Chapter 11 Chapter 5 (4)

About two years after Fermina left home, an incredible event happened.In Transito's view, that is disrespect to God.Ariza didn't pay much attention to the invention of the film, but Caciani pulled him to attend the grand premiere of "Cabiria", and he went obediently. The film is based on a script written by the poet Cabrele d'Annongio.The big courtyard of Don Galileo Dazat was always full of distinguished guests, and some evenings, they were more admiring the starry sky than the silent lovers on the screen.The yard was still full tonight.Casciani watched the ups and downs and development of the story with excitement, however, Ariza fell asleep because of the dullness of the plot. Behind him, a woman seemed to guess his mind and said: "My God , this is longer than the time of getting sick!"

It was the only sentence she said.Her voice was too loud in the dark, because it was not yet fashionable to use the piano to accompany silent movies, and the audience sitting in the dark could only hear the rustling sound of the projector as it turned.Ariza remembered God only in the most difficult situations, but this time he expressed his sincere gratitude to God.For he still remembered the deep, metallic voice, the one she had made since that afternoon in a secluded park on a path of dead leaves: "Go away without my notice." Please don't come again." This sentence has always remained in his heart, even if the voice is more than 30 meters deep underground, he will recognize it immediately.

He knew she must be accompanied by her husband in the seat behind him.He felt her warm and even breath, and he sucked in the air purified in her healthy body with deep love.He felt that she had not been destroyed by the moth of death, as he had imagined with infinite wistfulness during the last few months.He thought of her gorgeous youth, the time when she wore the gown of the goddess of wisdom, her belly was slightly protruding, and she was pregnant with her first son.Although he didn't look back at her, her image was clearly in his mind, touching his soul, and he was eager to know how she would feel when she saw the couple in the movie: Does she think that the couple should love, and that their love should be less painful than love in real life.

Towards the end of the movie, he realized with a sudden, overwhelming excitement that he had never been so close to his sweetheart, nor had he spent so much time with her. After the lights came on, he waited for the others to stand up before leaving his seat without haste.As he casually turned back to button his vest—he kept his arms open during the film—the four were so close that they had no choice but to greet each other whether they wanted to or not. Urbino greeted Casciani - he knew her well - and shook Ariza's hand with his usual humility.Fermina smiled at them Mel, which was purely out of politeness, but anyway, she had seen them many times and knew them well, so she needed no introduction.Casciani returned Fermina with her charming smile of a half-blood woman.Florentino Ariza, on the other hand, was overwhelmed because the sight of her made him fascinated.

She has become like another person.There was not a trace of the terrible epidemic on her face, let alone any other signs of disease, and she still maintained the figure and beautiful lines of her youth.Evidently, the events of the last two years had made her seem like ten years of harsh life.The short curly hair on both sides of her face made people look just right, but the original bronze color had been replaced by silver white.Those beautiful lanceolate eyes have lost half of their brilliance behind the deep reading glasses used by the grandmother.Ariza saw her leave her seat and walk away among the crowd, holding her husband's arm.He wondered why she was wearing a poor man's veil in public and the slippers she used at home?To his still greater astonishment, however, her husband had to hold her tightly by the arm and tell her where to go, and even so, by a miscalculation, she nearly fell down the high door steps.

Ariza is sensitive to the difficulties that age brings to action.When he was still young, he would often put down the collection of poems he was reading in the park and watch the couples of old people crossing the street with each other supporting each other.It was a life lesson, and it was valuable for him to predict the laws of his own aging.On the night of the movie, a man of Dr. Urbino's age seemed to have a second youth.After their first gray hairs, they seem more dignified, wiser and more powerful, especially to young women.Meanwhile, their wives become wilted and need to walk by their arms.However, a few years later, the husband's body suddenly plummeted, and he fell into irreversible aging both physically and mentally.At that time, their wives, rejuvenated for a second time, took their husbands by the arm like a blind begging man, leading them the way.In order not to hurt their masculine self-esteem, if something happens, I whisper in their ears to remind them that there are three steps to the gate instead of two, and there is a pothole in the middle of the street, which is black on the sidewalk. The thing is the corpse of a beggar, and so on.They help them through the streets with difficulty, as if they are the only beacons on their final voyage.Ariza has seen herself many times in this mirror of life.He feared death no more than he had reached the unlucky age when he needed the support of a woman.He knew that on that day, and only that day, he would have to give up hope in Fermina.

The meeting with Fermina dispelled Ariza's sleepiness.Instead of driving Cassiani home, he walked her through the old town.Their footsteps made a sound like horseshoes on the gravel road.From time to time, intermittent voices can be heard from the balcony, singing and whispering in the bedroom, and the sobbing of love magically magicalized by the illusory sound.In the sleeping streets and alleys, there is a fresh fragrance of jasmine.Once again Ariza had to do everything in his power not to confide to Cassienne the love she had suppressed for Fermina.They walked slowly, like a pair of old lovers, expressing their love to each other unhurriedly, she thought of the charming and heroic figure of Cabiria, but he thought of his own misfortune.A man sang from a balcony by the Customs Square, and his voice echoed throughout the space: When I cross the vast sea...  Ariza was supposed to say good-bye to Caciani at her house on the way up Santos de Pietra, but he asked her to invite him home for a brandy.This is the second time he has made such a request under similar circumstances.The first time was ten years ago, when she replied: "If you want to come to my house now, you have to stay forever." In the end, he didn't go.If it is now, he will go anyway, regardless of whether he will break his promise afterwards.At this time, Cassiani happily invited him.

In this way, a chance made him find a shelter for a love that was over before it was born. Caciani's parents are dead, and her only brother made a fortune in Curacao, where he also started a family.She lives alone in her old house.Years ago, when Florentino Ariza was still in love with her and wanted her to be his lover, with the consent of her parents, he used to visit her on Sundays and sometimes stay there until late at night. He contributed so much to the restoration of the house that he finally made it his home. However, on the night of watching the movie, he felt as if the living room had been wiped of all memory of him.All the furniture had been shifted, and additional lithographs hung on the walls.He thought that the purpose of such a big change was nothing more than to erase him from memory forever, to show that he had never existed there.The cat in the living room didn't recognize him either.He felt resentful at being forgotten, and he blurted out, "You've completely forgotten me." But she said, pouring the wine behind her back, that he needn't be offended, because tomcats don't recognize people. .

Leaning close together on the sofa, the two talked about themselves, about an incident that happened one afternoon—the mule-drawn railcar, when they were strangers to each other.They had been working in adjoining offices, but until then they hadn't talked about anything other than their day jobs. while talking.Florentino Ariza put her hands on her thighs and began to stroke them gently, like a veteran cleaner.She complied without even a polite shudder.Only when he tried to go further, she had to take the hand he was trying to explore, and kissed his palm. "Behave," she said, "I've already found out that you're not the man I'm looking for."

When she was very young, a clever, strong, and strange man suddenly pushed her down on the jetty, stripped her naked, and made a short and crazy love with her.She was lying on the stone on her back, covered with scars, but she really hoped that the man would stay forever until one day he died of love in her arms.She didn't see his face, she didn't hear his voice, but she was sure that, from his size and height, she would be able to recognize him among thousands of people.From then on, she said to anyone who would listen: "If you happened to meet a big man who raped a For the poor passing woman, please tell him where he can find me."

These words became her oral bullet.She told so many people, but got no response, and finally she was desperate.Florentino Ariza herself had heard her ramble so many times that it was like hearing the farewell of a ship sailing at night.When the clock struck two o'clock in the morning, they each had three glasses of brandy.He seemed to really understand that he was not the man she was waiting for.I don't feel bad about it. "Well, lioness!" he said to her before leaving, "we have finally restrained, and I am a tiger who has nothing to do with you." Another thing happened that night.Prior to this, the terrible rumors about Fermina suffering from tuberculosis kept him awake at night, and he somehow thought that Fermina was hopeless and would definitely walk ahead of her husband.However, when he saw her stumbling out from the exit of the movie theater, he naturally deepened his understanding of the matter, and suddenly realized that it might be he who went first, not her.It was an omen, the most terrible omen, because it was based on facts.What remained of him were years of patient waiting, years of luck and hope.However, on the horizon, only the vast sea full of imaginary diseases, urination drop by drop in the morning after insomnia, and death at dusk every day.He thought that the lover who had sworn eternal alliance with him in the past was now plotting against him.Once upon a time, he tremblingly went to an adventurous tryst because of fear of accidents, but he did not expect that the door was not hung and the hinges had just been oiled. Go in silently.However, at the last moment he regretted it again, worried that he would cause irreparable damage to a courteous woman who had lived a plain life by dying on the bed, so he missed the sigh of disappointment that he had been waiting for since the last century. It is reasonable to wait until the woman of this century.She is the woman he loves most in this world, but maybe that woman stretches out her arms to help him walk through the round graves and the grass covered with poppies swaying in the wind, and Before helping him reach the other world safely, she herself died suddenly and forever. In fact, according to the point of view at the time, Ariza had entered the ranks of old age.He is fifty-six years old.He believes that these fifty-six years are his golden age, because it is an age full of love poems.But no man was so ridiculous as he was, and at his age he looked like a young man again, whether that be or what he thought he was.Not all men are unafraid to admit that they are secretly weeping over an embarrassing event from the last century.It was a bad time for young people.People of different ages have different ways of dressing, but the way of dressing of the elderly begins when they are young and continues until they go to the grave.This is not so much a sign of age as a sign of social dignity.Young people are more respected if they dress like their grandparents and wear glasses early on.It is commonplace to use a cane at the age of thirty.For a woman there are only two ages: one is the age of marriage—up to twenty-two; the other is the age of perpetual celibacy as an old maid.Other women, married, mothers, screenwriters, grandmothers, are another type of women who count themselves not by the years that have passed, but by the number of years before they die. age. On the contrary, Florentino Ariza, although he knew that he had been an old man since he was a child-a strange phenomenon indeed-was indifferent to the signs of aging.In the beginning, it was out of a need.Transito unpacked, washed, and resewn her husband's frock coat, which he had thrown in the trash, and let him wear it to school, dragging it to the floor as soon as he sat down.He wore his father's official top hat on his head, which was buttoned up to the ears even though a circle of cotton was stuffed inside.In addition, he has been wearing short-sighted glasses since he was five years old. Like his mother, his hair is silver-white, straight and thick, almost like a bristle, and his face has no personal characteristics.Fortunately, due to successive years of civil wars and repeated government changes, the school's requirements have gradually become less strict than before.Public schools do not even pay attention to the origin and social status of students at all.The children, who had not yet grown up, walked into the classroom still smelling of the gunpowder of the barricades, wearing the uniforms of the rebel officers who had been bravely obtained in some battle, wearing their badges, and hanging on their belts obviously matching their status. weapons.During the game, they drew their guns and fought at every turn.If the teacher did not give a good mark on the test paper, they threatened with a gun.A third-year student at the Lasaye School, a colonel in the reserve army, shot and killed Brother Juan Ermita, the dean of the religious community, because Xiuli said in catechism that God is an official member of the Conservative Party. At the same time, the children of wealthy families who suffered misfortune dressed like princes in ancient times, while some very poor children wore bare feet.Among these strangely dressed people from all over the world, Ariza was undoubtedly one of the most prominent, but he did not attract special attention.What saddened him most was that he heard someone shouting to him in the street: "Poor, ugly, you can't get anything." Whether it is good for the rest of his life or for his mysterious and melancholy character, it is suitable.When the Caribbean Inland Shipping Company first gave him an important job, he had someone else make him some clothes in the same style as his father's clothes according to his figure.He missed his father as deeply as he misses an old man. In fact, like Christ, his father died at the age of thirty-three in the prime of his life. In this way, Ariza has always looked much older than his actual age because of the clothes.That's why Brigida Zuletta, who had no scruples about anything and who was his lover like a passing visitor, told him from the very first day that she liked him better. Take off all your clothes, because naked he looks thirty years younger.However, he never knew how to make up for this.First of all, his personal preference does not allow him to wear other styles of clothes.Secondly, no one who was twenty at the time knew how to look younger without pulling out their shorts and midshipmen's hats again from the closet.Third, it was impossible for him to get rid of the ideas that people held about the elderly at the time.In this way, when he saw Fermina staggering towards the exit of the movie theater, he almost naturally thought that the hateful god of death would irrevocably defeat him in that fierce love war.The idea flashed into his mind like lightning, and he couldn't help shivering. Up until then, he had fought a great, but totally futile, battle with his baldness.From the moment he saw the first few strands of hair tangled in his comb, he knew he was doomed for life.This kind of suffering is beyond the imagination of people born with thick hair.He resisted tenaciously for several years.He tried everything to prevent baldness, whether it was drugs or magic tricks.In order to keep his hair, he is willing to make any sacrifice.He memorized the provisions of the lunar calendar by heart, because he heard people say that the growth of hair is directly related to the harvest cycle of crops.When his hair was all bald, he stopped going to his old barber and replaced him with someone who had just arrived from out of town.This person only gets a haircut during the full moon.But no sooner had the new barber shown some dexterity than he was caught in chains by a few policemen who came in pursuit from the Antilles, and he was found to be a rapist of underage girls. During that time, Ariza cut out all the advertisements for baldness treatments that she saw in Caribbean newspapers.One of the ads featured two photographs of the same person, placed together for an apparent comparison.In the first one, the hair is so bald that it looks like a melon.The second picture is that thick hair beats a lion. The first is before using the good medicine, and the second is after using the good medicine.In six years, he tried a total of more than one hundred medicines, which did not count the auxiliary methods seen on the labels of the medicine bottles.His only catch, however, was that one of the medicines gave him an itchy, smelly head eczema, which the false saints of Matinica called the northern wax moth because it gave off a phosphorescent glow in the dark .In the end he used all the Indian herbs that were hawked in the public market and all the miraculous potions and oriental decoctions that were sold at "Mr. up.In 1919, when the "Thousand Day Civil War" left the country in a pool of blood, an Italian came to town who made wigs out of his hair according to size.Wigs are expensive, but the insurance period for Italians is only three months.Even so, the vast majority of wealthy bald people are willing to give it a try.Ariza was one of the first willing to experiment.He tried on a wig whose hair resembled his own hair so much that he feared a change of mood would make it stand on end.But the last thing he could tolerate was putting the hair of the dead on the head of the living.He just wanted his hair to go bald soon so that he wouldn't have time to experience the pain of turning gray. One day, a drunken, forgetful young man on the wharf of the Inland Shipping Company saw him coming out of his office and embraced him warmly. There was a loud kiss on his head. "Fantastically bald!" he exclaimed. That night, he asked others to cut off all the down on his temples and the back of his head.In this way, at the age of forty-eight, he completely accepted the fate of being absolutely bald.He even soaped his chin and the stubble spots on his head every morning before he took a shower, and razored them until they were as smooth as a child's bottom.At that time, he wore a hat even in the office, because baldness gave him the appearance of being naked, which seemed to him unseemly.When he completely ignored baldness, he also regarded baldness as one of the male virtues.He'd heard it said before, but he always dismissed it as the mere fantasy of bald men.Later, he adapted to the new habit of tucking the few long hairs on the right side on top of his head, which he has maintained for a long time.But, nevertheless, he wears hats, and always wears the embarrassing old man's hat.He did so even after the whip hat, known locally as the narrow-brimmed hat, became fashionable. Florentino Ariza, on the other hand, lost her teeth not because of a natural disaster but because of the reckless act of a quack dentist who decided to cure a common inflammation.Fearful of pedal drills, Ariza never went to the dentist despite frequent toothaches.When he couldn't bear it anymore, he had to go to the doctor.His mother was very worried to hear him moaning in pain all night in the next room, and she felt that the sound was exactly the same as the old moaning that had disappeared from her memory.But when she asked him to open his mouth to see where it hurt, she found his gums were inflamed and festering. Uncle Leon XII sent him to Dr. Francis Adonai, a tall black man in leggings and breeches, with a foreman's bag containing a complete set of dental instruments. On a river steamer. He was a dentist, but he was more like the dreadful travel agent of a coastal town who, with one glance into Florentino Ariza's mouth, decided that Florentino Florentino Florentino Ariza's remaining good teeth would be taken out so as not to cause new problems in the future. Trouble. Contrary to being bald, this brutal treatment did not cause him any anxiety other than his understandable fear of profuse bleeding from tooth extraction without anesthesia.He also happily accepted the suggestion of wearing false teeth.For, first, in reminiscing about his boyhood, he remembered a magician at a fair who took his jaws off and put them on a table and made them speak for themselves.Second, it can make the toothache that has plagued him since he was a child no longer hurt. The pain is no different from the pain of love.He doesn't see tooth extraction as a detriment to the image of older people, like baldness.He believed that although the smell of vulcanized rubber exhaled was sour and pungent, which irritated his nose, a slight smile showing his corrected teeth also added a lot of luster to his appearance.Therefore, he obediently accepted the disaster brought to him by Dr. Adonai's flaming forceps, and withstood the test of the tooth extraction recovery period with his hard-working will. Uncle Leon XII personally asked about the details of the operation, as if he was going to perform the operation on himself.He had an uncharacteristic interest in dentures, which he developed on a voyage along the Magdalena River, as well as a love of opera. On a bright moonlit night, when the ship arrived at the port of Gamara, he made a bet with a German land surveyor that he could wake up the animals in the primeval forest by singing "Naples Romance" on the railing of the captain's podium.He almost won the bet.The boat sailed along the river. In the vast night, you could feel the sound of flapping wings in the swamp, the sound of crocodiles flicking their tails, and the strange sound of fried fish jumping onto the land, but when he sang the highest notes , he was worried that the high pitch of the singing would burst the blood vessels of his singer, so he took a last breath.As a result, the denture flew out of the mouth and sank in the water. The ship had to stay in Tenerife for three days to get him an emergency set of dentures.The new dentures are perfectly done.But when returning to the voyage, Uncle Leon XII tried to explain to the captain how the previous set of dentures was lost. He took a deep breath of the sultry air in the primeval forest, raised his voice and sang a song, and stretched the high note as long as possible. Trying to scare away the unblinking crocodile, basking in the sun and watching the ship go by, but the new set of dentures also sank into the running water. Since then, he has kept his dentures everywhere in his home, in his desk drawer, and on the company's three boats. In addition, when he ate out, he kept a small bottle of cough medicine in his pocket, along with a set of dentures. This is also understandable, as he once broke his teeth eating a barbecue at a picnic at noon. Worried that his nephew would be caught off guard, his uncle Leon XII asked Dr. Adonai to make him two sets of dentures at a time: one set was cheap and usually used in the office.The other pair is reserved for Sundays or holidays, with a bit of real gold on it, and it will look golden with a smile, so proud.On a Sunday when people took to the streets with flowers in their hands, amidst the noise of the festive bells, Florentino Ariza finally appeared among the crowd with a new attitude and a smile on her face, completely different from before. This happened after his mother's death, and Ariza lived alone at home, an environment that provided him with great convenience for sex.With so many windows in the house, one can't help thinking that there are many eyes staring at him behind the thin curtains. The street next to the window is not eye-catching, and there are few pedestrians.Everything Ariza did was to make Fermina happy, and only he could make her happy.That is why Florentino Ariza, in the prime of his life, preferred to lose many opportunities and refuse to associate with other women in order not to tarnish his family's reputation. Luckily for Ariza, each level in the Caribbean Inland Shipping Company meant certain new privileges, especially secret ones.One of the most useful privileges for him was that, with the cooperation of the porter, he could make full use of the office in the evenings, on Sundays, or on holidays.At that time, he had ascended the throne of the company's first vice chairman.Once, he was in love with a girl who was on duty on Sunday when the door opened suddenly and his uncle Leon XII stuck his head in, as if he had entered the wrong office.He looked at his panicked nephew through his glasses. "Damn it," said the uncle unhurriedly, "you and your father are the same!" Before closing the door again, he said blankly: "Then, you, miss, please go ahead. Don't be sad, I swear to you on my behalf, I did not see your face." Afterwards, no one mentioned the matter again, but the situation in the office changed so that Florentino Ariza could no longer work.On Monday, electricians flocked to install a leaf ceiling fan in the ceiling. The locksmiths came without warning him, and after a fight of war, they put a lock on the door so that it could be locked from the inside.The carpenters took measurements but didn't say what to do.The decorator took away the patterned curtains so they could check to see if they would match the color of the walls.The next week they pushed a Dionysian calico loveseat through the window because they couldn't get in through the door.The impertinence of the workers, who came suddenly to work, seemed accidental, but to anyone who protested, they always replied confidently: "It's an order from the board of directors of the company." Florentino Ariza didn't quite understand, Are these sudden attacks out of the uncle's good intentions, still interfering with his deviant love, or is it a unique way to make him reflect on his evil deeds?He didn't understand what his uncle really meant. In fact Uncle Leon XII was encouraging him to be decent, for he had heard gossip about his nephew's habits being unusual and odd.This pained him, for it was an obstacle to his wish to raise his nephew as his heir. Unlike his elder brother, Leon XII had lived a stable married life that lasted for sixty years. He always stayed at home on Sundays and was proud of it.He has four sons and a daughter.But there were rare twists and turns in his life.Such twists and turns, common in the novels of his contemporaries, were unbelievable in real life.The four sons died one after another as their positions were promoted.My daughter has no interest in inland waterway shipping. She would rather watch Lindesen ship after ship being destroyed from a window 50 meters high.Uncle Leon XII had such bad luck because some people believed in the legend that Florentino Ariza must have done a lot of shady tricks because of his ugly appearance, bad intentions and so many coincidences. When his uncle retired against his will in accordance with medical orders, Ariza began to give up Sunday appointments with certain girls willingly.He took the bus that had just appeared in the city-the crank recoil of this kind of car was so strong that it knocked off the arm of the first driver-to visit his uncle at the manor.He and his uncle talked for several hours. The old man was lying on the hammock with his name embroidered with silk thread, far away from everything, with the vast sea behind him.It was an old slave manor. Standing on the platform in the afternoon, you can see the snow-capped peaks. Ariza's conversations with his uncle were always about inland navigation.Still on that long afternoon.At this time, the god of death always stood beside him like an invisible guest.Uncle Leon XII's greatest fear was that the IWT would fall into the hands of domestic business owners linked to European consortiums. "It's always been a business of secrecy and competition," he said. "If the shipping company is in the hands of the skittles, they'll give it to the Germans." His concerns are consistent with a political credo he often professes, even if he doesn't speak the truth. "I am about to turn a hundred years old, and I have seen all changes, including changes in the positions of stars in the vast universe. However, I have not seen any changes in this country. ’” he said, “in this country, new constitutions are made time after time, new laws are made time after time.There is a new war every three months, but we are still in the colonial period. " His brothers, all Masons, blamed the failure of federalism for all their misfortune.For this view, Leon has always scoffed, saying: "The 'Battle of a Thousand Days' was defeated in the war of 1876, twenty years ago." Florentino Florentino Ariza never cared about politics, and his uncle's platitudes sounded like the waves of the sea to him, and he didn't care at all.However, he was unequivocal in his policy on the shipping industry.Contrary to his uncle's view, he believed that the backwardness of the inland shipping industry, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, could only be solved by voluntarily giving up the monopoly privilege of steam ships.This monopoly privilege was granted by Congress to the Caribbean Inland Waterway Company for a period of ninety-nine years and one day. Uncle said disapprovingly: "That kind of nonsense was brought into your head from an anarchist novel by that old Leona woman who was my friend." Uncle Leon XII was only half right.In fact, Ariza's point of view is the experience of the German Commodore Juan Bu Erbers.This is a man who squanders his superior intellect with his endless personal ambitions.But my uncle thinks that the failure of Albers is not due to his privileges, but because he made too many promises at the same time, signed too many unrealistic agreements, and almost all the responsibilities of all parts of the country On himself, he took care of river navigation, port facilities, ground transport channels and means of transportation, etc. "Also," he said, "President Simón Bolívar's fierce opposition is also important." Most shareholders believe that that kind of dispute is between husband and wife - each has its own reasons.They think that the old man's obstinacy is justified, not because, as is often freely said, it is due to the fact that the old man is getting old and no longer as far-sighted as he used to be, but because giving up the monopoly is to him like giving up a once owned property. The victorious items obtained in the battle of historical significance are all thrown into the garbage dump.That battle was fought by him and his brothers against mighty opponents all over the world in the age of heroes.Therefore, when he held the rights tightly in his hands, none of the shareholders dared to try to grab them.Before he legally retired, no one dared to say "no" to him. However, after much thought, Florentino Ariza finally gave up his claim in the manor one afternoon, but his uncle Leon XII Suddenly agreeing to give up the privilege of a hundred years, the only condition is to ask him to save face and not to do this before he dies. It was his last act professionally.From then on, he never mentioned business matters, even asked him for advice.He is as imposing as ever, his hair is still shiny, his mind is still as quick as ever, but he does his best to avoid those who might sympathize with him.他坐在平台上的一把维也纳摇椅上，慢条斯理地摇晃着，每天遥望着山顶长年不化的积雪打发着日子。摇椅旁边的一张小桌子，女仆时刻为他备好煮热的黑咖啡和一杯盛着两副假牙的碳酸氢盐水。 他平时不用假牙，只是在接待客人时才戴上。他很少会见朋友，即使有人来访，他也只谈内河航行开始以前很久的往事。然而，他还有一个新的话题，就是希望阿里萨成亲。他几次向他表示了这个愿望，而且用的是同样的话。 “我要是年轻五十岁的话，”他对他说，“我就和我的相好莱昂娜结婚。我觉得世上再没有比她更好的妻子了。” 阿里萨一想到他多年惨淡经营的事业，由于这个意外的条件，有可能在最后毁于一旦，就不免胆战心惊起来。他宁愿辞职，宁愿放弃一切，宁愿去死，也不愿做负心人，把费尔米纳忘掉。好在叔父莱昂十二没有坚持。满九十二周岁时，他便指定了侄儿为他的唯一继承人，最后退出了航运公司。 六个月以后，股东们一致同意任命阿里萨为航运公司董事会董事长兼总经理。 在他就职那天，引退的老莱昂先生喝了一杯香槟酒，然后请求大家原谅他坐在摇椅上讲话，他即席发表了一个象挽歌一样的简短演说。他说，依托上帝的旨意，他的生活是以两个意外的事件开始和结束的。第一件事是，当美洲解放者西蒙?玻利瓦尔在不幸的旅途中奄奄一息时，在图巴科镇曾将他抱在怀里。另一件事是，他扫除了命运给他设置的全部障碍，终于找到了一个与他企业相称的继承人。最后，他力图使这场戏富有真实性，结束说：“我这一生唯一遗憾的是，为那么多人的葬礼唱过歌，但是，从来没有为自己的葬礼唱过歌。” 当然，仪式结束时，他唱了《托斯卡》选段《永别了，生活》。他最喜欢清唱。 没有伴奏，声音依然显得浑圆有力。阿里萨非常感动，他表示感谢时几乎没有让人感觉到他的颤抖的声音。在过去的生活中，他要做的都做了，要想的都想了，如今他已经到达了生活的顶峰，他要一如既往，靠着费尔米纳这一坚强的精神文柱，肩负起自己的使命，不仅决心活下去，而且要有健康的体魄。 话虽这么说，可那天晚上，当卡西亚妮为他举行家庭欢庆会时，他想着的却不仅仅是费尔米纳，而是所有的情人。她们中间，有的已长眠在公墓，只是通过阿里萨栽在她们坟墓上面的玫瑰怀念着他，有的仍和丈夫同枕。她们的丈夫望着窗外的月光，心中也在思念别的女人。在身边没有一个女人的时候，他想同时和所有女人在一起。他一向不习惯一个人生活，没有女人使他感到孤单。所以，即使在他最艰难的年代，最倒霉的时刻，他都与多年的无数情人保持了某种哪怕是最疏远的关系，永远追逐着她们生活的足迹。 就这样，那在晚上他想起厂罗萨尔瓦，这是他所有情人中最早的情人，也就是趾高气扬地夺走了他的童贞的那个女人。想起她，至今仍象第一天那样使他痛苦。 只要一合上眼睛，就看见她穿着麦斯林薄纱衣服，戴着饰有飘带的帽子，在船舷上摇晃着盛孩子的笼子。在多年生活中，他曾几次准备去找她，虽然他不知道她住在哪儿，也不一了解她姓什么，更不知道她是不是自己想追求的女人。但是，他确信能在某个地方的兰花丛中找到她。每次，都是由于在最后一刻有这样或那样的不便，或者由于不适时宜地改变初衷，在轮船即将启航的头几分钟，旅行又推迟了，原因都是与费尔米纳有点关联。 他想起纳萨雷特的道编。这是唯一亵渎彭塔纳斯大街上他母亲的家的女人，尽管不是他，而是特兰西托让她进去的。这个女人虽然不是清场老手，但她充满了温情，简直可以和费尔米纳相比，所以阿里萨对她比对所有其他女人都给予了更多的谅解。她那较之她的温情的力量更难驾驭的水性杨花的禀性，使他们两人注定都要成为不忠诚的人。由于他们坚持不懈的努力，几乎在三十年中他们始终没有忘掉对方c他们双方不忠诚， 但不背信弃义。另外，她还是阿里萨唯一为之出头露面的女人。当得知她已经去世并将由慈善机构掩埋的消息时，他主动出钱替她安葬，并单独出席了葬礼。 他想起了他爱过的寡妇。首先是普鲁登希败?皮特雷，她是他至今还活在世上的最早的情人，因为她两次守寡，人称“双料寡妇”。之后，他又想起了另一个普鲁登希姐，这是阿雷利亚诺的遗编。这个多情的女人，常把他的衣服扣子扯下来，使他不得不在她家多呆一会儿，等她重新缝上。他也想起了何塞法，她是苏尼加的遗嘱。她爱他爱得发狂，为了占有他，她差一点在他睡梦中用修剪树枝的大剪刀将他的睾丸剪掉。 他想起了安赫雷斯?阿尔法洛。他们的爱情虽说是昙花一现，但很深沉。她是应邀前来音乐学校讲授半年弦乐课的。在月光溶溶的夜晚，她便来到阿里萨的家中，在平台上用大提琴演奏最优美的组曲，跟他在一起过夜。 从第一个月夜起，他们就象初恋那样相爱，但是安赫雷斯?阿尔法洛的爱情象柳絮一样。不久，她带着大提琴，以女性的温柔和轻狂，登上一艘不明国籍的远洋轮，一去不复返。在平台上她唯一留下的是挥着白手绢告别的手势，那白手绢宛如地平线上的一只孤独、悲凄的鸽子，象赛诗会上诗句里描绘的那样。 阿里萨跟她学会了他无意中多次经历过的事情，这就是说，可以同时爱上几个人，而且是以同样痛苦的心情爱着她们所有的人，不背弃任何一个。当他孤单地置身于码头熙来攘往的人群中时，他在内心怒不可遏地说：“心房比婊子旅店里的房间更多。”道别的痛苦使他热泪盈眶，但是轮船刚在天进消失，对费尔米纳的思念又占据了他全部的空间。 他想起了安德雷娜?瓦龙。上个星期他还从她家门前经过，但是她浴室窗户上透出的橘黄色灯光，提醒他不能过去，因为里面有人。是男的还是女的，这不知道。 安德雷娜?瓦龙是个轻狂的女人，对这类事毫不在意。 在阿里萨的所有女人的名单中，她是唯一靠出卖肉体过日子的人，但她人身自由，没有老鸨管她。她在黄金时代宾客盈门，红极一时。人们给她送了个代号，称她为“大众的圣母”。她曾使省长和海军上将拜倒裙下，也曾目睹一些高级将领和文化名人伏在她肩上哭泣。在这些人中间，有的确实值得别人尊敬，有的则不尽然。 有一件事倒是千真万确的，雷耶斯总统在对该城进行两次访问之间的匆匆半小时中，就指定给她一份终身养老金，以表彰她对财政部所作出的杰出贡献。其实，她未曾在财政部受雇过一天。虽然她的不名誉行为众所周知，但谁也不敢拿出真凭实据将它公诸于世，因为她那些地位显赫的情人们象保护自己生命一样保护着她。他们知道，丑闻一旦披露，损失更大的是他们，而不是她。阿里萨为她而改变了自己一向不付钱的原则，而她也为阿里萨破了例，原来她即使跟丈夫睡觉也绝不会免费的。 他们达成了一项协议，只象征性地收费，每次一个比索，但她不亲手接钱，他也不把钱交到她手上，而是把钱放在一个小猪形状的储蓄罐里，攒够了就到“代笔先生门洞”那儿去买一些海外运来的小玩意儿。 在如此众多的冒险经历和奇遇之中，唯一使他尝到点苦涩滋味的是那位生性怪异的萨拉?诺丽埃佳。此人最后在“耶稣”精神病院结束了自己的一生。在那儿，她不停地朗诵极度淫秽的暮年诗，以致不得不把她隔离，以免她把别的疯女人弄得疯上加疯。 阿里萨把同这个女人的缘分视作一种幸运。然而，当他全部负起加勒比内河航运公司的重任后，他就没有更多的时间和精力去寻花问柳了。而且，他也知道，费尔米纳是不可代替的。渐渐地他也就只限于去看那些已经结交的女人。尽可能和她们交往，能得到多少欢乐算多少欢乐。在她们离开这个世界之前，他打算一直这样做下去。女人弄得疯上加疯。 圣灵降临节那个星期天，当乌尔比诺死去时，他就只剩下一个情妇了。这位情妇刚满十四岁，她所具备的一切是直到那时为止其他任何女人所未曾有过的，这使阿里萨重新陷入狂热之中。 她叫阿美利加?维库尼亚，两年前由故乡帕德雷海港来到这儿。来时她带着家信，请阿里萨做她的校外监护人。他们确有亲缘关系。她来此是享受政府奖学金，接受高等师范教育。 她带着行李和一只小铁皮衣箱，穿着白色短靴，扎着金黄色的辫子从船上走了下来。从这时起，阿里萨就强烈地预感到，今后的星期日，他们都将在一起。她还是个孩子，尖尖的牙齿，小腿象小学生那样还没有长毛。他立刻意识到，她将很快成为怎样的女人。 于是，在这整整的一年中，他经常和她厮混在一起。星期六，带她去看马戏；星期天，带她去逛公园，吃冰糕；黄昏时让她象儿童一般玩得欢天喜地。他从此赢得了她的信任和爱戴。在她的不知不觉中，逐渐地，他用善良的老祖父般的手，狡诈地牵着她走进自己秘密的屠宰场。对她来说，天堂的大门为她打开了，那是她求之不得的。含苞的花蕾瞬时绽开，她在幸福的边缘漂游。这对她的求学是一种切实的鼓励，为了不失去周末离校的机会，她一直保持着班上等一名的位置。对他来说，这是老年港湾中最隐蔽的角落。在经历这么多年成熟的爱情之后，跟一个天真无邪的女孩子调情虽说有点牵强，但也不无变态的情趣。 他们一致商定：她表现得跟自己实际身分一样，一个愿意在对什么都不感到惊奇的令人尊敬的男子的引导下开创生活的女孩；而他呢，认真地表现得象他在生活中最怕的人物：年迈新郎。虽然一眼就能够看得出来，这女孩不仅在年龄、制服、发辫和母鹿似的步态，甚至连高傲任性的脾气，都跟费尔米纳一楼一样，但他从未把她与费尔米纳等量齐观。还有，他那刻意追求的用另外的爱来代替费尔米纳的想法，也彻底从他的脑海中扫除了。他喜欢她的模样。就因为她的模样，他终于以老年人的一切痴心地狂热地爱着她。他加倍小心，使她不致受孕。在来往六。七次之后，对两个人来说，除了星期日下午在一起，就再也没有别的欢乐了。 他是唯一可以把她从寄宿学校接出来的人，他常常乘加勒比内河航运公司哈得逊牌小轿车去找她。在阴天，他有时取下车篷带着她沿海岸兜风。他戴着令人不快的帽子，她用两只手拉着校服上的海员帽不让风吹跑，笑得前仰后合。有人跟她说过，没有必要时，不要跟她的校外监护人在一起，不要吃任何他尝过的东西，也不要靠他呼气太近，因为老年病是会传染的。But she doesn't care.别人怎么想他们，他们完全不放在心上，因为他们是亲戚，这是尽人皆知的。再说，他们的年龄相差甚远，这可以使他们避免任何猜疑。 圣灵降临节那个星期日下午四时丧钟敲响的时候，他们刚刚在一起。阿里萨不得不竭力压住内心的惊恐。在他年轻的时候，敲丧钟的仪式是包括在葬礼的价格之中的，只有一贫如洗的人得不到这种礼节。可是，在最近一次战争之后，处于两个世纪衔接阶段的保守党政府加强了它的殖民时期的习俗，讲排场的葬礼是如此昂贵，只有最富有的人才出得起这笔钱。 塔尔科勒?德?鲁纳大主教死的时候，全省的钟不停地整整敲了九天九夜，公众们是如此惊惧，结果他的继承人就从葬礼中将敲丧钟这一条取消，只有在死了显赫人物时才这样做。因而，当阿里萨在圣灵降临节那个星期日下午四点听见教堂敲起丧钟时，他感到象是他那已逝的青年时期的一个幽灵又来到了他的身边。但他根本没有想到，这竟是这么多年他一直焦急等待的丧钟——从看到费尔米纳怀着六个月的身孕听完大弥撒出来的那个星期天起。 “他妈的！”他在昏暗中咕哝道，“大教堂敲丧钟，该是哪个了不起的大人物死了。” 阿美利卡?维库尼亚终于醒来了。 “可能是为圣灵降临节敲钟吧。”她说。 阿里萨对敲钟的事儿不是内行，对教堂里的事务更是门外汉。自从跟一个教了他电报学的德国人一块在唱诗班拉小提琴以来，他再没去听过弥散。关于这个德国人的去向，他一直没得到任何确切的消息。这事他知道，的确，市里死了人，要举行葬礼。一个加勒比难民使团那天上午到过他家，告诉他，赫雷米阿?德萨因特?阿莫乌尔那天清早在他的照相室去世。阿里萨不是他的挚友，但是其他许多加勒比难民的好友，这一些人一直请他去参加他们的公众活动，尤其是葬礼。但他敢断定，丧钟不是为赫雷米阿?德萨因特?阿莫乌尔敲的，因为他是一个非教徒，顽固的无政府主义分子，何况又是自杀的。 “不！”他说，“这样的丧钟只能是为省长以上的人物敲的。” 阳光从没有关严的百叶窗里射进来，在阿美利卡?维库尼亚嫩白的身躯上映成一道道虎皮的斑纹。她年轻轻的，想不到死亡的事。他们吃过午饭后，在叶式吊扇十面躺着迷迷糊糊地睡午觉。吊扇的嗡嗡声掩盖不住在晒得滚烫的锌板屋顶上行走的兀鹰噼啪作响的脚步声。阿里萨爱她象在他漫长的生命中所有邂逅相遇的女人一样。但对这个姑娘的爱却带有更多的焦虑，因为他相信，她在高等学校毕业时，他已经长眠于地下了。 这间房子象一个船舱，木板条墙壁跟轮船一样，一次又一次地涂过油漆。但是，下午四点钟时，它比船舱更加闷热烤火，热气透过金属屋顶反照进来，床上的吊扇也无济于事。那不是正式的寝室，而是专为阿里萨在加勒比内河航运公司办公室后面盖的一个陆地船舱，唯一的目的就是给年事已高的阿里萨提供一个理想的爱巢。 平日，码头工人吵吵嚷嚷，河流港口的吊车吱吱嘎嘎作响，港内轮船的汽笛声震耳欲聋，那儿很难睡觉。然而，对这个女孩来说，在这里过星期天可真是象上天堂了。 圣灵降临节那天，他们俩本来想一起呆到晚祷前五分钟，因为那时她就得会寄宿学校了，但丧钟忽然使阿里萨想起他已答应前去参加的赫雷米阿?德萨因特?阿莫乌尔的葬礼，于是他比惯常更快地穿好衣服。象往常一样，在自己穿衣服之前，他给女孩编独辫，然后把她抱上桌子，给她系她自己总是系不好的鞋带。他恭恭敬敬地帮她，她也允许他帮她，就象是一种义务。从最初几天接触起，他们便都忘记了他们年龄的差异，互相充满信赖，仿佛是一对夫妻。这对夫妻一生中互相隐瞒了那么多事情，以致现在已没有什么好互相诉说的了。 那天是个假日，办公室关着。门里边也黑洞洞的。沉寂的码头上只停着一艘船，锅炉还熄了火。天气闷热，预示着要下雨，这是今年的头几场雨。但是天空是清澈的，港口上洋溢着星期日的宁静，似乎置身在风和日丽的月份里。从这里到周围比在船舱的荫凉处更加使人感到闷热，丧钟的鸣响更令人悲怆，虽然至今尚不知为谁而鸣。阿里萨和女孩来到了满处堆放硝石的院子里，那里昔日曾经是西班牙人贩卖黑奴的港口，至今还留着磅秤及奴隶交易所用的锈蚀了的铁器。汽车在仓库的荫凉处等着他们，他们落坐之后，才把伏在方向盘上睡着了的司机叫醒。汽车在密密的铁丝网圈着的仓库后调了个头，穿过了幽灵湾老市场的空地。空地上，几个几乎赤裸着身子的人在玩球。随后，汽车在一片飞扬的热尘中驶离了内河港口。阿里萨认为丧钟不可能是为赫雷米阿?德萨因特?阿莫马尔而敲，但它又不停地鸣响使他产生了疑问。他把手搭在司机肩上，凑近他的耳朵，喊着问他是在为谁敲钟。 “那个医生，就是留山羊胡子的那家伙！”司机说，“他叫什么名字来着？” 阿里萨不用想就明白了司机说的是谁。但是，当司机跟他讲了医生是怎么死去的，他的幻想立刻消失了，因为那不象是真的，因为没有什么比一个人的死更象他的为人，而没有一种死比这样的死与他心目中的那个人更不相称了。尽管看来似乎荒唐，但死者确实是他：本城年纪最大、医术最高明的医生。他不仅是优秀的医生，而且由于许多其它功绩还是本城名人之一。他今年八十一岁，为了去捉鹦鹉从芒果树干上摔下来，跌断脊梁骨而身亡。 自从费尔米纳结婚时起，阿里萨所作的一切都是为了有一天能听到这一消息。 但是，这个时刻真的来到时，他却并没有感到喜悦和激动——那种千百次在不眠之夜所预见的胜利的喜悦和激动——而是内心被一种恐怖撕裂着：他异常清醒地想到，如果他自己死了，丧钟也会这样敲的。 汽车在石头街道上颠簸着前进，坐在阿里萨旁边的阿美利卡?维库尼亚被他苍白的脸色吓呆了，她问他出了什么事。阿里萨用冰凉的手拉住了她的手。 “唉，我的孩子！”他叹了口气，”为了跟你讲这些事情，我真愿意再活五十岁。” 他忘记了赫雷米阿?德萨因特?阿莫乌尔的葬礼。车子停在寄宿学校大门口，他匆忙将女孩收下，答应下礼拜六再来接她，然后便命令司机开往乌尔比诺医生家中去。他看到临近的街道上停着许许多多的汽车和出租车，房子对面站着一大群看热闹的人。拉西德斯?奥利贝利亚医生的客人们在欢庆会进行到高潮时得到这一不幸消息，如今纷纷赶到。整个家中都挤满了人，要动一动实在不容易。但是阿里萨终于打开一条通道，来到了一层楼的寝室。他路起脚尖，从堵在门口的人头上望过去。看见乌尔比诺躺在床上，脸上的神情就象他第一次听人讲起就迫不及待地希望看到他时那样，他象是在死亡的羞辱之中挣扎过来的。木匠刚刚量过棺材的尺寸。 费尔米纳坐在他旁边，穿着为参加午宴而穿的老新娘的服装，神情茫然，默无一言。 阿里萨从完全献身于这一无畏的爱情事业的青年时代起，就连那一时刻的最微小的细节都预计到了。为了她，他有了名，得了利，并不过多地去注意是用什么方式得的。 为了她，他细心周密保护着自己的身体及外貌，这在同时代的其他男子汉看来真是太没有男子气I。 在这个世界上，没有人会象他一刻也不气馁地等待那一天的到来。乌尔比诺医生的死，终于使事情变得对他有利，使他得到了足够的勇气，在费尔米纳嫣居的第一天晚上就向她重申他忠贞不渝永远爱她的誓言。 他明白，那是一个轻率的行动，缺乏起码的方式与时间观念。他认为机不可失，时不再来，一定要马上行动。他曾设想过，甚至多次设想过。用一种不那么莽撞的方式做这件事，但命运之神却不容他有另外的选择。他从那个筹办丧事的家中走出来时，心情是痛苦的，因为他使她处于跟自己同样激动的状态。但是没有力量能阻止他这样做，他觉得那个残酷之夜，早就记录在两个人的命运之中了。 在此后的两个星期中，他没有睡过一个整夜的觉。他反复地绝望地问自己，失去了丈夫，费尔米纳此刻会在哪儿，她在想什么，丈夫把可怕的负担放在她的肩上，她将怎样打发今后的日子。 他患了一次严重的便秘，肚皮胀得鼓似的，他不得不使用缓解剂，当然，这不会比灌肠利舒服。老病和新病比起来，阿里萨更能忍受老病，因为从年轻时代起他就了解它们，可现在老病一齐向他袭来了。星期三那天，在一周没上班之后，他重新在办公室露面。卡西亚妮看到他如此苍白和邋遢，不禁吃了一惊。但是他劝她不必担心，说那是因为他又象往常那样失眠了。为了不吐露真情，他不得不又一次咬紧牙关，他心中淤积着多年的痛楚。 大雨没有给他提供一丝阳光的空隙让他思考。在恍惚中又过了一个星期，思绪茫然，集中不到任何事上面，吃饭不香，睡得更糟，一心希望寻觅能向他指明得救之路的标记。但是，从星期五开始，他无缘无故地心情豁然开朗起来，这似乎是一个征兆，表明不会再发生什么事了，他一生所作的努力都是无用的，无须再继续下去，事情已经到头了。然而，星期一，他回到彭塔纳斯大街家中，看到有封信漂在门厅前的水洼里。他立即认出了湿信封上那刚劲有力的字体，生活中如此多的变化也未能改变那种笔迹。他甚至以为嗅到了夜间凋谢的桅子花的香味，因为心灵从最初的一刻起就告诉他了一切，那就是半个世纪来他一直不安地在期待着的信。