The House of The Seven Gables -- [La casa de los siete tejados]




XIX. Alice′s Posies

XIX. Los ramilletes de Alice

UNCLE VENNER, trundling a wheelbarrow, was the earliest person stirring in the neighborhood the day after the storm. EL tío Venner, empujando una carretilla, fue la primera persona que apareció en la calle, la mañana siguiente a la tormenta.
Pyncheon Street, in front of the House of the Seven Gables, was a far pleasanter scene than a by-lane, confined by shabby fences, and bordered with wooden dwellings of the meaner class, could reasonably be expected to present. Nature made sweet amends, that morning, for the five unkindly days which had preceded it. It would have been enough to live for, merely to look up at the wide benediction of the sky, or as much of it as was visible between the houses, genial once more with sunshine. Every object was agreeable, whether to be gazed at in the breadth, or examined more minutely. Such, for example, were the well-washed pebbles and gravel of the sidewalk; even the sky-reflecting pools in the centre of the street; and the grass, now freshly verdant, that crept along the base of the fences, on the other side of which, if one peeped over, was seen the multifarious growth of gardens. Vegetable productions, of whatever kind, seemed more than negatively happy, in the juicy warmth and abundance of their life. The Pyncheon Elm, throughout its great circumference, was all alive, and full of the morning sun and a sweet-tempered little breeze, which lingered within this verdant sphere, and set a thousand leafy tongues a-whispering all at once. This aged tree appeared to have suffered nothing from the gale. It had kept its boughs unshattered, and its full complement of leaves; and the whole in perfect verdure, except a single branch, that, by the earlier change with which the elm-tree sometimes prophesies the autumn, had been transmuted to bright gold. It was like the golden branch that gained Aeneas and the Sibyl admittance into Hades. La calle Pyncbeon, frente a La Casa de los Siete Tejados, ofrecía un aspecto mucho más agradable de lo que era de esperar de un callejón bordeado de míseros edificios de madera. La naturaleza se mostraba clemente aquel día, en compensación a los cinco despiadados días anteriores. Valía la pena de vivir sólo por el placer de gozar de la bendición del cielo azul, o del que se veía entre las casas, alegres una vez más por el sol. Todos los objetos resultaban agradables, ya mirados de lejos, ya de cerca. Así, por ejemplo, los guijarros y la gravilla de la acera, lavados por la lluvia, y las charcas de agua que reflejaban el cielo, y la hierba verdegueante y fresca, que crecía junto a las vallas, tras de las cuales se vislumbraban los jardines multicolores. El olmo de los Pyncheon estaba enteramente cubierto de vida, lleno de sol y acariciado por una tibia brisa, que ponía en movimiento las mil lenguas verdes y susurrantes de las ramas. El añoso árbol no había sufrido a causa de la tempestad. Conservaba sus brotes y sus hojas perfectamente verdes, excepto una rama que, con el temprano cambio con que el olmo anuncia a veces el otoño, había sido transmutada en reluciente oro, cual rama dorada que valió a Eneas y a. la. Sibila la admisión en los infiernos.
This one mystic branch hung down before the main entrance of the Seven Gables, so nigh the ground that any passer-by might have stood on tiptoe and plucked it off. Presented at the door, it would have been a symbol of his right to enter, and be made acquainted with all the secrets of the house. So little faith is due to external appearance, that there was really an inviting aspect over the venerable edifice, conveying an idea that its history must be a decorous and happy one, and such as would be delightful for a fireside tale. Its windows gleamed cheerfully in the slanting sunlight. The lines and tufts of green moss, here and there, seemed pledges of familiarity and sisterhood with Nature; as if this human dwelling-place, being of such old date, had established its prescriptive title among primeval oaks and whatever other objects, by virtue of their long continuance, have acquired a gracious right to be. A person of imaginative temperament, while passing by the house, would turn, once and again, and peruse it well: its many peaks, consenting together in the clustered chimney; the deep projection over its basement-story; the arched window, imparting a look, if not of grandeur, yet of antique gentility, to the broken portal over which it opened; the luxuriance of gigantic burdocks, near the threshold; he would note all these characteristics, and be conscious of something deeper than he saw. He would conceive the mansion to have been the residence of the stubborn old Puritan, Integrity, who, dying in some forgotten generation, had left a blessing in all its rooms and chambers, the efficacy of which was to be seen in the religion, honesty, moderate competence, or upright poverty and solid happiness, of his descendants, to this day. Esta rama mística colgaba frente a la entrada principal de La Casa de los Siete Tejados, tan cerca del suelo que un transeúnte la alcanzaría, si se pusiera de puntillas. Presentándola en la puerta, habría podido parecer un símbolo que le diera derecho a entrar para conocer los secretos de la mansión. Mirad cómo no debe darse crédito a las apariencias externas: la vieja casa tenía una fachada acogedora: sugería la idea de que su historia era decorosa y feliz, agradable de escuchar al calor de la lumbre. Las ventanas relucían alegremente bajo los oblicuos rayos de sol. Una persona que poseyera regulares dotes de imaginación, al pasar por delante de la casa, se volvería una y otra vez para mirar sus siete tejados, la chimenea enorme, el piso saliente, la ventana en arco... el portal ancho y alto, la abundancia de gigantescas bardanas, cerca del umbral... Todas esas características le darían la impresión de algo más profundo que lo simplemente visible. Creería que la mansión era residencia de la obstinada y vieja puritana, la integridad, que al morir, en alguna generación ya olvidada, había bendecido todos los cuartos y estancias de la casa, resultando de ello la evidente felicidad de sus descendientes actuales.
One object, above all others, would take root in the imaginative observer′s memory. It was the great tuft of flowers,--weeds, you would have called them, only a week ago,--the tuft of crimson-spotted flowers, in the angle between the two front gables. The old people used to give them the name of Alice′s Posies, in remembrance of fair Alice Pyncheon, who was believed to have brought their seeds from Italy. They were flaunting in rich beauty and full bloom to-day, and seemed, as it were, a mystic expression that something within the house was consummated. Un objeto sobre todos los demás arraigaría en la memoria del observador dotado de imaginación: la mata de flores carmesí -cizaña, se hubiera dicho hace apenas una semana- que crecía en el ángulo entre los dos tejados de la fachada. La gente solía llamarla « Los ramilletes de Alice », en recuerdo de la linda Alice Pyncheon, que, se creía, había traído de Italia las semillas de aquella mata. Ostentaba hoy todo su esplendor y semejaba una mística expresión de que algo se había consumado en el interior de la casa.
It was but little after sunrise, when Uncle Venner made his appearance, as aforesaid, impelling a wheelbarrow along the street. He was going his matutinal rounds to collect cabbage-leaves, turnip-tops, potato-skins, and the miscellaneous refuse of the dinner-pot, which the thrifty housewives of the neighborhood were accustomed to put aside, as fit only to feed a pig. Uncle Venner′s pig was fed entirely, and kept in prime order, on these eleemosynary contributions; insomuch that the patched philosopher used to promise that, before retiring to his farm, he would make a feast of the portly grunter, and invite all his neighbors to partake of the joints and spare-ribs which they had helped to fatten. Miss Hepzibah Pyncheon′s housekeeping had so greatly improved, since Clifford became a member of the family, that her share of the banquet would have been no lean one; and Uncle Venner, accordingly, was a good deal disappointed not to find the large earthen pan, full of fragmentary eatables, that ordinarily awaited his coming at the back doorstep of the Seven Gables. Acababa de salir el sol cuando el tío Venner, como hemos dicho, hizo su aparición empujando una carretilla por la calle. Hacía su ronda matutina en busca de hojas de col, pieles de zanahorias, nabos, patatas y otros desperdicios, que las amas de casa de la vecindad le dejaban aparte para alimentar a su cerdo. El cerdo del tío Venner se nutría de estas contribuciones voluntarias. El remendado filósofo prometía que, antes de retirarse a su « granja », daría un soberbio banquete a base de su cerdo, al cual invitaría a todos los vecinos que ayudaran a engordarlo. Los restos que miss Hepzibah dejaba en la puerta habían mejorado tanto, desde la llegada de Clifford, que su participación en el prometido banquete habría de ser considerable. El tío Venner sufrió, pues, amarga decepción al no encontrar la gran vasija llena de desperdicios que ordinariamente le esperaba en la puerta de La Casa de los Siete Tejados.
"I never knew Miss Hepzibah so forgetful before," said the patriarch to himself. "She must have had a dinner yesterday,--no question of that ! She always has one, nowadays. So where′s the pot-liquor and potato-skins, I ask ? Shall I knock, and see if she′s stirring yet ? No, no,--′t won′t do ! If little Phoebe was about the house, I should not mind knocking; but Miss Hepzibah, likely as not, would scowl down at me out of the window, and look cross, even if she felt pleasantly. So, I′ll come back at noon." Murmuró el patriarca: -Jamás había sido tan desmemoriada miss Hepzibah. Y ayer tendría un banquete... Ahora celebra banquetes todos los días... ¿Dónde están las mondaduras ?... ¿Llamo para ver si ya está levantada ? No, no... nada de eso. Si la pequeña Phoebe estuviera en casa, llamaría. Pero con seguridad miss Hepzibah me miraría desde una ventana con su ceño fruncido, pareciendo enfadada, aunque estuviese contenta. Volveré a mediodía.
With these reflections, the old man was shutting the gate of the little back-yard. Creaking on its hinges, however, like every other gate and door about the premises, the sound reached the ears of the occupant of the northern gable, one of the windows of which had a side-view towards the gate. Con esta reflexión, el viejo cerró la puerta del jardín que crujió y chirrió. El ruido llegó a oídos del ocupante de la buhardilla del norte, una de cuyas ventanas daba a aquel lado.
"Good-morning, Uncle Venner !" said the daguerreotypist, leaning out of the window. "Do you hear nobody stirring ?" -Buenos días, tío Venner -dijo el daguerrotipista, asomándose-. ¿Ha oído usted a alguien en la casa ?
"Not a soul," said the man of patches. "But that′s no wonder. ′Tis barely half an hour past sunrise, yet. But I′m really glad to see you, Mr. Holgrave ! There′s a strange, lonesome look about this side of the house; so that my heart misgave me, somehow or other, and I felt as if there was nobody alive in it. The front of the house looks a good deal cheerier; and Alice′s Posies are blooming there beautifully; and if I were a young man, Mr. Holgrave, my sweetheart should have one of those flowers in her bosom, though I risked my neck climbing for it ! Well, and did the wind keep you awake last night ?" -Ni un alma-contestó el viejo-. No es extraño, porque apenas hace media hora que salió el sol. Me alegro de verle, míster Holgrave. La casa tiene un extraño aspecto de soledad; y me he sobresaltado creyendo que no había nadie en ella. La fachada parece más alegre y los ramilletes de Alice están más hermosos que nunca. Si yo fuera joven, míster Holgrave, mi novia llevaría en el pecho unas cuantas de esas flores, aunque tuviera que arriesgarme a romperme la crisma para cogerlas... ¿Le dejó dormir anoche el viento ?
"It did, indeed !" answered the artist, smiling. "If I were a believer in ghosts,--and I don′t quite know whether I am or not,--I should have concluded that all the old Pyncheons were running riot in the lower rooms, especially in Miss Hepzibah′s part of the house. But it is very quiet now." -No... -contestó sonriendo el artista-. Si creyese en fantasmas... y no sé si creo o no... diría que los Pyncheon estaban de juerga en la planta baja, especialmente en las habitaciones de miss Hepzibah. Pero ahora todo está quieto.
"Yes, Miss Hepzibah will be apt to over-sleep herself, after being disturbed, all night, with the racket," said Uncle Venner. "But it would be odd, now, wouldn′t it, if the Judge had taken both his cousins into the country along with him ? I saw him go into the shop yesterday." -Sí, es posible que miss Hepzibah se haya dormido, después de no pegar el ojo en toda la noche a causa de la tormenta-dijo el tío Venner-. Sería extraño, ¿verdad ?, que el juez se hubiese llevado a sus dos primos a la casa de campo. Ayer le vi entrar en la tienda.
"At what hour ?" inquired Holgrave. -¿A qué hora ?
"Oh, along in the forenoon," said the old man. "Well, well ! I must go my rounds, and so must my wheelbarrow. But I′ll be back here at dinner-time; for my pig likes a dinner as well as a breakfast. No meal-time, and no sort of victuals, ever seems to come amiss to my pig. Good morning to you ! And, Mr. Holgrave, if I were a young man, like you, I′d get one of Alice′s Posies, and keep it in water till Phoebe comes back." -Por la mañana -repuso el viejo-. Bueno, he de proseguir mi ronda... A la hora de comer volveré a pasar, porque a mi cerdo le gusta tanto un almuerzo como un desayuno. Sospecho que no tiene horas para comer ni platos preferidos. ¡Buenos días !... Le repito que si yo fuese joven como usted, arrancaría unas flores del ramillete de Alice y las pondría en agua hasta el regreso de la pequeña Phoebe.
"I have heard," said the daguerreotypist, as he drew in his head, "that the water of Maule′s well suits those flowers best." -He oído decir -le dijo el daguerrotipista, al retirarse de la ventana-, que el agua de la fuente de Maule sienta muy bien a esas flores...
Here the conversation ceased, and Uncle Venner went on his way. For half an hour longer, nothing disturbed the repose of the Seven Gables; nor was there any visitor, except a carrier-boy, who, as he passed the front doorstep, threw down one of his newspapers; for Hepzibah, of late, had regularly taken it in. After a while, there came a fat woman, making prodigious speed, and stumbling as she ran up the steps of the shop-door. Her face glowed with fire-heat, and, it being a pretty warm morning, she bubbled and hissed, as it were, as if all a-fry with chimney-warmth, and summer-warmth, and the warmth of her own corpulent velocity. She tried the shop-door; it was fast. She tried it again, with so angry a jar that the bell tinkled angrily back at her. Cesó la conversación y el tío Venner continuó su camino. Durante la siguiente media hora nada turbó el descanso de La Casa de los Siete Tejados. No recibió más visita que la del repartidor de periódicos, el cual echó el diario por debajo de la puerta. Hepzibah se había abonado últimamente a uno de los periódicos de la ciudad. Poco después llegó una mujer gruesa, andando con prodigiosa velocidad y tambaleándose al subir los escalones de la tienda. Empujó la puerta, pero estaba cerrada. Sacudió el pomo de la puerta con tanta energía que la campanilla tintineó enojada.
"The deuce take Old Maid Pyncheon !" muttered the irascible housewife. "Think of her pretending to set up a cent-shop, and then lying abed till noon ! These are what she calls gentlefolk′s airs, I suppose ! But I′ll either start her ladyship, or break the door down !" -El diablo se ha llevado a la vieja Pyncheon -murmuró la irascible ama de casa-. ¿Cree que puede tenerse una tienda cuando se quiere permanecer en cama hasta mediodía ? Supongo que ella llamará a eso costumbres distinguidas. Pues o se levanta su señoría o le romperé la puerta.
She shook it accordingly, and the bell, having a spiteful little temper of its own, rang obstreperously, making its remonstrances heard,--not, indeed, by the ears for which they were intended,--but by a good lady on the opposite side of the street. She opened the window, and addressed the impatient applicant. Sacudió de nuevo el pomo y la campanilla repicó airada. No la oyó la dueña, pero sí una mujer del otro lado de la calle, la cual abrió la ventana y se dirigió a la impaciente matrona:
"You′ll find nobody there, Mrs. Gubbins." -No hay nadie, señora Gurbins.
"But I must and will find somebody here !" cried Mrs. Gubbins, inflicting another outrage on the bell. "I want a half-pound of pork, to fry some first-rate flounders for Mr. Gubbins′s breakfast; and, lady or not, Old Maid Pyncheon shall get up and serve me with it !" -Tiene que haber alguien -gritó la señora Gurbins, infligiendo un nuevo ultraje a la campanilla-. Necesito tres onzas de tocino, para freír lenguado... Mi marido está esperando el desayuno... Señora o no, la vieja Pyncheon tiene que darme el tocino.
"But do hear reason, Mrs. Gubbins !" responded the lady opposite. "She, and her brother too, have both gone to their cousin′s, Judge Pyncheon′s at his country-seat. There′s not a soul in the house, but that young daguerreotype-man that sleeps in the north gable. I saw old Hepzibah and Clifford go away yesterday; and a queer couple of ducks they were, paddling through the mud-puddles ! They′re gone, I′ll assure you." -Oiga usted, señora Gurbins -insistió la otra-. Ella y su hermano se han ido a la casa de campo del juez Pyncheon. No hay un alma en la casa, excepto el joven daguerrotipista que duerme en la buhardilla del norte. Ayer vi cómo se iban Hepzibah y Clifford. Parecían un par de patos chapoteando por los charcos... Le aseguro que se han ido.
"And how do you know they′re gone to the Judge′s ?" asked Mrs. Gubbins. "He′s a rich man; and there′s been a quarrel between him and Hepzibah this many a day, because he won′t give her a living. That′s the main reason of her setting up a cent-shop." -¿Y cómo sabe usted que están en casa del juez ? -preguntó la señora Gurbins-. Es un hombre rico y están reñidos desde hace tiempo porque no quiere pasar una pensión a la vieja. Por eso abrió la tienda.
"I know that well enough," said the neighbor. "But they′re gone,--that′s one thing certain. And who but a blood relation, that couldn′t help himself, I ask you, would take in that awful-tempered old maid, and that dreadful Clifford ? That′s it, you may be sure." -Ya lo sé -contestó la vecina-. Pero la verdad es que se han ido. ¿Y quién acogería a esa terrible solterona y a su hermano, de no ser un pariente que necesita que le cuiden la casa ? Eso es lo que ha ocurrido... No hay duda.
Mrs. Gubbins took her departure, still brimming over with hot wrath against the absent Hepzibah. For another half-hour, or, perhaps, considerably more, there was almost as much quiet on the outside of the house as within. The elm, however, made a pleasant, cheerful, sunny sigh, responsive to the breeze that was elsewhere imperceptible; a swarm of insects buzzed merrily under its drooping shadow, and became specks of light whenever they darted into the sunshine; a locust sang, once or twice, in some inscrutable seclusion of the tree; and a solitary little bird, with plumage of pale gold, came and hovered about Alice′s Posies. La señora Gurbins se fue, refunfuñando contra la ausente Hepzibah. Durante otra media media hora o quizá mucho más, el exterior de la casa permaneció casi tan tranquilo como el interior. El olmo ofrecía un aspecto alegre, agradable, soleado, y respondía a la brisa que era imperceptible en cualquier otro sitio. Un enjambre de insectos zumbaba alegremente bajo su sombra, convirtiéndose en chispas cuando penetraban en un rayo de sol. Una cigarra cantó desde su escondrijo, y un pajarito solitario, con plumaje de oro pálido, se posó en los ramilletes de Alice.
At last our small acquaintance, Ned Higgins, trudged up the street, on his way to school; and happening, for the first time in a fortnight, to be the possessor of a cent, he could by no means get past the shop-door of the Seven Gables. But it would not open. Again and again, however, and half a dozen other agains, with the inexorable pertinacity of a child intent upon some object important to itself, did he renew his efforts for admittance. He had, doubtless, set his heart upon an elephant; or, possibly, with Hamlet, he meant to eat a crocodile. In response to his more violent attacks, the bell gave, now and then, a moderate tinkle, but could not be stirred into clamor by any exertion of the little fellow′s childish and tiptoe strength. Holding by the door-handle, he peeped through a crevice of the curtain, and saw that the inner door, communicating with the passage towards the parlor, was closed. Por fin, nuestro antiguo conocido, el pequeño Higgins, pasó lentamente por la calle, camino de la escuela. Por primera vez en una quincena, se hallaba en posesión de un centavo y siendo así, no podía de ningún modo pasar de largo por delante de la tienda de los Siete Tejados. Mas no consiguió abrir. Una y otra vez, con la terrible obstinación de los niños para las cosas que consideran importantes, renovó sus esfuerzos. Sin duda tenía el corazón puesto en un elefante o quizá se proponía, como en Hamlet, comerse un cocodrilo. En respuesta a sus violentos ataques, la campanilla repicó moderadamente, pero la fuerza del atacante, que se ponía de puntillas, no logró hacerla tintinear clamorosamente. Apoyándose en el pomo, Ned atisbo por una rendija y vio que la puerta interior de comunicación con el resto de la casa estaba también cerrada.
"Miss Pyncheon !" screamed the child, rapping on the window-pane, "I want an elephant !" -¡Miss Pyncheon ! -chilló el niño, golpeando los cristales-. ¡Miss Pyncheon, quiero un elefante !
There being no answer to several repetitions of the summons, Ned began to grow impatient; and his little pot of passion quickly boiling over, he picked up a stone, with a naughty purpose to fling it through the window; at the same time blubbering and sputtering with wrath. A man--one of two who happened to be passing by--caught the urchin′s arm. Como no obtuvo respuesta a sus repetidas peticiones, comenzó a impacientarse. Su pasión hirvió pronto y le hizo coger de la calle una piedra, con la malévola intención de lanzarla, contra los vidrios, gimoteando de rabia al mismo tiempo. Un hombre, de los dos que pasaban, cogió el brazo del pequeño.
"What′s the trouble, old gentleman ?" he asked. -¿Qué ocurre, caballerete ? -preguntó.
"I want old Hepzibah, or Phoebe, or any of them !" answered Ned, sobbing. "They won′t open the door; and I can′t get my elephant !" -Quiero que la vieja, o Phoebe, o quien sea, me abra -contestó Ned entre furiosos sollozos-. No quieren abrir y no puedo comprar mi elefante.
"Go to school, you little scamp !" said the man. "There′s another cent-shop round the corner. ′T is very strange, Dixey," added he to his companion, "what′s become of all these Pyncheon′s ! Smith, the livery-stable keeper, tells me Judge Pyncheon put his horse up yesterday, to stand till after dinner, and has not taken him away yet. And one of the Judge′s hired men has been in, this morning, to make inquiry about him. He′s a kind of person, they say, that seldom breaks his habits, or stays out o′ nights." -Vete a la escuela, bribonzuelo -repuso el hombre-. En la esquina hay otra tienda... Es extraño, Dixey añadió dirigiéndose a su compañeros-, es extraño lo que ocurre a esos Pyncheon. Smith, el de los coches de alquiler, me ha dicho que el juez Pyncheon dejó allí su caballo ayer y pensaba dejarlo hasta después de la cena, pero todavía no se ha presentado a recogerlo. Uno de los criados del juez ha ido a verle esta mañana, preguntando por su amo. Dice que es un hombre de costumbres muy arregladas, que nunca duerme fuera de casa.
"Oh, he′ll turn up safe enough !" said Dixey. "And as for Old Maid Pyncheon, take my word for it, she has run in debt, and gone off from her creditors. I foretold, you remember, the first morning she set up shop, that her devilish scowl would frighten away customers. They couldn′t stand it !" -¡Ya volverá ! -supuso Dixey-. Y en cuanto a la vieja Pyncheon, estoy seguro que tenía deudas y ha huido de sus acreedores. Recuerda que cuando abrió la tienda te anuncié que su ceño infernal asustaría a los parroquianos. ¡Es imposible soportarla !
"I never thought she′d make it go," remarked his friend. "This business of cent-shops is overdone among the women-folks. My wife tried it, and lost five dollars on her outlay !" -Jamás creí que prosperaría -dijo el otro-. Hay muchas tiendecillas parecidas. Mi mujer abrió una y perdió cinco dólares.
"Poor business !" said Dixey, shaking his head. "Poor business !" -¡Mal negocio ! -comentó Dixey, meneando la cabeza-. ¡Mal negocio !
In the course of the morning, there were various other attempts to open a communication with the supposed inhabitants of this silent and impenetrable mansion. The man of root-beer came, in his neatly painted wagon, with a couple of dozen full bottles, to be exchanged for empty ones; the baker, with a lot of crackers which Hepzibah had ordered for her retail custom; the butcher, with a nice titbit which he fancied she would be eager to secure for Clifford. Had any observer of these proceedings been aware of the fearful secret hidden within the house, it would have affected him with a singular shape and modification of horror, to see the current of human life making this small eddy hereabouts,--whirling sticks, straws and all such trifles, round and round, right over the black depth where a dead corpse lay unseen ! Durante la mañana se hicieron otros intentos para ponerse en comunicación con los habitantes de la silenciosa e impenetrable mansión. Vino el hombre del carretón pintado, trayendo un par de docenas de botellas de cerveza llenas, para cambiarlas por otras tantas vacías. Luego el panadero con unos pasteles que Hepzibah había encargado para su clientela. Después el carnicero, con su bocado riquísimo, que ella había encargado para Clifford. Si alguno de esos proveedores hubiera conocido el secreto oculto de la casa, se hubiera horrorizado al ver que la gente seguía su vida normal en los alrededores, tan cerca de las negras profundidades donde yacía invisible un cadáver.
The butcher was so much in earnest with his sweetbread of lamb, or whatever the dainty might be, that he tried every accessible door of the Seven Gables, and at length came round again to the shop, where he ordinarily found admittance. El carnicero, preocupado por sus deliciosos filetes o lo que fuera, intentó penetrar en la casa por todas sus puertas, y finalmente decidió regresar a la tienda.
"It′s a nice article, and I know the old lady would jump at it," said he to himself. "She can′t be gone away ! In fifteen years that I have driven my cart through Pyncheon Street, I′ve never known her to be away from home; though often enough, to be sure, a man might knock all day without bringing her to the door. But that was when she′d only herself to provide for." « Es un bocado exquisito y estoy seguro de que la vieja se alegraría. No es posible que se haya ido. En los quince años que vengo por esta calle, nunca la he encontrado fuera de casa, aunque muchas veces no hay manera de que abra, por mucho que llamen. Pero esto era cuando sólo tenía que ocuparse de sí misma. »
Peeping through the same crevice of the curtain where, only a little while before, the urchin of elephantine appetite had peeped, the butcher beheld the inner door, not closed, as the child had seen it, but ajar, and almost wide open. However it might have happened, it was the fact. Through the passage-way there was a dark vista into the lighter but still obscure interior of the parlor. It appeared to the butcher that he could pretty clearly discern what seemed to be the stalwart legs, clad in black pantaloons, of a man sitting in a large oaken chair, the back of which concealed all the remainder of his figure. This contemptuous tranquillity on the part of an occupant of the house, in response to the butcher′s indefatigable efforts to attract notice, so piqued the man of flesh that he determined to withdraw. Atisbando por la misma rendija por la que poco antes había mirado el rapaz de apetitos canibalescos, vio la puerta interior entreabierta, y no cerrada como la había visto el niño. Por el pasillo se distinguía el interior del salón, más claro. Le pareció ver unas piernas gruesas, metidas en pantalones, pertenecientes, al parecer, a un hombre sentado en el sillón de roble, cuyo respaldo ocultaba el resto de su figura. Esa indiferencia por parte de un habitante de la casa, en respuesta a sus esfuerzos para llamar la atención, molestaron tanto al carnicero que decidió retirarse.
"So," thought he, "there sits Old Maid Pyncheon′s bloody brother, while I′ve been giving myself all this trouble ! Why, if a hog hadn′t more manners, I′d stick him ! I call it demeaning a man′s business to trade with such people; and from this time forth, if they want a sausage or an ounce of liver, they shall run after the cart for it !" « Vaya -pensó-, conque mientras yo me tomo tanta molestia, el hermano de la vieja está sentado y no se digna abrirme, ¿eh ?, si un cerdo no fuese más educado, le apalearía.... Tratar con gente así es rebajarse. Cuando necesiten una salchicha o una onza de hígado, ya vendrán a buscarlo, porque lo que es yo... »
He tossed the titbit angrily into his cart, and drove off in a pet. Arrojó furioso el filete en el carrito y partió rezongando.
Not a great while afterwards there was a sound of music turning the corner and approaching down the street, with several intervals of silence, and then a renewed and nearer outbreak of brisk melody. A mob of children was seen moving onward, or stopping, in unison with the sound, which appeared to proceed from the centre of the throng; so that they were loosely bound together by slender strains of harmony, and drawn along captive; with ever and anon an accession of some little fellow in an apron and straw-hat, capering forth from door or gateway. Arriving under the shadow of the Pyncheon Elm, it proved to be the Italian boy, who, with his monkey and show of puppets, had once before played his hurdy-gurdy beneath the arched window. The pleasant face of Phoebe--and doubtless, too, the liberal recompense which she had flung him--still dwelt in his remembrance. His expressive features kindled up, as he recognized the spot where this trifling incident of his erratic life had chanced. He entered the neglected yard (now wilder than ever, with its growth of hog-weed and burdock), stationed himself on the doorstep of the main entrance, and, opening his show-box, began to play. Each individual of the automatic community forthwith set to work, according to his or her proper vocation: the monkey, taking off his Highland bonnet, bowed and scraped to the by-standers most obsequiously, with ever an observant eye to pick up a stray cent; and the young foreigner himself, as he turned the crank of his machine, glanced upward to the arched window, expectant of a presence that would make his music the livelier and sweeter. The throng of children stood near; some on the sidewalk; some within the yard; two or three establishing themselves on the very door-step; and one squatting on the threshold. Meanwhile, the locust kept singing in the great old Pyncheon Elm. No mucho después, se oyó música en la calle, que fue acercándose con varios intervalos de silencio, tras los cuales estallaba la melodía con mayor alborozo. Una bandada de chiquillos avanzaba y se detenía al unísono con la música, que parecía llevarlos cautivos de sus compases. De vez en cuando, uno de los niños con delantal y sombrero de paja se encaramaba a una puerta o a una valla, para ver mejor. AI llegar el grupo a la sombra del olmo, pudo verse que se trataba del muchacho italianito con su mono y sus figuritas, que ya antes había estado frente a la ventana en arco. La agradable figura de Phoebe -y sin duda la generosa recompensa que le dio- habían quedado grabadas en su memoria. Los rasgos del músico se dulcificaron al reconocer el escenario de aquella nimia aventura de su vida errante. Se acercó a las matas de bardana, detúvose junto a la puerta y, abriendo su instrumento, empezó a tocar y a mover las figuritas. Cada una de éstas se puso al trabajo, de acuerdo con su propia vocación; el mono, quitándose su gorro escocés, saludó obsequiosamente al público, con la mirada pronta a descubrir el menor vestigio de una moneda. El propio extranjero, al dar vueltas al manubrio, miró hacia la ventana en arco, esperando descubrir una presencia que haría más dulce y alegre la música. El tropel de muchachos le rodeaba; unos en la aceta., otros apretados contra la fachada del edificio, dos o tres en los escalones de la entrada. En tanto, la cigarra seguía cantando en el viejo olmo de los Pyncheon.
"I don′t hear anybody in the house," said one of the children to another. "The monkey won′t pick up anything here." -No se oye a nadie en la casa -dijo uno de los niños a su compañero-. El mono no recogerá nada aquí.
"There is somebody at home," affirmed the urchin on the threshold. "I heard a step !" -Hay alguien -dijo el chiquillo que estaba en la puerta-. Oigo pasos.
Still the young Italian′s eye turned sidelong upward; and it really seemed as if the touch of genuine, though slight and almost playful, emotion communicated a juicier sweetness to the dry, mechanical process of his minstrelsy. These wanderers are readily responsive to any natural kindness--be it no more than a smile, or a word itself not understood, but only a warmth in it--which befalls them on the roadside of life. They remember these things, because they are the little enchantments which, for the instant,--for the space that reflects a landscape in a soap-bubble,--build up a home about them. Therefore, the Italian boy would not be discouraged by the heavy silence with which the old house seemed resolute to clog the vivacity of his instrument. He persisted in his melodious appeals; he still looked upward, trusting that his dark, alien countenance would soon be brightened by Phoebe′s sunny aspect. Neither could he be willing to depart without again beholding Clifford, whose sensibility, like Phoebe′s smile, had talked a kind of heart′s language to the foreigner. He repeated all his music over and over again, until his auditors were getting weary. So were the little wooden people in his show-box, and the monkey most of all. There was no response, save the singing of the locust. Los ojos del italiano volvieron a mirar a la ventana; parecía realmente como sí una emoción sutil comunicara cierta dulzura a su música. Los vagabundos agradecen cualquier bondad que se les otorgue en el camino de su vida, aunque sólo sea una sonrisa o una palabra cuyo sentido no entienden, pero cuya cordialidad captan fácilmente. Recuerdan esas cosas porque son los pequeños hechizos con ayuda de los cuales, por el espacio en que un paisaje se refleja en una burbuja de jabón, se construyen un momentáneo hogar. Por esto el muchacho italiano no se desanimaba ante el silencio con que la vieja casa parecía decidida a apagar la vivacidad del instrumento. Persistió en sus melodiosas llamadas, mirando para arriba, esperando que la obscura ventana se iluminaría pronto con la presencia de Phoebe. No quería irse tampoco sin ver a Clifford, cuya sensibilidad, igual que la sonrisa de Phoebe, le había hablado en un lenguaje que él sabía interpretar. Repitió varias veces todo su repertorio, hasta que el público demostró cansancio. También el mono y las figuritas estaban fatigados. Y no obtuvo más respuesta que el canto de la cigarra.
"No children live in this house," said a schoolboy, at last. "Nobody lives here but an old maid and an old man. You′ll get nothing here ! Why don′t you go along ?" -En la casa no viven niños -dijo finalmente un escolar-. No hay más que una solterona y un viejo... No te darán nada...
"You fool, you, why do you tell him ?" whispered a shrewd little Yankee, caring nothing for the music, but a good deal for the cheap rate at which it was had. "Let him play as he likes ! If there′s nobody to pay him, that′s his own lookout !" -¡Bobo ! ¿Por qué se lo dices ? -susurró un astuto muchacho, al cual la música importaba menos que su calidad de gratuita-. Déjale que toque cuanto quiera. Si no hay nadie que le pague, peor para él.
Once more, however, the Italian ran over his round of melodies. To the common observer--who could understand nothing of the case, except the music and the sunshine on the hither side of the door--it might have been amusing to watch the pertinacity of the street-performer. Will he succeed at last ? Will that stubborn door be suddenly flung open ? Will a group of joyous children, the young ones of the house, come dancing, shouting, laughing, into the open air, and cluster round the show-box, looking with eager merriment at the puppets, and tossing each a copper for long-tailed Mammon, the monkey, to pick up ? Una vez más, sin embargo, el italiano tocó todas sus melodías. Para el observador vulgar -que no comprendería nada del caso, excepto la música y el sol- resultaría, sin duda, divertido contemplar la pertinacia del músico callejero. ¿Obtendría finalmente éxito ? ¿Se abriría, por fin, aquella obstinada puerta ? ¿Saldrían los niños de la casa, cantando, riendo y saltando para rodear el manubrio, mirando con alegría las figuritas y arrojando cada uno una moneda al rabudo Mammón ?
But to us, who know the inner heart of the Seven Gables as well as its exterior face, there is a ghastly effect in this repetition of light popular tunes at its door-step. It would be an ugly business, indeed, if Judge Pyncheon (who would not have cared a fig for Paganini′s fiddle in his most harmonious mood) should make his appearance at the door, with a bloody shirt-bosom, and a grim frown on his swarthily white visage, and motion the foreign vagabond away ! Was ever before such a grinding out of jigs and waltzes, where nobody was in the cue to dance ? Yes, very often. This contrast, or intermingling of tragedy with mirth, happens daily, hourly, momently. The gloomy and desolate old house, deserted of life, and with awful Death sitting sternly in its solitude, was the emblem of many a human heart, which, nevertheless, is compelled to hear the thrill and echo of the world′s gayety around it. Pero a nosotros, que conocemos el corazón de La Casa de los Siete Tejados tan bien como su rostro, esta repetición de melodías populares nos produce escalofríos. Sería de pésimo efecto, realmente, si el juez Pyncheon, que no le hubiera importado nada el violín del mismo Paganini, se presentara en la puerta, con su sangrienta mancha en la pechera de la camisa y el ceño fruncido en su rostro lívido, para ahuyentar al músico y a su auditorio infantil. ¿Cuándo se oyó semejante serie de jigas y valses para bailarines inexistentes ?... De hecho, sucede a menudo. El contraste y la mezcla de tragedia con alegría es cosa de todos los días, de todas las horas, de cada momento. La casa sombría y desolada, desierta de vida, con la terrible muerte sentada en su soledad, era el emblema de muchos corazones humanos, que, con todo, se ven obligados a escuchar el eco del mundo que les rodea.
Before the conclusion of the Italian′s performance, a couple of men happened to be passing, On their way to dinner. "I say, you young French fellow !" called out one of them,--"come away from that doorstep, and go somewhere else with your nonsense ! The Pyncheon family live there; and they are in great trouble, just about this time. They don′t feel musical to-day. It is reported all over town that Judge Pyncheon, who owns the house, has been murdered; and the city marshal is going to look into the matter. So be off with you, at once !" Antes de la conclusión del repertorio pasaron dos hombres que se iban a comer. -Oye, muchacho -dijo uno de ellos-, vete a otra parte con la música. Aquí vive la familia Pyncheon y ahora pasa por una gran calamidad. Hoy no están para músicas. Por toda la ciudad se dice que el juez Pyncheon, el dueño de esta casa, ha sido asesinado. Y el alguacil va a intervenir en el asunto. Será mejor que te vayas en seguida.
As the Italian shouldered his hurdy-gurdy, he saw on the doorstep a card, which had been covered, all the morning, by the newspaper that the carrier had flung upon it, but was now shuffled into sight. He picked it up, and perceiving something written in pencil, gave it to the man to read. In fact, it was an engraved card of Judge Pyncheon′s with certain pencilled memoranda on the back, referring to various businesses which it had been his purpose to transact during the preceding day. It formed a prospective epitome of the day′s history; only that affairs had not turned out altogether in accordance with the programme. The card must have been lost from the Judge′s vest-pocket in his preliminary attempt to gain access by the main entrance of the house. Though well soaked with rain, it was still partially legible. Al irse a retirar, con su manubrio al hombro, el italianito vio en el suelo, junto a la puerta, una tarjeta que el diario había ocultado hasta entonces, pero que ahora el pie de un muchacho dejó al descubierto. La recogió y al ver que tenía algo escrito con lápiz alargóla al hombre. Era una tarjeta del juez Pyncheon, con ciertas anotaciones referentes a sus ocupaciones del día. Un epítome de la historia de la jornada anterior, sólo que las cosas no habían sucedido de acuerdo con aquel programa. La tarjeta debió caer del bolsillo del juez al entrar en la casa. Aunque mojada todavía estaba legible.
"Look here; Dixey !" cried the man. "This has something to do with Judge Pyncheon. See !--here′s his name printed on it; and here, I suppose, is some of his handwriting." -Mira Dixey -gritó el hombre-. Esto es del juez Pyncheon. Fíjate lleva impreso su nombre y supongo que el resto lo escribiría él mismo.
"Let′s go to the city marshal with it !" said Dixey. "It may give him just the clew he wants. After all," whispered he in his companion′s ear, "it would be no wonder if the Judge has gone into that door and never come out again ! A certain cousin of his may have been at his old tricks. And Old Maid Pyncheon having got herself in debt by the cent-shop,--and the Judge′s pocket-book being well filled,--and bad blood amongst them already ! Put all these things together and see what they make !" -Sería cuestión de llevarlo al alguacil -sugirió Dixey-. Puede ser una pista... Después de todo -susurró al oído de su compañero-, no sería nada extraño que el juez hubiese entrado por esa puerta para no volver a salir. Su primo no habrá olvidado sus viejas tretas... La solterona se entrampó con la tienda y el juez siempre llevaba la cartera llena... además se odiaban... Junta todos estos hechos y...
"Hush, hush !" whispered the other. "It seems like a sin to be the first to speak of such a thing. But I think, with you, that we had better go to the city marshal." -Calla -musitó el otro-. No hablemos de esto. Vamos a ver al alguacil.
"Yes, yes !" said Dixey. "Well !--I always said there was something devilish in that woman′s scowl !" -Sí -dijo Dixey-. Siempre dije que la cara de la vieja Pyncheon tenía algo de diabólico.
The men wheeled about, accordingly, and retraced their steps up the street. The Italian, also, made the best of his way off, with a parting glance up at the arched window. As for the children, they took to their heels, with one accord, and scampered as if some giant or ogre were in pursuit, until, at a good distance from the house, they stopped as suddenly and simultaneously as they had set out. Their susceptible nerves took an indefinite alarm from what they had overheard. Looking back at the grotesque peaks and shadowy angles of the old mansion, they fancied a gloom diffused about it which no brightness of the sunshine could dispel. An imaginary Hepzibah scowled and shook her finger at them, from several windows at the same moment. An imaginary Clifford--for (and it would have deeply wounded him to know it) he had always been a horror to these small people--stood behind the unreal Hepzibah, making awful gestures, in a faded dressing-gown. Children are even more apt, if possible, than grown people, to catch the contagion of a panic terror. For the rest of the day, the more timid went whole streets about, for the sake of avoiding the Seven Gables; while the bolder signalized their hardihood by challenging their comrades to race past the mansion at full speed. Los hombres se fueron, girando sobre sus talones. El italianito se marchó también, lanzando una postrera mirada a la ventana. Los niños corrieron cada uno por su lado, como si un gigante o un ogro les persiguiera, hasta que, lejos ya, se detuvieron tan de repente como antes se habían desperdigado. Se alarmaban al pensar en lo que habían escuchado. Mirando a los grotescos tejados y a los sombríos ángulos de la vieja casa, la imaginaban envuelta en una sombra que no había sol capaz de rasgar. Una imaginaria Hepzibah les miraba ceñuda amenazándoles con el dedo, desde varias ventanas a la vez. Un imaginario Clifford -que siempre asustó a la gente menuda, cosa que, de saberla, le hubiera herido profundamente- permanecía erguido detrás de Hepzibah, haciendo pavorosos gestos de amenaza. Los niños, más aún que los mayores, se contagian de terror pánico. Durante el resto del día, los más tímidos pasaron por otra calle; los más audaces desafiaban a sus camaradas a pasar por delante de la espantosa casa con toda la velocidad de sus piernas.
It could not have been more than half an hour after the disappearance of the Italian boy, with his unseasonable melodies, when a cab drove down the street. It stopped beneath the Pyncheon Elm; the cabman took a trunk, a canvas bag, and a bandbox, from the top of his vehicle, and deposited them on the doorstep of the old house; a straw bonnet, and then the pretty figure of a young girl, came into view from the interior of the cab. It was Phoebe ! Though not altogether so blooming as when she first tripped into our story,--for, in the few intervening weeks, her experiences had made her graver, more womanly, and deeper-eyed, in token of a heart that had begun to suspect its depths,--still there was the quiet glow of natural sunshine over her. Neither had she forfeited her proper gift of making things look real, rather than fantastic, within her sphere. Yet we feel it to be a questionable venture, even for Phoebe, at this juncture, to cross the threshold of the Seven Gables. Is her healthful presence potent enough to chase away the crowd of pale, hideous, and sinful phantoms, that have gained admittance there since her departure ? Or will she, likewise, fade, sicken, sadden, and grow into deformity, and be only another pallid phantom, to glide noiselessly up and down the stairs, and affright children as she pauses at the window ? Habría pasado media hora, después de la desaparición del italiano y de sus intempestivas melodías, cuando una berlina entró en la calle y se detuvo junto al olmo de los Pyncheon. El cochero bajó del vehículo un baúl, una maleta y una caja de cartón, y los depositó delante de la casa. Un sombrero de paja y luego una linda figura de muchacha asomaron del interior del coche. Era Phoebe. No tan lozana como cuando la conocimos al entrar en nuestra historia, porque las experiencias de aquellas pocas semanas le habían dado mayor gravedad, mayor feminidad, mayor profundidad; pero aún conservaba en su rostro su alegría característica. No había perdido tampoco el don de dar a las cosas de su alrededor una apariencia más real que fantástica. Y, sin embargo, sentimos, que es una dicha muy discutible incluso para Phoebe cruzar el umbral de La Casa de los Siete Tejados, en esta ocasión. ¿Será su juvenil presencia bastante poderosa para expulsar la multitud de fantasmas pálidos, odiosos y pecadores que se introdujeron en la mansión después de su partida ? ¿O ella también palidecerá, se marchitará, enfermará, se entristecerá y deformará, para convertirse en otro lívido fantasma, que subirá y bajará silenciosamente por las escaleras, asustando a los niños al asomarse a la ventana ?
At least, we would gladly forewarn the unsuspecting girl that there is nothing in human shape or substance to receive her, unless it be the figure of Judge Pyncheon, who--wretched spectacle that he is, and frightful in our remembrance, since our night-long vigil with him !--still keeps his place in the oaken chair. Nos gustaría poder avisar a la muchacha que nada sospecha, decirle que en la casa no hallará nada de forma o substancia humana, excepto la figura del juez Pyncheon, que sigue ocupando su sitio en el sillón de roble, espectáculo espantoso para nosotros que le hemos estado viendo durante toda la noche.
Phoebe first tried the shop-door. It did not yield to her hand; and the white curtain, drawn across the window which formed the upper section of the door, struck her quick perceptive faculty as something unusual. Without making another effort to enter here, she betook herself to the great portal, under the arched window. Finding it fastened, she knocked. A reverberation came from the emptiness within. She knocked again, and a third time; and, listening intently, fancied that the floor creaked, as if Hepzibah were coming, with her ordinary tiptoe movement, to admit her. But so dead a silence ensued upon this imaginary sound, that she began to question whether she might not have mistaken the house, familiar as she thought herself with its exterior. Phoebe intenta entrar primero por la puerta de la tienda, pero en vano. La cortinilla blanca, echada por detrás de los cristales, da a la muchacha la impresión de algo inusitado. Sin hacer otro esfuerzo, se dirige al portal, debajo de la ventana en arco. La encuentra cerrada y llama. Una reverberación llega del vacío interior. Llama por segunda y tercera vez. Escucha y cree oír que el suelo cruje, como si Hepzibah acudiera de puntillas a abrirla. Pero a este imaginario sonido sigue un silencio mortal y Phoebe llega a preguntarse si se ha equivocado de casa.
Her notice was now attracted by a child′s voice, at some distance. It appeared to call her name. Looking in the direction whence it proceeded, Phoebe saw little Ned Higgins, a good way down the street, stamping, shaking his head violently, making deprecatory gestures with both hands, and shouting to her at mouth-wide screech. Una voz de niño, que se oye a cierta distancia, atrae su atención. La voz, al parecer, grita su nombre. Mirando hacia la dirección de donde viene, distingue a Ned Higgins, que se acerca corriendo por la calle, gesticulando y llamándola.
"No, no, Phoebe !" he screamed. "Don′t you go in ! There′s something wicked there ! Don′t--don′t--don′t go in !" -¡No ! ¡No, Phoebe ! -grita-. No entre, no entre... Hay algo muy malo dentro... ¡No entre, no entre !
But, as the little personage could not be induced to approach near enough to explain himself, Phoebe concluded that he had been frightened, on some of his visits to the shop, by her cousin Hepzibah; for the good lady′s manifestations, in truth, ran about an equal chance of scaring children out of their wits, or compelling them to unseemly laughter. Still, she felt the more, for this incident, how unaccountably silent and impenetrable the house had become. As her next resort, Phoebe made her way into the garden, where on so warm and bright a day as the present, she had little doubt of finding Clifford, and perhaps Hepzibah also, idling away the noontide in the shadow of the arbor. Immediately on her entering the garden gate, the family of hens half ran, half flew to meet her; while a strange grimalkin, which was prowling under the parlor window, took to his heels, clambered hastily over the fence, and vanished. The arbor was vacant, and its floor, table, and circular bench were still damp, and bestrewn with twigs and the disarray of the past storm. The growth of the garden seemed to have got quite out of bounds; the weeds had taken advantage of Phoebe′s absence, and the long-continued rain, to run rampant over the flowers and kitchen-vegetables. Maule′s well had overflowed its stone border, and made a pool of formidable breadth in that corner of the garden. Como no logra persuadir al personajillo a que se aproxime más y se explique, Phoebe deduce que prima Hepzibah le habrá asustado, pues las manifestaciones cariñosas de la vieja señora corrían peligro, por un igual, de causar miedo o de divertir a los pequeños. Este incidente aumentó la sensación de silencio inexplicable que en ella había despertado la casa. Como último recurso, se dirigió al jardín, en el cual estaba segura que, siendo el día tan hermoso, hallaría a Clifford y quizá también a Hepzibah, disfrutando de la mañana a la sombra de la glorieta. Apenas entró por la puerta trasera, la familia de Cantaclaro corrió a su encuentro, mientras un gato, que probablemente se encontraba en el alféizar de la ventana del salón, saltó la valla y desapareció. El cenador estaba vacío, con los bancos y el suelo húmedos y cubiertos de ramitas y hojas desgajadas por el viento. El jardín aparecía descuidado. Las hierbas habían medrado durante su ausencia y la persistente lluvia les había permitido trepar por las plantas. La fuente de Maule rebasaba su borde de piedra y se extendía en un charco en aquel ángulo del jardín.
The impression of the whole scene was that of a spot where no human foot had left its print for many preceding days,--probably not since Phoebe′s departure,--for she saw a side-comb of her own under the table of the arbor, where it must have fallen on the last afternoon when she and Clifford sat there. La impresión de aquella escena sugería que por allí no había entrado un alma viviente en el espacio de varios días -quizá desde su partida-, pues en un banco del cenador vio una de sus peinetas, que probablemente se le había caído la tarde anterior a su marcha.
The girl knew that her two relatives were capable of far greater oddities than that of shutting themselves up in their old house, as they appeared now to have done. Nevertheless, with indistinct misgivings of something amiss, and apprehensions to which she could not give shape, she approached the door that formed the customary communication between the house and garden. It was secured within, like the two which she had already tried. She knocked, however; and immediately, as if the application had been expected, the door was drawn open, by a considerable exertion of some unseen person′s strength, not wide, but far enough to afford her a sidelong entrance. As Hepzibah, in order not to expose herself to inspection from without, invariably opened a door in this manner, Phoebe necessarily concluded that it was her cousin who now admitted her. La muchacha sabía que sus dos primos eran capaces de cosas mucho más extrañas que el encerrarse en la casa, como al parecer habían hecho. No obstante, presintiendo algo anormal, se acercó a la puerta del jardín. Estaba cerrada, igual que las otras dos que había intentado abrir. Llamó, sin embargo, e inmediatamente, como si esperasen la llamada, la puerta abrióse por una persona invisible. No del todo, lo preciso para dejar entrar a la muchacha. Hepzibah, para evitar la curiosidad del exterior, abría siempre las puertas de aquel modo y por esto Phoebe supuso, razonablemente, que su prima le franqueaba el acceso a la casa.
Without hesitation, therefore, she stepped across the threshold, and had no sooner entered than the door closed behind her. Sin vacilar, cruzó el umbral y apenas hubo entrado, la puerta se cerró detrás de ella.