Isabel de Galceran: Capítol 5 Isabel de Galceran: Kapitel 5 Isabel de Galceran: Chapter 5 Isabel de Galceran: Capítulo 5 Isabel de Galceran: Capitolo 5

V

Rebudes les més ingènues confessions de ma part, informat punt per punt de tot el que m'havia dut a fer aquella atzagaiada, el meu pare prengué el determini d'anar a casa l'Armengol. Having received the most naive confessions on my part, informed point by point of everything that had led me to do that ambush, my father made the decision to go to Armengol's house. La casa era plena de gent: tots els aduladors de l'home polític, tots els manifassers de la vila, es trobaven allí. The house was full of people: all the sycophants of the politician, all the protestors of the town, were there. Ningú no els atenia, ningú no els rebia ni en feia cas; però ells no per això baixaven l'escala. No one attended to them, no one received them or paid attention to them; but that's not why they went down the stairs. Apoderats d'una sala de l'entresol, s'estaven en rotllets, fumant, escopint i comentant en alta veu, i a la manera que cada u tenia per convenient, el que s'havia esdevingut. Seizing a room in the middle of the sun, they were huddled together, smoking, spitting and commenting loudly, and in the way that each of them saw fit, what had happened. Anaven a oferir-se, segons deien. They were going to offer themselves, they said.

El servei travessava els rotllos atrafegat, collint al pas tot el xàfec de suposicions gratuites, de comentaris errats, d'injúries i calúmnies, que eixien d'aquelles boques desatentades. The service crossed the scrolls in a crowded way, picking up all the shower of gratuitous suppositions, wrong comments, insults and slanders, which came out of those careless mouths.

Quan mon pare aparegué, hi hagué una suspensió momentània, després un esclat de xiu-xius a cau d'orella; i, en veure'l que s'encaminava cap al primer pis, brillà en tots els rostres aquella rialleta llastimosa amb què les males ànimes celebren l'enfonsament de la reputació envejada. When my father appeared, there was a momentary pause, then a burst of whistles in earshot; and, seeing him making his way to the first floor, shone on all faces that pitiful laughter with which evil souls celebrate the collapse of envied reputation.

— On va, aquest infeliç? — Where is this unhappy man going? —van exclamar més de quatre.—¡Potser sí, que es pensa que farà combregar don Pau amb rodes de molí, pobret! - exclaimed more than four.

— Ja el pentinarà bé! — He will comb his hair well!

— Ja li posarà les peres a __quarto!__ — He'll put his pears in quarto!

— Ja li explicarà quantes fan cinc! — He'll tell you how many are five!

— I quins amics! — And what friends! — deia un altre, parlant, com és de pensar, no per ell ni pels altres, que així ho feien amb tot i ésser entrants de casa, sinó pel meu pare, que en res havia mancat a don Pau ni a ningú. - said another, speaking, as it is to be thought, not for him or for the others, who did this with everything and being entering the house, but for my father, who had lacked nothing for Don Pau or anyone else. El meu pare, en travessar les peces del primer pis, no topà amb ningú d'aquella família; però un desordre complet de roba i capsetes escampades per les cadires, que semblaven esperar col·locació dins de baguls i maletes que al pas es veien, denotava ben bé el propòsit d'una marxa pròxima. My father, when going through the rooms on the first floor, did not meet anyone from that family; but a complete disorder of clothes and boxes strewn about the chairs, which seemed to await placement in trunks and suitcases that could be seen on the way, well denoted the purpose of an imminent march.

El criat, que acompanyava el pare, trucà amb els nusets dels dits a la porta de l'escriptori de don Pau, qui no trigà a obrir. The servant, who accompanied the father, knocked with the knuckles of his fingers on the door of Don Pau's desk, which did not take long to open. Però, en veure son amic d'algun dia, es posà al peu d'aquella, va fer un signe al criat perquè se'n tomés, i, una volta aconseguit aquest desig, encès d'ira i amb accent ple de reconcentrada energia, manà al meu pare que fugis de sa presència. But, seeing his friend from one day, he stood at the foot of that one, made a sign to the servant to take some, and, having once achieved this desire, fired with anger and with an accent full of reconcentrated energy , tell my father to flee from his presence.

Aquest, coneixent el geni arravatat de l'hereu Armengol, encara que no es mogué, adoptà el partit de no contrariar-lo ni d'humiliar-se massa, puix sabia que l'oposició l'exasperava i que la humiliació exagerada l'encenia potser més encara. This one, knowing the infatuated genius of the heir Armengol, although he did not move, adopted the policy of not contradicting him or humiliating himself too much, since he knew that the opposition exasperated him and that the exaggerated humiliation ignited perhaps even more. Res millor que conservar una actitud digna i proposar-li un mitjà indirecte per a entendre's. Nothing better than maintaining a dignified attitude and proposing an indirect means of understanding. Per això indicà a l'ofès la conveniència de suspendre per unes quantes hores tot judici sobre el que havia succeït i permetre-li una assentada quan son esperit hagués recobrat la calma, o que almenys li donés permís per a escriure-li llargament si és que se n'anava a fora. That is why he indicated to the offended party the convenience of suspending for a few hours all judgment about what had happened and allowing him a seat when his spirit had regained calm, or at least giving him permission to write to him at length if he is that he was going out.

— Ni l'una cosa ni l'altra — respongué bruscament don Pau.

Però aviat, i com cedint al desig irresistible de desfogar son enuig, afegí: But soon, and as if yielding to the irresistible desire to vent his anger, he added:

— Què en trauríem? — What would we get out of it? Vostè no em convencerà, ni em rescabalarà del descrèdit que sobre el meu nom ha caigut.— You will not convince me, nor save me from the discredit that has fallen on my name.—

I, dient això, avançà instintivament, cedint pas a mon pare; cosa que aquest no deixà d'aprofitar per a intemar-se a la cambra. And, saying this, he moved forward instinctively, giving way to my father; something that he did not fail to take advantage of to get himself in the chamber.

Un pic es van trobar dins i veié el pare més calmat l'hereu Armengol, s'esforçà a persuadir-lo que tot el meu acte restava reduït a una lleugeresa, a una indiscreció deguda a ma poca edat, a una deplorable criaturada, desposseïda de tot antecedent, de tota intenció deshonrosa. At one point they met inside and I saw the father more calm the heir Armengol, he tried to persuade him that my whole act was reduced to a lightness, to an indiscretion due to my young age, to a deplorable creature, dispossessed of every antecedent, of every dishonorable intention. Però, lluny d'aconseguir son objecte, observà el meu pare que, a mesura que anava relatant detalls en mon descàrrec, l'Armengol s'acalorava més i més. But, far from achieving his object, my father noticed that, as he recounted details in my discharge, Armengol grew more and more heated.

— Sap qui és un criatura? — Do you know who a creature is? —exclamà aquest.— Vostè, vostè, ho és; i fins a un extrem que me'n faig creus. - exclaimed this one. - You, you, you are; and to an extreme that I believe. I acabem d'un cop; perquè vostè em posa en un punt tan alt de desesperació, que ja quasi no em puc contenir. And we're done with one blow; because you put me at such a high point of despair, that I can hardly contain myself. ¿Què significa que tractés, la meva senyora, de mostrar al fill de vostè el que guardava en aquell calaixet? What does it mean that you tried, my lady, to show your son what you kept in that drawer? No ho sap, el que hi guardava? He doesn't know, what he kept there? Doncs jo sí, que ho sé: hi guardava una carta meva, rebuda ahir mateix, en la qual jo reclamava d'ella que reformés sa conducta. Well, I do, I know: she kept a letter from me, received just yesterday, in which I demanded that she reform her behavior. Ella mateixa, en presentar-me jo sobtadament la nit passada, l'ha treta del calaixet a què vostè es refereix, fingint-se pura, honesta i fidel i ofesa per mi, i demanant-me explicacions, com si jo fos el culpable. She herself, when I appeared suddenly last night, took it out of the drawer you refer to, pretending to be pure and honest and faithful and offended by me, and asking me to explain, as if I were to blame .

— Bé, i, fins aquí, ¿què veu, vostè, contra el meu fill? - Well, so far, what do you see against my son? —saltà el meu pare, enardit per l'amor que em duia.—El meu fill no anava errat: la senyora de vostè volia manifestar-li el que pensava i aconsellar-se amb ell: res més. - jumped my father, enraged by the love he had for me. - My son was not wrong: your lady wanted to tell him what she thought and consult with him: nothing more.

— I ¿quina dona descobreix tals coses a ningú que no sigui el seu amant? — And what woman discovers such things to anyone other than her lover? Vostè està __cego:__ vostè no veu que tot el que em diu corrobora perfectament la delació que jo vaig rebre per anònim a Barcelona. You are blind: you don't see that everything you tell me perfectly corroborates the denunciation that I received anonymously in Barcelona. L'amic que m'escrivia… The friend who wrote to me...

— Un amic mai no amaga el nom. — A friend never hides his name.

— Un amic de debò ho fa tot, per salvar a qui estima. — A true friend does everything to save the one he loves. L'amic em presentava l'amant sota unes senyes que convenen per complet amb les del fill de vostè. The friend introduced the lover to me under some signs that agree completely with those of your son. Ara ho veig ben clar. Now I see it very clearly.

— Home, per Déu!, no sigui temerari: el meu fill no és tal amant, ni ha fet altra cosa que una criaturada. — Man, for God's sake!, don't be reckless: my son is not such a lover, nor has he done anything but a child.

—Una criaturada! una criaturada!— exclamà dolorosament don Pau acotant el cap i encreuant les mans. a child!— Don Pau painfully exclaimed, bowing his head and crossing his hands. — ¡Una criaturada amb la qual tota la vila coneix l'__adulteri__ i els seus __autors__… — A child with whom the whole town knows about adultery and its perpetrators...

—No: això es deu a vostè, que ha comès la de tirar amb l'arma…— —No: this is due to you, who committed the act of pulling the gun...—

En sentir això, don Pau es sobreexcité d'una manera espantosa: prengué sobtadament la pistola que tenia damunt la taula escriptori, i, apuntant-la contra el pare, l'obligà a eixir, sota l'amenaça de fer amb ell el que volgué fer amb mi abans. On hearing this, don Pau became terribly excited: he suddenly took the pistol that was on the desk table, and, pointing it at the father, forced him to leave, under the threat of doing to him what wanted to do with me before.

Tot fon inútil: don Pau tenia l'amor propi ferit, es conceptuava deshonrat als ulls de tota la vila, i no hi havia raó ni mitjà que fos prou a esvair la preocupació que el cegava. Everything was useless: Don Pau's self-love was wounded, he was considered disgraced in the eyes of the whole town, and there was no reason or means that would be sufficient to dispel the concern that blinded him. El meu pare, amb tota la raó que desitjar-se pugui, va haver de passar per l'afront de veure's tret amb aquelles amenaces, i d'aguantar, mig plorós, mig enrabiat, les mirades de mofa que li endreçaren els conveïns en travessar la sala de l'entresol. My father, with all the right that could be desired, had to go through the humiliation of being taken out with those threats, and of enduring, half in tears, half in anger, the scornful glances that were directed at him by his companions in cross the mezzanine room.

Oh maleïda lleugeresa, la meva! O accursed levity, mine!

Quant a la bona, a la pura, a la pobra víctima cabdal de la meva indiscreció, res més no n'he sabut. As for the good, the pure, the poor main victim of my indiscretion, I have heard nothing more.

Aquell mateix jorn es veié obligada a deixar la vila per sempre més, acompanyada de son marit i de sos fillets, fent camí cap a Madrid, on des de llavors ha viscut la família Armengol. That same day she was forced to leave the town forever, accompanied by her husband and children, making their way to Madrid, where the Armengol family has lived ever since.