世紀文學經典:《百年孤獨》第14章Part3
She did not get up again. Lying on cushions, as if she really were ill, she braided her long hair and rolled it about her ears as death had told her it should be on her bier. Then she asked úrsula for a mirror and for the first time in more than forty years she saw her face, devastated by age and martyrdom, and she was surprised at how much she resembled the mental image that she had of herself. úrsula understood by the silence in the bedroom that it had begun to grow dark.
"Say goodbye to Fernanda," she begged her. One minute of reconciliation is worth more than a whole life of friendship."
"It's of no use now," Amaranta replied.
Meme could not help thinking about her when they turned on the lights on the improvised stage and she began the second part of the program. In the middle of the piece someone whispered the news in her ear and the session stopped. When he arrived home, Aureli-ano Segun-do had to push his way through the crowd to see the corpse of the aged virgin, ugly and discolored, with the black bandage on her hand and wrapped in the magnificent shroud. She was laid out in the parlor beside the box of letters.úrsula did not get up again after the nine nights of mourning for Amaranta, Santa Sofía de la Piedad took care of her. She took her meals to her bedroom and annatto water for her to wash in and she kept her up to date on everything that happened in Macon-do. Aureli-ano Segun-do visited her frequently and he brought her clothing which she would place beside the bed along with the things most indispensable for daily life, so that in a short time she had built up a world within reach of her hand. She managed to arouse a great love in little Amaranta úrsula, who was just like her, and whom she taught how to read. Her lucidity, the ability to be sufficient un herself made one think that she was naturally conquered by the weight of her hundred years, but even though it was obvious that she was having trouble seeing, no one suspected that she was totally blind. She had so much time at her disposal then and so much interior silence to watch over the life of the house that she was the first to notice Meme's silent tribulation. "Come here," she told her. "Now that were alone, confess to this poor old woman what's bothering you."
阿瑪蘭塔再也沒有起牀。她象病人似地躺在枕上，把長髮編成辮子，放在耳邊，——是死神要她這樣躺進棺材的。然後，阿瑪蘭塔要求鳥蘇娜拿來一面鏡子，四十多年來第一次看見了歲月和苦難毀掉的自己的面孔；她覺得奇怪的是，這副面孔跟她想象的完全一樣。烏蘇娜根據臥室中逐漸出現的寂靜，知道天色開始黑了。
“向菲蘭達告別吧，”烏蘇娜要求阿瑪蘭塔，“重新合好的一分鐘，比友好的一生還寶貴啊！”
“現在這沒用處了，”阿瑪蘭塔回答。
臨時搭成的臺子上重新燈火通明，第二部分節目開始的時候，梅梅仍然不能不想到阿瑪蘭塔。她正演奏一支曲子，有人在她耳邊低聲地報告了噩耗，音樂會就停止了，奧雷連諾第二走進屋子，不得不擠過人羣，才能瞧見老處女的屍體：她顯得蒼白難看，手上纏着黑色繃帶，身子裹着漂亮的殮衣，棺材停放在客廳裏，旁邊是一箱信件。經過九夜的守靈，鳥蘇娜再也不能起牀了。聖索菲懷。德拉佩德照顧她，把飲食和洗臉水給她拿進臥室，將馬孔多發生的一切事情告訴她。奧雷連諾第二常來看望鳥蘇娜，給她各式各樣的衣服，她都把它們放在牀邊，跟其它許多最必需的生活用品混在一“起，很快在伸手就能摸到的距離內建立了一個世界。她得到：”小姑娘阿瑪蘭塔；烏蘇娜的愛，小姑娘一切都象她，她教小姑娘讀書識字，現在，甚至誰也沒有獵到鳥蘇娜完全瞎了，雖然大家都知道她視力不好；她那清醒的頭腦以及無需旁人照顧的本領，只是使人想到百歲的高齡壓倒了她。這時，烏蘇娜有了那麼多的空閒時間，內心又那麼平靜，就能注意家中的生活了，圇此她第一個發現了梅梅悶不吱聲的苦惱。“到這兒來吧，”鳥蘇娜向小姑娘說。“現在，只有咱倆在一塊兒，你就向可憐的老太婆但白說說你的心事吧。”
