世紀文學經典:《百年孤獨》第5章Part 1

AURELIANO BUENDíA and Remedios Moscote were married one Sunday in March before the altar Father Nicanor Reyna had set up in the parlor. It was the culmination of four weeks of shocks in the Moscote household because little Remedios had reached puberty before getting over the habits of childhood. In spite of the fact that her mother had taught her about the changes of adolescence, one February afternoon she burst shouting into the living room, where her sisters were chatting with Aureliano, and showed them her panties, smeared with a chocolate-colored paste. A month for the wedding was agreed upon. There was barely enough time to teach her how to wash herself, get dressed by herself, and understand the fundamental business of a home. They made her urinate over hot bricks in order to cure her of the habit of wetting her bed. It took a good deal of work to convince her of the inviolability of the marital secret, for Remedios was so confused and at the same time so amazed at the revelation that she wanted to talk to everybody about the details of the wedding night. It was a fatiguing effort, but on the date set for the ceremony the child was as adept in the ways of the world as any of her sisters. Don Apolinar Moscote escorted her by the arm down the street that was decorated with flowers and wreaths amidst the explosion of rockets and the music of several bands, and she waved with her hand and gave her thanks with a smile to those who wished her good luck from the windows. Aureliano, dressed in black, wearing the same patent leather boots with metal fasteners that he would have on a few years later as he faced the firing squad, had an intense paleness and a hard lump in his throat when he met the bride at the door of the house and led her to the altar. She behaved as naturally, with such discretion, that she did not lose her composure, not even when Aureliano dropped the ring as he tried to put it on her finger. In the midst of the. murmurs and confusion of the guests, she kept her arm with the fingerless lace glove held up and remained like that with her ring finger ready until the bridegroom managed to stop the ring with his foot before it rolled to the door, and came back blushing to the altar. Her mother and sisters suffered so much from the fear that the child would do something wrong during the ceremony that in the end they were the ones who committed the impertinence of picking her up to kiss her. From that day on the sense of responsibility, the natural grace, the calm control that Remedios would have in the face of adverse circumstances was revealed. It was she who, on her own initiative, put aside the largest piece that she had cut from the wedding cake and took it on a plate with a fork to José Arcadio Buendía. Tied to the trunk of the chestnut tree, huddled on a wooden stool underneath the palm shelter, the enormous old man, discolored by the sun and rain, made a vague smile of gratitude and at the piece of cake with his fingers, mumbling an unintelligible psalm. The only unhappy person in that noisy celebration, which lasted until dawn on Monday, was Rebeca Buendía. It was her own frustrated party. By an arrangement of úrsula's, her marriage was to be celebrated on the same day, but that Friday Pietro Crespi received a letter with the news of his mother's imminent death. The wedding was postponed. Pietro Crespi left for the capital of the province an hour after receiving the letter, and on the road he missed his mother, who arrived punctually Saturday night and at Aureliano's wedding sang the sad aria that she had prepared for the wedding of her son. Pietro Crespi returned on Sunday midnight to sweep up the ashes of the party, after having worn out five horses on the road in an attempt to be in time for his wedding. It was never discovered who wrote the letter. Tormented by úrsula, Amaranta wept with indignation and swore her innocence in front of the altar, which the carpenters had not finished dismantling.
Father Nicanor Reyna-whom Don Apolinar Moscote had brought from the swamp to officiate at the wedding--was an old man hardened by the ingratitude of his ministry. His skin was sad, with the bones almost exposed, and he had a pronounced round stomach and the expression of an old angel, which came more from, simplicity than from goodness. He had planned to return to his pariah after the wedding, but he was appalled at the hardness of the inhabitants of Macondo, who were prospering in the midst of scandal, subject to the natural law, without baptizing their children or sanctifying their festivals. Thinking that no land needed the seed of God so much, he decided to stay on for another week to Christianize both circumcised and gentile, legalize concubinage, and give the sacraments to the dying. But no one paid any attention to him. They would answer him that they had been many years without a priest, arranging the business of their souls directly with God, and that they had lost the evil of original sin.

根據尼康諾·萊茵納神父的指示，客廳裏搭了個聖壇；三月裏的一個星期天，奧雷連諾和雷麥黛絲·摩斯柯特在聖壇前面舉行了婚禮。在摩斯柯特家中，這一天是整整一個月不安的結束，因爲小雷麥黛絲到了成熟時期，卻還沒有拋棄兒童的習慣。母親及時把青春期的變化告訴了她，但在二月間的一個下午，幾個姐姐正在客廳裏跟奧雷連諾談話，雷麥黛絲卻尖聲怪叫地衝進客廳，讓大家瞧她的褲子，這褲子已給粘搭搭的褐色東西弄髒了。婚禮定於一月之後舉行。教她學會自己洗臉、穿衣、做些最簡單的家務，是費了不少時間的。爲了治好她尿牀的毛病，家裏的人就要她在熱磚上撒尿。而且，讓她保守合歡牀上的祕密，也花了不少工夫，因爲她一知道初夜的細節，就那麼驚異，同時又那麼興奮，甚至想把自己知道的這些細節告訴每一個人。在她身上是傷了不少腦筋的。但是，到了舉行婚禮的一天，這姑娘對日常生活的瞭解就不亞於她的任何一個姐姐了。在噼哩啪啦的花炮聲中，在幾個樂隊的歌曲聲中，阿·摩斯柯特先生牽着女兒，走過彩花爛漫的街頭，左鄰右舍的人從自家的窗口向雷麥黛絲祝賀，她就揮手含笑地表示感謝。奧雷連諾身穿黑呢服裝，腳踩金屬釦子的漆皮鞋（幾年以後，他站在行刑隊面前的時候，穿的也是這雙皮鞋），在房門前面迎接新娘，把她領到聖壇前去——他緊張得臉色蒼白，喉嚨發哽。雷麥黛絲舉止自然，大大方方；奧雷連諾給她戴戒指時，即使不慎把它掉到地上，她仍鎮定自若。賓客們卻驚惶失措，周圍響起了一片竊竊私語，可是雷麥黛絲把戴着花邊手套的手微微舉起，伸出無名指，繼續泰然自若地等着，直到未婚夫用腳踩住戒指，阻止它滾向房門，然後滿臉通紅地回到聖壇跟前。雷麥黛絲的母親和姐姐們生怕她在婚禮上違反規矩，終於很不恰當地暗示她首先去吻未婚夫。正是從這一天起，在不利的情況下，雷麥黛絲都表現了責任心、天生的溫厚態度和自制能力。她自動分出一大塊結婚蛋糕，連同叉子一起放在盤子裏，拿給霍·阿·布恩蒂亞。這個身軀魁梧的老人，蜷縮在棕櫚棚下，捆在慄樹上，由於日曬雨淋，已經變得十分萎靡，但卻感激地微微一笑，雙手抓起蛋糕就吃，鼻子裏還哼着什麼莫名其妙的聖歌。熱鬧的婚禮一直延續到星期一早晨，婚禮上唯一不幸的人是雷貝卡。她的婚事遭到了破壞。照烏蘇娜的安排，雷貝卡是應當在這同一天結婚的，可是皮埃特羅·克列斯比星期五收到一封信，信中說他母親病危。婚禮也就推延了。收信之後過了一小時，皮埃特羅·克列斯比就回省城去了。她的母親卻在星期六晚上按時到達，路上沒有跟他相遇；她甚至在奧雷連諾的婚禮上唱了一支歌兒，這支歌兒本來是她爲兒子的婚禮準備的。皮埃特羅·克列斯比打算回來趕上自己的婚禮，路上把五匹馬部累得精疲力盡，可是星期天半夜到達時，別人的婚禮就要結束了。那封倒黴的信究竟是誰寫的，始終沒弄清楚。阿瑪蘭塔受到烏蘇娜的盤問，氣得痛哭流涕，在木匠還沒拆除的聖壇前面發誓說她沒有過錯。
爲了舉行婚禮，阿·摩斯柯特先生從鄰近的城市請來了尼康諾·萊茵納神父；由於自己的職業得不到奉承，這老頭兒總是陰陰沉沉。他的皮膚是淺灰色的，幾乎皮包骨，圓鼓鼓的肚子很突出，他那老朽的面孔所顯露的與其說是善良，不如說是憨厚。他準備婚禮之後就返回自己的教區，但他見到馬孔多居民一切無所顧忌的樣子就感到驚愕，因爲他們雖然安居樂業，卻生活在罪孽之中：他們僅僅服從自然規律，不給孩子們舉行洗禮，不承認宗教節日。神父認爲這塊土地急切需要上帝的種子，就決定在馬孔多再留一個星期，以便給行過割禮的人和異教徒舉行一次洗禮，讓非法的同居合法化，並且給垂死的人一頓聖餐。可是誰也不願聽他的。大家回答他說，他們多年沒有教士也過得挺好，可以直接找上帝解決拯救靈魂的問題，而且不會犯不可寬恕之罪。