|
III. The First Customer |
III. El primer cliente MISS HEPZIBAH PYNCHEON sat in the oaken elbow-chair, with her hands over her face, giving way to
that heavy down-sinking of the heart which most
persons have experienced, when the image of hope
itself seems ponderously moulded of lead, on the
eve of an enterprise at once doubtful and
momentous. She was suddenly startled by the
tinkling alarum--high, sharp, and irregular--of a
little bell. The maiden lady arose upon her feet, as
pale as a ghost at cock-crow; for she was an
enslaved spirit, and this the talisman to which she
owed obedience. This little bell,--to speak in
plainer terms,--being fastened over the shop-door,
was so contrived as to vibrate by means of a steel
spring, and thus convey notice to the inner regions
of the house when any customer should cross the
threshold. Its ugly and spiteful little din (heard now
for the first time, perhaps, since Hepzibah′s
periwigged predecessor had retired from trade) at
once set every nerve of her body in responsive and
tumultuous vibration. The crisis was upon her! Her
first customer was at the door!
| Miss Hepzibah Pyncheon permaneció sentada en el
sillón de roble, con el rostro entre las manos, dando
rienda suelta a esa desesperación que muchas
personas experimentan cuando hasta la propia
imagen de la esperanza parece moldeada en plomo,
en vísperas de una empresa a la vez dudosa y
trascendental. Súbitamente, se estremeció por el
tañido agudo e irregular de una campanilla. Se
levantó, pálida como un fantasma, al escuchar el
canto del gallo, porque ya se sentía como un espíritu
esclavizado y el repique era el talismán al cual debía
obediencia. La campanilla, para hablar claramente,
estaba atada por encima de la puerta y una barrita
de hierro la hacía sonar, llevando la alarma a lo más
recóndito de la casa. Su feo y maligno clamor, oído
por primera vez desde los tiempos del empelucado
antecesor, tensó los nervios de la mujer en
tumultuosa vibración. ¡Ya llegó el momento! El
primer cliente estaba a la puerta. | Without giving herself time for a second thought,
she rushed into the shop, pale, wild, desperate in
gesture and expression, scowling portentously,
and looking far better qualified to do fierce battle
with a housebreaker than to stand smiling
behind the counter, bartering small wares for a
copper recompense. Any ordinary customer,
indeed, would have turned his back and fled. And
yet there was nothing fierce in Hepzibah′s poor
old heart; nor had she, at the moment, a single
bitter thought against the world at large, or one
individual man or woman. She wished them all
well, but wished, too, that she herself were done
with them, and in her quiet grave.
| Sin darse tiempo para un segundo
pensamiento, fue a la tienda, pálida, aturdida,
con gestos y expresión desesperada,
portentosamente ceñuda, más dispuesta, en
apariencia, para un fiera batalla con un
ladrón que para recibir a un parroquiano,
saludándole desde detrás del mostrador en
agradecimiento por el gasto de unas
monedas de cobre que pudiera hacer. Un
cliente ordinario, realmente, volvería sobre
sus talones y huiría. Sin embargo, no había
fiereza en el pobre corazón de Hepzibah, ni
albergaba ningún amargo pensamiento
contra el mundo ni contra nadie. A todos
deseaba bien, pero asimismo deseaba haber
acabado todo trato con ellos y descansar
definitivamente en una tumba. | The applicant, by this time, stood within the
doorway. Coming freshly, as he did, out of the
morning light, he appeared to have brought
some of its cheery influences into the shop along
with him. It was a slender young man, not more
than one or two and twenty years old, with
rather a grave and thoughtful expression for his
years, but likewise a springy alacrity and vigor.
These qualities were not only perceptible,
physically, in his make and motions, but made
themselves felt almost immediately in his
character. A brown beard, not too silken in its
texture, fringed his chin, but as yet without
completely hiding it; he wore a short mustache,
too, and his dark, high-featured countenance
looked all the better for these natural
ornaments. As for his dress, it was of the
simplest kind; a summer sack of cheap and
ordinary material, thin checkered pantaloons,
and a straw hat, by no means of the finest braid.
Oak Hall might have supplied his entire
equipment. He was chiefly marked as a
gentleman--if such, indeed, he made any claim
to be--by the rather remarkable whiteness and
nicety of his clean linen.
| El parroquiano estaba en el umbral. Viniendo
de la fresca luz mañanera, parecía traer con él
la alegre atmósfera del exterior. Era un
hombre delgado, de unos veintiuno o
veintidós años de edad, con una expresión
más grave y pensativa de lo que pertenecía a
sus años, lo cual no le quitaba viveza y vigor.
Estas cualidades no sólo se percibían
físicamente, en sus gestos, sino que se
manifestaban inmediatamente en su
carácter. Una barba color castaño, no
precisamente sedosa, le orlaba la barbilla sin
ocultarla por completo, y un corto bigote le
sombreaba la boca. Todo ello se
compaginaba muy bien con su sombrío
talante. Vestía estrechos pantalones a
cuadros, sombrero de paja con basta trencilla
y chaqueta de tela veraniega y barata. Lo que
más ponía de relieve su condición de
caballero -caso que pretendiera serlo- era la
blancura y calidad de su camisa limpia. | He met the scowl of old Hepzibah without
apparent alarm, as having heretofore
encountered it and found it harmless.
| No se alarmó ante el ceño de la vieja
Hepzibah, como si ya supiese que era
inofensivo. | "So, my dear Miss Pyncheon," said the
daguerreotypist,--for it was that sole other
occupant of the seven-gabled mansion,--"I am
glad to see that you have not shrunk from your
good purpose. I merely look in to offer my best
wishes, and to ask if I can assist you any further
in your preparations."
| -Vamos, querida miss Pyncheon- dijo el
daguerrotipista, pues el visitante era el otro
habitante de La Casa de los Siete Tejados-,
me alegro de ver que ha persistido usted en
sus propósitos. Sólo he entrado para
desearle buena suerte y preguntarle si me
necesita para algo. | People in difficulty and distress, or in any manner
at odds with the world, can endure a vast
amount of harsh treatment, and perhaps be only
the stronger for it; whereas they give way at
once before the simplest expression of what they
perceive to be genuine sympathy. So it proved
with poor Hepzibah; for, when she saw the
young man′s smile,--looking so much the
brighter on a thoughtful face,--and heard his
kindly tone, she broke first into a hysteric giggle
and then began to sob.
| La gente, cuando se halla en una dificultad o
se enfrenta con el mundo, puede soportar
malos tratos y fortalecerse con ellos, pero se
ablanda ante la menor muestra de auténtica
simpatía. Eso le ocurrió a la pobre Hepzibah,
pues cuando vio la sonrisa del joven -como un
rayo en su rostro pensativo- y oyó sus
palabras, rompió en una histérica risita y
luego empezó a sollozar. | "Ah, Mr. Holgrave," cried she, as soon as she
could speak, "I never can go through with it!
Never, never, never! I wish I were dead, and in
the old family tomb, with all my forefathers!
With my father, and my mother, and my sister!
Yes, and with my brother, who had far better
find me there than here! The world is too chill
and hard,--and I am too old, and too feeble, and
too hopeless!"
| -¡Ah, míster Holgrave! -murmuró, tan pronto
como pudo hablar-. Jamás podré hacerlo...
¡Jamás! ¡Jamás! ¡Jamás! Ojalá estuviera ya
muerta y enterrada en nuestra tumba
familiar, con mis padres y hermana... Sí... Y
con mi hermano también, que mejor le sería
hallarme allí que acá. El mundo es demasiado
duro y frío... Y yo soy demasiado vieja,
demasiado débil, y estoy demasiado
desesperanzada... | "Oh, believe me, Miss Hepzibah," said the young
man quietly, "these feelings will not trouble you
any longer, after you are once fairly in the midst
of your enterprise. They are unavoidable at this
moment, standing, as you do, on the outer verge
of your long seclusion, and peopling the world
with ugly shapes, which you will soon find to be
as unreal as the giants and ogres of a child′s
story-book. I find nothing so singular in life, as
that everything appears to lose its substance the
instant one actually grapples with it. So it will be
with what you think so terrible."
| -Créame, miss Hepzibah -repuso quedamente
el joven-, cuando se acostumbre a la vida de
tendera, no pensará así. Ahora no puede
evitarlo, pues mira el mundo desde el lindero
de su larga reclusión, pero pronto advertirá
que no se halla poblado de gigantes y ogros
como en un libro de niños. No encuentro
nada tan singular en la vida como el hecho
de que todo parece perder su substancia en
el instante en que uno va a tocarlo. Lo mismo
le ocurrirá con esto que hoy le parece tan
terrible. | "But I am a woman!" said Hepzibah piteously. "I
was going to say, a lady,--but I consider that as
past."
| -Yo soy una mujer -contestó Hepzibah
lastimeramente-. Iba a decir una dama... Pero
veo que esto ya pertenece al pasado. | "Well; no matter if it be past!" answered the
artist, a strange gleam of half-hidden sarcasm
flashing through the kindliness of his manner.
"Let it go! You are the better without it. I speak
frankly, my dear Miss Pyncheon!--for are we not
friends? I look upon this as one of the fortunate
days of your life. It ends an epoch and begins
one. Hitherto, the life-blood has been gradually
chilling in your veins as you sat aloof, within your
circle of gentility, while the rest of the world was
fighting out its battle with one kind of necessity
or another. Henceforth, you will at least have the
sense of healthy and natural effort for a purpose,
and of lending your strength be it great or
small--to the united struggle of mankind. This is
success,--all the success that anybody meets
with!"
| -No importa, pues, si ya es del pasado -contestó el artista con extraño brillo en los
ojos-. Déjese de esas cosas... Le hablo
francamente, miss Pyncheon... ¿No somos
amigos? Opino que este es uno de los días
más afortunados de su vida. Pone fin a una
época y empieza otra. La sangre se le iba
helando a usted en las venas, mientras
permanecía sola en su círculo de nobleza,
dejando que el mundo luchara por sus
necesidades. Por fin conocerá lo que es un
esfuerzo sano y natural para conseguir algo, y
unirá su fuerza, mucha o poca, a la batalla de
la vida. Eso es ya un éxito... El éxito que todos
buscamos. | "It is natural enough, Mr. Holgrave, that you
should have ideas like these," rejoined Hepzibah,
drawing up her gaunt figure with slightly
offended dignity. "You are a man, a young man,
and brought up, I suppose, as almost everybody
is nowadays, with a view to seeking your fortune.
But I was born a lady, and have always lived one;
no matter in what narrowness of means, always
a lady."
| -Es natural, mister Holgrave, que tenga usted
estas ideas -repuso Hepzibah, retirando un
poco su desvaída figura, ligeramente
ofendida en su dignidad-. Usted es hombre
joven, educado como supongo que lo está
todo el mundo, ahora, para buscar la fortuna.
Pero yo nací y he vivido como una señora...
No importa que haya sido con estrecheces,
pero siempre como una señora... | "But I was not born a gentleman; neither have I
lived like one," said Holgrave, slightly smiling;
"so, my dear madam, you will hardly expect me
to sympathize with sensibilities of this kind;
though, unless I deceive myself, I have some
imperfect comprehension of them. These names
of gentleman and lady had a meaning, in the past
history of the world, and conferred privileges,
desirable or otherwise, on those entitled to bear
them. In the present--and still more in the future
condition of society-they imply, not privilege, but
restriction!"
| -Yo no soy un caballero ni he vivido como tal -dijo Holgrave sonriendo levemente-. No
espere, pues, que simpatice con
sentimientos como los suyos, aunque, a no
ser que me engañe, creo comprenderlos más
o menos imperfectamente. Esos nombres de
caballero y señora tuvieron un significado en
la historia del mundo, cuando conferían
privilegios, deseables o no. En el presente, y
aún más en el futuro, implicarán no
privilegios, sino restricciones. | "These are new notions," said the old
gentlewoman, shaking her head. "I shall never
understand them; neither do I wish it."
| -Eso son ideas modernas -comentó la vieja
señora, moviendo la cabeza-. Nunca llegaré a
entenderlas, ni lo deseo. | "We will cease to speak of them, then," replied
the artist, with a friendlier smile than his last
one, "and I will leave you to feel whether it is not
better to be a true woman than a lady. Do you
really think, Miss Hepzibah, that any lady of your
family has ever done a more heroic thing, since
this house was built, than you are performing in
it to-day? Never; and if the Pyncheons had
always acted so nobly, I doubt whether an old
wizard Maule′s anathema, of which you told me
once, would have had much weight with
Providence against them."
| -Pues no hablemos de ellas -replicó el artista
con sonrisa más animosa que la anterior-.
Mejor es que usted compruebe por sí misma
si no es preferible ser una verdadera mujer
que una señora. ¿Cree usted, miss Hepzibah,
que alguna dama de su familia ha realizado
un acto más heroico, desde que fue edificada
esta casa, que el que usted realiza hoy? Yo
estoy seguro de que no, y si los Pyncheon
hubieran obrado siempre con su nobleza,
dudo de que ese anatema del viejo brujo
Maule, que usted me explicó, hubiera tenido
tanta influencia contra ellos. | "Ah!--no, no!" said Hepzibah, not displeased at
this allusion to the sombre dignity of an inherited
curse. "If old Maule′s ghost, or a descendant of
his, could see me behind the counter to-day, he
would call it the fulfillment of his worst wishes.
But I thank you for your kindness, Mr. Holgrave,
and will do my utmost to be a good shop-keeper."
| -¡Oh, no! -interrumpió Hepzibah, halagada
por esta alusión a la sombría dignidad de una
maldición heredada-. Si el espíritu de Maule
o uno de sus descendientes pudiera verme
detrás del mostrador, vería cumplidos sus
peores deseos... Pero agradezco su ayuda,
míster Holgrave, y ya verá usted cómo haré
todo lo posible por ser una buena tendera. | "Pray do" said Holgrave, "and let me have the
pleasure of being your first customer. I am about
taking a walk to the seashore, before going to my
rooms, where I misuse Heaven′s blessed
sunshine by tracing out human features through
its agency. A few of those biscuits, dipt in sea-water, will be just what I need for breakfast.
What is the price of half a dozen?"
| -Pues permítame el honor de ser su primer
cliente -dijo Holgrave-. Voy a dar un paseo a
orillas del mar, antes de retirarme a trabajar
a mi buhardilla. Unas cuantas galletas de
esas, mojadas en agua de mar, serán un
excelente desayuno. ¿Qué vale la media
docena? | "Let me be a lady a moment longer," replied
Hepzibah, with a manner of antique stateliness
to which a melancholy smile lent a kind of grace.
She put the biscuits into his hand, but rejected
the compensation. "A Pyncheon must not, at all
events under her forefathers′ roof, receive
money for a morsel of bread from her only
friend!"
| -Déjeme ser una señora por un minuto más -replicó Hepzibah, con aire solemne,
iluminado por melancólica sonrisa. Puso unas
galletas en manos del artista y rechazó las
monedas-. Una Pyncheon no puede, bajo el
techo de sus antecesores, recibir dinero por
un bocado de pan dado a su único amigo. | Holgrave took his departure, leaving her, for the
moment, with spirits not quite so much
depressed. Soon, however, they had subsided
nearly to their former dead level. With a beating
heart, she listened to the footsteps of early
passengers, which now began to be frequent
along the street. Once or twice they seemed to
linger; these strangers, or neighbors, as the case
might be, were looking at the display of toys and
petty commodities in Hepzibah′s shop-window.
She was doubly tortured; in part, with a sense of
overwhelming shame that strange and unloving
eyes should have the privilege of gazing, and
partly because the idea occurred to her, with
ridiculous importunity, that the window was not
arranged so skilfully, nor nearly to so much
advantage, as it might have been. It seemed as if
the whole fortune or failure of her shop might
depend on the display of a different set of
articles, or substituting a fairer apple for one
which appeared to be specked. So she made the
change, and straightway fancied that everything
was spoiled by it; not recognizing that it was the
nervousness of the juncture, and her own native
squeamishness as an old maid, that wrought all
the seeming mischief.
| Holgrave aceptó y se fue, dejando a la
solterona con ánimo menos deprimido. Pero
pronto volvió a caer en su antigua angustia.
Con el corazón palpitante escuchó las pisadas
de los viandantes que empezaban a pasar
por la calle. Una o dos veces parecieron
detenerse. Aquellos forasteros y vecinos se
paraban, quizás para mirar los juguetes y
golosinas expuestos en el escaparate de
Hepzibah. Se sentía doblemente torturada:
primero por la deprimente sensación de
vergüenza, de que ojos extraños e
indiferentes contemplaran el escaparate; y,
segundo, por la idea de que estaba mal
arreglado. Le parecía como si el éxito o el
fracaso de la tienda dependiera de la manera
de exponer los artículos o substituir una
manzana por otra más fresca. La cambió, en
efecto, y en seguida se imaginó que el
escaparate ofrecía peor aspecto que antes,
sin darse cuenta de que el nerviosismo del
momento y sus escrúpulos de solterona lo
echaban todo a perder. | Anon, there was an encounter, just at the door-step, betwixt two laboring men, as their rough
voices denoted them to be. After some slight talk
about their own affairs, one of them chanced to
notice the shop-window, and directed the other′s
attention to it.
| A poco, dos trabajadores, a juzgar por su
áspera voz, se encontraron frente a la puerta.
Uno de ellos reparó casualmente en el
escaparate, y llamó la atención del otro. | "See here!" cried he; "what do you think of this?
Trade seems to be looking up in Pyncheon
Street!"
| -¡Mira! -exclamó-. ¿Qué opinas de eso?...
Parece que el comercio levanta la cabeza en
la calle Pyncheon... | "Well, well, this is a sight, to be sure!" exclaimed
the other. "In the old Pyncheon House, and
underneath the Pyncheon Elm! Who would have
thought it? Old Maid Pyncheon is setting up a
cent-shop!"
| -¡En la vieja casa de los Pyncheon y bajo la
sombra del olmo de los Pyncheon! ¿Quién lo
hubiera creído? La vieja Pyncheon ha abierto
una tienda de chucherías... | "Will she make it go, think you, Dixey?" said his
friend. "I don′t call it a very good stand. There′s
another shop just round the corner."
| -¿Crees que tendrá vida Dixey? -dijo el otro
amigo-. No es este un sitio muy bueno. Hay
otra tienda en la esquina... | "Make it go!" cried Dixey, with a most
contemptuous expression, as if the very idea
were impossible to be conceived. "Not a bit of it!
Why, her face--I′ve seen it, for I dug her garden
for her one year--her face is enough to frighten
the Old Nick himself, if he had ever so great a
mind to trade with her. People can′t stand it, I
tell you! She scowls dreadfully, reason or none,
out of pure ugliness of temper."
| -¿Qué si tendrá vida? -repitió Dixey con tono
desdeñoso, como si fuera una idea
disparatada, inconcebible-. Ni por casualidad.
El rostro de la dueña... lo vi un año que le
arreglé el jardín, es para espantar al propio
diablo, si se atreviese a tratar con ella. Frunce
el ceño por nada... por simple mal carácter. | "Well, that′s not so much matter," remarked the
other man. "These sour-tempered folks are
mostly handy at business, and know pretty well
what they are about. But, as you say, I don′t
think she′ll do much. This business of keeping
cent-shops is overdone, like all other kinds of
trade, handicraft, and bodily labor. I know it, to
my cost! My wife kept a cent-shop three months,
and lost five dollars on her outlay."
| -Eso no importa -insistió el otro-. Esas gentes
de mal carácter tienen buenas manos para los
negocios y saben lo que se proponen. De
todos modos, no creo que tenga vida. Hay
demasiadas tiendas de esta clase, igual que
demasiados artesanos y jornaleros. Lo sé por
experiencia. Mi mujer puso una tiendecita de
esas y perdió cinco dólares. | "Poor business!" responded Dixey, in a tone as if
he were shaking his head,--"poor business."
| ¡Mal negocio! -gruñó Dixey-. ¡Mal negocio! | For some reason or other, not very easy to
analyze, there had hardly been so bitter a pang in
all her previous misery about the matter as what
thrilled Hepzibah′s heart on overhearing the
above conversation. The testimony in regard to
her scowl was frightfully important; it seemed to
hold up her image wholly relieved from the false
light of her self-partialities, and so hideous that
she dared not look at it. She was absurdly hurt,
moreover, by the slight and idle effect that her
setting up shop--an event of such breathless
interest to herself--appeared to have upon the
public, of which these two men were the nearest
representatives. A glance; a passing word or two;
a coarse laugh; and she was doubtless forgotten
before they turned the corner. They cared
nothing for her dignity, and just as little for her
degradation.
| Then, also, the augury of ill-success, uttered from the sure wisdom of experience, fell upon her half-dead hope like a clod into a grave. The man′s wife had already tried the same experiment, and failed! How could the born lady--the recluse of half a lifetime, utterly unpractised in the world, at sixty years of age,--how could she ever dream of succeeding, when the hard, vulgar, keen, busy, hackneyed New England woman had lost five dollars on her little outlay! Success presented itself as an impossibility, and the hope of it as a wild hallucination. Por uno u otro motivo, difícil de analizar,
Hepzibah no se había sentido nunca tan
dolorosamente conmovida, a lo largo de su
vida mísera, como al escuchar aquella
conversación. La opinión de Dixey sobre su
ceño era terriblemente importante, como si
le revelase su imagen con aspecto tan
horrible que no se atrevía a mirarla.
| Además, sentíase profundamente herida por el insignificante efecto que causaba en el público -del cual aquellos dos hombres eran representantes directos- un asunto tan importante para ella como el de la apertura de la tienda. Una mirada indiferente, unas palabras al pasar, una risa brutal y sin duda al volver la esquina ya la habían olvidado. No les importaba nada su dignidad ni su degradación. El augurio de fracaso, pronunciado por la voz de la experiencia, caía sobre su esperanza como un terrón de tierra sobre la tumba abierta. ¡La mujer de aquel obrero había intentado la misma experiencia y había fracasado! ¿Cómo podría triunfar una señora sin experiencia en la vida, a los sesenta años de edad, donde una vulgar y enérgica mujer de Nueva Inglaterra había perdido cinco dólares? El éxito aparecía como una imposibilidad y la esperanza como una insensata alucinación. Some malevolent spirit, doing his utmost to drive
Hepzibah mad, unrolled before her imagination a
kind of panorama, representing the great
thoroughfare of a city all astir with customers. So
many and so magnificent shops as there were!
Groceries, toy-shops, drygoods stores, with their
immense panes of plate-glass, their gorgeous
fixtures, their vast and complete assortments of
merchandise, in which fortunes had been
invested; and those noble mirrors at the farther
end of each establishment, doubling all this
wealth by a brightly burnished vista of
unrealities! On one side of the street this
splendid bazaar, with a multitude of perfumed
and glossy salesmen, smirking, smiling, bowing,
and measuring out the goods. On the other, the
dusky old House of the Seven Gables, with the
antiquated shop-window under its projecting
story, and Hepzibah herself, in a gown of rusty
black silk, behind the counter, scowling at the
world as it went by! This mighty contrast thrust
itself forward as a fair expression of the odds
against which she was to begin her struggle for a
subsistence. Success? Preposterous! She would
never think of it again! The house might just as
well be buried in an eternal fog while all other
houses had the sunshine on them; for not a foot
would ever cross the threshold, nor a hand so
much as try the door!
| Algún espíritu maléfico quería enloquecer a
Hepzibah haciendo desfilar ante su
imaginación el panorama de una calle llena
de actividad y de parroquianos ¡Cuántas y
qué hermosas tiendas se veían por allí!
Mercerías, tiendas de juguetes y de
comestibles, con enormes escaparates,
grandes rótulos, vastos y completos surtidos
de mercancías que valían verdaderas
fortunas. ¡Y aquellos anchos espejos al fondo
de los establecimientos, doblando su riqueza
con una brillante visión de cosas irreales! A
un lado de la calle, esos lujosos almacenes
con numerosos dependientes sonriendo,
saludando y sirviendo géneros. Al otro lado,
la obscura y vieja casa de los Siete Tejados,
con el anticuado escaparate a la sombra del
saliente primer piso y la propia Hepzibah
envuelta en un vestido de ajada seda negra,
detrás del mostrador, mirando ceñudamente
a la gente que pasaba de largo. Ese contraste
era para la vieja solterona como una imagen
de la desventaja con que había de empezar
su lucha por la vida. ¿Éxito? ¡Absurdo! ¡No
había que pensar en ello! ¿Qué importaba
que la casa permaneciera sumida en una
eterna bruma, mientras sobre las otras
cabrilleaba el sol, si jamás nadie cruzaría su
umbral ni una mano empujaría la puerta. | But, at this instant, the shop-bell, right over her
head, tinkled as if it were bewitched. The old
gentlewoman′s heart seemed to be attached to
the same steel spring, for it went through a
series of sharp jerks, in unison with the sound.
The door was thrust open, although no human
form was perceptible on the other side of the
half-window. Hepzibah, nevertheless, stood at a
gaze, with her hands clasped, looking very much
as if she had summoned up an evil spirit, and
were afraid, yet resolved, to hazard the
encounter.
| Pero en este preciso instante, la campanilla
repicó como si estuviera embrujada. El
corazón de la solterona parecía hallarse en
contacto con el vibrante acero, pues pareció
palpitar al unísono con el tintineo. La puerta
se abrió, aunque al otro lado del escaparate
no se veía ninguna forma humana. Hepzibah,
sin embargo, se quedó mirando, con las
manos juntas, cual si hubiera evocado a un
espíritu maligno y estuviese asustada, aunque
resuelta a enfrentarse con el temible
enemigo. | "Heaven help me!" she groaned mentally. "Now
is my hour of need!"
| -¡Dios me asista! -gimió mentalmente-. ¡Ha
llegado la hora de la prueba! | The door, which moved with difficulty on its
creaking and rusty hinges, being forced quite
open, a square and sturdy little urchin became
apparent, with cheeks as red as an apple. He was
clad rather shabbily (but, as it seemed, more
owing to his mother′s carelessness than his
father′s poverty), in a blue apron, very wide and
short trousers, shoes somewhat out at the toes,
and a chip hat, with the frizzles of his curly hair
sticking through its crevices. A book and a small
slate, under his arm, indicated that he was on his
way to school. He stared at Hepzibah a moment,
as an elder customer than himself would have
been likely enough to do, not knowing what to
make of the tragic attitude and queer scowl
wherewith she regarded him.
| La puerta movióse con dificultad sobre sus
chimantes goznes, hasta que, por fin, quedó
abierta dejando ver a un robusto muchacho
de mejillas sonrosadas. Iba hecho un gitano,
debido, al parecer, más al descuido de la
madre que a la pobreza del padre. Vestía
delantal azul, pantalones cortos y sombrero
de paja por cuyas rasgaduras asomaban
rizados mechones de pelo. Llevaba un libro y
una pizarra bajo el brazo, indicios de que se
dirigía a la escuela. Miró ún momento a
Hepzibah, probablemente igual que lo
hubiera hecho un parroquiano mayor que él,
y se quedó sin saber qué hacer ante la trágica
actitud y el extraño fruncimiento de las cejas
de la mujer. | "Well, child," said she, taking heart at sight of a
personage so little formidable,--"well, my child,
what did you wish for?"
| -¡Hola, muchacho! -dijo ella, animándose al
ver un personaje tan poco formidable-. ¿Qué
deseas? | "That Jim Crow there in the window," answered
the urchin, holding out a cent, and pointing to
the gingerbread figure that had attracted his
notice, as he loitered along to school; "the one
that has not a broken foot."
| -Ese Jim Crow del escaparate -contestó el
rapaz, señalando con un centavo la figura de
pan de jengibre que había atraído su
atención-. El que no tiene el pie roto. | So Hepzibah put forth her lank arm, and, taking
the effigy from the shop-window, delivered it to
her first customer.
| Hepzibah alargó el descarnado brazo, cogió
el dulce y lo entregó a su primer cliente. | "No matter for the money," said she, giving him a
little push towards the door; for her old gentility
was contumaciously squeamish at sight of the
copper coin, and, besides, it seemed such pitiful
meanness to take the child′s pocket-money in
exchange for a bit of stale gingerbread. "No
matter for the cent. You are welcome to Jim
Crow."
| -No me debes nada -dijo, empujando al
chiquillo hacia la puerta, pues su rancia
nobleza se avergonzaba a la vista de la
moneda de cobre, y además le parecía feo
aceptar el dinero del pequeño a cambio de
un pobre pedazo de jengibre-. No importa el
dinero. Jim Crow te da la bienvenida... | The child, staring with round eyes at this instance
of liberality, wholly unprecedented in his large
experience of cent-shops, took the man of
gingerbread, and quitted the premises. No
sooner had he reached the sidewalk (little
cannibal that he was!) than Jim Crow′s head was
in his mouth. As he had not been careful to shut
the door, Hepzibah was at the pains of closing it
after him, with a pettish ejaculation or two about
the troublesomeness of young people, and
particularly of small boys. She had just placed
another representative of the renowned Jim
Crow at the window, when again the shop-bell
tinkled clamorously, and again the door being
thrust open, with its characteristic jerk and jar,
disclosed the same sturdy little urchin who,
precisely two minutes ago, had made his exit.
The crumbs and discoloration of the cannibal
feast, as yet hardly consummated, were
exceedingly visible about his mouth.
| El pequeño recibió con asombro aquella
muestra de generosidad sin precedentes en
su largaexperiencia de tiendas de golosinas.
Éso no le impidió coger al hombre de pastel y
marcharse. No había llegado a la otra acera
cuando ya la cabeza de Jim Crow estaba entre
sus dientes de pequeño caníbal. Se olvidó de
cerrar la puerta y Hepzibah tuvo que hacerlo,
rezongando sobre el atolondramiento de los
niños. Acababa de poner otra efigie del
renombrado Jim Crow en el escaparate,
cuando la campanilla tintineó de nuevo, y
otra vez se abrió la puerta, con su
característico chirrido, para dar paso al
mismo robusto chiquillo que había salido por
ella dos minutos antes... Los restos del
canibalesco festín eran aún visibles en la boca
sucia. | "What is it now, child?" asked the maiden lady
rather impatiently; "did you come back to shut
the door?"
| -¿Qué quieres ahora, pequeño? -preguntó la
solterona, impaciente-. ¿Has regresado para
cerrar la puerta? | "No," answered the urchin, pointing to the figure
that had just been put up; "I want that other Jim
Crow."
| -No -contestó el chiquillo, señalando la figura
que acababa de aparecer en el escaparate-.
Quiero ese otro Jim Crow. | "Well, here it is for you," said Hepzibah, reaching
it down; but recognizing that this pertinacious
customer would not quit her on any other terms,
so long as she had a gingerbread figure in her
shop, she partly drew back her extended hand,
"Where is the cent?"
| -Aquí lo tienes- dijo Hepzibah. Pero
comprendiendo que, mientras quedara
jengibre en la tienda, no se podría quitar de
encima al pertinaz parroquiano añadió-:
¿Dónde está el centavo? | The little boy had the cent ready, but, like a true-born Yankee, would have preferred the better
bargain to the worse. Looking somewhat
chagrined, he put the coin into Hepzibah′s hand,
and departed, sending the second Jim Crow in
quest of the former one. The new shop-keeper
dropped the first solid result of her commercial
enterprise into the till. It was done! The sordid
stain of that copper coin could never be washed
away from her palm. The little schoolboy, aided
by the impish figure of the negro dancer, had
wrought an irreparable ruin. The structure of
ancient aristocracy had been demolished by him,
even as if his childish gripe had torn down the
seven-gabled mansion.
| Now let Hepzibah turn the old Pyncheon portraits with their faces to the wall, and take the map of her Eastern territory to kindle the kitchen fire, and blow up the flame with the empty breath of her ancestral traditions! What had she to do with ancestry? Nothing; no more than with posterity! No lady, now, but simply Hepzibah Pyncheon, a forlorn old maid, and keeper of a cent-shop! El muchacho tenía el centavo, pero, como
verdadero yanqui, hubiera preferido la ganga
anterior. Con cara contristada, dio su centavo
y se fue, enviando al segundo Jim Crow en
busca del primero. La nueva tendera dejó
caer en el cajón el primer resultado tangible
de su empresa comercial. ¡Ya estaba hecho!
La sórdida mancha de aquella moneda de
cobre jamás se le borraría de la mano. El
chiquillo, con ayuda de la picaresca figura del
bailarín negro, había causado una ruina
irreparable, había derribado la estructura de
la rancia nobleza, como si con la fuerza de su
mano infantil hubiese derruido La Casa de los
Siete Tejados.
| ¡Ya no le quedaba más que volver de cara a la pared los retratos de sus antepasados y coger el mapa de sus territorios occidentales para encender el fuego de la cocina y avivar la llama con el hálito de sus tradiciones ancestrales! ¿Qué relación tenía ella con sus antepasados? Ninguna: ni tampoco con la posteridad. Ya no era una señora, sino simplemente Hepzibah Pyncheon, una solterona solitaria y desamparada, la dueña de una tenducha. Nevertheless, even while she paraded these
ideas somewhat ostentatiously through her
mind, it is altogether surprising what a calmness
had come over her. The anxiety and misgivings
which had tormented her, whether asleep or in
melancholy day-dreams, ever since her project
began to take an aspect of solidity, had now
vanished quite away. She felt the novelty of her
position, indeed, but no longer with disturbance
or affright. Now and then, there came a thrill of
almost youthful enjoyment. It was the
invigorating breath of a fresh outward
atmosphere, after the long torpor and
monotonous seclusion of her life. So wholesome
is effort! So miraculous the strength that we do
not know of! The healthiest glow that Hepzibah
had known for years had come now in the
dreaded crisis, when, for the first time, she had
put forth her hand to help herself. The little
circlet of the schoolboy′s copper coin--dim and
lustreless though it was, with the small services
which it had been doing here and there about
the world--had proved a talisman, fragrant with
good, and deserving to be set in gold and worn
next her heart. It was as potent, and perhaps
endowed with the same kind of efficacy, as a
galvanic ring! Hepzibah, at all events, was
indebted to its subtile operation both in body
and spirit; so much the more, as it inspired her
with energy to get some breakfast, at which, still
the better to keep up her courage, she allowed
herself an extra spoonful in her infusion of black
tea.
| No obstante, mientras estos sombríos
pensamientos desfilaban por su mente, la
invadió (cosa sorprendente) una extraña
calma. La ansiedad y los recelos que la
atormentaron dormida de noche o en sus
melancólicos ensueños durante el día, desde
que empezó a perfilarse su proyecto
comercial, desaparecieron por completo. Se
daba cuenta de la novedad de su posición,
pero sin turbarse ni apenarse. De vez en
cuando sentía incluso un estremecimiento de
juvenil alegría. Era el aliento vigorizador de la
fresca atmósfera exterior, tras la larga
monotonía y letargo de su reclusión. ¡Qué
sano es el esfuerzo! ¡Qué milagrosa la fuerza
que nos da! Se encontraba mejor que nunca.
Parecía haber recuperado la salud apenas
hizo un esfuerzo para ayudarse a sí misma. El
redondel de cobre recibido del rapaz,
empañado por los servicios prestados aquí y
allá, resultaba ser un verdadero talismán
merecedor de ser engastado en oro y de
colgar junto a su corazón. Era tan potente
como un anillo galvánico y dotado, quizás, de
su misma eficacia. Hepzibah, en todo caso, le
debía un profundo cambio de cuerpo y de
espíritu, tanto más, cuanto que le dio
energías para desayunar. Con el fin de
mantener su valor, en el té que se preparó
puso una cucharada más que de costumbre. | Her introductory day of shop-keeping did not run
on, however, without many and serious
interruptions of this mood of cheerful vigor. As a
general rule, Providence seldom vouchsafes to
mortals any more than just that degree of
encouragement which suffices to keep them at a
reasonably full exertion of their powers. In the
case of our old gentlewoman, after the
excitement of new effort had subsided, the
despondency of her whole life threatened, ever
and anon, to return. It was like the heavy mass of
clouds which we may often see obscuring the
sky, and making a gray twilight everywhere, until,
towards nightfall, it yields temporarily to a
glimpse of sunshine. But, always, the envious
cloud strives to gather again across the streak of
celestial azure.
| Aquel primer día de vida comercial no
transcurrió, empero, sin muchas y serias
interrupciones de aquella especie de euforia.
Por regla general, la Providencia raramente
concede a los mortales más estímulo que el
preciso para que se esfuercen
razonablemente. En el caso de nuestra vieja
señora, después de la excitación de cada
nuevo esfuerzo, el desaliento y la apatía de
toda su vida amenazaban con volver, como
las espesas masas de nubes que con
frecuencia obscurecen el cielo y todo lo
vuelven gris, hasta que al anochecer dejan
llegar unos rayos de sol, los postreros. Pero
siempre las envidiosas nubes intentan
conquistar el pedazo de cielo azul. | Customers came in, as the forenoon advanced,
but rather slowly; in some cases, too, it must be
owned, with little satisfaction either to
themselves or Miss Hepzibah; nor, on the whole,
with an aggregate of very rich emolument to the
till. A little girl, sent by her mother to match a
skein of cotton thread, of a peculiar hue, took
one that the near-sighted old lady pronounced
extremely like, but soon came running back, with
a blunt and cross message, that it would not do,
and, besides, was very rotten! Then, there was a
pale, care-wrinkled woman, not old but haggard,
and already with streaks of gray among her hair,
like silver ribbons; one of those women, naturally
delicate, whom you at once recognize as worn to
death by a brute--probably a drunken brute--of
a husband, and at least nine children. She
wanted a few pounds of flour, and offered the
money, which the decayed gentlewoman silently
rejected, and gave the poor soul better measure
than if she had taken it. Shortly afterwards, a
man in a blue cotton frock, much soiled, came in
and bought a pipe, filling the whole shop,
meanwhile, with the hot odor of strong drink,
not only exhaled in the torrid atmosphere of his
breath, but oozing out of his entire system, like
an inflammable gas. It was impressed on
Hepzibah′s mind that this was the husband of the
care-wrinkled woman. He asked for a paper of
tobacco; and as she had neglected to provide
herself with the article, her brutal customer
dashed down his newly-bought pipe and left the
shop, muttering some unintelligible words, which
had the tone and bitterness of a curse. Hereupon
Hepzibah threw up her eyes, unintentionally
scowling in the face of Providence!
| A medida que avanzaba la mañana, se iban
presentando parroquianos, aunque con cierta
lentitud y en algunos casos con escasa
satisfacción por su parte o por la de miss
Hepzibah. El cajón no se llenó. Una chiquilla
enviada por su madre a buscar una madeja de
algodón de determinado color se llevó una
que los ojos cortos de vista de miss Hepzibah
vieron muy parecido, pero volvió en seguida
diciendo que era muy distinta y, además,
muy mala. Luego presentóse una mujer
pálida y arrugada, no vieja, pero sí macilenta,
con mechones de pelo como cintas de plata,
una de esas mujeres de naturaleza delicada
destinadas a morir por el mal trato ele un
bruto -probablemente un bruto alcoholizado-
y de nueve hijos por lo menos. Pidió unas
libras de harina. La tendera rechazó su dinero
y le hizo mejor peso que si se lo hubiese
tomado. Poco después, entró a comprar una
pipa un hombre con sucia chaqueta de
algodón azul que llenó la tienda con un
fuerte olor a bebida fuerte, no sólo exhalado
por su aliento, sino emanado de todo su
cuerpo, como un gas inflamable. Hepzibah
sospechó que era el marido de la mujer de
rostro pálido y arrugado. Pidió tabaco, y
como la tendera había olvidado proveerse de
aquel artículo, arrojó la pipa y salió
mascullando palabras ininteligibles, que
tenían el tono y la aspereza de una maldición,
por lo cual Hepzibah alzó la vista hacia el
cielo, frunciendo el ceño involuntariamente. | No less than five persons, during the forenoon,
inquired for ginger-beer, or root-beer, or any
drink of a similar brewage, and, obtaining
nothing of the kind, went off in an exceedingly
bad humor. Three of them left the door open,
and the other two pulled it so spitefully in going
out that the little bell played the very deuce with
Hepzibah′s nerves. A round, bustling, fire-ruddy
housewife of the neighborhood burst breathless
into the shop, fiercely demanding yeast; and
when the poor gentlewoman, with her cold
shyness of manner, gave her hot customer to
understand that she did not keep the article, this
very capable housewife took upon herself to
administer a regular rebuke.
| Nada menos que cinco personas pidieron
cerveza, licor de jengibre u otras bebidas
similares, y al no obtener nada parecido,
salieron de muy mal humor. Tres de ellos
dejaron la puerta abierta y las otras dos la
cerraron con tal furia que la campanilla atacó
despiadadamente los nervios de Hepzibah.
Una voluminosa y bulliciosa comadre entró
jadeante en la tienda, y pidió fieramente un
poco de levadura, y cuando la pobre dama,
con su timidez, le dio a entender que no tenía
eso, la comadre estalló en reproches. | "A cent-shop, and no yeast!" quoth she; "That
will never do! Who ever heard of such a thing?
Your loaf will never rise, no more than mine will
to-day. You had better shut up shop at once."
| -¡Una tienda que no tiene levadura! ¿Quién lo
diría? Parece imposible... Así no hinchará
usted su pan, como hoy no se esponjará el
mío. Mejor que cierre antes de comenzar... - | "Well," said Hepzibah, heaving a deep sigh,
"perhaps I had!"
| Bien -repuso Hepzibah con un suspiro-, quizá
lo haga. | Several times, moreover, besides the above
instance, her lady-like sensibilities were seriously
infringed upon by the familiar, if not rude, tone
with which people addressed her. They evidently
considered themselves not merely her equals,
but her patrons and superiors. Now, Hepzibah
had unconsciously flattered herself with the idea
that there would be a gleam or halo, of some
kind or other, about her person, which would
insure an obeisance to her sterling gentility, or,
at least, a tacit recognition of it. On the other
hand, nothing tortured her more intolerably than
when this recognition was too prominently
expressed. To one or two rather officious offers
of sympathy, her responses were little short of
acrimonious; and, we regret to say, Hepzibah
was thrown into a positively unchristian state of
mind by the suspicion that one of her customers
was drawn to the shop, not by any real need of
the article which she pretended to seek, but by a
wicked wish to stare at her. The vulgar creature
was determined to see for herself what sort of a
figure a mildewed piece of aristocracy, after
wasting all the bloom and much of the decline of
her life apart from the world, would cut behind a
counter. In this particular case, however
mechanical and innocuous it might be at other
times, Hepzibah′s contortion of brow served her
in good stead.
| Varias veces su sensibilidad señoril fue herida
por la familiaridad, ya que no rudeza, con que
se le dirigieron. Evidentemente los
compradores se consideraban no sólo sus
iguales, sino sus superiores, sus patronos.
Hepzibah había albergado la idea de que algo
así como un halo de una u otra clase le
aseguraría el respeto a su genuina nobleza,
o, por lo menos, un tácito reconocimiento de
su superioridad. Por otra parte, nada la
trastornaba tanto como que este
reconocimiento fuera demasiado
enérgicamente expresado. A uno o dos
oficiosos ofrecimientos de simpatía, contestó
casi con acritud, y lamentamos tener que
decir que Hepzibah se vio sumida en un
estado de ánimo poco cristiano por la
sospecha de que una de las clientes se
presentó empujada no por necesitar lo que
pidió, sino por el deseo de echarle una
mirada a ella, a Hepzibah. Esa vulgar criatura
quería ver qué figura hacía detrás del
mostrador la enmohecida aristócrata,
después de pasarse la vida retirada del
mundo. Por muy mecánico e inocuo que
fuera en otros casos el ceño de Hepzibah,
esta vez resultó fulminante. | "I never was so frightened in my life!" said the
curious customer, in describing the incident to
one of her acquaintances. "She′s a real old vixen,
take my word of it! She says little, to be sure; but
if you could only see the mischief in her eye!"
| -Nunca me asusté tanto en mi vida -explicaba
después la entrometida cliente, describiendo
el incidente a una de sus amigas-. Es una
verdadera arpía... Habla poco, pero hay en
sus ojos tanta mala intención... | On the whole, therefore, her new experience led
our decayed gentlewoman to very disagreeable
conclusions as to the temper and manners of
what she termed the lower classes, whom
heretofore she had looked down upon with a
gentle and pitying complaisance, as herself
occupying a sphere of unquestionable
superiority. But, unfortunately, she had likewise
to struggle against a bitter emotion of a directly
opposite kind: a sentiment of virulence, we
mean, towards the idle aristocracy to which it
had so recently been her pride to belong. When a
lady, in a delicate and costly summer garb, with a
floating veil and gracefully swaying gown, and,
altogether, an ethereal lightness that made you
look at her beautifully slippered feet, to see
whether she trod on the dust or floated in the
air,--when such a vision happened to pass
through this retired street, leaving it tenderly
and delusively fragrant with her passage, as if a
bouquet of tea-roses had been borne
along,--then again, it is to be feared, old
Hepzibah′s scowl could no longer vindicate itself
entirely on the plea of near-sightedness.
| En conjunto, esta experiencia condujo a
nuestra decaída dama a muy desagradables
conclusiones sobre el trato y el carácter de lo
que ella llamaba las clases bajas, a las cuales,
hasta entonces, había contemplado con
mirada de amable y piadosa condescendencia
desde su esfera de indiscutible superioridad.
Desgraciadamente, tenía que luchar también
contra una emoción de carácter
completamente opuesto: un sentimiento de
acrimonia contra la ociosa aristocracia, a la
cual tanto se enorgullecía, hasta hoy, de
pertenecer. Cuando una dama con un
delicado vestido de verano y un chai flotando
sobre los hombros pasó por la calle con paso
ligero como una visión, dejando tras ella una
fragancia engañosa, cual si llevara un
ramillete de rosas de té, es de temer que el
ceño de Hepzibah no podía atribuirse por
entero a un gesto maquinal. | "For what end," thought she, giving vent to that
feeling of hostility which is the only real
abasement of the poor in presence of the
rich,--"for what good end, in the wisdom of
Providence, does that woman live? Must the
whole world toil, that the palms of her hands
may be kept white and delicate?"
| -¿Con qué fin -pensó, dando paso al
sentimiento de hostilidad que es la única
humillación real del pobre frente al rico- ha
creado la Providencia a esa mujer? ¿Es que ha
de trabajar todo el mundo para que la palma
de sus manos siga blanca y delicada? | Then, ashamed and penitent, she hid her face.
| Pero en seguida, avergonzada y arrepentida,
inclinó la cabeza. | "May God forgive me!" said she.
| -¡Dios me perdone! -murmuró | Doubtless, God did forgive her. But, taking the
inward and outward history of the first half-day
into consideration, Hepzibah began to fear that
the shop would prove her ruin in a moral and
religious point of view, without contributing very
essentially towards even her temporal welfare.
| Sin duda Dios la perdonó. Pero, tomando en
consideración el aspecto interior y exterior de
aquella primera mitad del día, Hepzibah
empezó a temer que la tienda sería causa de
su ruina desde el punto de vista moral y
religioso, sin contribuir de modo muy firme a
su bienestar temporal. |
| |
| | |