是洛伦索?达萨在他的诞生地——西班牙坎塔布连的乡间逝世。 多年前他曾在教区咖啡馆热闹异常的象棋赛中见过他，由于说话过多，他的嗓音日渐沙哑，而且随着沉入令人不悦的老年的流沙之中，他日益发胖，皮肤变得皱皱巴巴，活象老松树皮。从上世纪那次不愉快的茵芹酒早餐起，他们再也没说过话。 阿里萨断定，洛伦索?达萨对他仍旧怀恨在心，尽管他已经给女儿找到了一个有钱的丈夫，从而也使自己活了下来。阿里萨执著地要得到关于费尔米纳健康状况的确定无误的消息，因此他又回到教区咖啡馆去，想找到她的父亲。咖啡馆里正在举行历史性的比赛：赫雷米阿?德萨因特?阿莫乌尔一人同四十二名棋手对局。就这样，他才听到了洛伦索?达萨故去的消息的。尽管他仍然没有得到有关费尔米纳的消息，由于幸灾乐祸，他还是由衷的高兴。最后，他把费尔米纳得了不治之症的说法当直接受下来，并用一句人所共知的谚语来安慰自己：女人得病，精神永生。 在他完全泄气的日子里，他只好这么想：如果费尔米纳真的死了，无论如何消息总会传到他耳朵里来的。 他永远不可能得到费尔米纳的死讯，因为她还活着，而且是健康地活着，就在她表姐伊尔德布兰达的庄园里过着世外桃源的生活。她是在和丈夫达成协议后悄然离去的。他们结婚二十五年，夫妻关系一直是很稳定的，可在这次不和时，两个人都象未成年孩子似的乱了方寸，纠缠不休。真是想不到，他们年纪已经大了，日子过得很平静，不仅孩子已经出世，而且都在长大成人，很有教养，前程似锦，他们都满以为在夫妻关系上不会再隐藏着什么危机，可以和和睦睦地进入晚年了，可就在这个时候，危机却突然发生了。那件事对两个人都是如此的意外，以致他们不愿照加勒比地区传统的方式，用吵吵嚷嚷的哭闹和请人调解，而想采用欧洲国家的聪明办法。可是，由于他们的想法不切实际，争来争去，末了，既不是什么欧洲的办法，也不同于美洲的办法。费尔米纳决定出走，她不明白是什么理由，也不明白是什么目的，只是纯粹想赌气。乌尔比诺医生说服不了她，因为他受着良心的谴责。