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




XV. The Scowl and Smile

XV. El ceño y la sonrisa

SEVERAL days passed over the Seven Gables, heavily and drearily enough. In fact (not to attribute the whole gloom of sky and earth to the one inauspicious circumstance of Phoebe′s departure), an easterly storm had set in, and indefatigably apply itself to the task of making the black roof and walls of the old house look more cheerless than ever before. Yet was the outside not half so cheerless as the interior. Poor Clifford was cut off, at once, from all his scanty resources of enjoyment. Phoebe was not there; nor did the sunshine fall upon the floor. The garden, with its muddy walks, and the chill, dripping foliage of its summer-house, was an image to be shuddered at. Nothing flourished in the cold, moist, pitiless atmosphere, drifting with the brackish scud of sea-breezes, except the moss along the joints of the shingle-roof, and the great bunch of weeds, that had lately been suffering from drought, in the angle between the two front gables. VARIOS días pasaron, pesada y tristemente, en La Casa de los Siete Tejados. De hecho, para no atribuir toda la lobreguez del cielo y de la tierra a la ausencia de Phoebe, se había desencadenado una tempestad del este, que hacía la vieja casa más lúgubre que nunca. Y, sin embargo, la fachada era menos triste que el interior. El pobre Clifford veíase privado, de súbito, de todas sus fuentes de alegría. Phoebe estaba ausente y el sol no entraba por las ventanas. El jardín, con los senderos fangosos y el follaje arrancado, hacía estremecer. Nada florecía en aquella atmósfera fría, húmeda y despiadada, que arrastraba la salobre brisa del mar. Sólo crecían el musgo de los rincones y las matas de hierba que se alzaban en el tejado, entre dos aguilones.
As for Hepzibah, she seemed not merely possessed with the east wind, but to be, in her very person, only another phase of this gray and sullen spell of weather; the East-Wind itself, grim and disconsolate, in a rusty black silk gown, and with a turban of cloud-wreaths on its head. The custom of the shop fell off, because a story got abroad that she soured her small beer and other damageable commodities, by scowling on them. It is, perhaps, true that the public had something reasonably to complain of in her deportment; but towards Clifford she was neither ill-tempered nor unkind, nor felt less warmth of heart than always, had it been possible to make it reach him. The inutility of her best efforts, however, palsied the poor old gentlewoman. She could do little else than sit silently in a corner of the room, when the wet pear-tree branches, sweeping across the small windows, created a noonday dusk, which Hepzibah unconsciously darkened with her woe-begone aspect. It was no fault of Hepzibah′s. Everything--even the old chairs and tables, that had known what weather was for three or four such lifetimes as her own--looked as damp and chill as if the present were their worst experience. The picture of the Puritan Colonel shivered on the wall. The house itself shivered, from every attic of its seven gables down to the great kitchen fireplace, which served all the better as an emblem of the mansion′s heart, because, though built for warmth, it was now so comfortless and empty. Hepzibah parecía poseída por la tempestad, casi era una personificación del viento del este, sombrío y desconsolado, con un vestido de seda negra y un turbante de nubes en la cabeza. La clientela de la tienda desapareció, porque la gente comenzaba a asegurar que la solterona agriaba la cerveza y otras bebidas con sus miradas ceñudas. Es posible que el público tuviera razón en quejarse de su trato, mas para Clifford no estuvo nunca malhumorada o áspera, ni dejó de comunicarle toda la cordialidad que pudo encontrar en su pobre y reseco corazón. La inutilidad de sus mejores esfuerzos, sin embargo, paralizaba a la señora. Ella tenía que contentarse con sentarse en un rincón cuando el húmedo follaje del peral proyectaba en el interior una triste penumbra, que ella misma ensombrecía con su aire angustiado y pesaroso. No era culpa suya. Todo, a su alrededor, incluso las viejas sillas y la mesa que conocían el tiempo que hizo durante tres o cuatro generaciones, tenían un aspecto tan húmedo y frío como si la presente fuera la peor que hubiesen experimentado en toda su vida. El retrato del coronel tiritaba en la pared y la casa misma sentía escalofríos, desde los áticos de los siete tejados hasta la gran chimenea de la cocina, símbolo del corazón del edificio, pues aunque fue construida para calentar, aparecía vacía y abandonada.
Hepzibah attempted to enliven matters by a fire in the parlor. But the storm demon kept watch above, and, whenever a flame was kindled, drove the smoke back again, choking the chimney′s sooty throat with its own breath. Nevertheless, during four days of this miserable storm, Clifford wrapt himself in an old cloak, and occupied his customary chair. On the morning of the fifth, when summoned to breakfast, he responded only by a broken-hearted murmur, expressive of a determination not to leave his bed. His sister made no attempt to change his purpose. In fact, entirely as she loved him, Hepzibah could hardly have borne any longer the wretched duty--so impracticable by her few and rigid faculties--of seeking pastime for a still sensitive, but ruined mind, critical and fastidious, without force or volition. It was at least something short of positive despair, that to-day she might sit shivering alone, and not suffer continually a new grief, and unreasonable pang of remorse, at every fitful sigh of her fellow sufferer. Hepzibah intentó alegrar el ambiente encendiendo fuego en el salón. Pero la tempestad hacía retroceder el humo, soplando con fuerza por la garganta de la chimenea. No obstante, durante los cuatro primeros días de la tempestad, Clifford, bien envuelto en una vieja capa, se sentó en su silla habitual. Cuando le llamaron para desayunar, en la mañana del quinto día, contestó con un triste murmullo, expresando su propósito de no abandonar la cama. Su hermana no intentó disuadirle. En realidad, por mucho que le amara, Hepzibah ya no podía seguir soportando el mísero deber -tan imposible para sus escasas y rígidas facultadesde buscar un pasatiempo para aquel espíritu moribundo, pero todavía sensible, crítico y exigente, mas sin fuerza de voluntad. Se desesperaba, sin embargo, al tener que estar sentada sola, tiritando, sin sufrir continuamente una nueva pena y una irrazonable sensación de remordimiento cada vez que miraba a su compañero de dolor.
But Clifford, it seemed, though he did not make his appearance below stairs, had, after all, bestirred himself in quest of amusement. In the course of the forenoon, Hepzibah heard a note of music, which (there being no other tuneful contrivance in the House of the Seven Gables) she knew must proceed from Alice Pyncheon′s harpsichord. She was aware that Clifford, in his youth, had possessed a cultivated taste for music, and a considerable degree of skill in its practice. It was difficult, however, to conceive of his retaining an accomplishment to which daily exercise is so essential, in the measure indicated by the sweet, airy, and delicate, though most melancholy strain, that now stole upon her ear. Nor was it less marvellous that the long-silent instrument should be capable of so much melody. Hepzibah involuntarily thought of the ghostly harmonies, prelusive of death in the family, which were attributed to the legendary Alice. But it was, perhaps, proof of the agency of other than spiritual fingers, that, after a few touches, the chords seemed to snap asunder with their own vibrations, and the music ceased. Pero Clifford, a pesar de no bajar, buscaba distracción... En el curso de la mañana, Hepzibah oyó una música que, como no había otro instrumento en La Casa de los Siete Tejados, supuso provenía del clavicordio de Alice Pyncheon. Recordó que Clifford poseía de joven un gusto musical muy cultivado y que era un buen intérprete. Resultaba imposible, empero, imaginar que pudiera conservar unas facultades que requieren una práctica constante en la medida que indicaba la música suave, aérea, delicada y melancólica que ahora se oía. No parecía menos maravilloso que el instrumento produjese semejantes sonidos, después de tan largo silencio. Hepzibah pensó en las fantasmales armonías atribuidas a la legendaria Alice y que anunciaban una muerte en la familia. Pero quizá fue prueba de que no la producían dedos impalpables el hecho de que a los pocos compases la música cesó, como si las cuerdas se hubieran roto bajo el efecto de sus vibraciones.
But a harsher sound succeeded to the mysterious notes; nor was the easterly day fated to pass without an event sufficient in itself to poison, for Hepzibah and Clifford, the balmiest air that ever brought the humming-birds along with it. The final echoes of Alice Pyncheon′s performance (or Clifford′s, if his we must consider it) were driven away by no less vulgar a dissonance than the ringing of the shop-bell. A foot was heard scraping itself on the threshold, and thence somewhat ponderously stepping on the floor. Hepzibah delayed a moment, while muffling herself in a faded shawl, which had been her defensive armor in a forty years′ warfare against the east wind. A characteristic sound, however,--neither a cough nor a hem, but a kind of rumbling and reverberating spasm in somebody′s capacious depth of chest;--impelled her to hurry forward, with that aspect of fierce faint-heartedness so common to women in cases of perilous emergency. Few of her sex, on such occasions, have ever looked so terrible as our poor scowling Hepzibah. But the visitor quietly closed the shop-door behind him, stood up his umbrella against the counter, and turned a visage of composed benignity, to meet the alarm and anger which his appearance had excited. Un ruido agudo sucedió a las misteriosas notas. Aquel día tempestuoso no había de transcurrir sin que uno u otro acontecimiento vinieran a envenenar para Clifford y Hepzibah el aire embalsamado que llevaba consigo los colibríes. Los acordes finales de la melodía de Alice Pyncheon (o de Clifford, si hemos de atribuírselo) se vieron barridos por la vulgar disonancia de una campanilla. Se oyó a alguien que se retregaba los pies en el umbral y luego unos pasos en la entrada. Hepzibah se arropó en un marchito chai que le había servido durante cuarenta años de armadura de guerra contra el viento del este, pero un sonido característico le hizo apresurarse hacia la tienda con ese aspecto de fiera cobardía tan común en las mujeres en los momentos de peligro. No era, aquel sonido que la alarmó, ni una tos ni un carraspeo, sino una especie de espasmo rumoroso que retumbaba en la espaciosa caja torácica del que lo causaba. Pocas mujeres, en semejante ocasión, hubieran adoptado un aire tan terrible como nuestra pobre y ceñuda Hepzibah. El visitante cerró silenciosamente la puerta de la tienda, dejó el paraguas apoyado en el mostrador y volvió un rostro lleno de benevolencia al encuentro del hosco y alarmado semblante de la solterona.
Hepzibah′s presentiment had not deceived her. It was no other than Judge Pyncheon, who, after in vain trying the front door, had now effected his entrance into the shop. El presentimiento de Hepzibah no la engañó. Era el juez Pyncheon el que, después de intentar vanamente abrir la puerta principal, acababa de entrar por la de la tienda.
"How do you do, Cousin Hepzibah ?--and how does this most inclement weather affect our poor Clifford ?" began the Judge; and wonderful it seemed, indeed, that the easterly storm was not put to shame, or, at any rate, a little mollified, by the genial benevolence of his smile. "I could not rest without calling to ask, once more, whether I can in any manner promote his comfort, or your own." -¿Cómo te encuentras, prima Hepzibah ? ¿Cómo soporta nuestro pobre Cliffod este mal tiempo ? empezó a decir el juez-. No estaría tranquilo si no os preguntara una vez más qué puedo hacer en vuestro favor.
"You can do nothing," said Hepzibah, controlling her agitation as well as she could. "I devote myself to Clifford. He has every comfort which his situation admits of." -No puedes hacer nada -dijo Hepzibah, dominando en lo posible su agitación-. Yo cuido a Clifford lo mejor que puedo. Goza de todas las comodidades que le permite su situación.
"But allow me to suggest, dear cousin," rejoined the Judge, "you err,--in all affection and kindness, no doubt, and with the very best intentions,--but you do err, nevertheless, in keeping your brother so secluded. Why insulate him thus from all sympathy and kindness ? Clifford, alas ! has had too much of solitude. Now let him try society,--the society, that is to say, of kindred and old friends. Let me, for instance, but see Clifford, and I will answer for the good effect of the interview." -Permíteme sugerirte, querida prima -insinuó el juez-, que tú, con la mejor intención del mundo, cometes un error al mantener tan recluido a tu hermano. ¿Para qué aislarle de toda simpatía ? Clifford ha vivido demasiado tiempo solitario. Déjale que vuelva a la sociedad de sus viejos y verdaderos amigos. Permíteme, por ejemplo, que hable un rato con él y ya verás el bien que le hace esta entrevista.
"You cannot see him," answered Hepzibah. "Clifford has kept his bed since yesterday." -No puedes verle -contestó Hepzibah-; Clifford guarda cama desde ayer.
"What ! How ! Is he ill ?" exclaimed Judge Pyncheon, starting with what seemed to be angry alarm; for the very frown of the old Puritan darkened through the room as he spoke. "Nay, then, I must and will see him ! What if he should die ?" -¿Cómo ? ¿Está enfermo ? -exclamó el juez Pyncheon sobresaltado; el mismo ceño del viejo puritano oscurecía la habitación mientras hablaba-. Entonces quiero verlo sin falta. ¿Y si muriera ?
"He is in no danger of death," said Hepzibah,--and added, with bitterness that she could repress no longer, "none; unless he shall be persecuted to death, now, by the same man who long ago attempted it !" -No corre ningún peligro -dijo Hepzibah, y añadió con una amargura que ya no pudo contener- a no ser que le persiga el mismo hombre que desde hace tanto tiempo desea su muerte.
"Cousin Hepzibah," said the Judge, with an impressive earnestness of manner, which grew even to tearful pathos as he proceeded, "is it possible that you do not perceive how unjust, how unkind, how unchristian, is this constant, this long-continued bitterness against me, for a part which I was constrained by duty and conscience, by the force of law, and at my own peril, to act ? What did I do, in detriment to Clifford, which it was possible to leave undone ? How could you, his sister,--if, for your never-ending sorrow, as it has been for mine, you had known what I did,--have, shown greater tenderness ? And do you think, cousin, that it has cost me no pang ?--that it has left no anguish in my bosom, from that day to this, amidst all the prosperity with which Heaven has blessed me ?--or that I do not now rejoice, when it is deemed consistent with the dues of public justice and the welfare of society that this dear kinsman, this early friend, this nature so delicately and beautifully constituted,--so unfortunate, let us pronounce him, and forbear to say, so guilty,--that our own Clifford, in fine, should be given back to life, and its possibilities of enjoyment ? Ah, you little know me, Cousin Hepzibah ! You little know this heart ! It now throbs at the thought of meeting him ! There lives not the human being (except yourself,--and you not more than I) who has shed so many tears for Clifford′s calamity. You behold some of them now. There is none who would so delight to promote his happiness ! Try me, Hepzibah !--try me, Cousin !--try the man whom you have treated as your enemy and Clifford′s !--try Jaffrey Pyncheon, and you shall find him true, to the heart′s core !" -Prima Hepzibah -repuso el juez con impresionante gravedad que se convirtió en lacrimoso sentimiento a las pocas palabras- es posible que no te des cuenta de qué injusto, qué severo y qué poco cristiano es ese resentimiento contra mí, a causa de un acto que tuve que cumplir por un deber de conciencia y porque la ley me obligaba. ¿Qué hice en perjuicio de Clifford que no me viera obligado a hacer ? Tú, su propia hermana, no hubieras obrado con mayor ternura, si hubieses sabido, para tu desventura, lo que yo supe. ¿Crees que no me dolió en el alma ? ¿Crees que no he sufrido terribles angustias desde aquel día, en medio de la posperidad con que el cielo me ha bendecido ? ¿Crees que no me alegro ahora, cuando ni la justicia pública ni la sociedad se oponen a que este querido primo, ese amigo de mi infancia, esa naturaleza tan delicada y tan hermosa, tan desgraciada, y no quiero decir tan culpable, a que nuestro Clifford, en fin, vuelva a la vida y a los deleites que ofrece la vida ? ¡Qué poco me conoces, prima Hepzibah ! ¡Qué poco conoces mi corazón, que late con ternura ante la idea de verle y hablarle ! No hay nadie, excepto tú, que haya derramado tantas lágrimas como yo por la desgracia de Clifford. No hay nadie que se alegrara tanto de hacerlo feliz. Pruébame, prima Hepzibah, prueba al hombre que has tratado como enemigo tuyo y de Clifford, prueba a Jaffrey Pyncheon y verás qué sincero es, hasta el fondo del corazón.
"In the name of Heaven," cried Hepzibah, provoked only to intenser indignation by this outgush of the inestimable tenderness of a stern nature,--"in God′s name, whom you insult, and whose power I could almost question, since he hears you utter so many false words without palsying your tongue,--give over, I beseech you, this loathsome pretence of affection for your victim ! You hate him ! Say so, like a man ! You cherish, at this moment, some black purpose against him in your heart ! Speak it out, at once !--or, if you hope so to promote it better, hide it till you can triumph in its success ! But never speak again of your love for my poor brother. I cannot bear it ! It will drive me beyond a woman′s decency ! It will drive me mad ! Forbear ! Not another word ! It will make me spurn you !" -¡En nombre del cielo ! -gritó Hepzibah, cuya indignación aumentó ante el desbordamiento de ternura de aquel hombre implacable-. En nombre de Dios, al cual insultas, y cuyo poder casi pongo en duda, puesto que te oye pronunciar tantas palabras falsas sin paralizarte la lengua, en nombre de Dios, ¡deja ya esa repugnante hipocresía de que sientes cariño por tu víctima ! ¡Tú le odias ! ¡Sé hombre y reconócelo ! En este momento proyectas alguna infamia contra él. Habla de una vez... ¿Qué quieres ?... ¡Vamos ! te conviene ocultarlo, para asegurarte el éxito... Pero no vuelvas a hablar de tu falso cariño por mi pobre hermano. No podría soportarlo... Me exasperaría... me haría enloquecer... ¡Calla !... No digas nada más... si no, te echaré de aquí a puntapiés.
For once, Hepzibah′s wrath had given her courage. She had spoken. But, after all, was this unconquerable distrust of Judge Pyncheon′s integrity, and this utter denial, apparently, of his claim to stand in the ring of human sympathies,--were they founded in any just perception of his character, or merely the offspring of a woman′s unreasonable prejudice, deduced from nothing ? Por una vez, la rabia había dado valor a Hepzibah. Por fin había logrado hablar. Su desconfianza en la integridad del juez Pyncheon, ¿se fundaba en una justa percepción de su carácter o en la simple manifestación de un prejuicio femenino sin ninguna base ?
The Judge, beyond all question, was a man of eminent respectability. The church acknowledged it; the state acknowledged it. It was denied by nobody. In all the very extensive sphere of those who knew him, whether in his public or private capacities, there was not an individual--except Hepzibah, and some lawless mystic, like the daguerreotypist, and, possibly, a few political opponents--who would have dreamed of seriously disputing his claim to a high and honorable place in the world′s regard. Nor (we must do him the further justice to say) did Judge Pyncheon himself, probably, entertain many or very frequent doubts, that his enviable reputation accorded with his deserts. His conscience, therefore, usually considered the surest witness to a man′s integrity,--his conscience, unless it might be for the little space of five minutes in the twenty-four hours, or, now and then, some black day in the whole year′s circle,--his conscience bore an accordant testimony with the world′s laudatory voice. And yet, strong as this evidence may seem to be, we should hesitate to peril our own conscience on the assertion, that the Judge and the consenting world were right, and that poor Hepzibah with her solitary prejudice was wrong. Hidden from mankind,--forgotten by himself, or buried so deeply under a sculptured and ornamented pile of ostentatious deeds that his daily life could take no note of it,--there may have lurked some evil and unsightly thing. Nay, we could almost venture to say, further, that a daily guilt might have been acted by him, continually renewed, and reddening forth afresh, like the miraculous blood-stain of a murder, without his necessarily and at every moment being aware of it. El juez era, sin duda, hombre eminentemente respetable. La iglesia le reconocía por tal y el Estado también. Nadie lo negaba. En el amplio círculo de los que le conocían en sus actividades públicas o en su vida privada, no había nadie -excepto Hepzibah, unos pocos iluminados sin ley, como el daguerrotipista, y algún que otro político rival- que soñara en disputarle en serio su prestigio de hombre íntegro y digno. Hemos de hacerle la justicia de decir que ni el propio juez Pyncheon dudaba de que su reputación coincidiera con sus merecimientos. Su conciencia -que suele considerarse como el mejor testimonio de la integridad de un hombre-, su conciencia, si descontamos unos breves minutos cada veinticuatro horas, o algún día negro a lo largo del año, su conciencia, repetimos, corroboraba la laudatoria opinión del mundo. Y sin embargo, por fuerte que pueda parecer esta prueba, no nos atreveríamos a afirmar que el juez y su mundo tenían razón y que Hepzibah, con sus prejuicios, estaba equivocada. Oculta a los ojos de la humanidad, olvidada o enterrada tan profundamente bajo un montón de actos ostentosos que la vida cotidiana no la percibe, puede estar acechando alguna cosa mala e invisible.
Men of strong minds, great force of character, and a hard texture of the sensibilities, are very capable of falling into mistakes of this kind. They are ordinarily men to whom forms are of paramount importance. Their field of action lies among the external phenomena of life. They possess vast ability in grasping, and arranging, and appropriating to themselves, the big, heavy, solid unrealities, such as gold, landed estate, offices of trust and emolument, and public honors. With these materials, and with deeds of goodly aspect, done in the public eye, an individual of this class builds up, as it were, a tall and stately edifice, which, in the view of other people, and ultimately in his own view, is no other than the man′s character, or the man himself. Behold, therefore, a palace ! Its splendid halls and suites of spacious apartments are floored with a mosaic-work of costly marbles; its windows, the whole height of each room, admit the sunshine through the most transparent of plate-glass; its high cornices are gilded, and its ceilings gorgeously painted; and a lofty dome--through which, from the central pavement, you may gaze up to the sky, as with no obstructing medium between--surmounts the whole. With what fairer and nobler emblem could any man desire to shadow forth his character ? Ah ! but in some low and obscure nook,--some narrow closet on the ground-floor, shut, locked and bolted, and the key flung away,--or beneath the marble pavement, in a stagnant water-puddle, with the richest pattern of mosaic-work above,--may lie a corpse, half decayed, and still decaying, and diffusing its death-scent all through the palace ! The inhabitant will not be conscious of it, for it has long been his daily breath ! Neither will the visitors, for they smell only the rich odors which the master sedulously scatters through the palace, and the incense which they bring, and delight to burn before him ! Now and then, perchance, comes in a seer, before whose sadly gifted eye the whole structure melts into thin air, leaving only the hidden nook, the bolted closet, with the cobwebs festooned over its forgotten door, or the deadly hole under the pavement, and the decaying corpse within. Here, then, we are to seek the true emblem of the man′s character, and of the deed that gives whatever reality it possesses to his life. And, beneath the show of a marble palace, that pool of stagnant water, foul with many impurities, and, perhaps, tinged with blood,--that secret abomination, above which, possibly, he may say his prayers, without remembering it,--is this man′s miserable soul ! Casi podemos aventurarnos a decir que una culpa puede renovarse diariamente, enrojecida de continuo con sangre fresca, igual que la milagrosa mancha de sangre de un asesino, sin que a cada momento se la perciba. Los hombres de espíritu fuerte, gran fuerza de carácter y sensibilidad endurecida, son muy propensos a incurrir en esta clase de errores. Son generalmente hombres para los cuales las apariencias y las formas revisten importancia singular. Su campo de acción se encuentra entre los fenómenos exteriores de la vida. Poseen una verdadera habilidad para agarrar y apropiarse las grandes quimeras que se llaman oro, tierras, cargos de confianza, honores públicos. Con tales materiales y con actos loables, realizados ante los ojos del pueblo, un individuo de esta clase llega a construir un edificio firme, que a ¡a vista de los demás y hasta para sí mismo no es más que su propio carácter... Fijaos, por ejemplo, en un palacio. Sus espléndidos vestíbulos y espaciosas estancias tienen el suelo de costosos mármoles; sus ventanas, altas hasta el techo, admiten el sol a través de los cristales; sus molduras y sus techos están suntuosamente pintados; todo coronado por la cúpula a través de cuyas aberturas se puede ver el cielo ¿con qué símbolo más noble puede un hombre representar su verdadero carácter ? Pero en algún rincón obscuro y sombrío, en algún cuartucho de piso bajo, cerrado y perdida la llave, o debajo del pavimento de mármol, en una charca, puede yacer un cadáver en descomposición, esparciendo su hedor por todo el palacio. Los habitantes quizá no se dan cuenta, porque lo respiran cotidianamente. Los visitantes tampoco, porque huelen los ricos perfumes que el dueño esparce por la mansión y el incienso que ellos mismos queman en su honor. De vez en cuando, puede que se presente un visionario, ante cuyos ojos el edificio se hace transparente, dejando al descubierto el rincón oculto, la puerta cerrada, con telarañas en la cerradura, o el agujero que guarda el cadáver. Aquí, pues, hemos de buscar el verdadero símbolo del carácter del dueño del palacio y de sus actos, sin fijarnos en las realidades que posea. ¡Esa charca de agua estancada, llena de impurezas, teñida quizá de sangre, esa secreta abominación, encima de la cual posiblemente dice sus oraciones sin recordar lo que tiene bajo los pies, eso es el alma mísera de este hombre !
To apply this train of remark somewhat more closely to Judge Pyncheon. We might say (without in the least imputing crime to a personage of his eminent respectability) that there was enough of splendid rubbish in his life to cover up and paralyze a more active and subtile conscience than the Judge was ever troubled with. The purity of his judicial character, while on the bench; the faithfulness of his public service in subsequent capacities; his devotedness to his party, and the rigid consistency with which he had adhered to its principles, or, at all events, kept pace with its organized movements; his remarkable zeal as president of a Bible society; his unimpeachable integrity as treasurer of a widow′s and orphan′s fund; his benefits to horticulture, by producing two much esteemed varieties of the pear and to agriculture, through the agency of the famous Pyncheon bull; the cleanliness of his moral deportment, for a great many years past; the severity with which he had frowned upon, and finally cast off, an expensive and dissipated son, delaying forgiveness until within the final quarter of an hour of the young man′s life; his prayers at morning and eventide, and graces at meal-time; his efforts in furtherance of the temperance cause; his confining himself, since the last attack of the gout, to five diurnal glasses of old sherry wine; the snowy whiteness of his linen, the polish of his boots, the handsomeness of his gold-headed cane, the square and roomy fashion of his coat, and the fineness of its material, and, in general, the studied propriety of his dress and equipment; the scrupulousness with which he paid public notice, in the street, by a bow, a lifting of the hat, a nod, or a motion of the hand, to all and sundry of his acquaintances, rich or poor; the smile of broad benevolence wherewith he made it a point to gladden the whole world,--what room could possibly be found for darker traits in a portrait made up of lineaments like these ? This proper face was what he beheld in the looking-glass. This admirably arranged life was what he was conscious of in the progress of every day. Then might not he claim to be its result and sum, and say to himself and the community, "Behold Judge Pyncheon there" ? Para aplicar estas observaciones al juez Pyncheon, podemos decir, sin imputar ningún crimen a un personaje tan respetable, que había en su vida bastantes naderías espléndidas o insignificancias brillantes para cubrir y paralizar una conciencia más activa y sutil que la del juez. ¿Qué espacio quedaría para los rasgos sombríos, en un retrato hecho con las siguientes líneas: la pureza de su carácter judicial en el salón del Tribunal; la fidelidad de sus servicios públicos en cargos diversos; la devoción demostrada a su partido y a sus principios, o por lo menos a sus organizadores; el notable celo que desplegaba como presidente de una sociedad bíblica; la integridad como tesorero de un legado para huérfanos y viudas; los beneficios aportados a la agricultura con la producción de dos nuevas variedades de peral y a la ganadería por medio del famoso toro Pyncheon; su moralidad intachable durante tantos años; la severidad con que reprendió y expulsó de su casa a un hijo disipado, y con que aplazó el perdón hasta el postrer cuarto de hora de la vida del joven; sus oraciones matinales, vespertinas y a las horas de comer; la ayuda prestada a las asociaciones de temperancia; la resignación con que, desde su último ataque de gota, se limitó a beber cinco vasos diarios de jerez; la nivea blancura de sus camisas, el brillo de sus botas, la majestad de su bastón con puño de oro, el severo corte de su chaqueta de fina tela y en general la estudiada sobriedad de su atavío; la escrupulosidad con que saludaba con un movimiento de cabeza, de mano o quitándose el sombrero a todas sus amistades, ricas o pobres, cuando se cruzaba con ellas en la calle; y, finalmente, la sonrisa benévola con que se esforzaba en alegrar al mundo entero ?
En resumen, esos eran sus rasgos cuando se miraba al espejo. En el curso de los días sólo tenía conciencia de la vida admirablemente ordenada que esos rasgos revelaban. Como resultado de todo ello, ¿no tenía derecho a decir a los demás y a sí mismo: « Mirad al juez Pyncheon » ?
And allowing that, many, many years ago, in his early and reckless youth, he had committed some one wrong act,--or that, even now, the inevitable force of circumstances should occasionally make him do one questionable deed among a thousand praiseworthy, or, at least, blameless ones,--would you characterize the Judge by that one necessary deed, and that half-forgotten act, and let it overshadow the fair aspect of a lifetime ? What is there so ponderous in evil, that a thumb′s bigness of it should outweigh the mass of things not evil which were heaped into the other scale ! This scale and balance system is a favorite one with people of Judge Pyncheon′s brotherhood. A hard, cold man, thus unfortunately situated, seldom or never looking inward, and resolutely taking his idea of himself from what purports to be his image as reflected in the mirror of public opinion, can scarcely arrive at true self-knowledge, except through loss of property and reputation. Sickness will not always help him do it; not always the death-hour ! Concediendo que muchos, muchos años antes, allá en su atolondrada juventud cometiera algún acto malo -o incluso que ahora la inevitable fuerza de las circunstancias le obligara a realizar un acto discutible entre mil actos dignos de alabanza, o por lo menos intachables-, en esos casos, ¿ibais a caracterizar al juez por este acto inicuo e inevitable, medio olvidado, y permitiríais que ensombreciese su vida ? ¿Pesa tanto el mal, que una mala obra, no mayor que el pulgar, ha de hacer caer la balanza de su lado, levantando el platillo cargado con la masa de los actos indiferentes o buenos ? Este sistema de balanza es el favorito de las gentes que viven en hermandad con el juez Pyncheon. Un hombre duro y frío, situado de este modo tan poco afortunado, raramente mira a su interior y acepta lo que dice la opinión pública. Así, difícilmente llega a conocerse, excepto cuando pierde los bienes y la reputación. La enfermedad no siempre le ayuda a conseguirlo, y a veces no lo logra ¡ni a la hora de la muerte !
But our affair now is with Judge Pyncheon as he stood confronting the fierce outbreak of Hepzibah′s wrath. Without premeditation, to her own surprise, and indeed terror, she had given vent, for once, to the inveteracy of her resentment, cherished against this kinsman for thirty years. Pero hemos de habérnoslas con el juez Pyncheon, que se enfrentaba con la furia desencadenada de Hepzibah. Con sorpresa y espanto, la solterona había dado rienda suelta, por una vez, al resentimiento que albergaba contra su pariente durante treinta años.
Thus far the Judge′s countenance had expressed mild forbearance,--grave and almost gentle deprecation of his cousin′s unbecoming violence,--free and Christian-like forgiveness of the wrong inflicted by her words. But when those words were irrevocably spoken, his look assumed sternness, the sense of power, and immitigable resolve; and this with so natural and imperceptible a change, that it seemed as if the iron man had stood there from the first, and the meek man not at all. The effect was as when the light, vapory clouds, with their soft coloring, suddenly vanish from the stony brow of a precipitous mountain, and leave there the frown which you at once feel to be eternal. Hepzibah almost adopted the insane belief that it was her old Puritan ancestor, and not the modern Judge, on whom she had just been wreaking the bitterness of her heart. Never did a man show stronger proof of the lineage attributed to him than Judge Pyncheon, at this crisis, by his unmistakable resemblance to the picture in the inner room. El rostro del juez expresó una especie de grave y noble perdón por la inesperada violencia de su prima y el daño que le causaba con sus palabras. Pero cuando estas palabras fueron irrevocablemente pronunciadas, su aspecto se volvió torvo; parecía que el hombre de hierro hubiera estado siempre allí, desde el principio, en vez del hombre manso de antes. Hepzibah estuvo tentada de creer que era sobre el viejo coronel y no el actual juez, sobre el que acababa de volcar toda la amargura de su corazón. Nunca un hombre dio pruebas más evidentes de la genealogía que se le atribuye, que el juez Pyncheon, en aquella crisis, con su inconfundible parecido con el retrato del salón.
"Cousin Hepzibah," said he very calmly, "it is time to have done with this." -Prima Hepzibah -repuso muy sereno-: ya es hora de que acabemos con eso.
"With all my heart !" answered she. "Then, why do you persecute us any longer ? Leave poor Clifford and me in peace. Neither of us desires anything better !" -¡Con todo mi corazón ! -contestó ella-. Entonces, ¿por qué sigues persiguiéndole ? Déjanos en paz, al pobre Clifford y a mí. No pedimos nada mejor.
"It is my purpose to see Clifford before I leave this house," continued the Judge. "Do not act like a madwoman, Hepzibah ! I am his only friend, and an all-powerful one. Has it never occurred to you,--are you so blind as not to have seen,--that, without not merely my consent, but my efforts, my representations, the exertion of my whole influence, political, official, personal, Clifford would never have been what you call free ? Did you think his release a triumph over me ? Not so, my good cousin; not so, by any means ! The furthest possible from that ! No; but it was the accomplishment of a purpose long entertained on my part. I set him free !" -Estoy decidido a ver a Clifford antes de abandonar esta casa -prosiguió el juez-. No te portes como una loca, Hepzibah. Yo soy su único amigo y, por cierto, muy poderoso. ¿No se te ha ocurrido nunca, eres tan ciega que no has visto que sin mi consentimiento, es más, sin mi influencia, el pobre Clifford no hubiera sido nunca lo que llamáis libre ? ¿Crees que esto es un éxito sobre mí ? No, prima, no; de ningún modo. Es el simple cumplimiento de un propósito largamente pensado. ¡Yo le puse en libertad !
"You !" answered Hepzibah. "I never will believe it ! He owed his dungeon to you; his freedom to God′s providence !" -¿Tú ? -contestó Hepzibah-. Nunca lo creeré. El te debe su calabozo... Pero su libertad la debe a la Providencia divina.
"I set him free !" reaffirmed Judge Pyncheon, with the calmest composure. "And I came hither now to decide whether he shall retain his freedom. It will depend upon himself. For this purpose, I must see him." -¡Yo le puse en libertad ! -reafirmó el juez Pyncheon con calma- y he venido para decidir si debe conservar esa libertad. De él depende... Por eso quiero verle.
"Never !--it would drive him mad !" exclaimed Hepzibah, but with an irresoluteness sufficiently perceptible to the keen eye of the Judge; for, without the slightest faith in his good intentions, she knew not whether there was most to dread in yielding or resistance. "And why should you wish to see this wretched, broken man, who retains hardly a fraction of his intellect, and will hide even that from an eye which has no love in it ?" -¡Nunca ! Eso le enloquecería -exclamó Hepzibah con una vacilación que percibieron los agudos ojos del juez. No tenía fe en sus propósitos, pero no sabía qué era peor, si resistir o ceder-. ¿Para qué quieres ver a un pobre hombre abatido, que apenas conserva una parte de su inteligencia ?... Aun ésta permanecerá oculta para los ojos que no le miren con amor.
"He shall see love enough in mine, if that be all !" said the Judge, with well-grounded confidence in the benignity of his aspect. "But, Cousin Hepzibah, you confess a great deal, and very much to the purpose. Now, listen, and I will frankly explain my reasons for insisting on this interview. At the death, thirty years since, of our uncle Jaffrey, it was found,--I know not whether the circumstance ever attracted much of your attention, among the sadder interests that clustered round that event,--but it was found that his visible estate, of every kind, fell far short of any estimate ever made of it. He was supposed to be immensely rich. Nobody doubted that he stood among the weightiest men of his day. It was one of his eccentricities, however,--and not altogether a folly, neither,--to conceal the amount of his property by making distant and foreign investments, perhaps under other names than his own, and by various means, familiar enough to capitalists, but unnecessary here to be specified. By Uncle Jaffrey′s last will and testament, as you are aware, his entire property was bequeathed to me, with the single exception of a life interest to yourself in this old family mansion, and the strip of patrimonial estate remaining attached to it." -En los míos verá bastante amor... -dijo el juez con bien fundada confianza en la benignidad de su aspecto-. Escúchame, prima Hepzibah, y te explicaré francamente mis razones para insistir en verle. Cuando murió nuestro tío Jeffrey, hace treinta años, no sé si te enteraste, en las tristes circunstancias que rodearon aquel acontecimiento, se descubrió que sus bienes eran muy inferiores a lo que se sospechaba. Se le creía inmensamente rico y nadie dudaba que poseía una de las fortunas más considerables de la época. Pero una de sus extravagancias, aunque no una locura, fue la de ocultar la verdadera suma de sus bienes, haciendo inversiones en lugares lejanos, quizá bajo nombres ajenos y por procedimientos que no es preciso explicarte ahora. En su testamento me dejó todos sus bienes, con la única excepción, en favor tuyo, del usufructo de esta casa y de los restos del patrimonio que le están anejos.
"And do you seek to deprive us of that ?" asked Hepzibah, unable to restrain her bitter contempt. "Is this your price for ceasing to persecute poor Clifford ?" -¿Y quieres privarnos de eso ? -preguntó Hepzibah, incapaz de dominar su amargo desdén-. ¿Es éste tu precio para dejar de perseguir al pobre Clifford ?
"Certainly not, my dear cousin !" answered the Judge, smiling benevolently. "On the contrary, as you must do me the justice to own, I have constantly expressed my readiness to double or treble your resources, whenever you should make up your mind to accept any kindness of that nature at the hands of your kinsman. No, no ! But here lies the gist of the matter. Of my uncle′s unquestionably great estate, as I have said, not the half--no, not one third, as I am fully convinced--was apparent after his death. Now, I have the best possible reasons for believing that your brother Clifford can give me a clew to the recovery of the remainder." -¡Oh, no, querida prima ! -repuso el juez, sonriendo benévolo-. Al contrario, debes reconocer que siempre me he ofrecido a duplicar o triplicar tus ingresos, cuando te decidas a aceptar una ayuda de tu primo. Aquí está el quid del asunto. De la gran fortuna de mi tío, según te he dicho, no se encontró después de su muerte, más que la mitad... ni eso, sólo la tercera parte. Ahora bien, tengo razones poderosas para creer que tu hermano Clifford puede darme la pista para recobrar el resto.
"Clifford !--Clifford know of any hidden wealth ? Clifford have it in his power to make you rich ?" cried the old gentlewoman, affected with a sense of something like ridicule at the idea. "Impossible ! You deceive yourself ! It is really a thing to laugh at !" -¿Clifford ?... ¿Clifford sabe dónde hay riquezas ocultas ?... ¿Clifford tiene en su poder la manera de hacerte rico ? -gritó ; la vieja señora, considerando ridicula semejante idea-. ¡Imposible ! ¡Te engañas ! Si es para reírse...
"It is as certain as that I stand here !" said Judge Pyncheon, striking his gold-headed cane on the floor, and at the same time stamping his foot, as if to express his conviction the more forcibly by the whole emphasis of his substantial person. "Clifford told me so himself !" -No. Es algo tan serio como que estoy aquí -afirmó el juez Pyncheon golpeando el suelo con la punta de su bastón y con la de su bota-. El mismo Clifford me lo dijo.
"No, no !" exclaimed Hepzibah incredulously. "You are dreaming, Cousin Jaffrey." -¡No !-exclamó Hepzibah incrédula-. Estás soñando, primo Jaffrey.
"I do not belong to the dreaming class of men," said the Judge quietly. "Some months before my uncle′s death, Clifford boasted to me of the possession of the secret of incalculable wealth. His purpose was to taunt me, and excite my curiosity. I know it well. But, from a pretty distinct recollection of the particulars of our conversation, I am thoroughly convinced that there was truth in what he said. Clifford, at this moment, if he chooses,--and choose he must !--can inform me where to find the schedule, the documents, the evidences, in whatever shape they exist, of the vast amount of Uncle Jaffrey′s missing property. He has the secret. His boast was no idle word. It had a directness, an emphasis, a particularity, that showed a backbone of solid meaning within the mystery of his expression." -No sueño. Pocos meses antes de la muerte de mi tío, Clifford se vanaglorió de que poseía un secreto de incalculable valor. Se proponía excitar mi curiosidad y mortificarme. Lo reconozco. Al recordar su conversación, estoy convencido de que dijo la verdad. Clifford, si quiere... y tiene que querer..., puede decirme dónde se hallan los documentos y las pruebas del resto de la fortuna de nuestro tío Jeffrey. El posee el secreto. Sus palabras no fueron un vano alarde. Tenía un énfasis, un tono que me demostró que conocía el secreto.
"But what could have been Clifford′s object," asked Hepzibah, "in concealing it so long ?" -Pero ¿cuál puede ser el objeto de Clifford al ocultarte tanto tiempo su secreto ?
"It was one of the bad impulses of our fallen nature," replied the Judge, turning up his eyes. "He looked upon me as his enemy. He considered me as the cause of his overwhelming disgrace, his imminent peril of death, his irretrievable ruin. There was no great probability, therefore, of his volunteering information, out of his dungeon, that should elevate me still higher on the ladder of prosperity. But the moment has now come when he must give up his secret." -Pues obedecer a uno de los malignos impulsos de nuestra naturaleza-replicó el juez, apartando los ojos-. Me consideraba su enemigo, la causa de su desgracia, su inminente peligro de muerte. No era probable que me diera voluntariamente esta información que podía hacerme enormemente rico. Por lo menos mientras estuviera en su calabozo no existía esta posibilidad. Pero ha llegado el momento de que me facilite esos informes.
"And what if he should refuse ?" inquired Hepzibah. "Or,--as I steadfastly believe,--what if he has no knowledge of this wealth ?" -¿Y si rehusa ? -preguntó Hepzibah-. ¿Y si no sabe nada de esa riqueza, que es lo que yo creo ?...
"My dear cousin," said Judge Pyncheon, with a quietude which he had the power of making more formidable than any violence, "since your brother′s return, I have taken the precaution (a highly proper one in the near kinsman and natural guardian of an individual so situated) to have his deportment and habits constantly and carefully overlooked. Your neighbors have been eye-witnesses to whatever has passed in the garden. The butcher, the baker, the fish-monger, some of the customers of your shop, and many a prying old woman, have told me several of the secrets of your interior. A still larger circle--I myself, among the rest--can testify to his extravagances at the arched window. Thousands beheld him, a week or two ago, on the point of flinging himself thence into the street. From all this testimony, I am led to apprehend--reluctantly, and with deep grief--that Clifford′s misfortunes have so affected his intellect, never very strong, that he cannot safely remain at large. The alternative, you must be aware,--and its adoption will depend entirely on the decision which I am now about to make,--the alternative is his confinement, probably for the remainder of his life, in a public asylum for persons in his unfortunate state of mind." -Querida prima-dijo el juez con una tranquilidad que le hacía más formidable que cualquier violencia-, desde el regreso de Clifford he tomado la precaución, muy propia en un pariente próximo y tutor natural de un individuo en su estado, de vigilar constantemente sus costumbres. Tus vecinos han presenciado todo lo que ha ocurrido en el jardín. El carnicero, el pescadero, el panadero, algunos de los clientes de la tienda y más de una vieja, me han explicado los secretos de vuestra vida doméstica. Mucha más gente aún, yo entre otros, puede atestiguar sus extravagancias cuando se halla en la ventana en arco. Millares de ojos le vieron, hace una o dos semanas, a punto de arrojarse a la calle. De todo ello he de deducir, muy a pesar mío y con honda pena, que las desgracias de Clifford han afectado a su espíritu, nunca muy fuerte, hasta el punto que no puede permanecer en su casa sin correr serio peligro. Supongo que te darás cuenta de que la alternativa... que depende de la decisión que voy a tomar... es el encierro, probablemente, para el resto de sus días, en un asilo para personas que se hallan en su lamentable estado mental.
"You cannot mean it !" shrieked Hepzibah. -¿Es posible que pienses eso ? -gritó Hepzibah.
"Should my cousin Clifford," continued Judge Pyncheon, wholly undisturbed, "from mere malice, and hatred of one whose interests ought naturally to be dear to him,--a mode of passion that, as often as any other, indicates mental disease,--should he refuse me the information so important to myself, and which he assuredly possesses, I shall consider it the one needed jot of evidence to satisfy my mind of his insanity. And, once sure of the course pointed out by conscience, you know me too well, Cousin Hepzibah, to entertain a doubt that I shall pursue it." -Si mi primo Clifford -prosiguió el juez sin alterarse- por mera malicia y odio a una persona cuyos intereses debieran ser los suyos propios, y eso por sí solo ya indica una determinada clase de demencia..., si Clifford me niega la información que le pido, lo consideraré una prueba evidente de que necesita ser recluido. Me conoces demasiado bien, prima Hepzibah, para dudar de que, una vez convencido de la justicia de una decisión, deje de llevarla a la práctica.
"O Jaffrey,--Cousin Jaffrey," cried Hepzibah mournfully, not passionately, "it is you that are diseased in mind, not Clifford ! You have forgotten that a woman was your mother !--that you have had sisters, brothers, children of your own !--or that there ever was affection between man and man, or pity from one man to another, in this miserable world ! Else, how could you have dreamed of this ? You are not young, Cousin Jaffrey !--no, nor middle-aged,--but already an old man ! The hair is white upon your head ! How many years have you to live ? Are you not rich enough for that little time ? Shall you be hungry,--shall you lack clothes, or a roof to shelter you,--between this point and the grave ? No ! but, with the half of what you now possess, you could revel in costly food and wines, and build a house twice as splendid as you now inhabit, and make a far greater show to the world,--and yet leave riches to your only son, to make him bless the hour of your death ! Then, why should you do this cruel, cruel thing ?--so mad a thing, that I know not whether to call it wicked ! Alas, Cousin Jaffrey, this hard and grasping spirit has run in our blood these two hundred years. You are but doing over again, in another shape, what your ancestor before you did, and sending down to your posterity the curse inherited from him !" -¡Oh, Jaffrey ! ¡Primo Jaffrey ! -exclamó Hepzibah tristemente-. No es Clifford sino tú el que estás loco. Has olvidado que tu madre era mujer, que has tenido hermanos e hijos. ¿Es que no hay amor entre los hombres ? ¿Es que no hay piedad en nuestro mundo ? ¿Cómo has podido tener esas ideas ? Ya no eres joven, primo Jaffrey; eres un viejo. Tienes el cabello blanco... ¿Cuántos años te quedan de vida ? ¿No eres bastante rico, hasta que te mueras ? ¿Te amenaza el hambre quizá, o el quedarte sin techo o sin ropa, antes de llegar a la tumba ? Con la mitad de lo que posees, podías edificar una casa doblemente hermosa de la que te alberga y vivir ostentosamente y aún dejarías a tu hijo bastantes riquezas para que bendijera la hora de tu muerte. ¿Para qué vas, pues, a cometer una acción tan cruel, una acción tan loca, que ya no sé si llamar malvada ? ¡Ay primo Jaffrey ! Este espíritu duro y codicioso ha corrido por nuestra sangre durante doscientos años. Te propones hacer, en otra forma, lo mismo que hicieron tus antepasados y así transmitirás a tu posteridad la maldición que heredaste de ellos !
"Talk sense, Hepzibah, for Heaven′s sake !" exclaimed the Judge, with the impatience natural to a reasonable man, on hearing anything so utterly absurd as the above, in a discussion about matters of business. "I have told you my determination. I am not apt to change. Clifford must give up his secret, or take the consequences. And let him decide quickly; for I have several affairs to attend to this morning, and an important dinner engagement with some political friends." -¡Por amor de Dios, Hepzibah, no sigas diciendo tonterías ! -exclamó el juez con la impaciencia natural en una persona razonable cuando oye frases tan absurdas como las anteriores, mezcladas en una conversación de negocios-. Ya te he comunicado mi resolución. No me propongo cambiar. Clifford ha de revelar su secreto o atenerse a las consecuencias. Que decida aprisa, pues tengo muchos asuntos que solucionar esta mañana, y he de comer con varios políticos amigos míos.
"Clifford has no secret !" answered Hepzibah. "And God will not let you do the thing you meditate !" -¡Clifford no posee ningún secreto ! -repuso Hepzibah- ¡Qué Dios te impida llevar a cabo la mala acción que meditas !
"We shall see," said the unmoved Judge. "Meanwhile, choose whether you will summon Clifford, and allow this business to be amicably settled by an interview between two kinsmen, or drive me to harsher measures, which I should be most happy to feel myself justified in avoiding. The responsibility is altogether on your part." -Ya veremos -contestó el inconmovible juez-. En tanto, decide si vas a llamar a Clifford para que este asunto se arregle amistosamente entre dos primos, o si vas a obligarme a tomar medidas más enérgicas, que desearía evitar. Tu serás la responsable de lo que ocurra.
"You are stronger than I," said Hepzibah, after a brief consideration; "and you have no pity in your strength ! Clifford is not now insane; but the interview which you insist upon may go far to make him so. Nevertheless, knowing you as I do, I believe it to be my best course to allow you to judge for yourself as to the improbability of his possessing any valuable secret. I will call Clifford. Be merciful in your dealings with him !--be far more merciful than your heart bids you be !--for God is looking at you, Jaffrey Pyncheon !" -Eres más fuerte que yo -dijo Hepzibah tras una pausa- y en tu fuerza no hay ni una gota de piedad. Clifford está perfectamente bien, pero si habla contigo enloquecerá. De todos modos, como te conozco, creo que lo mejor es dejar que te convenzas por ti mismo de que no posee ningún secreto. Voy a llamar a Clifford. ¡Ten piedad para con él ! ¡Ten más piedad de la que dicte tu corazón... porque Dios te está mirando, Jaffrey Pyncheon !...
The Judge followed his cousin from the shop, where the foregoing conversation had passed, into the parlor, and flung himself heavily into the great ancestral chair. Many a former Pyncheon had found repose in its capacious arms: rosy children, after their sports; young men, dreamy with love; grown men, weary with cares; old men, burdened with winters,--they had mused, and slumbered, and departed to a yet profounder sleep. It had been a long tradition, though a doubtful one, that this was the very chair, seated in which the earliest of the Judge′s New England forefathers--he whose picture still hung upon the wall--had given a dead man′s silent and stern reception to the throng of distinguished guests. From that hour of evil omen until the present, it may be,--though we know not the secret of his heart,--but it may be that no wearier and sadder man had ever sunk into the chair than this same Judge Pyncheon, whom we have just beheld so immitigably hard and resolute. Surely, it must have been at no slight cost that he had thus fortified his soul with iron. Such calmness is a mightier effort than the violence of weaker men. And there was yet a heavy task for him to do. Was it a little matter--a trifle to be prepared for in a single moment, and to be rested from in another moment,--that he must now, after thirty years, encounter a kinsman risen from a living tomb, and wrench a secret from him, or else consign him to a living tomb again ? El juez siguió a su prima, hasta el salón y se dejó caer pesadamente en el gran sillón ancestral. Muchos de los Pyncheon anteriores habían hallado reposo entre sus anchos brazos... niños sonrosados, después de jugar, jóvenes ebrios de amor; hombres maduros, preocupados por sus responsabilidades; ancianos, cargados de inviernos. Allí dormitaron y de allí partieron para un sueño más profundo. Hay una tradición, muy dudosa, según la cual, sentado en aquel sillón, el primer antepasado del juez Pyncheon había recibido a sus huéspedes con su ceño de cadáver. Desde aquella hora de mal augurio hasta hoy, es posible que no se hubiera sentado en ese sillón hombre más triste ni más preocupado que este mismo juez Pyncheon, del cual hemos visto el carácter implacable. Y decimos que es posible, porque no conocemos los secretos de su corazón. Seguramente le costó trabajo dar a su alma la consistencia del hierro. Su calma debió requerir un esfuerzo mayor que la violencia de los hombres débiles. Todavía le quedaba una dura tarea por realizar. ¿Era, acaso fácil enfrentarse, después de treinta años, con un pariente que acababa de salir de la tumba y arrancarle un secreto o enterrarle de nuevo en otra tumba para vivos.
"Did you speak ?" asked Hepzibah, looking in from the threshold of the parlor; for she imagined that the Judge had uttered some sound which she was anxious to interpret as a relenting impulse. "I thought you called me back." -¿Has dicho algo ? -preguntó Hepzibah mirando para atrás desde el umbral de la puerta, pues creyó oír un sonido que ansiaba poder interpretar como una indicación de no moverse-. Creí que me llamabas.
"No, no" gruffly answered Judge Pyncheon with a harsh frown, while his brow grew almost a black purple, in the shadow of the room. "Why should I call you back ? Time flies ! Bid Clifford come to me !" -¡No, no ! -gruñó el caballero, con duro ceño-. ¿Para qué iba a llamarte ? El tiempo vuela. Díle a Clifford que le espero.
The Judge had taken his watch from his vest pocket and now held it in his hand, measuring the interval which was to ensue before the appearance of Clifford. El juez tenía en la mano el reloj, midiendo el intervalo que trancurriría hasta la aparición de Clifford.