世紀文學經典:《百年孤獨》第9章Part 11

He was out of danger. The bullet had followed such a neat path that the doctor was able to put a cord soaked in iodine in through the chest and withdraw it from the back. "That was my masterpiece," he said with satisfaction. "It was the only point where a bullet could pass through without harming any vital organ." Colonel Aureli-ano Buendía saw himself surrounded by charitable novices who intoned desperate psalms for the repose of his soul and then he was sorry that he had not shot himself in the roof of the mouth as he had considered doing if only to mock the prediction of Pilar Ternera.
"If I still had the authority," he told the doctor, "I'd have you shot out of hand. Not for having saved my life but for having made a fool of me."
The failure of his death brought back his lost prestige in a few hours. The same people who invented the story that he had sold the war for a room with walls made of gold bricks defined the attempt at suicide as an act of honor and proclaimed him a martyr. Then, when he rejected the Order of Merit awarded him by the president of the republic, even his most bitter enemies filed through the room asking him to withdraw recognition of the armistice and to start a new war. The house was filled with gifts meant as amends. Impressed finally by the massive support of his former comrades in arms, Colonel Aureli-ano Buendía did not put aside the possibility of pleasing them. On the contrary, at a certain moment he seemed so enthusiastic with the idea of a new war that Colonel Geri-neldo Márquez thought that he was only waiting for a pretext to proclaim it. The pretext was offered, in fact, when the president of the republic refused to award any military pensions to former combatants, Liberal or Conservative, until each case was examined by a special commission and the award approved by the congress. "That's an outrage," thundered Colonel Aureli-ano Buendía. "They'll die of old age waiting for the mail to come." For the first time he left the rocker that úrsula had bought for his convalescence, and, walking about the bedroom, he dictated a strong message to the president of the republic. In that telegram which was never made public, he denounced the first violation of the Treaty of Neerlandia and threatened to proclaim war to the death if the assignment of pensions was not resolved within two weeks. His attitude was so just that it allowed him to hope even for the support of former Conservative combatants. But the only reply from the government was the reinforcement of the military guard that had been placed at the door of his house with the pretext of protecting him, and the prohibition of all types of visits, Similar methods were adopted all through the country with other leaders who bore watching. It was an operation that was so timely, drastic, and effective that two months after the armistice, when Colonel Aureli-ano Buendía had recovered, his most dedicated conspirators were dead or exiled or had been assimilated forever into public administration.
Colonel Aureli-ano Buendía left his room in December and it was sufficient for him to look at the porch in order not to think about war again. With a vitality that seemed impossible at her age, úrsula had rejuvenated the house again. "Now they're going to see who I am," she said when she saw that her son was going to live. "There won't be a better, more open house in all the world than this madhouse." She had it washed and painted, changed the furniture, restored the garden and planted new flowers, and opened doors and windows so that the dazzling light of summer would penetrate even into the bedrooms. She decreed an end to the numerous superimposed periods of mourning and she herself exchanged her rigorous old gowns for youthful clothing. The music of the pianola again made the house merry. When she heard it, Amaranta thought of Pietro Crespi, his evening gardenia, and his smell of lavender, and in the depths of her withered heart a clean rancor flourished, purified by time. One afternoon when she was trying to put the parlor in order, úrsula asked for the help of the soldiers who were guarding the house. The young commander of the guard gave them permission. Little by little, úrsula began assigning them new chores. She invited them to eat, gave them clothing and shoes, and taught them how to read and write. When the government withdrew the guard, one of them continued living in the house and was in her service for many years. On New Year's Day, driven mad by rebuffs from Remedios the Beauty, the young commander of the guard was found dead under her window.

他已脫離危險。穿傷是那麼清晰、筆直，醫生毫不費勁就把一根浸過碘酒的細繩伸進他的胸脯，然後從脊背拉出。“這是我的傑作，”醫生滿意地說。“這是子彈能夠穿過而不會碰到任何要害的唯一部位。”奧雷連諾上校發現自己周圍是一些同情他的修女，她們爲了安撫他的靈魂，正在唱絕望的聖歌，因此他感到遺憾，竟然沒有按照最初的想法朝自己的嘴巴開槍，藉以嘲笑皮拉·苔列娜的預言。
“如果我還有一點權力，”他向醫生說，“我會不經審判槍斃了你。這倒不是因爲你救了我的命，而是因爲你把我變成了一個恥笑的對象。”
自殺未遂在幾小時內就恢復了奧雷連諾上校失去的威望。那些曾經胡說他爲了金磚房子而出賣勝利的人，把他自殺的舉動看成是崇高的行爲，宣佈他爲殉道者。
後來，他拒絕共和國總統頒發給他的榮譽勳章時，甚至自由黨內激烈反對他的人也來要求他否決停戰條件，重新發動戰爭。房子裏堆滿了作爲賠罪的禮品，昔日的戰友給他的支持雖然遲了一些，但他也受到感動，沒有排除滿足他們的要求的可能性。
相反地，有一段時間，他似乎熱中於重新發動戰爭。格林列爾多·馬克斯上校甚至以爲：他只是在等待宣戰的藉口。藉口真的找到了，那就是共和國總統拒絕把養老金髮給過去的參戰人員——自由黨人和保守黨人，除非他們每人的事情已由專門委員會審查清楚，而且撥款法案獲得了國會批准。“這是蠻不講理，”奧雷連諾上校暴跳如雷地說。“他們還沒領到養老金就會老死啦。”他第一次離開烏蘇娜買給他養息用的搖椅，在臥室裏踱來踱去，口述了一份強硬的電報給共和國總統。在這份從來沒有公佈的電報裏，他譴責總統破壞尼蘭德停戰協定的條款，並且揚言說，如果養老金的撥款問題在兩週內得不到解決，他就要誓死宣戰。他的態度是那麼公正，甚至可以指望以前保守黨作戰人員的支持。然而政府唯一的回答是，藉口保護奧雷連諾上校，在他的住所門前加強了軍事警戒，並且禁止任何人去找他。爲了預防萬一。政府在全國範圍內對其他的起義指揮官也採取了類似的措施。這個行動是那樣及時、有力、成功，停戰之後過了兩個月，當奧雷連諾上校終於康復的時候，他所有最忠實的助手不是死了，就是流放了，或者去爲政府效勞了。
十二月裏，奧雷連諾上校走出臥室，一看長廊就已明白，再要發動戰爭就是枉費心機了。烏蘇娜以她充沛的精力（這種精力就她的年歲來說似乎已經不大可能），再一次刷新了整座房子。“現在他們將會知道我是什麼樣的人了，”她看見兒子已經康復的那一天，說道。“全世界不會有一座比這瘋人院更漂亮、更好客的房子了。”她叫人粉刷和油漆了房子，更換了傢俱，收拾了花園，栽種了新的花卉，敞開了所有的門窗，讓夏天耀眼的陽光也射進臥室。然後，她向大家宣佈連續不斷的喪事已經結束，自己首先脫掉了舊的黑衣服，穿上了年輕人的服裝。家裏重新響起了自動鋼琴愉快的樂曲聲。阿瑪蘭塔聽到樂曲聲之後，又想起了皮埃特羅·克列斯比，似乎聞到了晚間的梔子花和薰衣草的芳香，她那懊喪的心裏又出現了長久以來的哀怨。有一天下午，烏蘇娜收拾客廳的時候，請守衛宅子的士兵們幫她的忙。年輕的警衛隊長表示了同意。烏蘇娜一天一天地給士兵們增添了任務，就開始邀請他們吃飯，給他們衣服和鞋子，教他們讀書和寫字。後來，政府撤走警衛隊時，一個士兵繼續住在烏蘇娜家裏，爲她服務了多年。而年輕的軍官呢，因爲遭到俏姑娘雷麥黛絲的藐視，變得瘋瘋癲癲，新年初一的早晨死在她的窗下了。