Chapter 4 third chapter

I was destined to live a life of drama. Although the proclamation announced the general's arrival without organizing a public welcome, a merry procession of horses came to the port to greet him.Mayor Posada Gutierrez organized a band and ordered fireworks to be set off for three days.But before the suite entered the bustling business district, a heavy rain spoiled the welcoming ceremony.It was an early heavy rainstorm, and the streets filled with water, flooding the slums, but it was still hot.Greetings were exchanged amidst the uproar, and the eternal folly was uttered: "It's so hot in here that the chickens' eggs look as if they've been scrambled." For three days in a row nothing came of this customary calamity. Change.When people were drowsy at noon, a black cloud floated down from the mountain and pressed over the city, and it rained heavily in an instant.Then the sun shone again in the transparent sky, blazing down the earth as before, while the townspeople cleared the debris from the streets.Every morning there are dark clouds like that accumulating over the top of the mountain.Whether it is day or night, whether at home or outdoors, people are suffering from heat waves all the time.

Due to the fever, the general was extremely weak, and it was difficult for him to support himself to participate in the official welcome ceremony.The air in the town hall was as hot as steam in a cauldron, but the General got through it like a prudent priest preaching.He talked to people in a very slow drawl, and never got out of his easy chair.A 12-year-old girl with angel wings and a fluttering dress recites a poem in praise of the general's great exploits, almost suffocating with anxiety.She made a mistake and planned to go back and recite it again, but she couldn't catch it no matter how hard she recited it.She didn't know what to do, but stared at the general with her small eyes that were somewhat frightened.The general smiled at her with an air of willingness to help, and murmured to her the forgotten verse: The flash of your sword is the vivid reflection of your glory.

During the early years of his reign, the General never missed an opportunity to throw a grand banquet.At the banquet, he always persuaded the guests to eat and drink until they were very drunk.The only thing left of him from this lavish past are some personal tableware with his initials engraved on it.Jose Palacios brought these tableware for him every time he went to a banquet.At Hongda's reception, he seemed to accept the honor of being the chief, but he only drank a glass of Bordeaux wine and a little bit of river turtle soup.He didn't like the taste of this soup very much. He retired early to rest in the comfortable bedroom that Colonel Posada Gutierrez had prepared for him in his own home.But the news that people were coming to Santa Fe the next day took away what little drowsiness he had.He was restless, restless, and after an interval of three days, recalled his misfortune, and again tormented José Palacios with those strange questions.He wanted to know what had happened to Santa Fe since he was gone, how the city was doing under the new government, and what life was like there without him.Once, at the height of his sentimentality, he had said: "America is half the world gone mad." That first night in Konda he had all the more reason to think so.

That night.He was infested with mosquitoes and stayed up almost all night because he refused to sleep under the mosquito net.Sometimes he paced up and down the room talking to himself, sometimes he rocked violently in the hammock, sometimes he curled up in the blanket as the fever tormented him, almost screaming in the sweat talking nonsense.Jose Palacios stayed up with him, answering his questions and telling him what time it was.He didn't need to look at the pocket watch hanging on the button of his fur waistcoat, because the time was in his heart.He came to the general's aid when he was unable to swing the hammock himself.He drove the mosquitoes away with a rag until the general finally fell asleep for more than an hour.However, just before dawn, the general woke up suddenly, because he heard the neighing of livestock and people's voices in the yard.He went outside in his pajamas and waited for the postman.

The general's Mexican aide-de-camp, the young Captain Agustin Iturbide, arrived with the postal cavalry, having been delayed at Santa Fe by some last-minute inconvenience.He brought a letter from Marshal Sucre, who regretted not arriving in time to see the general off.The postman also brought a letter written by President Cayudo two days earlier.Later, Mayor Posada Gutierrez came into the bedroom with the Sunday newspaper clippings, and the general asked him to read the letter for him because the light at the time obscured the general's vision. The letter brought the news that the rain finally stopped in Santa Fe on Sunday, and many people took their children to the ranch.They had roast suckling pig, roast beef, rice sausage, and cheese and potatoes in basins.They sat on the grass and had lunch under the bright sunshine. It had been a long time since they had seen such sunshine in that noisy city.This miracle in May dispelled the tense atmosphere on Saturday, and the students of the San Bartolome school flooded the streets again, this time performing a one-act satirical comedy that people have seen many times, but Didn't get any response.Before dusk, the students left bored.On Sundays, they replaced the acting shotguns with tenor singers, and sang bambucos to the people sitting in the sun in the pastures, until the sudden and unexpected rain fell at five o'clock in the afternoon, and the entertainment ended.

Posada Gutierrez stopped reading the letter. "There is nothing in this world that can tarnish your glory," he said to the general. "No matter what others say, no matter where you are, you are still the greatest Colombian." "I don't doubt it," said the general. "You see, the sun was shining brightly again as soon as I left." The only thing that displeased him in the letter was that the Acting President of the Republic himself rashly and officially referred to the supporters of Santander as Liberals. "I don't know where those politicians stole the right to call themselves Liberals," said the general. "They stole the word as much as they took everything that fell into their hands." He jumped from his hammock. He got down, strode across the room like a soldier, and continued to vent his anger to the mayor. "The fact is that there are no parties here except those for me and those against me. You know that better than anyone," he said conclusively. No one is more genuine than me."

Then a message came from one of the mayor's personal messengers that Manuela Saenz had not written to him because the post office had flatly refused to accept her letters.The message came from Manuela herself, and she wrote to the Acting President the same day to protest his ban.It was also the acting president who made her go back and forth countless times, and in the end she was exiled by the general and forgotten by her.However, contrary to the expectations of Posada Gutierrez, who is well aware of the setbacks and misfortunes of that love, the general smiled slightly after hearing the bad news. "This kind of conflict happens naturally to my lovely madwoman."

Jose Palacios was not happy with the three-day schedule in Honda, which he felt lacked respect for the general.What surprised him was that they invited the general to visit the Santa Ana silver mine, 40 kilometers away from the city. However, he was even more surprised that the general accepted it, and what surprised him even more was that the general went down an underground tunnel .Worst of all, on the way back to the city, despite the high fever and the pain in his head that seemed to explode, he jumped into the slow flow of a river to swim.In the days long ago, he had wagered that he would cross a rapid on the plain with one hand tied and beat the best swimmer.But this time, anyway, he swam lightly for half an hour. However, no one who saw his thin dog-like ribs and stunted calves could understand why his body was so thin and weak. Survive.

Last night.The city government held a luxurious ball for him, but he did not attend on the pretext of being tired from the tour.From five o'clock in the afternoon, he shut himself up in his bedroom, dictated to Fernando the reply to General Domingo Cajudo, and made him read a few pages of Lima's romantic stories, one of which was based on his for the protagonist.Then, he took a warm bath, lay quietly in the hammock under the breeze and listened to the bursts of music from the ball.Later, when Jose Palacios was about to nurse him to sleep, he suddenly heard him say: "Do you remember this waltz?" To remind his steward, the general whistled a few beats, But Palacios still couldn't remember. "It was the most frequent waltz we played that night from Chuquisaka to Lima," said the general.Jose Palacios still doesn't remember, but he will never forget that glorious night of February 8, 1826.That morning, Lima held a grand reception for them. Every time the general clinked glasses at the banquet, he said: "There is no Spaniard in the vast Peruvian territory." It finally came true. According to his words, he wanted to turn this continent into the largest, or the most extraordinary, or the most powerful alliance of countries, which is unprecedented in the world.The ball was in full swing, and the general kept on dancing, and the waltz was played again and again, so that all the ladies of Lima might have the honor of dancing with him once.His officers, in the best uniforms in town, followed his example and danced vigorously, for they too were waltzers.This ball will be in their memory forever, and their dance partner will be etched in their hearts longer than the honor of war.

On this night in Hongda, the prelude to the dance was the waltz that reminded people of the old dream.So the Special Forces waited in the hammock for the second performance of the piece.But then the band didn't resume the waltz, and the general couldn't hold back anymore, jumped out of his hammock, put on the hunting suit he had worn for visiting the silver mines, and entered the dance floor without warning.He danced for almost three hours, changing partners with each piece, presumably to relive the glory days with his strands of nostalgia.Those dreamy days are long gone, when he danced until dawn alone in an empty hall with his last partner when everyone else was exhausted.Because dancing fills him with passion, he can even dance alone without a partner, and when there is no band, he dances by himself whistling to music, and sometimes, to show his great joy, he even crawls into the dining room with self-satisfaction. dance on the table.But now, he was feeling exhausted, and he had to recover his strength by sniffing a handkerchief soaked in perfume during the dance break.But he danced so passionately with the agility of a young man that he virtually broke the legend that he was blinded by illness.

Shortly after midnight, when he returned to his bedroom, he was reported that a woman was waiting for him in the living room.The woman was elegant and haughty, and her body exuded the fragrance of spring flowers.She wore a long-sleeved blouse of velvet, fine suede riding boots, and a medieval lady's hat with a veil on it.The general, amazed at her attire and at the moment of her visit, bowed respectfully to her.The lady did not speak, but held up a round necklace hung around her neck with a long chain for the general to see.The general recognized it immediately, and couldn't help being surprised again: "Miranda Lindaza!" he shouted. "It's me," she said, "though I'm not the same Miranda Lindaza I used to be!" Her cello-like voice is warm and deep, with just a hint of the tone of her native English.That voice probably brought back memories that he would never get back.He gestured to get the sentry standing at the door to retreat, and then sat down opposite her.He sat so close to her, it could be said that he sat on his knees, and took her hand. They met 15 years ago in Kingston, Jamaica's capital, when the general was in second exile, at a lunch at the home of British businessman Maxwell Yaslobo.She was the only daughter of a Mr. London Lindasar, a retired British diplomat who was living in a sugarcane pond factory in Jamaica at the time writing his six-volume memoir—a memoir that no one read.Despite Miranda's natural beauty and love at first sight for the young man in exile, the young man didn't take her seriously. He was expecting another woman, and he didn't think of any other women. She should always remember that he looked like a man much older than his actual age of 32 years, with a skinny face and a pale face, with sideburns and mustaches as hard as a mulatto, with long hair draped over his shoulders .Like the local aristocratic youth, he was dressed as an Englishman, wearing a white tie, and a uniform that was too thick for the local climate, and romantically put a bonsai in the buttonhole.Because of his attire, one debauched night in 1810, a courtesan in a London brothel mistook him for a Greek sodomite. No matter how you look at it, he is most memorable for his hallucinatory eyes and his raptor-like trill and eloquent conversation.The most peculiar thing is that he always lowers his eyes, not looking directly at the people at the same table, but he can attract their attention.He spoke in rhythms, with the articulation of a Canary Islander and the tone of a well-bred Madridistan.There were two guests at the dinner table who did not understand Spanish, and he spoke to them in very elementary English, which he could barely understand. During lunch he paid no attention to anyone but to his phantom.He talked incessantly, impassionedly, and with an air of erudition, uttering from time to time aphorisms of prophets that were nowhere to be found, many of which made, a few days later, an epic bulletin in a Kingston paper. History calls this proclamation the Jamaica Letter. "It was not the Spaniards, but our own disunity that put us back into slavery." He said.Speaking of America's greatness, resources, and power, he said several times, "We are a puny human being." Back home, when Miranda's father asked her about the rebel who had so disturbed the island's Spanish agents How about it, she said only one sentence: "He thinks he is Bonaparte." A few days later, he received a strange letter detailing how he would meet her next Saturday night at nine o'clock, inviting him to walk alone to an uninhabited place.Such an act required him to risk not only his life but the fate of America, for he was the only force remaining after the crushing of the uprising.After five years of risky, difficult and tortuous wars of independence, Spain has just restored the Governor General of New Granada and the Governor General of Venezuela. These two countries have not resisted General Pablo Morillo, known as the appeasement expert. ferocious attack.According to the simple formula of the literate, the entire membership of the Patriot High Command was killed. Latin America's literate generation sowed the seeds of independence from Mexico to the Rio de la Plata, and the general was the most confident, tenacious, visionary, and best at combining political genius and war instincts. people together.At this time he lived in a rented two-room house with his two military aides, two freed young serfs who continued to serve him, and José Palacios.To go on foot at night without a guard to a doubtful rendezvous was not only a futile venture, but ill-advised in such fine conditions.But, despite the importance he attaches to his life and career, he finds nothing more alluring to him than a date with a beautiful woman. Miranda waited for him on horseback at the pre-arranged spot, also alone.She carried him on a horse along an inconspicuous path.On the sea in the distance, thunder and lightning flashed together, and it seemed that it was going to rain soon.A group of dark-colored dogs circled around the horse, barking under the night, and he yelled at him in soft English from time to time.The place they passed was very close to the sugar factory, where Mr. London Lindasa wrote his memoirs.No one remembers it better than the general, they waded across a small river with a stony bottom, and on the other side entered a pine forest, and at the end of the pine forest there was an abandoned church, where they dismounted and held hands Through the gloomy prayer room and into the crumbling sacristy.The sacristy, lit by the dim light of a torch nailed to the wall, contained no furniture save two tree trunks hewn with axes.At this point they saw each other's faces.He wore a long-sleeved shirt, and his hair was tied at the nape of his neck with a ribbon like a ponytail.Miranda thought he was younger and more attractive than he had been at lunch that day. He didn't take the initiative to get close to her, because his way of seducing women had no rules and was often tailored, especially at the first step. "In the prelude to love, no fault can be corrected." He once said so.In this case, he should have been convinced that all obstacles had been bypassed because she had made the decision. But he was wrong.In addition to her extreme beauty, Miranda also possessed incomparable dignity and solemnity. Therefore, after a long time, he finally understood that this time he also needed to take the initiative.He invited her to sit down, and the two of them sat face to face on two tree trunks, just like they did in Hongda City 15 years later, and they were so close that their legs almost touched each other.He grabbed her hand and pulled her to his chest, trying to kiss her.She made him lean forward until she felt the heat of his breath.But then she moved her face away. "Everything has to wait until a certain time," she said. Later, he tried to kiss her many times, but she stopped them with this sentence.It's midnight.When the rain began to seep through the cracks in the roof, they still sat there holding hands and facing each other.He recited to her a poem he'd been brewing in his head during those days.It was a carefully crafted octaline poem that rhymed with zigzag and rhymes. In the poem, there were words of courtship to women and flaunting of war.She was moved by the poem and said three names in a row, trying to guess the author's name. "The author is a soldier," he said. "A soldier in the field or a soldier in the salon?" she asked. "It's a little bit of both," he said. "The greatest and loneliest soldier who ever lived." At that time, she remembered what she had said to her father after the luncheon given by Mr. Yaslopo. "It can only be Bonaparte," she said. "Almost he," said the general, "but there is a great difference in spirit between them, for the author of the poem did not allow himself to be crowned." As the years went by, and as new news came to her ears, she wondered with increasing amazement whether he realized at the time that his great witty jokes were a preview of his own career.But she was convinced of it that night.She hoped to get him without pissing him off and making an agreement with him.She wanted him, but she didn't surrender to his attacks.The closer it was to dawn, the more urgent her mood became.Until she allowed him to playfully kiss her a few times, but that's all. "Everything will have to wait until a certain time." She said to him repeatedly. "At three o'clock in the afternoon, I'm leaving here forever on the Haitian mailer," he said. She smiled and immediately exposed his trick. "First of all, the mail ship doesn't leave until Friday," she said. 'Besides, the cake you commissioned from Mrs. Tournell yesterday won't be delivered until tonight to the dinner party given by the woman who hates me the most in the world. " The woman who hated her most in this world was Julia Cowell, a beautiful and wealthy Dominican woman who also lived in exile in Jamaica.It is said that the General spent the night in her house on more than one occasion.They were going to celebrate her birthday that night just for her. "You have better news than my spies," he said. "Don't you think of me as one of your spies better?" she said. The general did not understand the meaning of this sentence until he got home at six o'clock in the morning, when he saw his friend Felix Amestroy lying bloody and dead in his hammock, if it hadn't been for that He would have slept in that hammock, had it been a pretend tryst, and that night Felix Amestoy was waiting in the hammock for the General to hand him an urgent letter himself, but finally He was defeated by the sleepy demon and fell asleep, not wanting a liberated slave bought by the Spaniards to break into Mi, thinking he was the general, stabbing him eleven times and killing him.It was Miranda who had been informed of the assassination plan in advance and quietly rescued him in the most discreet manner.He intended to go and thank her himself.But she didn't agree.Before leaving for Port-au-Prince in a corsair, the general had José Palacios present her with a precious choker he had inherited from his mother, enclosing a letter with only one line. unsigned note; "I was destined to live a life of drama." Miranda never forgot, and never understood, the profound words of the young warrior.In later years, the general returned to his homeland with the help of General Alejandre Petion, President of the Free Republic of Haiti.Leading an insurrectionary detachment of barefoot cavalry from the province of Llano across the Andes, defeating the royalists at the Boyaca Bridge, and a second time, also permanently liberating New Granada and then his native Venezuela, Finally liberated the rugged southern territories as far as the borders of the Brazilian Empire.She had followed his footsteps, especially through the stories of the travel writers who described his exploits tirelessly.When the old Spanish colony gained complete independence, Miranda married an English land surveyor who had abandoned his career and settled in New Granada to grow Jamaican sugar cane in the Honda Valley.Miranda had just arrived in Honda the day before when she heard that his old acquaintance, a Kingston exile, lived less than 20 kilometers from her home.But when she came to the gold mine, the general had already returned to Hongda City, and she had to ride for a long time before meeting him. At this time, the general's hair was pale and loose, and it was scattered loosely.The face was so old and haggard that she felt astonished as if she were talking to a dead man.If it weren't for his sideburns and mustache around his lips when he was young, she would not have recognized him if she saw him on the street.Having ruled out the risk of being recognized in the street, Miranda would have taken off her veil to address him, but she did not do so, fearing that he would also discover the marks time had painted on her face.After a few pleasantries in the living room, she said straight to the point; "I'm here to ask for your help." "I'm all yours," he said. "My father of five is in prison for a long time for killing a man," she said. "Did you kill him openly?"It's a public duel. ’ she said, and immediately explained that ‘it was out of jealousy. " "Of course, based on unfounded suspicions," he said. "No, there is a reason," she said. But now everything is in the past, including him.She simply asks him to exercise his influence out of love, to end her husband's captivity.He said to her matter-of-factly: "As you can see, I am sick and useless, but for you, there is nothing I cannot do in this world." The General summoned Captain Ibarra in and made him take the record, promising to do all in his meager power to obtain a pardon for Miranda's husband.That night he exchanged views with General Posada Gutierrez.Their conversations were kept absolutely confidential, and nothing was left behind, but everything had to wait until they understood the nature of the new government before taking action.He sent Miranda under the porch, where a guard of six freed slaves waited for her.In parting, he kissed her hand. "Have a nice evening," she said. He couldn't help asking excitedly. "This one or that one?" "Both," she said. She mounted a magnificent horse, saddled like a governor's, and galloped away without looking back at him.He had been watching her disappear at the end of the street from the porch, but he was still dreaming of her when Jose Palacios woke him up at dawn to continue up the river. Seven years ago the Admiral had granted the German Commodore Juan bei Herweis a privilege to operate steamships.He himself had sailed from New Barampian to Port Royal on his way to Ocania.He thinks this way of travel is comfortable and safe.But Commodore Elsie didn't think the shipping was worth it if it wasn't an exclusive operation.Therefore, General Santander unconditionally gave him this special right during his tenure as acting president.However, two years later, General Bolivar, who was granted supreme power by the National Assembly, tore up this agreement. He said in a prophetic tone: "If we give the Germans exclusive shipping rights, they will eventually transfer it to the Germans. American." Then he declared freedom of inland waterway navigation throughout the country. therefore.When he tried to hire a steamer to travel up the river, he was met with delays and prevarications, or apparently revenge.When the time came to set off, he had no choice but to go by sampan as usual. From five o'clock in the morning, the port pier was crowded with people on horseback and on foot. They were hurriedly summoned by the mayor Lu Shi from the nearby roads, in order to pretend to see him off enthusiastically like in the past.Numerous small boats rowed up and down the moorings, full of gay women who shouted and teased the guard soldiers, who returned them with lascivious compliments.The general and his official entourage arrived at the port at six o'clock.He left the mayor's house on foot, and walked slowly, with a perfumed handkerchief over his mouth. That day, there was a lot of fog.The shops on the street open at dawn, some almost operating in small open-air shacks, surrounded by houses that were damaged by the earthquake 20 years ago.The general waved his handkerchief in answer to those who greeted him from the windows, but there were few of them, and many more watched him pass in silence, marveling at his poor health.He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, his only pair of Wellington boots, and a white straw hat.At the church door, the pastor climbed onto a chair to give him a speech, but was stopped by General Carreno.The general walked over and shook his hand firmly. As soon as he turned the corner, the General knew from just one look that he did not have the strength to climb the high slope.But he still clung to General Carreno's shoulders and began to climb, not stopping until he was clearly exhausted.So people tried to convince him to sit in a chair that Posada Guatierrez had prepared for him in case he needed it. "No, General, I beg you," he said uneasily, "save me from this insult." He finally climbed up the high slope, but it was not so much with physical strength as with willpower, and he even had the strength to reach the anchorage of the boat without anyone's help.There, he politely bid farewell to his official entourage.He forced a grin so as not to show that he was on a fruitless comeback trip on that rose-blossoming May 15th.He left Mayor Posada Gutierrez with a gold medal bearing his statue as a memento, and thanked him for his care at the top of his voice so that everyone present could hear him, and thanked him for his care. She hugged him with excitement from the bottom of her heart.Then, he boarded the tail of the sampan and waved his straw hat to say goodbye to everyone.He did not look at any of the people standing on the bank saying his farewell, nor at the boats that cluttered about the sampan, nor at the naked children swimming underwater like herrings.He kept holding the straw hat in the same direction with a bewildered expression, until the sampan receded and he saw only the lugs on the steeple of the church through the top of the ruined city wall.So he got under the sampan cover, sat down in the hammock, stretched his legs and let Jose Palacios help him take off his boots. "Well, now let's see if they believe we're gone," he said. The fleet consists of eight sampans of different sizes, one for the general and his entourage, one helmsman and eight oarsmen at the stern, and the oars are made of guaiac wood.These sampans are different from ordinary sampans, and there is a cargo shed made of palm leaves in the center of the sampan.A tent was set up under the cargo shed of the general's sampan so that he could hang his hammock in the shade.They also hung calico and matting for him in the tent as a wall, and opened four windows for him to ventilate and let in light.A small table and a bookshelf for writing or playing cards were placed for him, as well as a water tank and a stone filter.The captain of the fleet was chosen from the best rowers on the river. His name was Casildo Santos, a former captain of the guard battalion. He spoke like thunder, and he had a plaster on his left eye like a pirate. He commanded more with bravery than wit. May is the best time of year for Vice Admiral Hervez's fleet of ships, but that good time is backfiring for the sampans.The heat, the tempest, the treacherous current, the menace of wild beasts and vermin of the night, all conjoined to seem against the traveller, and to spoil the comfort and ease of their journey.Another tormentor for the ill-healthed and the sensitive of smell is the stench of bacon and smoked food that has been inadvertently hung over the side of a sampan.After the general boarded the ship and found it, he was immediately taken down.When Captain Santos learned that the general could not bear the taste of the food, he ordered the food to be put on the last ship of the fleet, which also carried live chickens and live pigs.Nevertheless, from the first day of the voyage, since the general ate two bowls of green corn paste with relish in a row, he decided that the general would not be able to swallow any other food except corn paste during the journey. "This thing seems to be made by the magic hand of Fernanda VII." He said.That's exactly what happened.The cornmeal was, indeed, the work of a cook he had employed in his last years, a woman from Quito.Her name was Fernanda Barriga.When the cook forced him to eat something he hated, he called her Fernanda VII.Fernanda boarded the ship without telling him.She is a fat Indian woman with a gentle and chatty personality. Her greatest ability is not to cook good meals in the kitchen, but to rely on her instinct to make the general eat happily at the table.He had already decided to let her stay in Santa Fe with Manuela Saenz, and Manuela had arranged for her to do housework, but General Carreño suddenly called her from Guaduas urgently because Jose Palacios reported to him in alarm that the general had not had a proper meal since the eve of his departure.She got to Hongda at dawn, and they let her smuggle aboard the sampan with the pantry, waiting for the right opportunity to show up.The opportunity came sooner than expected, for the general was very happy with the green corn mush, which had been his favorite meal since his health had gone from bad to worse. The first day on board almost became the last day.At two o'clock that afternoon, the sky became dark, like night.The river was surging, wave after wave, lightning and thunder shaking the ground, and the oarsmen seemed powerless to keep the boat from smashing to pieces on the stepped banks.The general watched Captain Santos turn the tide from the tent, commanding loudly, as if his experience at sea was not enough to deal with such a sudden turn of events.The general was curious at first, and then extremely anxious.At the most dangerous moment, he found that the captain had given the wrong order.He stood up instinctively, opened a way against the wind and rain, and changed the captain's order that would lead to the destruction of the ship and the loss of life. "No way," he yelled, "Swipe right, swipe right, fuck!" The oarsmen reacted to his hoarse, yet still irresistibly authoritative voice.Naturally, the general himself took command until the danger was overcome.Jose Palacios immediately threw a blanket over him.威尔逊和伊瓦拉使劲地扶着他，桑托斯船长则站到了一边，他再次意识到，他把左舷和右舷弄混了。他象一个士兵似地毕恭毕敬地等待将军来找他，将军发现他的目光还在颤抖着。 “请原谅，船长。”将军对他说。 但是将军自己却没有平静下来。那天晚上，船第一次靠岸过夜．他坐在海滩上燃起的篝火旁，讲起了难忘的海滩事故。他说他的哥哥胡安?维森特，亦即费尔南多的父亲，就是从华盛顿为第一共和国买枪支弹药回来时在海上遇难的。他还说有一次他骑马涉过阿拉乌卡河时，因湖水上涨马匹被淹死，他的靴子被挂在了马蹬上。他伏在死马的背上在河里翻滚，倘若不是向导割断了马鞍上的皮带，他也便一命呜呼了。他又说在新格拉纳达的独立成功之后不久，他去安戈斯图拉时，遇到一条小船在奥里诺科河的急流中沉没。他看到一位陌生的军官向岸边游去，人们告诉他那是苏克雷将军，他怒气冲冲地反驳道：“压根儿没有什么苏克雷将军。”不过，那的确是安东尼奥?何塞?德?苏克霭，他不久前被晋升为解放军的将军。从此之后，他们成了莫逆之交。 “我知道你们这次的相遇，”卡雷尼奥将军说，“但我不了解翻船的细节。” 将军说“您大概把这次遇险跟苏克雷在莫里略的追逐下从卡塔赫纳逃出时的第一次翻船搞混了。那次天晓得他是怎么样在河里足足漂了差不多24 小时的。” dawn.当大家还都在梦乡时，大森林在一支没有伴奏的歌声中颤抖起来，那歌声只能是发自肺腑的。将军在吊床上摇动了一下。 “是伊图尔维德。”何塞?帕拉西奥斯在阴影中低声说道。帕拉西奥斯的话音刚落，一声粗暴的命令便把歌声打断了。 阿古斯丁?伊图尔维德是独立战争中的一位墨西哥将军的长子。这位将军自封为墨西哥皇帝，但在位仅仅一年。当玻利瓦尔将军第一次看到伊图尔维德时，就对他有一种特殊的感情。当时他以立正的姿势站在那儿，他为面前就站着他童年时代憧憬的偶像而激动得浑身哆嗦、双手颤抖。当时他22 岁。他父亲在墨西哥省一个尘土飞扬的炎热的镇子上被枪决时，他还不满17 岁。他父亲流亡回国后不到几小时就遭到了厄运，他不知道自己已被缺席审判，并以叛国罪判处死刑。 从最初的日子开始，伊图尔维德有三件事使将军深为感动。一件是他的父亲从刑场上捎给他的一块金表和几块宝石．他把表公开挂在脖子上，以便谁都不怀疑它的来路是光明正大的。另一件是他的纯朴的气质，他告诉将军说，他父亲为了不让港口警察认出来，装成穷汉下船的，但他那优雅的骑马方式却暴露了他的身分。第三件令将军感动的是他唱歌的方式。 墨西哥政府曾设下重重障碍，不让他参加哥伦比亚军队，因为政府认为，他在战争中受到的训练，将有助于一次由将军参与的拥护君主专制的阴谋，从而使他以有继承权的王子的身分获得所谓正式权利被封为墨西哥皇帝。将军冒了一次引起一场严重外交事件的风险，因为他不仅把年轻的伊图尔维德带着原军街接受加入他的军队，而且还让他作了自己的副官。尽管伊图尔维德没有过上一天好日子，他却没有辜负将军的信赖，而只有他那唱歌的习惯，才使他克服了自己犹豫不决的弱点。 因此，当有人在马格达莱纳的大森林旁让他停止唱歌时，将军便披着一条毛毯从吊床上起来，穿过被卫队的簧火照亮的营地，走近他的身边。将军看到他正坐在河岸上，注视着面前滚滚流去的河水。 “继续唱下去，上尉。”他对他说。 将军靠着他坐了下来，当听到他唱的内容时，便用他那可怜的歌喉跟他一起唱起来。他没有听到过任何人的歌声能充满如此深沉的爱，也不记得任何人唱得如此忧伤，然而如今坐在他的身旁听他歌唱，感到了无限的幸福和欢愉。 伊图尔维德和他在乔治敦军事学校的同学费尔南多和安德烈斯共同谱写了一曲三重唱，这支歌曲使将军周围充满了青春的气息，丰富了军营里可怜的、枯燥乏味的生活。 伊图尔维德和将军继续唱下去，直到大森林中动物的喧闹声把睡在岸上的鳄鱼吓得逃进了河里，河水象遇上地震似地翻滚着。将军被大自然那可怕的苏醒惊呆了，依旧坐在地上，直到地平线上出现一条桔红色的彩带。天亮了起来。这时，他才扶着伊图尔维德的肩膀站起身来。“谢谢，上尉”。他对他说。“假如有十个人能象您这样唱歌，我们就可以挽救整个世界了。” “唉，将军，”伊图尔维德叹道。“我多么愿意我的妈妈听到您说的这句话呀！” 航行的第二天，便看到了岸上一片片精心管理的庄园，那里有绿草成茵的牧场，有自由奔跑的骏马，后来又出现了大森林，一切都离得那么近，一切又都那么整齐划一。船队早就把一些用粗大的树干扎成的木筏抛在了后边，岸边的伐木工用它来收木材运到卡塔赫纳去销售。那些木筏在河里漂得如此缓馒，几乎象纹丝不动一般。人们带着孩子和动物坐在术筏上，简陋的棕榈叶遮棚勉强为他们挡住了阳光。在森林的一些拐弯处，已经看到轮船上的船员们对森林最初的破坏，他们砍伐树木作锅炉燃料。 “鱼类将不得不学会在旱地上走路，因为河水将会干涸。”将军说。 白天，气候又变得闷热难忍，长尾猴和各种鸟儿闹到了发疯的程度，但夜晚却是寂静而凉爽的。鳄鱼仍旧是几小时几小时地趴在岸上不动，张着大口捕捉蝴蝶。在那荒凉的村落附近，可以看到一片片玉米地，玉米田边骨瘦如柴的狗，向着河里过往的船只汪汪吠叫。在荒草野坡上，还设有猎貘的陷阱和搭晒着鱼网，但是却不见一个人影儿。 连年战乱，政府不得民心，连爱情也变得枯燥无味起来，显然人人都变得游手好闲，此情此景，委实令人痛心。将军黎明醒来时，一点精神也打不起来，坐在吊床上陷入了沉思。那一天，将军写完了给凯塞多总统的信之后，已把所有的复信写完，但是，他还是以口授情书来消磨时间。在旅行的头几天里，费尔南多为他读完了供人茶余饭后消遣的《利马纪事》，但他没有做到让将军静下心来再听他朗读别的书籍。 那是给将军读的最后一本完整的书。他是一个沉默而贪婪的的读者，不管在战争间歇还是在爱情生活之余都是这样，但他读书没有一定的顺序和方法。他每时每刻都要别人给他朗读，不管在怎样的光线下，有时他在树下散步时读，有时他在赤道直射的阳光下读，有时他躲在马车铛铛行走在石子路上的阴影里读，有时在吊床上一边口授着信件一边摇晃着读。一位利马书商对他的藏书的数量之多和种类的齐全深感惊讶，他的藏书无所不包，从希腊哲学家的著作到看手相的专著，什么都有。在年轻时，由于受到他的老师西蒙?罗德里格斯的影响，他阅读了大量浪漫派作家的作品，而且至今他依旧如饥似渴地阅读这些书籍。由于他那理想主义的狂热性格，读那些书他觉得犹如阅读自己写的作品。在他整个余生中，他始终充满读书的激情，尽力阅读在手头的所有书籍。他没有什么偏爱的作家，对各个不同的时代的许多作家他都喜欢。书架上总是塞得满满的，卧室和走廊最后都变成摞满书籍的夹道，而且散乱的文件堆积如山，日益增多，直至使他生厌，只好到卷宗里去寻求安息。他从来未把自己的全部藏书和文件读完过。当他离开一个城市的时候，总是把书籍交给他最信赖的朋友照管，尽管他再也不会知道那些书的下落。动荡不定的戎马生涯使他从玻利维亚到委内瑞拉2000 多公里的路途上都留下了书籍和文件的踪迹。 在他视力开始减退之前，他让他的书记官帮着他阅读，最后，由于讨厌眼镜给他带来的麻烦，便完全由书记官朗读了。但是与此同时，他对阅读的兴趣也慢慢减少，而且象每次一样，他把原因归之于客观。“问题是好书越来越少了”他常常这样说。 在令人困倦旅行中，何塞?帕拉西奥斯是唯一没有表现出厌烦的情绪的人。炎热和不适丝毫没有影响他的彬彬有礼的风度和考究的穿着，也没有影响他那无微不至的对将军的侍候。他比将军小六岁，由于一个非洲女人和一个西班牙男人的过错，他作为一个奴隶的后代出生在将军家里。他从西班牙父亲那儿继承了一头红发和满脸满手雀斑以及淡蓝色的眼睛。同他的贫寒出身不相称的是，他在随从人员巾，衣服最多也最考究。他跟随了将军一辈子，包括他的两次流放，他参加了全部大战役和全部火线战斗。他一直是文职官员，从来没有穿过军装。 最糟糕的是，在旅行中他必须寸步不离地跟着将军。一天下午，将军对在狭窄的帆布帐篷里来回走动实在厌烦透了，于是命令停船到岸上走走。在岸边的干土地上，人们看到了一些印记，好象是一只象鸵鸟似的鸟的足迹，其重量至少犹如一头黄牛。但桨手们觉得这没有什么值得大惊小怪的，因为他们说在那片荒凉地带，经常有身躯象木棉树一般粗大、头长肉冠，脚如鸡爪的人出没。将军嘲笑了这种传说，就象他嘲笑所有超然的东西一样。由于散步的时间比原先计划延长了，最后他们只好在那儿露营，尽管船长和将军的副官们都不同意这样做，因为他们认为那地方既危险又不利于健康。由于炎热和长脚蚊阵阵袭击，折磨得将军彻夜未眠。那些蚊子似乎能够钻过闷热的蚊帐来叮咬他，而他又期望听到美洲豹那令人毛骨悚然的吼叫声。在这种情况下，随从人员整夜都处于戒备状态。凌晨两点左右，将军去跟一伙伙在篝火旁守夜的人聊天。只是到了拂晓，将军观赏着被喷薄欲出的旭日涂上一层金色的广阔沼泽地，才放弃了那令他一夜未眠的幻想。“好吧，”他说，“我们得回去了，可惜没有看到脚象鸡爪一般的朋友们。” 正当船队准备起锚开航的时候，一只长满疥疮又瘦又脏，一条腿已致残的黑狗突然跳到了将军的舢舨上。将军的两条狗立即向它发动进攻，但是那条狗以不惜一死的凶狠进行自卫，脖子被咬破了，浑身流满血，但仍没有败下阵去。将军下令将它留下来，象许多次对待街上的狗那样，何塞?帕拉西奥斯收养了它。 同一天．他们还收留了一位德国人，他是因为棒打他的一个船夫被扔在沙洲上的。自从上船以后，这位德国人就自称是天文学家和植物学家。但是，交谈中他完全露了馅，实际上他对天文和植物都一窍不通。相反，他却说亲眼看到了脚象鸡爪的人，而且准备逮一个活的放在笼子里到欧洲去展出，这样的怪物只有美洲的蜘蛛女人可比拟，一个世纪前，那样的女人在安达卢西亚港引起了巨大的轰动。 “您把我带去，”将军对他说，“我可以向您保证，把我作为历史上最大的笨蛋放到笼子里去欧洲巡回展览，您会挣钱更多。” 开头，将军以为那位德国人是个热情的喜剧演员，但是，当这位德国人开始讲起亚历山大?冯?洪堡男爵见不得人的下流笑话时，将军改变了看法。“我们应该把他再扔到沙滩上去。”将军对何塞?帕拉西奥斯说。下午，他们遇上了溯水而上的邮船，将军耍了一点他的诱惑手腕让邮差打开官方邮袋取到了他的信件。最后，他要求邮差帮忙把那位德国人带到纳雷港去。尽管邮船已经超重，但邮差还是答应了。那天晚上，在费尔南多为他念信时，将军嘟嘟哝哝地骂道：“这个狗娘养的德国人，连洪堡男爵的一根头发丝都不如”。 在收留那个德国人之前，航行中将军就一直想着洪堡男爵的事。他无法想象男爵怎样从那种险情丛生的自然环境中活了下来。他是在洪堡男爵从昼夜平分线上的国家考察回来时在巴黎认识他的。无论是男爵的聪慧博学和英俊潇洒的外貌均令他折服，他认为男爵的相貌连女人也会自叹不如。相反，他对男爵断言美洲西班牙殖民地独立的条件已经成熟这一论点却不甚信服。男爵斩钉截铁地下这个结论时，将军甚至连这样的幻想还不曾产生。 “唯一缺少的是一个伟人。”洪堡男爵对他说。 许多年之后，将军在秘鲁的库斯科城把这话告诉了何塞?帕拉西奥斯，当时历史已表明他就是这样的伟人，而他自己大概也认为他胜过任何人。他没有跟别人再提及过此事，但每当谈到男爵时，他都不失时机地颂扬他的洞察力和远见卓识，“洪堡男爵开阔了我的眼界。” 这是将军第四次沿着马格达莱纳河旅行，因而他难龟觉得那是在搜寻自己历史的足迹。他第一次在马格达莱纳河上旅行是1813年，当时他是民兵上校，在他们国家被打败，从库拉索岛的流亡生涯中来到卡塔赫纳寻求将战争继续打下去的契机。新格泣纳达分成了一块块自治的地域，在西班牙人的残酷镇压面前，独立事业失去了民众的支持，最后胜利似乎越来越渺茫。在第三次旅行时——他称之为乘轮船旅行——，解放事业已大功告成，但他那几乎是发疯的统一整个大陆的梦想已开始破碎。到此次旅行，亦即最后一次旅行，他的梦想已彻底破灭了。但那梦想依旧虽死犹存，他将其概括为一句话，不厌其烦地重复着：“在我们建立一个统一的美洲政府之前，我们的敌人始终会占有全部的优势。” 将军同何塞?帕拉西奥斯有着许许多多的共同回忆，最令他们激动的回忆之一便是第一次沿马格达莱纳河的旅行，那时是沿河进行解放战争。将军率领200 名用五花八门的武器武装起来的士兵，20 天之内，使得马格达莱纳河流域不剩一个拥护君主政体的西班牙人。 航行的第四天，当开始看到村边的河岸上站着的一排排等着舢舨通过的妇女时，何塞?帕拉西奥斯意识到事情是发生了何等巨大的变化呀！“那些都是寡妇。”他说。将军从帐篷里探出身来看到了那些女人，她们穿着孝服，一排排站在河岸上，仿佛是在灼热的太阳下静息的乌鸦。她们在那儿等待着，希望得到哪怕是一声怜悯的问候也好。安德烈斯的哥哥迭戈?伊瓦拉将军常常说，将军没有生过一个儿子，但他是国家所有寡妇的父母。她们到处追随他，而他刚用他发自肺腑的亲切话语使她们活下去，那些话语是真正的带有安慰性质的公告。尽管如此，此次当将军看到村边河岸上站着的一排排妇女时，他更多的是想着自己，而不是她们。 “现在我们自己是寡妇了，”他说，“我们是孤儿，是残废人，是进行独立战争的赋民。” 在到达蒙波克斯之前．除了皇家港，他们没有在任何村镇停下来。其所以在蒙波克斯停留，是因为那是从奥卡尼亚进马格达莱纳河的出口。他们在那儿遇见了委内瑞拉将军何塞?劳伦西奥。劳伦西奥已经完成护送哗变的榴弹兵到达委内瑞拉边界的使命，此时回过来又加入了随从队伍。 将军一直呆在船上，直到晚上才下船到一个临时安排的营地去睡觉。这中间，他在船上接见了一排排寡妇和所有愿意见他的在历次战争中被淘汰下来的无依无靠的人。他有着惊人的记忆力，他几乎记得所有那些老兵。他们有的人一直呆在那儿挣扎在贫困之中，有的人曾去外地寻求新的战争以求生存，有的人则干上了挡路抢劫的勾当，这跟全国难以计数的从解放军中退伍的军人一样。有一位退伍军人用一句话概括了所有人的感情：“将军，我们现在拥有了独立，可请您告诉我们该拿它怎么办。”在胜利的欣慰中，是将军教他们这样说话——直言不讳，有啥说啥——。然而现在真理的主人变了。 “独立只是解决取得战争胜利的简单问题，”他对他们说，“巨大的牺牲还在后边哪，这就是要把各个国家变成一个祖国。” “我们唯一做过的事情就是付出牺牲，将军。”他们说。 将军寸步不让：“还差得远哪，”他说，“统一所需要作出的牺牲是不可估价的。” 那天晚上，当他在挂着吊床的屋檐下漫步的时侯，他看到一个女人在走过时回首望着他，而更令他吃惊的是，那个女人看到他的赤裸着身子却毫不惊慌。他甚至听到那个女人一边走一边这样唱道，“请对我说，为爱情而死再晚也不迟。”站在门廊下的护院人是醒着的。 “这里有女人吗？”将军问他。 那男人斩钉截铁地答道：“配得上阁下的女人一个也没有。” “那么配不上阁下的呢？” “也没有”。护院人说。“在五六公里之内，绝没有一个女人。” 可将军对自己看到了女人这一点坚信不移，于是便在那幢房子内到处寻找，一直找了许久。后来，他又坚持要他的副官们去打听，以致第二天推迟了一个小时启程，直到他得到的回答同样是“没有一个女人”方才罢休。此后没有人再提这件事。可在后来的路途中，每当将军回忆起这件事时，他还是一再坚持看到了那个女人。在许多年中间，何塞?帕拉西奥斯都无法摆脱这件事，他不得不拿出许多时间同将军一起重温他的生活，甚至连最无足轻重的细节都不能疏漏。唯一没有弄得水落石出的是不知那天晚上在皇家港的幻觉是作梦还是神志错乱，或者是看到了幽灵。 没有人再记起那条在路上拾到的狗，它还在船上，伤口已渐渐愈合，负责给它喂食的勤务兵终于想起了它还没有名字。他们用酚酸为它洗了澡，为他喷洒了新型香粉，可尽管如此也难以改变它那副赖相，疥疮的恶臭依然令人恶心。当何塞?帕拉西奥斯把它拖回来的时候，将军正在船头纳凉。 “我们给他起个什么名字？”他问将军。 将军不假思索地回答道：“玻利瓦尔。”