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




VIII The Pyncheon of To-day

VIII. El Pyncheon de hoy

PHOEBE, on entering the shop, beheld there the already familiar face of the little devourer--if we can reckon his mighty deeds aright--of Jim Crow, the elephant, the camel, the dromedaries, and the locomotive. Having expended his private fortune, on the two preceding days, in the purchase of the above unheard-of luxuries, the young gentleman′s present errand was on the part of his mother, in quest of three eggs and half a pound of raisins. These articles Phoebe accordingly supplied, and, as a mark of gratitude for his previous patronage, and a slight super-added morsel after breakfast, put likewise into his hand a whale ! The great fish, reversing his experience with the prophet of Nineveh, immediately began his progress down the same red pathway of fate whither so varied a caravan had preceded him. This remarkable urchin, in truth, was the very emblem of old Father Time, both in respect of his all-devouring appetite for men and things, and because he, as well as Time, after ingulfing thus much of creation, looked almost as youthful as if he had been just that moment made. PHOEBE, al entrar en la tienda, se encontró con la cara ya familiar del pequeño devorador -si no nos falla la memoria- de Jim Crow, del elefante, los camellos, los dromedarios y la locomotora. En los dos días anteriores se había gastado toda su fortuna en la compra de aquellos objetos nunca vistos y ahora se presentaba, de parte de su madre, a buscar tres nuevos y media libra de uvas. Phoebe le dio esos artículos y, en recompensa de sus compras anteriores y como bocado suplementario del desayuno, le obsequió con una ballena entera. El enorme cetáceo, inviniendo la experiencia del profeta de Nínive, empezó a recorrer el sonrosado camino por el cual le había precedido tan variada caravana. El notable muchacho era realmente un emblema del Tiempo, tanto por su apetito que todo lo devoraba, hombres y cosas, como porque igual que el Tiempo, después de engullirse una creación entera, parecía recién nacido.
After partly closing the door, the child turned back, and mumbled something to Phoebe, which, as the whale was but half disposed of, she could not perfectly understand. El chiquillo ya había cerrado a medias la puerta cuando volvió a entrar y le dijo algo a Phoebe que ésta no pudo entender a causa de la ballena que se interponía entre ella y las cuerdas vocales del muchacho.
"What did you say, my little fellow ?" asked she. -¿Qué dices ?
"Mother wants to know" repeated Ned Higgins more distinctly, "how Old Maid Pyncheon′s brother does ? Folks say he has got home." -Mi madre desea saber -repitió más claramente Ned Higgins- cómo se encuentra el hermano de la vieja Pyncheon. La gente dice que ha vuelto a casa...
"My cousin Hepzibah′s brother ?" exclaimed Phoebe, surprised at this sudden explanation of the relationship between Hepzibah and her guest. "Her brother ! And where can he have been ?" -¿El hermano de prima Hepzibah ? -exclamó Phoebe, sorprendida por la repentina revelación del parentesco entre la solterona y su huésped-. ¡Su hermano ! Y ¿dónde puede haber estado ?
The little boy only put his thumb to his broad snub-nose, with that look of shrewdness which a child, spending much of his time in the street, so soon learns to throw over his features, however unintelligent in themselves. Then as Phoebe continued to gaze at him, without answering his mother′s message, he took his departure. El chiquillo se limitó a apoyar su pulgar contra la chata nariz, con ese aire de travesura que un niño que pasa en la calle la mayor parte del día aprende en seguida, por muy tonto que sea. Viendo que Phoebe seguía mirándole sin contestar el mensaje de su madre, el pequeño se fue.
As the child went down the steps, a gentleman ascended them, and made his entrance into the shop. It was the portly, and, had it possessed the advantage of a little more height, would have been the stately figure of a man considerably in the decline of life, dressed in a black suit of some thin stuff, resembling broadcloth as closely as possible. A gold-headed cane, of rare Oriental wood, added materially to the high respectability of his aspect, as did also a neckcloth of the utmost snowy purity, and the conscientious polish of his boots. His dark, square countenance, with its almost shaggy depth of eyebrows, was naturally impressive, and would, perhaps, have been rather stern, had not the gentleman considerately taken upon himself to mitigate the harsh effect by a look of exceeding good-humor and benevolence. Owing, however, to a somewhat massive accumulation of animal substance about the lower region of his face, the look was, perhaps, unctuous rather than spiritual, and had, so to speak, a kind of fleshly effulgence, not altogether so satisfactory as he doubtless intended it to be. A susceptible observer, at any rate, might have regarded it as affording very little evidence of the general benignity of soul whereof it purported to be the outward reflection. And if the observer chanced to be ill-natured, as well as acute and susceptible, he would probably suspect that the smile on the gentleman′s face was a good deal akin to the shine on his boots, and that each must have cost him and his boot-black, respectively, a good deal of hard labor to bring out and preserve them. Por la escalera se cruzó con un caballero que entró en la tienda. Era corpulento, y de haber sido algo más alto, hasta habría parecido la figura de un personaje en el ocaso de su vida. Vestía traje negro de tela fina. Un bastón de rara madera oriental y puño de oro aumentaba su aspecto respetable, como también las brillantes botas y una corbata blanca como la nieve. Su sombrío semblante cuadrado, con espesas cejas, era impresionante e incluso habría resultado torvo si el caballero no hubiese mitigado el efecto duro con una mirada benévola y de buen humor. Debido a una excesiva acumulación de substancia carnosa en la parte inferior del rostro, aquella mirada, más suntuosa que espiritual, tenía un fulgor mucho menos satisfactorio de lo que su dueño deseaba. Un observador sensible habría visto que no era prueba de un alma bondadosa. Y si el observador fuera, además, agudo, sospecharía probablemente que la sonrisa guardaba estrecho parentesco con el brillo de las botas y que ambas cosas costaron grandes esfuerzos, una al caballero y otra al criado.
As the stranger entered the little shop, where the projection of the second story and the thick foliage of the elm-tree, as well as the commodities at the window, created a sort of gray medium, his smile grew as intense as if he had set his heart on counteracting the whole gloom of the atmosphere (besides any moral gloom pertaining to Hepzibah and her inmates) by the unassisted light of his countenance. On perceiving a young rose-bud of a girl, instead of the gaunt presence of the old maid, a look of surprise was manifest. He at first knit his brows; then smiled with more unctuous benignity than ever. Cuando el caballero entró en la tienda, sumida en la sombra por el saledizo del piso superior, por el follaje del olmo y por la acumulación de mercancías en el escaparate, su sonrisa se hizo tan abierta como si con ella se propusiera contrarrestar el aire lúgubre del lugar. Al ver a la muchacha, en vez de la descarnada figura de la solterona, el caballero no pudo ocultar la sorpresa. Arrugó las cejas y luego sonrió con más untuosa benevolencia que antes.
"Ah, I see how it is !" said he in a deep voice,--a voice which, had it come from the throat of an uncultivated man, would have been gruff, but, by dint of careful training, was now sufficiently agreeable,--"I was not aware that Miss Hepzibah Pyncheon had commenced business under such favorable auspices. You are her assistant, I suppose ?" -¡Ah, ya comprendo ! -dijo con voz profunda, una voz que si hubiese salido de la garganta de un hombre sin cultura resultaría ruda, pero que, gracias a un cultivo asiduo, era incluso agradable-. No sabía que miss Hepzibah Pyncheon hubiese empezado su negocio bajo tan favorables auspicios... Supongo que usted es su ayudante, ¿no ?
"I certainly am," answered Phoebe, and added, with a little air of lady-like assumption (for, civil as the gentleman was, he evidently took her to be a young person serving for wages), "I am a cousin of Miss Hepzibah, on a visit to her." -Ciertamente -repuso Phoebe, y añadió con aire de gran dama, pues por cortés que fuera el caballero, evidentemente la tomaba por una dependienta-: Soy prima de miss Hepzibah...
"Her cousin ?--and from the country ? Pray pardon me, then," said the gentleman, bowing and smiling, as Phoebe never had been bowed to nor smiled on before; "in that case, we must be better acquainted; for, unless I am sadly mistaken, you are my own little kinswoman likewise ! Let me see,--Mary ?--Dolly ?--Phoebe ?--yes, Phoebe is the name ! Is it possible that you are Phoebe Pyncheon, only child of my dear cousin and classmate, Arthur ? Ah, I see your father now, about your mouth ! Yes, yes ! we must be better acquainted ! I am your kinsman, my dear. Surely you must have heard of Judge Pyncheon ?" -¿Su prima ?... ¿Su prima del campo ? ¡Perdóneme entonces ! -contestó el caballero, saludando y sonriendo como nadie había saludado ni sonreído a Phoebe hasta aquel momento-. En este caso, hemos de conocernos mejor, porque, si no me equivoco, usted es también pariente mía. Veamos... ¿Mary ? ¿Dolly ? ¿Phoebe ?... Sí, Phoebe... este es el nombre. ¿Es posible que usted sea Phoebe Pyncheon, la hija de mi primo Arthur ? Sí, ahora veo que se le parece. Tiene la misma boca... ¡Claro ! Hemos de ser amigos, usted y yo... Somos parientes... Con seguridad que ha oído hablar del juez Pyncheon, ¿no ?
As Phoebe curtsied in reply, the Judge bent forward, with the pardonable and even praiseworthy purpose--considering the nearness of blood and the difference of age--of bestowing on his young relative a kiss of acknowledged kindred and natural affection. Unfortunately (without design, or only with such instinctive design as gives no account of itself to the intellect) Phoebe, just at the critical moment, drew back; so that her highly respectable kinsman, with his body bent over the counter and his lips protruded, was betrayed into the rather absurd predicament of kissing the empty air. It was a modern parallel to the case of Ixion embracing a cloud, and was so much the more ridiculous as the Judge prided himself on eschewing all airy matter, and never mistaking a shadow for a substance. The truth was,--and it is Phoebe′s only excuse,--that, although Judge Pyncheon′s glowing benignity might not be absolutely unpleasant to the feminine beholder, with the width of a street, or even an ordinary-sized room, interposed between, yet it became quite too intense, when this dark, full-fed physiognomy (so roughly bearded, too, that no razor could ever make it smooth) sought to bring itself into actual contact with the object of its regards. The man, the sex, somehow or other, was entirely too prominent in the Judge′s demonstrations of that sort. Phoebe′s eyes sank, and, without knowing why, she felt herself blushing deeply under his look. Yet she had been kissed before, and without any particular squeamishness, by perhaps half a dozen different cousins, younger as well as older than this dark-browned, grisly-bearded, white-neck-clothed, and unctuously-benevolent Judge ! Then, why not by him ? Mientras Phoebe respondía, el juez se adelantó con el excusable y elogiable afán -teniendo en cuenta el parentesco y la diferencia de edad- de besar afectuosamente a la muchacha. Por desgracia, Phoebe retrocedió instintivamente en el momento crítico, de modo que aquel respetable caballero, con el cuerpo inclinado sobre el mostrador y los labios protuberantes, se vio en la absurda postura de dar besos en el aire. Resultaba tanto más ridículo cuanto que el juez se preciaba de evitar los asuntos sin consistencia y de no tomar nunca una sombra por un cuerpo. La verdad era-y esa fue la única excusa de Phoebe- que aunque la beatífica benevolencia del juez Pyncheon no era del todo desagradable para las mujeres que le encontraban a cierta distancia en la calle o en una estancia amplia, resultaba repelente cuando aquella fisonomía sombría y maciza, tan dura de barba que ninguna navaja podía suavizar, intentaba ponerse en contacto directo con el objeto de sus miradas. El hombre, el sexo, o cualquier otra cosa, se vislumbraba demasiado claramente en esta clase de demostraciones afectuosas del juez. Los ojos de Phoebe se desviaron, y, sin saber por qué, sonrojóse bajo la mirada del caballero. Antes la habían besado, sin ningún remilgo por su parte, una buena media docena de primos. Unos más jóvenes y otros más viejos que aquel nuevo pariente de pelo gris, cejas pobladas, corbata blanca y untuosos ojos benévolos. Entonces, ¿por qué no se dejaba también besar por él ?
On raising her eyes, Phoebe was startled by the change in Judge Pyncheon′s face. It was quite as striking, allowing for the difference of scale, as that betwixt a landscape under a broad sunshine and just before a thunder-storm; not that it had the passionate intensity of the latter aspect, but was cold, hard, immitigable, like a day-long brooding cloud. Al mirarle, Phoebe se asombró ante el cambio experimentado por el rostro del juez. Era tan notable, aparte de la diferencia de escala, como un paisaje después de brillar el sol y antes de una tempestad. Su rostro sonriente se había convertido en frío, duro, inflexible, como un día encapotado.
"Dear me ! what is to be done now ?" thought the country-girl to herself. "He looks as if there were nothing softer in him than a rock, nor milder than the east wind ! I meant no harm ! Since he is really my cousin, I would have let him kiss me, if I could !" -¿Qué ocurrirá ahora ? -se preguntó la muchacha-. Parece que en él no hay nada más blando que la roca ni más suave que el viento del este... No quería enfadarle. Puesto que es mi primo, debiera haberle dejado que me besara si hubiera podido.
Then, all at once, it struck Phoebe that this very Judge Pyncheon was the original of the miniature which the daguerreotypist had shown her in the garden, and that the hard, stern, relentless look, now on his face, was the same that the sun had so inflexibly persisted in bringing out. Was it, therefore, no momentary mood, but, however skilfully concealed, the settled temper of his life ? And not merely so, but was it hereditary in him, and transmitted down, as a precious heirloom, from that bearded ancestor, in whose picture both the expression and, to a singular degree, the features of the modern Judge were shown as by a kind of prophecy ? A deeper philosopher than Phoebe might have found something very terrible in this idea. It implied that the weaknesses and defects, the bad passions, the mean tendencies, and the moral diseases which lead to crime are handed down from one generation to another, by a far surer process of transmission than human law has been able to establish in respect to the riches and honors which it seeks to entail upon posterity. De repente, se dio cuenta de que aquel juez Pyncheon era el original que el daguerrotipista le enseñara en el jardín, y que el aspecto torvo, duro e inexorable que ahora tenía su faz era el mismo que el sol se había empeñado en poner de relieve. ¿Sería, pues, este aspecto lo permanente y la sonrisa sólo lo pasajero ? Además, no era meramente esto, sino algo heredado, transmitido hasta él desde el barbudo antecesor del cuadro del salón, en cuyos rasgos se veían los del actual juez, como una especie de profecía. Un filósofo más profundo que Phoebe habría encontrado algo terrible en esta idea, que implicaba que las debilidades, defectos, tendencias viles y enfermedades morales que llevan al crimen, pasan de generación en generación, por un proceso de transmisión mucho más seguro que el que han establecido las leyes humanas para las riquezas y honores que intentan asegurar a la posteridad.
But, as it happened, scarcely had Phoebe′s eyes rested again on the Judge′s countenance than all its ugly sternness vanished; and she found herself quite overpowered by the sultry, dog-day heat, as it were, of benevolence, which this excellent man diffused out of his great heart into the surrounding atmosphere,--very much like a serpent, which, as a preliminary to fascination, is said to fill the air with his peculiar odor. Pero, como era de suponer, apenas miró Phoebe al juez, del rostro de éste desapareció su horrible aire torvo y la muchacha se sintió casi dominada por la ardorosa benevolencia que el corazón de aquel hombre excelente difundía a su alrededor, al igual que hace la serpiente que, según se dice, como preliminar a su fascinación, llena el aire con su olor característico.
"I like that, Cousin Phoebe !" cried he, with an emphatic nod of approbation. "I like it much, my little cousin ! You are a good child, and know how to take care of yourself. A young girl--especially if she be a very pretty one--can never be too chary of her lips." -¡Así me gusta, prima Phoebe ! -exclamó con enfático gesto de aprobación-. Me gusta mucho. Eres una buena muchacha y veo que sabes cuidar de ti misma. Una chica joven y tan linda como tú, debe ser avara de sus labios.
"Indeed, sir," said Phoebe, trying to laugh the matter off, "I did not mean to be unkind." -La verdad es, señor -replicó Phoebe, intentando reír-, que no quise ser descortés.
Nevertheless, whether or no it were entirely owing to the inauspicious commencement of their acquaintance, she still acted under a certain reserve, which was by no means customary to her frank and genial nature. The fantasy would not quit her, that the original Puritan, of whom she had heard so many sombre traditions,--the progenitor of the whole race of New England Pyncheons, the founder of the House of the Seven Gables, and who had died so strangely in it,--had now stept into the shop. In these days of off-hand equipment, the matter was easily enough arranged. On his arrival from the other world, he had merely found it necessary to spend a quarter of an hour at a barber′s, who had trimmed down the Puritan′s full beard into a pair of grizzled whiskers, then, patronizing a ready-made clothing establishment, he had exchanged his velvet doublet and sable cloak, with the richly worked band under his chin, for a white collar and cravat, coat, vest, and pantaloons; and lastly, putting aside his steel-hilted broadsword to take up a gold-headed cane, the Colonel Pyncheon of two centuries ago steps forward as the Judge of the passing moment ! Debido quizá a los malos auspicios del comienzo de su conocimiento, ella siguió obrando con cierta reserva, nada habitual en su carácter franco y alegre. No le abandonaba la idea de que acababa de entrar en la tienda el viejo puritano del cual oyó contar tan sombrías leyendas, el fundador de la estirpe de los Pyncheon de Nueva Inglaterra, el que edificó La Casa de los Siete Tejados y que murió en ella de modo tan singular. En aquellos días era fácil arreglarlo... A su llegada del otro mundo, el viejo sólo tuvo necesidad de pasar un cuarto de hora con un barbero que convirtió la barba puritana en un par de patillas, y luego, en una tienda de ropas de confección, habría cambiado su traje de terciopelo negro por un cuello y una corbata blancos, y por un traje completo y, finalmente, dejando de lado la ancha espada con puño de hierro, habría cogido un bastón con empuñadura dorada. Así el coronel Pyncheon de dos siglos antes pudo haberse cambiado en el juez Pyncheon que acababa de franquear el umbral de la tienda.
Of course, Phoebe was far too sensible a girl to entertain this idea in any other way than as matter for a smile. Possibly, also, could the two personages have stood together before her eye, many points of difference would have been perceptible, and perhaps only a general resemblance. The long lapse of intervening years, in a climate so unlike that which had fostered the ancestral Englishman, must inevitably have wrought important changes in the physical system of his descendant.
The Judge′s volume of muscle could hardly be the same as the Colonel′s; there was undoubtedly less beef in him. Though looked upon as a weighty man among his contemporaries in respect of animal substance, and as favored with a remarkable degree of fundamental development, well adapting him for the judicial bench, we conceive that the modern Judge Pyncheon, if weighed in the same balance with his ancestor, would have required at least an old-fashioned fifty-six to keep the scale in equilibrio. Then the Judge′s face had lost the ruddy English hue that showed its warmth through all the duskiness of the Colonel′s weather-beaten cheek, and had taken a sallow shade, the established complexion of his countrymen. If we mistake not, moreover, a certain quality of nervousness had become more or less manifest, even in so solid a specimen of Puritan descent as the gentleman now under discussion. As one of its effects, it bestowed on his countenance a quicker mobility than the old Englishman′s had possessed, and keener vivacity, but at the expense of a sturdier something, on which these acute endowments seemed to act like dissolving acids.
This process, for aught we know, may belong to the great system of human progress, which, with every ascending footstep, as it diminishes the necessity for animal force, may be destined gradually to spiritualize us, by refining away our grosser attributes of body. If so, Judge Pyncheon could endure a century or two more of such refinement as well as most other men. 		Desde luego, Phoebe era demasiado sensata para albergar esta idea. Probablemente, si hubiera podido tener a los dos personajes uno al lado de otro, habría notado muchas diferencias y quizá únicamente una semejanza general. Los muchos años transcurridos, en clima muy distinto del que moldeó a los antecedores ingleses, había producido cambios importantes en el aspecto físico de sus descendientes.





El juez era menos grueso y corpulento que el coronel; pesaría unos veinte kilos menos. El cutis del juez había perdido la tersura inglesa que tenía la piel curtida del coronel. Si no nos equivocamos, cierto nerviosismo se ponía de manifiesto incluso en un ejemplar tan sólido de la estirpe puritana como el caballero del cual estamos hablando. Uno de los efectos más visibles de ese nerviosismo era una movilidad de rostro muy superior a la que poseyó el viejo coronel. El cutis del juez había perdido la tersura inglesa que tenía la piel curtida del coronel. Si no nos equivocamos, cierto nerviosismo se ponía de manifiesto incluso en un ejemplar tan sólido de la estirpe puritana como el caballero del cual estamos hablando. Uno de los efectos más visibles de ese nerviosismo era una movilidad de rostro muy superior a la que poseyó el viejo coronel.

The similarity, intellectual and moral, between the Judge and his ancestor appears to have been at least as strong as the resemblance of mien and feature would afford reason to anticipate. In old Colonel Pyncheon′s funeral discourse the clergyman absolutely canonized his deceased parishioner, and opening, as it were, a vista through the roof of the church, and thence through the firmament above, showed him seated, harp in hand, among the crowned choristers of the spiritual world. On his tombstone, too, the record is highly eulogistic; nor does history, so far as he holds a place upon its page, assail the consistency and uprightness of his character. So also, as regards the Judge Pyncheon of to-day, neither clergyman, nor legal critic, nor inscriber of tombstones, nor historian of general or local politics, would venture a word against this eminent person′s sincerity as a Christian, or respectability as a man, or integrity as a judge, or courage and faithfulness as the often-tried representative of his political party. But, besides these cold, formal, and empty words of the chisel that inscribes, the voice that speaks, and the pen that writes, for the public eye and for distant time,--and which inevitably lose much of their truth and freedom by the fatal consciousness of so doing,--there were traditions about the ancestor, and private diurnal gossip about the Judge, remarkably accordant in their testimony. It is often instructive to take the woman′s, the private and domestic, view of a public man; nor can anything be more curious than the vast discrepancy between portraits intended for engraving and the pencil-sketches that pass from hand to hand behind the original′s back. Las semejanzas intelectual y moral entre el juez y su antecesor eran, sin duda, las que se podían suponer de su parecido físico. En el sermón de los funerales del coronel Pyncheon, el clérigo canonizó a su feligrés y, como si hubiera abierto un boquete en el techo de la iglesia y luego en el propio firmamento, lo mostró sentado, con un arpa en la mano, entre los cantores coronados del mundo de las almas. En la lápida de su sepultura el epitafio es igualmente laudatorio y la historia, por lo menos en las páginas que le dedica, no pone en duda la consistencia y rectitud de su carácter. Y en cuanto se refiere al juez Pyncheon de nuestros días, ni un clérigo, ni un jurista, ni un redactor de epitafios, ni un historiador local se atreverían a pronunciar ni una palabra contra su respetabilidad como hombre, o contra su integridad como juez, o contra su valor y fidelidad como representante de un partido político. Pero además de esas frases frías, formales y vacías del cincel que graba, de la voz que habla y de la pluma que escribe, de cara al público y al porvenir -y que con la conciencia de ello pierde mucho de su veracidad y de su libertad- corrían leyendas sobre el antepasado y chismes sobre el juez notablemente concordantes, a pesar del tiempo que separaba a los dos personajes. A menudo, resulta muy instructivo considerar la visión que las mujeres tienen de un hombre público. Nada más curioso que la discrepancia que existe entre los retratos hechos para quedar grabados en bronce y la caricatura trazada para pasar de mano en mano, a espaldas del modelo.
For example: tradition affirmed that the Puritan had been greedy of wealth; the Judge, too, with all the show of liberal expenditure, was said to be as close-fisted as if his gripe were of iron. The ancestor had clothed himself in a grim assumption of kindliness, a rough heartiness of word and manner, which most people took to be the genuine warmth of nature, making its way through the thick and inflexible hide of a manly character. His descendant, in compliance with the requirements of a nicer age, had etherealized this rude benevolence into that broad benignity of smile wherewith he shone like a noonday sun along the streets, or glowed like a household fire in the drawing-rooms of his private acquaintance. The Puritan--if not belied by some singular stories, murmured, even at this day, under the narrator′s breath--had fallen into certain transgressions to which men of his great animal development, whatever their faith or principles, must continue liable, until they put off impurity, along with the gross earthly substance that involves it. We must not stain our page with any contemporary scandal, to a similar purport, that may have been whispered against the Judge. The Puritan, again, an autocrat in his own household, had worn out three wives, and, merely by the remorseless weight and hardness of his character in the conjugal relation, had sent them, one after another, broken-hearted, to their graves. Here the parallel, in some sort, fails. The Judge had wedded but a single wife, and lost her in the third or fourth year of their marriage. There was a fable, however,--for such we choose to consider it, though, not impossibly, typical of Judge Pyncheon′s marital deportment,--that the lady got her death-blow in the honeymoon, and never smiled again, because her husband compelled her to serve him with coffee every morning at his bedside, in token of fealty to her liege-lord and master. Por ejemplo: la tradición afirmaba que el puritano era muy codicioso; el juez, a pesar de sus gustos fastuosos, se aseguraba que tenía puño de hierro en cuestiones de dinero. El antepasado se resguardaba tras una especie de rudeza que muchos atribuyeron a una cordialidad espontánea manifestándose a través de un carácter viril; su descendiente había idealizado esa benevolencia en su amplia sonrisa, con la cual se paseaba por las calles soleadas y que hacía brillar en los salones de sus amistades. El puritano, si no engañan ciertas historias que aún hoy se escuchan conteniendo el aliento, había incurrido en ciertas transgresiones a las cuales le hacía propenso su excesiva vitalidad, pese a su fe y sus principios. No empañaremos estas páginas con el relato de un escándalo achacado al juez. El puritano, verdadero autócrata familiar, sobrevivió a tres esposas, a las que hizo bajar, con el corazón destrozado, una tras otra, a la tumba, víctimas del trato inhumano que él les diera. Aquí, en cierto modo, falla el paralelo. El juez se casó una sola vez y perdió a su mujer a los tres o cuatro años. Corría una fábula, sin embargo-que, si no imposible, resulta típica de la conducta marital del juez Pyncheon-, según la cual la esposa sufrió un golpe mortal en plena luna de miel y jamás volvió a sonreír, porque su marido la obligó a servirle el café cada mañana en la cama, como muestra de fidelidad y sumisión a su señor y dueño.
But it is too fruitful a subject, this of hereditary resemblances,--the frequent recurrence of which, in a direct line, is truly unaccountable, when we consider how large an accumulation of ancestry lies behind every man at the distance of one or two centuries. We shall only add, therefore, that the Puritan--so, at least, says chimney-corner tradition, which often preserves traits of character with marvellous fidelity--was bold, imperious, relentless, crafty; laying his purposes deep, and following them out with an inveteracy of pursuit that knew neither rest nor conscience; trampling on the weak, and, when essential to his ends, doing his utmost to beat down the strong. Whether the Judge in any degree resembled him, the further progress of our narrative may show. Pero ese tema de las semejanzas hereditarias es demasiado fructífero para que sigamos con él. La repetición de los caracteres es imposible de comprobar, teniendo en cuenta la larga lista de antepasados que se amontonan sobre cada hombre en el espacio de uno o dos siglos. Añadiremos únicamente que el puritano era audaz, imperioso, implacable, taimado. Ocultaba sus propósitos, que proseguía sin descanso ni conciencia, aplastando aj pequeño y, cuando era indispensable, luchando con el fuerte. Eso afirman las consejas contadas junto al hogar, que a menudo conservan con fidelidad maravillosa los rasgos característicos de un hombre. Si el juez se le parecía, es cosa que se irá viendo en el curso de nuestra narración.
Scarcely any of the items in the above-drawn parallel occurred to Phoebe, whose country birth and residence, in truth, had left her pitifully ignorant of most of the family traditions, which lingered, like cobwebs and incrustations of smoke, about the rooms and chimney-corners of the House of the Seven Gables. Yet there was a circumstance, very trifling in itself, which impressed her with an odd degree of horror. She had heard of the anathema flung by Maule, the executed wizard, against Colonel Pyncheon and his posterity,--that God would give them blood to drink,--and likewise of the popular notion, that this miraculous blood might now and then be heard gurgling in their throats. The latter scandal--as became a person of sense, and, more especially, a member of the Pyncheon family--Phoebe had set down for the absurdity which it unquestionably was. But ancient superstitions, after being steeped in human hearts and embodied in human breath, and passing from lip to ear in manifold repetition, through a series of generations, become imbued with an effect of homely truth. The smoke of the domestic hearth has scented them through and through. By long transmission among household facts, they grow to look like them, and have such a familiar way of making themselves at home that their influence is usually greater than we suspect. Thus it happened, that when Phoebe heard a certain noise in Judge Pyncheon′s throat,--rather habitual with him, not altogether voluntary, yet indicative of nothing, unless it were a slight bronchial complaint, or, as some people hinted, an apoplectic symptom,--when the girl heard this queer and awkward ingurgitation (which the writer never did hear, and therefore cannot describe), she very foolishly started, and clasped her hands. Desde luego, el paralelo no se le ocurrió a Phoebe con tanto detalle. Su educación campesina la había dejado lamentablemente ignorante de las tradiciones familiares, que flotaban como telas de araña e incrustaciones de humo de las estancias y chimeneas de La Casa de los Siete Tejados. Pero una circunstancia, muy vulgar en sí misma, había impresionado a Phoebe hasta el horror: alguien le contó los anatemas lanzados por Maule, el brujo ejecutado, contra el coronel Pyncheon v sus descendientes: « Dios le dará a beber sangre », y le aseguró que esa sangre se oía gorgotear en las gargantas de algunos Pyncheon. Eso último, Phoebe -que era sensata y era Pyncheon- lo había rechazado por absurdo. Mas las supersticiones antiguas, una vez han penetrado en el corazón y se han alojado en el aliento humano, pasando de boca en boca, a lo largo de las generaciones, quedan embebidas con una interminable transmisión, mezclada con hechos familiares, acaban adquiriendo las apariencias de cosas ciertas, que ejercen una influencia muy superior a la sospechada.
Esa influencia asustó a Phoebe cuando oyó cierto carraspeo en la garganta del juez Pyncheon -un ruido habitual en él, involuntario e indicio, simplemente, de una ligera bronquitis o, según ciertas personas, síntoma de tipo apoplético.
Al oír el ruido juntó las manos y se quedó mirando sobrecogida y fijamente.
Of course, it was exceedingly ridiculous in Phoebe to be discomposed by such a trifle, and still more unpardonable to show her discomposure to the individual most concerned in it. But the incident chimed in so oddly with her previous fancies about the Colonel and the Judge, that, for the moment, it seemed quite to mingle their identity. Desde luego, era ridículo que una bagatela así asustara a Phoebe e imperdonable que mostrase ese susto a la persona más afectada por él. Pero el incidente armonizaba tan singularmente con sus pensamientos acerca del coronel y del juez que, por un momento, pareció confundirlos.
"What is the matter with you, young woman ?" said Judge Pyncheon, giving her one of his harsh looks. "Are you afraid of anything ?" -¿Qué le ocurre, muchacha ? -preguntó el juez Pyncheon, lanzándole una aguda mirada-. ¿Hay algo que le da miedo ?
"Oh, nothing, sir--nothing in the world !" answered Phoebe, with a little laugh of vexation at herself. "But perhaps you wish to speak with my cousin Hepzibah. Shall I call her ?" -¡Oh, no ! -contestó Phoebe con una risita de burla para sí misma-; quizá quiera usted hablar con mi prima Hepzibah. ¿Desea usted que la llame ?
"Stay a moment, if you please," said the Judge, again beaming sunshine out of his face. "You seem to be a little nervous this morning. The town air, Cousin Phoebe, does not agree with your good, wholesome country habits. Or has anything happened to disturb you ?--anything remarkable in Cousin Hepzibah′s family ?-- An arrival, eh ? I thought so ! No wonder you are out of sorts, my little cousin. To be an inmate with such a guest may well startle an innocent young girl !" -Espere un momento, por favor-dijo el juez, irradiando bondad por todos los poros-. Me parece que está usted nerviosa esta mañana. El aire de la ciudad, prima Phoebe, no debe sentarle muy bien. ¿O ha sucedido algo que le turbe ?... ¿algo inesperado en la familia de la prima Hepzibah ?... Una llegada ¿eh ?, ya lo supuse... No debe ser muy halagÜeño para una muchacha inocente.
"You quite puzzle me, sir," replied Phoebe, gazing inquiringly at the Judge. "There is no frightful guest in the house, but only a poor, gentle, childlike man, whom I believe to be Cousin Hepzibah′s brother. I am afraid (but you, sir, will know better than I) that he is not quite in his sound senses; but so mild and quiet he seems to be, that a mother might trust her baby with him; and I think he would play with the baby as if he were only a few years older than itself. He startle me !--Oh, no indeed !" -Me deja usted perpleja -contestó Phoebe, mirando interrogativamente al juez-. No hay ningún huésped que me cause miedo... Sino un anciano amable e infantil que, según creo, es hermano de prima Hepzibah. Me temo que no está por entero en sus cabales, pero eso lo sabrá usted mejor que yo. Es tan tímido y pacífico, que una madre le confiaría sin recelo su hijo y sospecho que jugaría con el niño casi como si tuviera su misma edad. ¿Asustarme ? ¡Oh, no !
"I rejoice to hear so favorable and so ingenuous an account of my cousin Clifford," said the benevolent Judge. "Many years ago, when we were boys and young men together, I had a great affection for him, and still feel a tender interest in all his concerns. You say, Cousin Phoebe, he appears to be weak minded. Heaven grant him at least enough of intellect to repent of his past sins !" -Me alegra oír una opinión tan favorable e ingenua sobre mi primo Clifford -dijo el benévolo juez-. Hace muchos años, cuando éramos muchachos, sentí un gran afecto por él y aun ahora me interesan mucho sus cosas. Dice que está fuera de sus cabales, ¿eh ? Quiero suponer, sin embargo, que le queda bastante conocimiento para arrepentirse de sus pecados.
"Nobody, I fancy," observed Phoebe, "can have fewer to repent of." -Me imagino que nadie tiene tan pocos como él -observó Phoebe.
"And is it possible, my dear," rejoined the Judge, with a commiserating look, "that you have never heard of Clifford Pyncheon ?--that you know nothing of his history ? Well, it is all right; and your mother has shown a very proper regard for the good name of the family with which she connected herself. Believe the best you can of this unfortunate person, and hope the best ! It is a rule which Christians should always follow, in their judgments of one another; and especially is it right and wise among near relatives, whose characters have necessarily a degree of mutual dependence. But is Clifford in the parlor ? I will just step in and see." -¿Es posible, querida prima -repuso el juez con mirada conmiserativa- que no haya oído hablar de Clifford Pyncheon ?... ¿No sabe nada de su historia ? Su madre ha respetado el buen nombre de la familia, al ocultársela. Crea todo el bien que pueda de ese desgraciado y deséele lo mejor. Es una regla de personas cristianas que jamás debe olvidarse al juzgar al prójimo. Y es muy útil y prudente entre parientes cuyos caracteres guardan cierta semejanza... ¿Está Clifford en el salón ? Entraré a verle...
"Perhaps, sir, I had better call my cousin Hepzibah," said Phoebe; hardly knowing, however, whether she ought to obstruct the entrance of so affectionate a kinsman into the private regions of the house. "Her brother seemed to be just falling asleep after breakfast; and I am sure she would not like him to be disturbed. Pray, sir, let me give her notice !" -Quizá sería mejor que llamara a prima Hepzibah -indicó Phoebe, sin saber si debía oponerse a la entrada de un pariente tan afectuoso-. Su hermano se quedó dormido después de comer y estoy segura que no querrá que le despierten. Por favor, espere a que le avise.
But the Judge showed a singular determination to enter unannounced; and as Phoebe, with the vivacity of a person whose movements unconsciously answer to her thoughts, had stepped towards the door, he used little or no ceremony in putting her aside. Pero el juez mostró singular interés en entrar sin que le anunciaran y, al ver que Phoebe se dirigía a la puerta, la apartó sin ninguna clase de ceremonias.
"No, no, Miss Phoebe !" said Judge Pyncheon in a voice as deep as a thunder-growl, and with a frown as black as the cloud whence it issues. "Stay you here ! I know the house, and know my cousin Hepzibah, and know her brother Clifford likewise.--nor need my little country cousin put herself to the trouble of announcing me !"--in these latter words, by the bye, there were symptoms of a change from his sudden harshness into his previous benignity of manner. "I am at home here, Phoebe, you must recollect, and you are the stranger. I will just step in, therefore, and see for myself how Clifford is, and assure him and Hepzibah of my kindly feelings and best wishes. It is right, at this juncture, that they should both hear from my own lips how much I desire to serve them. Ha ! here is Hepzibah herself !" -No, no, miss Phoebe -dijo con voz sorda y ceño amenazador-, quédese aquí. Conozco la casa, conozco a Hepzibah y conozco igualmente a Clifford... No es menester que se moleste en anunciarme añadió ya en tono benévolo-. Estoy en mi casa, aquí, recuérdelo usted, Phoebe, y usted es forastera. Entraré a ver cómo está Clifford y a ofrecerles, a él y a Hepzibah, mis mejores sentimientos... Es justo que en esta circunstancia oigan de mis propios labios cuánto deseo serles útil... ¡Ah, aquí esta Hepzibah !
Such was the case. The vibrations of the Judge′s voice had reached the old gentlewoman in the parlor, where she sat, with face averted, waiting on her brother′s slumber. She now issued forth, as would appear, to defend the entrance, looking, we must needs say, amazingly like the dragon which, in fairy tales, is wont to be the guardian over an enchanted beauty. The habitual scowl of her brow was undeniably too fierce, at this moment, to pass itself off on the innocent score of near-sightedness; and it was bent on Judge Pyncheon in a way that seemed to confound, if not alarm him, so inadequately had he estimated the moral force of a deeply grounded antipathy. She made a repelling gesture with her hand, and stood a perfect picture of prohibition, at full length, in the dark frame of the doorway. But we must betray Hepzibah′s secret, and confess that the native timorousness of her character even now developed itself in a quick tremor, which, to her own perception, set each of her joints at variance with its fellows. La voz del juez había llegado hasta la vieja dama, mientras permanecía sentada en el salón, velando el sueño de su hermano. Y salió a guardar la entrada con aire de cancerbero parecido al del dragón que en los cuentos de hadas vigila las bellezas encantadas. El ceño habitual era demasiado fiero para atribuirlo a su vista corta: El juez Pyncheon, al notar aquella mirada, temió haber estimado inadecuadamente la fuerza de aquella antipatía tan profundamente arraigada. Hepzibah, con un gesto brusco, cerró la entrada y se quedó amenazadora, erguida junto al marco de la puerta. Es preciso confesar que temblaba de pies a cabeza.
Possibly, the Judge was aware how little true hardihood lay behind Hepzibah′s formidable front. At any rate, being a gentleman of steady nerves, he soon recovered himself, and failed not to approach his cousin with outstretched hand; adopting the sensible precaution, however, to cover his advance with a smile, so broad and sultry, that, had it been only half as warm as it looked, a trellis of grapes might at once have turned purple under its summer-like exposure. It may have been his purpose, indeed, to melt poor Hepzibah on the spot, as if she were a figure of yellow wax. Posiblemente el juez adivinó qué poca firmeza se ocultaba detrás de la formidable apariencia de Hepzibah. En todo caso, como era un caballero de nervios firmes, recobróse en seguida y se acercó a su prima tendiendo la mano y adoptando, sin embargo, la precaución de avanzar con una sonrisa cordial.
"Hepzibah, my beloved cousin, I am rejoiced !" exclaimed the Judge most emphatically. "Now, at length, you have something to live for. Yes, and all of us, let me say, your friends and kindred, have more to live for than we had yesterday. I have lost no time in hastening to offer any assistance in my power towards making Clifford comfortable. He belongs to us all. I know how much he requires,--how much he used to require,--with his delicate taste, and his love of the beautiful. Anything in my house,--pictures, books, wine, luxuries of the table,--he may command them all ! It would afford me most heartfelt gratification to see him ! Shall I step in, this moment ?" -Querida prima, me alegro mucho -exclamó enfáticamente-. Por fin, ya tienes alguien por quien vivir. Me he apresurado a venir a ofrecer ayuda a Clifford para hacerle cómoda la vida. Clifford nos pertenece a todos. Sé lo mucho que necesita, lo mucho que necesitaba, con su delicado gusto y amor por lo bello. Puede disponer de todo lo que contiene mi casa... Vinos, cuadros, libros, golosinas... Me alegraría verle... ¿Puedo pasar ?
"No," replied Hepzibah, her voice quivering too painfully to allow of many words. "He cannot see visitors !" -No -contestó Hepzibah con voz temblorosa-. No puede recibir visitas.
"A visitor, my dear cousin !--do you call me so ?" cried the Judge, whose sensibility, it seems, was hurt by the coldness of the phrase. "Nay, then, let me be Clifford′s host, and your own likewise. Come at once to my house. The country air, and all the conveniences,--I may say luxuries,--that I have gathered about me, will do wonders for him. And you and I, dear Hepzibah, will consult together, and watch together, and labor together, to make our dear Clifford happy. Come ! why should we make more words about what is both a duty and a pleasure on my part ? Come to me at once !" -¿Una visita, yo ? ¡Vamos querida prima !... -exclamó el juez, herido por la frialdad de la frase-. Entonces permíteme ser el anfitrión de Clifford y tuyo. Venid en seguida a mi casa. El aire del campo y las comodidades... Hasta podría decir los lujos de que me he rodeado, le sentarían muy bien. Y tú y yo, querida Hepzibah, procuraremos que nuestro querido Clifford sea feliz, Vamos, ¿por qué hemos de gastar más palabras en lo que es para mí un deber y un placer ? Venid en seguida a mi casa.
On hearing these so hospitable offers, and such generous recognition of the claims of kindred, Phoebe felt very much in the mood of running up to Judge Pyncheon, and giving him, of her own accord, the kiss from which she had so recently shrunk away. It was quite otherwise with Hepzibah; the Judge′s smile seemed to operate on her acerbity of heart like sunshine upon vinegar, making it ten times sourer than ever. Al oír esta generosa invitación. Phoebe se sintió tentada de correr hacia el juez Pyncheon y darle el beso que poco antes le negó. Pero algo muy distinto sentía Hepzibah. La sonrisa del juez obraba sobre la acidez de su corazón como el sol sobre el vinagre, haciéndole diez veces más ácido que antes.
"Clifford," said she,--still too agitated to utter more than an abrupt sentence,--"Clifford has a home here !" -Clifford -dijo, demasiado agitada aún para pronunciar algo que no fuese una frase brusca-, Clifford tiene aquí su propia casa.
"May Heaven forgive you, Hepzibah," said Judge Pyncheon,--reverently lifting his eyes towards that high court of equity to which he appealed,--"if you suffer any ancient prejudice or animosity to weigh with you in this matter. I stand here with an open heart, willing and anxious to receive yourself and Clifford into it. Do not refuse my good offices,--my earnest propositions for your welfare ! They are such, in all respects, as it behooves your nearest kinsman to make. It will be a heavy responsibility, cousin, if you confine your brother to this dismal house and stifled air, when the delightful freedom of my country-seat is at his command." -¡Que el cielo te perdone, Hepzibah ! -contestó el juez, levantando reverentemente los ojos a aquel tribunal justiciero al cual apelaba-, ¡qué el cielo te perdone si te dejas influir por algún prejuicio o por alguna animosidad ! Me tienes aquí, con el corazón abierto, dispuesto a recibiros en él a Clifford y a ti. No rehuses mi proposición de ocuparme de vuestro bienestar. Es lo que me corresponde hacer como vuestro pariente más próximo. Sería una responsabilidad muy grande para ti, prima, si confinaras a tu hermano en esta casa vieja y sombría, cuando la vida deliciosa de mi quinta está a su disposición.
"It would never suit Clifford," said Hepzibah, as briefly as before. -A Clifford no le convendría -repuso Hepzibah tan brevemente como antes.
"Woman !" broke forth the Judge, giving way to his resentment, "what is the meaning of all this ? Have you other resources ? Nay, I suspected as much ! Take care, Hepzibah, take care ! Clifford is on the brink of as black a ruin as ever befell him yet ! But why do I talk with you, woman as you are ? Make way !--I must see Clifford !" -¡Mujer ! -estalló el juez-. ¿Qué significa todo eso ? ¿Qué recursos tienes ? Ninguno, como yo me sospechaba. ¡Vete con cuidado, Hepzibah, vete con cuidado ! Clifford está al borde de un desastre mayor del que ha sufrido. Pero, ¿qué sacaré de hablar con una mujer ? Déjame pasar... Quiero ver a Clifford.
Hepzibah spread out her gaunt figure across the door, and seemed really to increase in bulk; looking the more terrible, also, because there was so much terror and agitation in her heart. But Judge Pyncheon′s evident purpose of forcing a passage was interrupted by a voice from the inner room; a weak, tremulous, wailing voice, indicating helpless alarm, with no more energy for self-defence than belongs to a frightened infant. Hepzibah ocupó la puerta con su enjuta figura y pareció realmente aumentar el volumen en su esfuerzo por llenar todo el hueco. Su aspecto era tanto más temible cuanto que tenía el corazón más aterrorizado y tembloroso. El propósito evidente de abrirse paso, que sin duda albergaba el juez Pyncheon, se vio interrumpido por una voz que llegó del interior, una voz débil, temblorosa, gimiente, que traslucía una alarma desvalida, con tan poca energía para defenderse como pueda tenerla un niño asustado.
"Hepzibah, Hepzibah !" cried the voice; "go down on your knees to him ! Kiss his feet ! Entreat him not to come in ! Oh, let him have mercy on me ! Mercy ! mercy !" -¡Hepzibah ! ¡Hepzibah ! -gritaba la voz-. Pídeselo de rodillas... Bésale los pies, pero que no entre, que no entre... ¡Oh, pídele que tenga piedad de mí... !
For the instant, it appeared doubtful whether it were not the Judge′s resolute purpose to set Hepzibah aside, and step across the threshold into the parlor, whence issued that broken and miserable murmur of entreaty. It was not pity that restrained him, for, at the first sound of the enfeebled voice, a red fire kindled in his eyes, and he made a quick pace forward, with something inexpressibly fierce and grim darkening forth, as it were, out of the whole man. To know Judge Pyncheon was to see him at that moment. After such a revelation, let him smile with what sultriness he would, he could much sooner turn grapes purple, or pumpkins yellow, than melt the iron-branded impression out of the beholder′s memory. And it rendered his aspect not the less, but more frightful, that it seemed not to express wrath or hatred, but a certain hot fellness of purpose, which annihilated everything but itself. De momento pareció dudoso si el juez se proponía apartar a Hepzibah y entrar en la estancia desde donde venía aquel murmullo quebrado y mísero. No lo contuvo la piedad, porque a las primeras sílabas de aquella débil voz, centellearon sus ojos y avanzó rápidamente un paso, con una expresión feroz en el rostro. Para conocer al juez Pyncheon había que haberle visto en aquel momento. Después de aquella revelación, ya podía sonreír ampliamente, no lograría jamás borrar la visión de quien pudo contemplarla. Algo había en su aspecto que aumentaba el temor: en vez de expresar odio o ira, manifestaba una fría decisión de aniquilarlo todo.
Yet, after all, are we not slandering an excellent and amiable man ? Look at the Judge now ! He is apparently conscious of having erred, in too energetically pressing his deeds of loving-kindness on persons unable to appreciate them. He will await their better mood, and hold himself as ready to assist them then as at this moment. As he draws back from the door, an all-comprehensive benignity blazes from his visage, indicating that he gathers Hepzibah, little Phoebe, and the invisible Clifford, all three, together with the whole world besides, into his immense heart, and gives them a warm bath in its flood of affection. Pero, ¿no estamos calumniando a un hombre excelente y amable ? Mirad al juez. Su rostro demuestra que sabe que se ha equivocado al ofrecer su ayuda a personas incapaces de apreciarla. Esperará a que se calmen y entonces estará tan dispuesto a ayudar como en este momento. Al retirarse de la puerta, una expresión de benevolencia brilla en sus ojos, indicando que guarda en su corazón un lugar para Hepzibah, para la pequeña Phoebe, y para el invisible Clifford, igual que para el resto del mundo, y que les bendice con el calor de su afecto.
"You do me great wrong, dear Cousin Hepzibah !" said he, first kindly offering her his hand, and then drawing on his glove preparatory to departure. "Very great wrong ! But I forgive it, and will study to make you think better of me. Of course, our poor Clifford being in so unhappy a state of mind, I cannot think of urging an interview at present. But I shall watch over his welfare as if he were my own beloved brother; nor do I at all despair, my dear cousin, of constraining both him and you to acknowledge your injustice. When that shall happen, I desire no other revenge than your acceptance of the best offices in my power to do you." -Me hieres en el alma, prima-dijo, ofreciéndole generosamente la mano y metiéndola luego en un guante-. Me hieres en el alma. Pero lo perdono y ya veré la manera de que tengáis mejor opinión de mí. Por supuesto, veo que nuestro pobre Clifford está en un estado de ánimo que imposibilita verle, pero me ocuparé de su bienestar como si fuera mi propio hermano. No desespero, querida prima, de que tú y él os deis cuenta de lo injustos que sois conmigo. Cuando esto ocurra, no deseo otra venganza que la de que aceptéis mi ayuda...
With a bow to Hepzibah, and a degree of paternal benevolence in his parting nod to Phoebe, the Judge left the shop, and went smiling along the street. As is customary with the rich, when they aim at the honors of a republic, he apologized, as it were, to the people, for his wealth, prosperity, and elevated station, by a free and hearty manner towards those who knew him; putting off the more of his dignity in due proportion with the humbleness of the man whom he saluted, and thereby proving a haughty consciousness of his advantages as irrefragably as if he had marched forth preceded by a troop of lackeys to clear the way. On this particular forenoon, so excessive was the warmth of Judge Pyncheon′s kindly aspect, that (such, at least, was the rumor about town) an extra passage of the water-carts was found essential, in order to lay the dust occasioned by so much extra sunshine ! Con un saludo para Hepzibah y un gesto de benevolencia paternal para Phoebe, el juez salió sonriendo de la tienda a la calle. […]
No sooner had he disappeared than Hepzibah grew deadly white, and, staggering towards Phoebe, let her head fall on the young girl′s shoulder. Apenas desapareció de la vista, Hepzibah, lívida y vacilante, puso su mano en el hombro de la muchacha
"O Phoebe !" murmured she, "that man has been the horror of my life ! Shall I never, never have the courage,--will my voice never cease from trembling long enough to let me tell him what he is ?" . -¡Oh, Phoebe ! -murmuró-. Ese hombre ha sido el terror de mi vida. ¿Es que jamás encontraré el valor necesario para que mi voz no tiemble y pueda decirle lo que pienso de él ?
"Is he so very wicked ?" asked Phoebe. "Yet his offers were surely kind !" -¿Tan malo es ? -preguntó Phoebe-. Sus ofrecimientos han sido muy bondadosos.
"Do not speak of them,--he has a heart of iron !" rejoined Hepzibah. "Go, now, and talk to Clifford ! Amuse and keep him quiet ! It would disturb him wretchedly to see me so agitated as I am. There, go, dear child, and I will try to look after the shop." -No hables de eso... Tiene el corazón de piedra -afirmó Hepzibah-. Ve y charla un rato con Clifford. Distráele y tranquilízale. Le causaría pena verme tan nerviosa. Ve y yo me cuidaré de la tienda.
Phoebe went accordingly, but perplexed herself, meanwhile, with queries as to the purport of the scene which she had just witnessed, and also whether judges, clergymen, and other characters of that eminent stamp and respectability, could really, in any single instance, be otherwise than just and upright men. A doubt of this nature has a most disturbing influence, and, if shown to be a fact, comes with fearful and startling effect on minds of the trim, orderly, and limit-loving class, in which we find our little country-girl. Dispositions more boldly speculative may derive a stern enjoyment from the discovery, since there must be evil in the world, that a high man is as likely to grasp his share of it as a low one. A wider scope of view, and a deeper insight, may see rank, dignity, and station, all proved illusory, so far as regards their claim to human reverence, and yet not feel as if the universe were thereby tumbled headlong into chaos. But Phoebe, in order to keep the universe in its old place, was fain to smother, in some degree, her own intuitions as to Judge Pyncheon′s character. And as for her cousin′s testimony in disparagement of it, she concluded that Hepzibah′s judgment was embittered by one of those family feuds which render hatred the more deadly by the dead and corrupted love that they intermingle with its native poison. Phoebe entró en el salón, perpleja sobre el significado de la escena que acababa de presenciar, preguntándose si los jueces, los clérigos y otros personajes igualmente respetables y eminentes podían dejar de ser personas justas y rectas. Una duda de esta clase ejerce una influencia muy nociva, y si se apoya sobre hechos, causa efectos terribles y sorprendentes sobre espíritus como las muchachas del campo sencillas e ignorantes. Caracteres más audazmente especulativos podían derivar ásperos goces de semejantes descubrimientos. Ya que debe existir el mal en el mundo, es consolador ver que los grandes personajes lo comparten con los infelices.
Una persona de vista más penetrante y mayor experiencia que Phoebe habría visto que el rango, la dignidad y la posición son conceptos ilusorios, en cuanto a su derecho de reclamar el respeto humano y, sin embargo, no por ello opinaría que el mundo se precipitaba en el caos.
Pero Phoebe, para conservar el universo en su sitio, estaba dispuesta a suavizar, en cierto modo, sus propias intuiciones, sobre el carácter del juez Pyncheon. En cuanto a la afirmación de prima Hepzibah en menosprecio del juez, pensó que el juicio de la solterona estaba amargado por una de esas enemistades familiares que hacen odioso al ser más querido, a causa del amor muerto y corrompido que se entremezcla con la ponzoña original.