世紀文學經典:《百年孤獨》第3章Part 9

José Arcadio Buendía did not know exactly when his hands regained the useful strength with which he used to pull down horses. He grabbed Don Apolinar Moscote by the lapels and lifted him up to the level of his eyes.
"I'm doing this," he said, "because I would rather carry you around alive and not have to keep carrying you around dead for the rest of my life."
In that way he carried him through the middle of the street, suspended by the lapels, until he put him down on his two feet on the swamp road. A week later he was back with six barefoot and ragged soldiers, armed with shotguns, and an oxcart in which his wife and seven daughters were traveling. Two other carts arrived later with the furniture, the baggage, and the household utensils. He settled his family in the Hotel Jacob, while he looked for a house, and he went back to open his office under the protection of the soldiers. The founders of Macondo, resolving to expel the invaders, went with their older sons to put themselves at the disposal of José Arcadio Buendía. But he was against it, as he explained, because it was not manly to make trouble for someone in front of his family, and Don Apolinar had returned with his wife and daughters. So he decided to resolve the situation in a pleasant way.
Aureliano went with him. About that time he had begun to cultivate the black mustache with waxed tips and the somewhat stentorian voice that would characterize him in the war. Unarmed, without paying any attention to the guards, they went into the magistrate's office. Don Apolinar Moscote did not lose his calm. He introduced them to two of his daughters who happened to be there: Amparo, sixteen, dark like her mother, and Remedios, only nine, a pretty little girl with lily-colored skin and green eyes. They were gracious and well--mannered. As soon as the men came in, before being introduced, they gave them chairs to sit on. But they both remained standing.
"Very well, my friend," José Arcadio Buendía said, "you may stay here, not because you have those bandits with shotguns at the door, but out of consideration for your wife and daughters."
Don Apolinar Moscote was upset, but José Arcadio Buendía did not give him time to reply. "We only make two conditions," he went on. "The first: that everyone can paint his house the color he feels like. The second: that the soldiers leave at once. We will guarantee order for you." The magistrate raised his right hand with all the fingers extended.
"Your word of honor?"
"The word of your enemy," José Arcadio Buendía said. And he added in a bitter tone: "Because I must tell you one thing: you and I are still enemies."
The soldiers left that same afternoon. A few days later José Arcadio Buendía found a house for the magistrate's family. Everybody was at peace except Aureliano. The image of Remedios, the magistrate's younger daughter, who, because of her age, could have been his daughter, kept paining him in some part of his body. It was a physical sensation that almost bothered him when he walked, like a pebble in his shoe.

霍·阿·布恩蒂亞甚至沒有發覺，他的雙手剎那問又有了年輕人的力氣，從前他靠這種力氣曾把牲口按倒在地，他一把揪住阿·摩斯柯特的衣領，把他舉到自己眼前。
“我這麼做，”他說，“因爲我認爲我已到了餘年，與其拖一個死人，不如花幾分鐘拖一個活人。”
就這樣，他把懸在衣領上的阿·摩斯柯特先生沿着街道中間拎了過去，在馬孔多到沼澤地的路上他才讓他雙腳着地。過了一個星期，阿·摩斯柯特又來了，帶着六名襤褸、赤足、持槍的士兵，還有一輛牛車，車上坐着他的妻子和七個女兒。隨後又來了兩輛牛車，載着傢俱、箱子他和其他家庭用具。鎮長暫時把一家人安頓在雅各旅店裏，隨後找到了房子，纔在門外安了兩名衛兵，開始辦公，馬孔多的老居民決定攆走這些不速之客，就帶着自己年歲較大的几子去找霍·阿·布恩蒂亞，希望他擔任指揮。可是霍·阿·布恩蒂亞反對他們的打算，因爲據他解釋，阿·摩斯柯特先生既然跟妻子和女兒一起回來了，在他的一家人面前侮辱他，就不是男子漢大丈夫了。事情應當和平解決。
奧雷連諾自願陪伴父親。這時，他已長了尖端翹起的黑鬍髭，嗓音洪亮，這種嗓音在戰爭中是會使他大顯威風的。他們沒帶武器，也沒理睬衛兵，徑直跨進了鎮長辦公室，阿·摩斯柯特先生毫不慌亂。他把他們介紹給他的兩個女兒；她們是偶然來到辦公室的：一個是十六歲的安芭蘿，象她母親一樣滿頭烏髮，一個是剛滿九歲的雷麥黛絲，這小姑娘挺可愛，皮膚細嫩，兩眼發綠。姐妹倆都挺文雅，很講禮貌。布恩蒂亞父子兩人剛剛進來，她倆還沒聽到介紹，就給客人端來椅子。可是他們不願坐下。
“好啦，朋友，”霍·阿·布恩蒂亞說，“我們讓你住在這兒，但這並不是因爲門外站着幾個帶槍的強盜，而是由於尊敬你的夫人和女兒。”
阿·摩斯柯特張口結舌，可是霍·阿·布恩蒂亞沒有讓他反駁。“但是我們必須向你提出兩個條件，”他補充說。“第一：每個人想把自己的房子刷成什麼顏色就是什麼顏色。第二：大兵們立即離開馬孔多，鎮上的秩序由我們負責。”鎮長起誓似的舉起手來。
“這是真話？”
“敵人的話，”霍·阿·布恩蒂亞說。接着又苦楚地添了一句：“因爲我得告訴你一點：你和我還是敵人。”
就在這一天下午，士兵們離開了市鎮。過了幾天，霍·阿·布恩蒂亞爲鎮長一家人找到了一座房子。除了奧雷連諾。大家都平靜下來。鎮長的小女兒雷麥黛絲，就年齡來說，也適於做奧雷連諾的女兒，可是她的形象卻留在他的心裏，使他經常感到痛苦。這是肉體上的感覺，幾乎妨礙他走路，彷彿一塊石子掉進了他的鞋裏。