世紀文學經典:《百年孤獨》第13章Part5

"He won't ever come into this house again," Fernanda said, "as long as he carries the rash of the foreigners."
Such was the narrowness imposed in the house that Aureli-ano Segun-do felt more comfortable at Petra Cotes's. First, with the pretext of taking the burden off his wife, he transferred his parties. Then, with the pretext that the animals were losing their fertility, he transferred his barns and stables. Finally, with the pretext that it was cooler in his concubine's house, he transferred the small office in which he handled his business. When Fernanda realized that she was a widow whose husband had still not died, it was already too late for things to return to their former state. Aureli-ano Segun-do barely ate at home and the only appearances he put in, such as to sleep with his wife, were not enough to convince anyone. One night, out of carelessness, morning found him in Petra Cotes's bed. Fernan-da, contrary to expectations, did not reproach him in the least or give the slightest sigh of resentment, but on the same day she sent two trunks with his clothing to the house of his concubine. She sent them in broad daylight and with instructions that they be carried through the middle of the street so that everyone could see them, thinking that her straying husband would be unable to bear the shame and would return to the fold with his head hung low. But that heroic gesture was just one more proof of how poorly Fernanda knew not only the character of her husband but the character of a community that had nothing to do with that of her parents, for everyone who saw the trunks pass by said that it was the natural culmination of a story whose intimacies were known to everyone, and Aureli-ano Segun-do celebrated the freedom he had received with a party that lasted for three days. To the greater disadvantage of his wife, as she was entering into a sad maturity with her somber long dresses, her old-fashioned medals, and her out-of-place pride, the concubine seemed to be bursting with a second youth, clothed in gaudy dresses of natural silk and with her eyes tiger--striped with a glow of vindication. Aureli-ano Segun-do gavehimself over to her again with the fury of adoles-cence, as before, when Petra Cotes had not loved him for himself but because she had him mixed up with his twin brother and as she slept with both of them at the same time she thought that God had given her the good fortune of having a man who could make love like two. The restored passion was so pressing that on more than one occasion they would look each other in the eyes as they were getting ready to eat and without saying anything they would cover their plates and go into the bedroom dying of hunger and of love. Inspired by the things he had seen on his furtive visits to the French matrons, Aureli-ano Segun-do bought Petra Cotes a bed with an archiepiscopal canopy, put velvet curtains on the windows, and covered the ceiling and the walls of the bedroom with large rock-crystal mirrors. At the same time he was more of a carouser and spendthrift than ever. On the train, which arrived every day at eleven o'clock, he would receive cases and more cases of champagne and brandy. On the way back from the station he would drag the improvised cumbiamba along in full view of all the people on the way, natives or outsiders, acquaintances or people yet to be known, without distinctions of any kind. Even the slippery Mr. Brown, who talked only in a strange tongue, let himself be seduced by the tempting signs that Aureli-ano Segun-do made him and several times he got dead drunk in Petra Cotes's house and he even made the fierce German shepherd dogs that went everywhere with him dance to some Texas songs that he himself mumbled in one way or another to the accompaniment of the accordion.
"Cease, cows," Aureli-ano Segun-do shouted at the height of the party. "Cease, because life is short."

“只要他身上還有這幫外國佬的傳染病，他就休想再到這兒來，”菲蘭達說。
家中的生活變得那麼嚴峻，奧雷連諾第二就覺得在佩特娜。 柯特家裏更舒服了。首先，他藉口減輕妻子的負擔，把酒宴移到了情婦家裏。然後，藉口牲畜正在喪失繁殖力，他又把畜欄和馬廄遷到她那兒去了。最後，藉口情婦家裏不那麼熱，他甚至把經營買賣的小賬房搬到了那兒。菲蘭達發現自己變成了守活寡的婦人，時間已經遲了。奧雷連諾第二幾乎不在家裏吃飯，只是假裝回家過夜，但這是騙不了人的。有一天早晨他不小心，有人發現他在佩特娜·柯特牀上，然而出乎意外，他不僅沒有聽到妻子的一小點責備，甚至沒有聽到她最輕微的怨聲，但是就在那一天，菲蘭達把他的兩口衣箱送到他的情婦家裏。她是叫人大白天經過街道中間送去的，讓全鎮的人都能看見，以爲不走正道的丈夫忍受不了恥辱，會彎着脖子回到窩裏，可是這個勇敢的姿態只是再一次證明，菲蘭達不熟悉丈夫的性格和馬孔多的風習，這裏的習俗和她父母的舊習毫無共同之處，——每一個看見箱子的人都說，這是故事的自然結局，故事的內情是人人皆知的。奧雷連諾第二卻舉辦了三天的酒宴，慶賀他得到的自由，除了夫婦之間的不幸，菲蘭達穿着碩長的黑衣服，戴着過時的頸飾，露出不合時宜的傲氣，好象過早地衰老了；而穿着鮮豔的天然絲衣服的情婦，恕到被踐踏的權利獲得恢復，兩眼閃着愉快的光彩，煥發了青春。奧雷連諾第二重新投入她的懷抱，象從前跟她睡在一起那麼熱情，因爲當時她把他當成了他的孿生兄弟；跟兩兄弟睡覺，她以爲上帝給了她空前的幸福——一個男人能象兩個男人那麼愛她。復甦的情慾是遏制不住的：不止一次，他倆已經坐在桌邊，彼此盯着對方的眼睛，一句話沒說，遮上餐具，就到臥室裏去——兩人只顧發泄情慾，餓得要死。奧雷連諾第二偷襲法國藝妓時看見過一些東西，在這些東西的鼓舞下，他給佩特娜。 柯特買了一張有帳幔的牀，象大主教的臥榻一樣，在窗上掛起了絲絨簾子，在臥室的牆上和天花板上都安了挺大的鏡子。同時，他比以前更加胡鬧和揮霍了。每天早上十一點鐘，列車都給他運來成箱的香擯酒和白蘭地。奧雷連諾第二從車站上回來時，他都象在即興舞蹈中那樣，把路上偶然邂逅的人拖走，——本地人或外來人，熟人或生人，毫無區別。甚至只會說外國話的滑頭的布勞恩先生，也被奧雷連諾的手勢招引來了，好幾次在佩特娜。柯特家裏喝得酪叮大醉，有一回他甚至讓隨身的兇猛的德國牧羊犬跳舞，他自己勉強哼着得克薩斯歌曲，而由手風琴伴奏。
“繁殖吧，母牛啊，”奧雷連諾第二在歡宴的高潮中叫嚷。“繁殖吧——生命短促呀。”