Chapter 4 carmen--four

Four Don Pedro (1334-1369) was the king of Castile. He once brutally suppressed the rebel princes who refused to submit to the central authority of the king. There are many legends about him in Spain.Merimee was very interested in his personality and political activities. In 1848, he wrote a historical research book "Don Pedro I". "Isabella the Catholic" (1451-1504), Queen of Castile, completed the political unification of Spain under centralized power during her reign. Haroon-Ali-Rashid (266-809), the Muslim king of Baghdad, according to a book, he once patrolled Baghdad at night to examine the thoughts of his subjects.

③ In Bohemia, Roma means husband and Romi means wife. ——Original note. ④This is the word the Bohemians call themselves.The male is Jialuo, the female is Jiali, and most of the men and women are Jialai, which means "black". ——Original note. The robber was silent for a while at this point, then lit his cigar again and continued: We spent the whole day together, eating and singing and doing other things.After eating her candy like a six-year-old, she stuffed handfuls of the leftovers into the old woman's water bottle. "It's making her some sherbet," she said.She crushed the sweet egg yolk and threw it against the wall. "That's to tell the flies not to bother us," she said... She was up to all sorts of pranks and nonsense.I told her I wanted to see her dance.But where to find the castanets?Immediately she took the old woman's only basin, broke it into pieces, and danced Romanes with the shards, which were as deftly in her hand as castanets of ebony and ivory.I assure you that you will never tire of being with such a girl.As night came, I heard the drums of the camp.

"I have to go back to the barracks for roll call," I told her. "Back to the barracks?" she said with contempt. "Are you a nigger, driven away with a stick? What a canary you are, with nothing like a canary in your clothes or character." Two ①. You go, you are less courageous than a hen." I stayed, ready to accept the penalty of confinement.The next morning, she was the first to mention our breakup. "Listen, dear José," she said, "have I paid your debt? According to our rules, I owe you nothing, because you are a foreigner. But you are handsome, and you It pleases me, that's why I did it. Now we're really clean. Goodbye."

I asked her when I could see her again. "Wait until you're not so stupid," she replied with a smile. Then he continued solemnly: "Do you know, my child, that I am a little in love with you? But not for long. For a wolf and a dog cannot live together for long. Perhaps, if you accept the Egyptian rules, I will be you." My Romy. But that's a fool's word, for it's impossible. Come on! Believe me, boy, I've given you a great advantage in settling your debts. You've met a devil. Yes, It's a devil; but the devil is not always so wicked, he didn't break your neck. I'm in wool, but I'm not a sheep, light a candle and put it in front of your holy maiden, she blesses you , deserve this candle. Come, say good-bye one more time. Don't miss your dear Carmen any more, or she'll make you a widow with a wooden leg.

-------- ①The uniform of Spanish dragoons is yellow. ——Original note. ②It is said that Bohemia came from Egypt, so accepting Egyptian rules is tantamount to assimilating into Bohemia. ③ Bohemian proverbs. ——Original note. ④ Holy Virgin, that is, the Virgin. ——Original note. ⑤ Refers to the gallows for the execution of prisoners, it is the widow of the person who has just been hanged. ——Original note. As she spoke, she unbolted the door; and as soon as she was in the street, she wrapped her kerchief and turned away. She is telling the truth.If I were wiser, I'd better not think of her; but since that day on Lamp Street, I can't think of anything else.I wander around all day, hoping to meet her.I asked about her from the old woman and the old man who bought the fried fish, and they both said she had gone to La Lolo, by which they call Portugal.They probably had Carmen's orders to say so, but it didn't take long for me to know they were lying.A few weeks after that day on the Street of Lamps, I stood guard at a city gate.Not far from the city gate, there was a gap in the wall, which was mended by day and sentry at night to keep smugglers from sneaking in.During the day I saw Lila Pastia walking around the sentry box, talking to some of my colleagues; they all knew him, especially his fritters and fried fish.He came up to me and asked if I had heard from Carmen.

-------- ① means: red soil. ——Original note. "No," I said to him. "Then you'll have it soon, fellow." He was right.At night I stand guard at the gap in the wall.As soon as the squad leader left, I saw a woman walking towards me.I thought it must be Carmen, but I kept shouting: "Go away! Can't pass here" "Don't scare people," she said to me as I recognized her. "Why, is it you, Carmen!" "Yes, fellow townsman. Let's cut to the chase and cut to the chase. Do you want to earn a duro? Some people are coming here with some parcels, let them pass."

-------- ①Duro is an ancient Spanish silver coin, the value of which is equivalent to 5 Spanish standard currency. "No," I replied, "I won't let them through, it's an order." "Orders! Orders! You didn't think of any orders that day on Lamp Street." "Ah!" I answered, and the mere mention of that day made me shudder. "It was worth forgetting the order that day; but today I don't want to take money from smugglers." "Very well; since you don't want money, will you come and dine with me at old Dorot's?"

"Don't!" I struggled to say those two words, almost choking me, "I can't do this." "Excellent. Since you're making things difficult, I'll invite someone else. I'll invite your officer to dinner at Dorot's. He seems to have a good temper, and he'll send another lad who turns a blind eye." Watchman. Good-bye, Canary. I'll be glad if one day it's ordered to hang you!" I relented and called her back, promising her that I could let all the bohemians pass as long as I got the only pay I wanted.She immediately swore to me that she would keep her promise tomorrow, and ran to inform her friends who were waiting nearby, five of them, Pastia among them, all laden with British goods.Carmen kept watch for them and sounded the clappers whenever she saw the night watch, but this time she did not need to do so.The smugglers were all through in an instant.

The next day, I went to Lamp Street.Carmen kept me waiting for a long time, and when she came, she was very unhappy. "I don't like people who ask for begging," she said. "You did me a big favor the first time, when you didn't know what you were going to get paid. Yesterday, you haggled with me. I'm really sorry." I don’t know why I’m still here, because I don’t love you anymore, take it, this Duro is your reward, get out.” I almost threw the coin at her head, and it took a lot of effort to keep myself from hitting her.After arguing for an hour, I walked out angrily.I wandered aimlessly about the town for a while, running here and there like a madman; at last I entered a church, found a dark corner, sat down, and there wept bitterly.Suddenly I heard a voice:

"Dragon's tears, I'm going to make an aphrodisiac out of it." I raised my eyes, and Carmen was standing in front of me. "Well, fellow countryman, are you still mad at me?" she said to me, "I'm still in love with you, though I don't want to, because since you left me, I always feel that something is missing. .You see, now I'm here to ask you if you'd like to go to Lamp Street." We made up with each other; but Carmen's temper was like the weather in our hometown.The good sunny weather will suddenly come with a storm.She promised to see me again at the Dorotes', but she did not come.Dorot also eloquently told me that she had gone to Portugal for business in Egypt.

-------- ① "Dragoon" and "dragon" are the same word, so Carmen said so. ②Egyptian business refers to the mysterious business of the Bohemians. Having learned that experience knows what to do with her, I went looking for Carmen everywhere I thought she might go, and I went to the Rue de la Lampas twenty times a day.One evening I was at Dorot's, a woman who had bought her off because I often bought her a glass or two of anisette.Suddenly Carmen came in, followed by a young man, the adjutant of our company. "Go away," she told me in Basque. Filled with anger, I froze there. "What are you doing here?" the adjutant said to me. "Get out, get out!" I couldn't move a step, and my whole body seemed to be paralyzed.When the adjutant saw that I didn't leave, and didn't even take off his guard's hat, he became angry. He grabbed my collar and shook me hard a few times.I don't know what I said to him.He drew his knife, and I drew it too.The old woman grabbed me by the arm, and the adjutant slashed my forehead, which still bears the scar.I stepped back, threw my arm, and threw Dorotte to the ground, and when the adjutant caught up with me, I thrust the point of the knife at him, and penetrated him.Carmen quickly put out the lights and told Dorot to run away in Bohemian.I myself fled into the street, running as fast as I could, not knowing where to go.I always feel like someone is chasing me.It wasn't until I regained my senses that I realized that it was Carmen who had never left me. "You big canary fool!" she said to me, "you only make trouble. So I told you I would bring you bad luck. Come on, now you have a Roman Flemish When a woman is a mistress, everything is easy. First you wrap this handkerchief around your head, and then throw away your belt. Wait for me in this alley, and I will be back in two minutes." -------- ① Flemish women in Rome, referring to Bohemian women. "Rome" does not refer to the immortal city of Rome, but to Bohemia itself.The Bohemians that the Spaniards first met probably came from Holland, so they were also called Flemish. ——Original note She disappeared in a flash, and brought me back a short while later with a striped cloak, where she got it from.She made me take off my uniform and put the cloak over my shirt.In this attire, and with the handkerchief that bandaged the wound on my head, I looked like one of the Valencian peasants who often come to Seville to sell zofa sugar water.Then she took me to a house at the end of another alley, which was very similar to Dorot's house.She and another bohemian woman washed my wound and bandaged it better than a military medical officer, then gave me something to drink, put me on a mattress, and I fell asleep. Probably these two women mixed a little sleeping pill in my drink, because they both had a secret recipe for making sleeping pills, and I didn't wake up very late the next day.I have a terrible headache.And a little fever.It was a long time before I recalled the tragedy of the night before.After dressing my wound, Carmen and her friend squatted down next to my mattress and exchanged a few words in bohemian, probably to discuss medical problems.Then they both assured me that I would be well soon, but that I had to leave Seville immediately, the sooner the better, because if caught I would be shot on the spot. "My boy," Carmen said to me, "you've got to do something. Now the king will give you neither rice nor cod, and you must try to make a living for yourself. You're too stupid to be a thief, but You are agile and strong. As long as you have the skills, you can smuggle to the seaside. Didn’t I promise you that I will send you to the gallows? This is much better than being shot. As long as you know how to do this industry, you will be in the military police ④ and Haiphong Before the anti-smuggling team catches you, you will live like a prince." -------- ① Asahifa is a bulbous plant whose rhizome can make quite delicious drinks. ——Original note. ②Rice and sturgeon are the daily food of Spanish soldiers. ——Original note. ③It refers to stealing skillfully without violence. ——Original note. ④ A volunteer soldier. ——Original note. (Gendarmerie recruited by local authorities. - Translator.) This ghost woman used such seductive words to arrange a new career for me. To be honest, this is the only way out for me, because I have committed a capital crime.Sir, do I need to tell you?She had no trouble convincing me.I feel like this life of adventure and rebellion brings me closer to her.From then on, I believe that her love for me will also be dedicated.I have often heard of smugglers traveling about Andalusia on horses, with lances in their hands, and their mistresses behind them.In my imagination, I have already taken my lovely bohemian woman on the back of the horse over the mountains and galloping back and forth.When I told her about my fantasies, she made her stomach ache from laughing.The most beautiful thing, she told me, was the camping at night, when each Roma took his Romy into a little tent made of 3 hoops and a sheet. "If one day I can take you into the mountains," I said to her, "I will rest easy on you! There will never be any adjutant to compete with me again." "Ah! you're jealous," she answered, "forget it. How can you be so stupid as to be jealous? Don't you see that I love you? I never asked you for money!" Hearing her say that, I really want to strangle her. To put it simply, sir, it was Carmen who gave me a civilian outfit, which I wore out of Seville unrecognized.I took a letter of introduction from Pastia and went to Jerez to find an anisette dealer, where the smugglers met.I met these people, and their leader, nicknamed "The Gambler", asked me to join them.We set off for the high pawns, where I met Carmen again, where she had arranged to meet me.She's our eyeliner every time we go on an expedition, and she does it better than anyone else.She has come back from Gibraltar, and has agreed with the owner of the ship to load a British cargo, and we will unload it on the coast.We waited near Estepona, and when the goods arrived we hid some of them in the mountains and took the rest to Ronda.Carmen was already there before us.It was she again who told us when to go into town.This first sale was as lucky as the others that followed.The life of a smuggler pleased me more than that of a soldier; I bought some presents for Carmen.I have both money and a mistress.I have nothing to regret, for, as the bohemians say, "the scabies don't itch in merry-go-round." Everywhere we were well received; my companions treated me well. , and even respected me.The reason is that I have killed a man, and not everyone among these people has such thoughts.But what excites me most about my new life is that I see Carmen often.She had never been so kind to me, yet she never admitted to her companions that she was my mistress, and even made me swear not to speak of her to them.I have no idea in front of this woman, no matter how capricious she is, I will obey everything.Moreover, this is the first time she has shown me the cautious look of a serious woman. I am too simple-minded to believe that she has really changed all the habits of the past. We were a gang of about 8 to 10 people, we only met in a pinch, we were usually scattered in groups of two or three in the city or the country, each of us pretended to have a profession: this one was a tinker , that one is a horse dealer, and I am a needle and thread salesman, but because of my bad luck in Seville, I never show up in the big places.One day, or rather one night, we agreed to meet at Vehel.Gambler and I got there before the others.He looks happy. -------- ①It means: "a person who gambles with other people's money". ② Gaozu, a city in the province of Malaga, Spain. ③Ronda, a city in the province of Malaga, Spain. ④ Vigel, a city in Andalusia, not far from the coast. "We're about to have another partner," he told me. "Carmen just did a trick to get her Roma out of the Talifa prison." I already knew a little bohemian, because all my companions spoke it.The word Roma surprised me. "What? Her husband? Has she been married?" I asked the leader. "Yes," he replied, "she married García the One-eyed, a bohemian as experienced as she was. The poor boy was sentenced to hard labor. Carmen charmed the prison doctor and finally got her Rom is free. Ah! What a wonderful woman. She has been trying to break him out of prison for two years, without success, until the prison doctor changed. It seems that she quickly found a way to deal with the new prison. medical method." You can easily imagine how I felt when I heard the news.It was not long before I saw García the One-Eyed; he was the ugliest monster of all the Bohemians, with black skin and blacker heart, a true villain that I ever met in my life.Carmen came with him, she called him Roma to my face, and when García turned her head she gave me winks and faces.I was so angry I didn't talk to her the whole night.When we were transporting the goods on the road the next morning, we found that there were more than 10 cavalry following.Those Andalusians who usually like to brag about killing everyone immediately ran for their lives with mournful faces.Only the gambler, García, a handsome man from Ecija nicknamed "Spotted", Carmen, remained calm, while the rest left their donkeys and fled into hollows that could not be entered by horses.Our livestock could not be kept, so we could only rush to unload the most valuable cargo, carry it on our shoulders, and escape across the steepest hillside.We threw the package down first, and then we squatted and slid down.At this time, the enemy hid aside and shot at us; I heard the bullets whizzing past me for the first time, and I didn't feel anything.One man for one woman, not afraid of death is nothing special.We escaped, only poor freckled ones got shot in the waist.I dropped the bag and tried to pick him up. -------- ① Talifa is a city on the shore of the Strait of Gibraltar; the castle used to be a place where criminals who served on hard labor ships were imprisoned. ② means: covered with spots. "Fool!" Garcia shouted at me, "Do we want a rotten corpse? Let him be the end, don't throw away the gauze socks. " "Drop him!" Carmen shouted at me. I was exhausted and had to put my body spots behind a rock to rest for a while.Garcia stepped forward, picked up the short-barreled gun and shot him in the head several times. "Now let's see who's that good at recognizing him," he said, looking at the dead man's face, battered by a dozen bullets. Sir, this is the good life I have lived.At night, we came to a jungle, we were exhausted, we had nothing to eat, we lost our donkey, and of course we lost everything. Guess what this eagle Garcia is doing?He drew a deck of cards from his pocket, and bet against the gamblers over the fire they had made.At this time, I was lying on the ground, looking at the stars in the sky, thinking about the spots all over my body, and thinking that it would be better to die like him.Carmen squatted beside her, knocking on the castanets from time to time, singing in a low voice.Then he came to my ear and pretended to whisper to me, and kissed me two or three times whether I wanted to or not. "You're a devil," I said to her. "Exactly," she answered me. After resting for a few hours, she went to Gaussin.The next morning a shepherd boy brought us bread.We stayed there all day, and in the evening we approached Gosin, waiting for news from Carmen, but there was no news.At daybreak, a donkey driver was driving a donkey, and on it sat a neatly dressed woman holding a small parasol, with a girl who seemed to be her maid.Garcia told us: "Saint Nicholas has brought us two donkeys and two women; I'd rather have four; but that's all right, I'll get them!" He took the short-handed gun, hid behind the tree and walked towards the path.The gambler and I followed him, not far from him.When we got close, we jumped out together and ordered the donkey driver to stop.When the woman saw us, instead of being frightened—our attire was terrifying—she laughed. "Ah! You idiots take me for a decent lady!" The woman turned out to be Carmen, and she was so disguised that I would not have recognized her had she spoken another language.She jumped off her donkey, and after conferring with the Gambler and García in a low voice, she said to me: "Canary, we shall see each other till you are hanged. I am now going to Gibraltar on business in Egypt. You shall hear from me soon." After showing us a place to hide for a few days, she parted ways with us.This woman is a real blessing to our gang.We soon received a little money from her, and what was more valuable, she gave us a clue that some day two rich Englishmen would pass from Gibraltar to Grenada by a certain road.A wise man understands it when he hears it.They had real English gold coins in abundance.Garcia wanted to kill them, the gamblers and I objected, and we ended up taking only their money and watches, and the shirts we needed badly. Sir, a man goes bad without knowing it.A beautiful girl captivates your heart, you fight for her, get into a catastrophe, have to flee to the mountains, and turn from a smuggler to a robber without your thinking.The vicinity of Gibraltar is no longer a safe place since the crime of two rich Englishmen, and we went deep into the mountains of Ronda.You talked to me about José Maria, yes, that's where I met him.He always takes his mistress with him when he goes out to rob.His mistress was a beautiful girl, virtuous, simple, and courteous, never said a word of foul language, and was devoted to him! ... On the contrary, he abused her instead.He often courts other girls, treats her badly, and sometimes pretends to be jealous.Once, he gave her a knife.Guess what?Instead, she loves him even more.Women are born this way, especially Andalusian women.The Andalusian woman was so proud of the knife in her arm that she often showed the scar as if it were the most beautiful thing in the world.Besides, José Maria is a bad guy! . . . We once had a business together, and he arranged it so cleverly that he took all the good, and left us all the bad luck and many troubles.But let me get back to business: we never hear from Carmen again.Gambler said: "One of us will have to go to Gibraltar to inquire; she may have arranged a deal. I could have gone, but there are too many people who know me well in Gibraltar." Cyclops said: "Me too, everybody knows me there, and I've messed with lobsters countless times, and I only have one eye, so it's hard to make up." -------- ①This is the nickname given to the British soldiers by the Spaniards because the uniforms of the British soldiers are red. ——Original note. "Then it must be me?" It was my turn to say, as long as I thought of seeing Carmen again, I was very happy: "Tell me, what should I do?" They said to me: "It doesn't matter if you take the boat or go from San Roque, it's up to you. When you arrive in Gibraltar, you ask a woman named Fat Baby who sells chocolate at the port. When you find her, you can tell from her mouth. Everything over there." We agreed that the three of us would go together to the Gossin Mountains, and there we would leave the two of them, and go to Gibraltar pretending to be a fruit merchant.In Ronda, a friend got me a passport; in Gaussin, someone got me a donkey, and I loaded the donkey with oranges and watermelons, and set off.In Gibraltar, I found that everyone knew Fat Doll well, but she was either dead or in prison; I guess her disappearance was the reason why our correspondence with Carmen was broken.I left my donkey in a barn, and brought sweet oranges into the city, pretending to sell the fruit, but in fact, I wanted to see if I could meet an acquaintance.This is where bad guys from all over the world meet, it's a Tower of Babylon, because you can hear ten languages ​​in less than ten steps down the street.I saw that many were Egyptians, but I could not believe them; I fancied them, and they fancied me.We understand each other that we are all the same breed, but we don't know whether we belong to the same gang.I ran away for two days in vain, and got neither news from Fat Baby nor Carmen. I just wanted to buy some things and go back to my friends.At this time, the sun was about to set, and I was walking on the street when I suddenly heard a woman's voice calling me from a window: "The orange seller!..." -------- ①The Tower of Babylon, from the Bible: The residents of Babylon wanted to build a tower that reached to the sky. God punished them for their audacity, so that the builders of the tower spoke different languages. If they did not understand each other, the tower could not be built. I raised my head and saw Carmen resting her hands on the balcony railing, and beside her was an officer in a red uniform with golden epaulets and curly hair. He looked like a rich man.And she, too, was well dressed: with a shawl on her shoulders, a golden comb in her hair, and a body of satin;The Englishman called me up in pidgin Spanish, saying that the wife wanted oranges.Carmen said to me in Basque: "Come on, don't make a fuss."