Chapter : 9 Kapitel : 9 Chapitre : 9 Розділ : 9

The fact was, his lordship the Earl of Dorincourt thought in those days, of many things of which he had never thought before, and all his thoughts were in one way or another connected with his grandson. His pride was the strongest part of his nature, and the boy gratified it at every point. Su orgullo era la parte más fuerte de su naturaleza, y el chico lo complacía en todo momento. Through this pride he began to find a new interest in life. A través de este orgullo, comenzó a encontrar un nuevo interés en la vida. He began to take pleasure in showing his heir to the world. The world had known of his disappointment in his sons; so there was an agreeable touch of triumph in exhibiting this new Lord Fauntleroy, who could disappoint no one. El mundo había sabido de su desilusión con sus hijos; así que hubo un agradable toque de triunfo al exhibir a este nuevo Lord Fauntleroy, que no podía defraudar a nadie. He wished the child to appreciate his own power and to understand the splendor of his position; he wished that others should realize it too. He made plans for his future.

Sometimes in secret he actually found himself wishing that his own past life had been a better one, and that there had been less in it that this pure, childish heart would shrink from if it knew the truth. It was not agreeable to think how the beautiful, innocent face would look if its owner should be made by any chance to understand that his grandfather had been called for many a year "the wicked Earl of Dorincourt." The thought even made him feel a trifle nervous. El pensamiento incluso lo hizo sentir un poco nervioso. He did not wish the boy to find it out. Sometimes in this new interest he forgot his gout, and after a while his doctor was surprised to find his noble patient's health growing better than he had expected it ever would be again. Perhaps the Earl grew better because the time did not pass so slowly for him, and he had something to think of beside his pains and infirmities. Tal vez el conde mejoró porque el tiempo no pasó tan lento para él y tenía algo en lo que pensar además de sus dolores y enfermedades.

One fine morning, people were amazed to see little Lord Fauntleroy riding his pony with another companion than Wilkins. This new companion rode a tall, powerful gray horse, and was no other than the Earl himself. It was, in fact, Fauntleroy who had suggested this plan. De hecho, fue Fauntleroy quien sugirió este plan. As he had been on the point of mounting his pony, he had said rather wistfully to his grandfather: Cuando estaba a punto de montar su pony, le había dicho a su abuelo con nostalgia:

"I wish you were going with me. When I go away I feel lonely because you are left all by yourself in such a big castle. Cuando me voy me siento solo porque te dejan solo en un castillo tan grande. I wish you could ride too." And the greatest excitement had been aroused in the stables a few minutes later by the arrival of an order that Selim was to be saddled for the Earl. Y la mayor excitación se había despertado en los establos unos minutos más tarde con la llegada de la orden de que se ensillara a Selim para el conde. After that, Selim was saddled almost every day; and the people became accustomed to the sight of the tall gray horse carrying the tall gray old man, with his handsome, fierce, eagle face, by the side of the brown pony which bore little Lord Fauntleroy. And in their rides together through the green lanes and pretty country roads, the two riders became more intimate than ever. And gradually the old man heard a great deal about "Dearest" and her life. As Fauntleroy trotted by the big horse he chatted gayly. There could not well have been a brighter little comrade, his nature was so happy. No podría haber habido un pequeño camarada más brillante, su naturaleza era tan feliz. It was he who talked the most. The Earl often was silent, listening and watching the joyous, glowing face. El conde a menudo guardaba silencio, escuchando y observando el rostro alegre y resplandeciente. Sometimes he would tell his young companion to set the pony off at a gallop, and when the little fellow dashed off, sitting so straight and fearless, he would watch him with a gleam of pride and pleasure in his eyes; and when, after such a dash, Fauntleroy came back waving his cap with a laughing shout, he always felt that he and his grandfather were very good friends indeed. A veces le decía a su joven compañero que hiciera galopar al pony, y cuando el pequeño salía corriendo, tan erguido y valiente, lo miraba con un brillo de orgullo y placer en los ojos; y cuando, después de tal carrera, Fauntleroy volvía agitando su gorra con un grito de risa, siempre sintió que él y su abuelo eran realmente muy buenos amigos.

One thing that the Earl discovered was that his son's wife did not lead an idle life. Una cosa que descubrió el conde fue que la esposa de su hijo no llevaba una vida ociosa. It was not long before he learned that the poor people knew her very well indeed. When there was sickness or sorrow or poverty in any house, the little brougham often stood before the door. Cuando había enfermedad, tristeza o pobreza en cualquier casa, la pequeña berlina a menudo se paraba frente a la puerta.

"Do you know," said Fauntleroy once, "they all say, 'God bless you!' when they see her, and the children are glad. cuando la ven, y los niños se alegran. There are some who go to her house to be taught to sew. She says she feels so rich now that she wants to help the poor ones." It had not displeased the Earl to find that the mother of his heir had a beautiful young face and looked as much like a lady as if she had been a duchess; and in one way it did not displease him to know that she was popular and beloved by the poor. Al conde no le había disgustado descubrir que la madre de su heredero tenía un hermoso rostro joven y se parecía tanto a una dama como si hubiera sido una duquesa; y en cierto modo no le desagradaba saber que ella era popular y querida por los pobres. And yet he was often conscious of a hard, jealous pang when he saw how she filled her child's heart and how the boy clung to her as his best beloved. Y, sin embargo, a menudo era consciente de una dura punzada de celos cuando veía cómo ella llenaba el corazón de su hijo y cómo el niño se aferraba a ella como su mejor amado. The old man would have desired to stand first himself and have no rival. El anciano hubiera deseado ser el primero y no tener rival.

That same morning he drew up his horse on an elevated point of the moor over which they rode, and made a gesture with his whip, over the broad, beautiful landscape spread before them. Esa misma mañana detuvo su caballo en un punto elevado del páramo sobre el que cabalgaban, e hizo un gesto con su látigo sobre el amplio y hermoso paisaje que se extendía ante ellos.

"Do you know that all that land belongs to me?" he said to Fauntleroy.

"Does it?" answered Fauntleroy. "How much it is to belong to one person, and how beautiful!" "¡Cuánto es pertenecer a una sola persona, y qué hermoso!" "Do you know that some day it will all belong to you—that and a great deal more?" "To me!" exclaimed Fauntleroy in rather an awe-stricken voice. exclamó Fauntleroy con una voz más bien aterrada. "When?" "When I am dead," his grandfather answered. "Then I don't want it," said Fauntleroy; "I want you to live always." "That's kind," answered the Earl in his dry way; "nevertheless, some day it will all be yours—some day you will be the Earl of Dorincourt." Little Lord Fauntleroy sat very still in his saddle for a few moments. He looked over the broad moors, the green farms, the beautiful copses, the cottages in the lanes, the pretty village, and over the trees to where the turrets of the great castle rose, gray and stately. Contempló los amplios páramos, las verdes granjas, los hermosos bosquecillos, las cabañas en los callejones, el bonito pueblo y los árboles hasta donde se elevaban, grises y majestuosas, las torres del gran castillo. Then he gave a queer little sigh. Luego soltó un pequeño y extraño suspiro.

"What are you thinking of?" asked the Earl.

"I am thinking," replied Fauntleroy, "what a little boy I am! and of what Dearest said to me." "What was it?" inquired the Earl.

"She said that perhaps it was not so easy to be very rich; that if any one had so many things always, one might sometimes forget that every one else was not so fortunate, and that one who is rich should always be careful and try to remember. I was talking to her about how good you were, and she said that was such a good thing, because an earl had so much power, and if he cared only about his own pleasure and never thought about the people who lived on his lands, they might have trouble that he could help—and there were so many people, and it would be such a hard thing. And I was just looking at all those houses, and thinking how I should have to find out about the people, when I was an earl. How did you find out about them?" ¿Cómo se enteró de ellos?". As his lordship's knowledge of his tenantry consisted in finding out which of them paid their rent promptly, and in turning out those who did not, this was rather a hard question. Como el conocimiento de su señoría sobre su arrendamiento consistía en averiguar quién de ellos pagaba puntualmente el alquiler y en descartar a los que no lo hacían, esta era una pregunta bastante difícil. "Newick finds out for me," he said, and he pulled his great gray mustache, and looked at his small questioner rather uneasily. —Newick lo descubre por mí —dijo, y se tiró de su gran bigote gris y miró a su pequeño interrogador con cierta inquietud—. "We will go home now," he added; "and when you are an earl, see to it that you are a better earl than I have been!" "Iremos a casa ahora", agregó; "¡Y cuando seas un conde, procura que seas un mejor conde de lo que he sido yo!" He was very silent as they rode home. He felt it to be almost incredible that he who had never really loved any one in his life, should find himself growing so fond of this little fellow,—as without doubt he was. Sintió que era casi increíble que él, que nunca había amado realmente a nadie en su vida, se encontrara cada vez más apegado a este pequeño, como sin duda lo era. At first he had only been pleased and proud of Cedric's beauty and bravery, but there was something more than pride in his feeling now. He laughed a grim, dry laugh all to himself sometimes, when he thought how he liked to have the boy near him, how he liked to hear his voice, and how in secret he really wished to be liked and thought well of by his small grandson. A veces soltaba una risa sombría y seca para sí mismo, cuando pensaba cuánto le gustaba tener al niño cerca de él, cómo le gustaba escuchar su voz y cómo en secreto realmente deseaba que sus pequeños lo quisieran y lo consideraran bien. nieto.

"I'm an old fellow in my dotage, and I have nothing else to think of," he would say to himself; and yet he knew it was not that altogether. "Soy un viejo chocho y no tengo otra cosa en que pensar", se decía; y, sin embargo, sabía que no era eso del todo. And if he had allowed himself to admit the truth, he would perhaps have found himself obliged to own that the very things which attracted him, in spite of himself, were the qualities he had never possessed—the frank, true, kindly nature, the affectionate trustfulness which could never think evil. Y si se hubiera permitido admitir la verdad, tal vez se habría visto obligado a admitir que las mismas cosas que lo atraían, a pesar de sí mismo, eran las cualidades que nunca había poseído: la naturaleza franca, verdadera y bondadosa, la confianza afectuosa que nunca podría pensar mal.

It was only about a week after that ride when, after a visit to his mother, Fauntleroy came into the library with a troubled, thoughtful face. He sat down in that high-backed chair in which he had sat on the evening of his arrival, and for a while he looked at the embers on the hearth. The Earl watched him in silence, wondering what was coming. It was evident that Cedric had something on his mind. At last he looked up. "Does Newick know all about the people?" he asked.

"It is his business to know about them," said his lordship. "Been neglecting it—has he?" "Lo ha estado descuidando, ¿verdad?" Contradictory as it may seem, there was nothing which entertained and edified him more than the little fellow's interest in his tenantry. Por contradictorio que parezca, no había nada que lo entretuviera y edificara más que el interés del pequeño en su arrendamiento. He had never taken any interest in them himself, but it pleased him well enough that, with all his childish habits of thought and in the midst of all his childish amusements and high spirits, there should be such a quaint seriousness working in the curly head. Él mismo nunca se había interesado por ellos, pero le complacía mucho que, con todos sus hábitos infantiles de pensamiento y en medio de todas sus diversiones infantiles y su buen humor, hubiera una seriedad tan extraña trabajando en la cabeza rizada. .

"There is a place," said Fauntleroy, looking up at him with wide-open, horror-stricken eye—"Dearest has seen it; it is at the other end of the village. The houses are close together, and almost falling down; you can scarcely breathe; and the people are so poor, and everything is dreadful! Often they have fever, and the children die; and it makes them wicked to live like that, and be so poor and miserable! A menudo tienen fiebre y los niños mueren; ¡y les hace malvados vivir así, y ser tan pobres y miserables! It is worse than Michael and Bridget! The rain comes in at the roof! ¡La lluvia entra por el techo! Dearest went to see a poor woman who lived there. She would not let me come near her until she had changed all her things. The tears ran down her cheeks when she told me about it!" The tears had come into his own eyes, but he smiled through them.

"I told her you didn't know, and I would tell you," he said. He jumped down and came and leaned against the Earl's chair. "You can make it all right," he said, "just as you made it all right for Higgins. You always make it all right for everybody. I told her you would, and that Newick must have forgotten to tell you." The Earl looked down at the hand on his knee. Newick had not forgotten to tell him; in fact, Newick had spoken to him more than once of the desperate condition of the end of the village known as Earl's Court. He knew all about the tumble-down, miserable cottages, and the bad drainage, and the damp walls and broken windows and leaking roofs, and all about the poverty, the fever, and the misery. Lo sabía todo sobre las casitas ruinosas y miserables, el mal drenaje, las paredes húmedas, las ventanas rotas y los techos con goteras, y todo sobre la pobreza, la fiebre y la miseria. Mr. Mordaunt had painted it all to him in the strongest words he could use, and his lordship had used violent language in response; and, when his gout had been at the worst, he said that the sooner the people of Earl's Court died and were buried by the parish the better it would be,—and there was an end of the matter. El señor Mordaunt se lo había pintado todo con las palabras más fuertes que podía usar, y su señoría había usado un lenguaje violento en respuesta; y, cuando su gota había empeorado, dijo que cuanto antes muriera la gente de Earl's Court y fueran enterradas por la parroquia, mejor sería, y así se acabó el asunto. And yet, as he looked at the small hand on his knee, and from the small hand to the honest, earnest, frank-eyed face, he was actually a little ashamed both of Earl's Court and himself. Y, sin embargo, mientras miraba la pequeña mano en su rodilla, y de la pequeña mano al rostro honesto, serio y franco, en realidad estaba un poco avergonzado tanto de Earl's Court como de sí mismo. "What!" he said; "you want to make a builder of model cottages of me, do you?" él dijo; "Quieres convertirme en un constructor de cabañas modelo, ¿verdad?" And he positively put his own hand upon the childish one and stroked it. Y él positivamente puso su propia mano sobre la infantil y la acarició.

"Those must be pulled down," said Fauntleroy, with great eagerness. "Esos deben ser derribados", dijo Fauntleroy, con gran entusiasmo. "Dearest says so. Let us—let us go and have them pulled down to-morrow. The people will be so glad when they see you! They'll know you have come to help them!" And his eyes shone like stars in his glowing face. Y sus ojos brillaban como estrellas en su rostro resplandeciente.

The Earl rose from his chair and put his hand on the child's shoulder. "Let us go out and take our walk on the terrace," he said, with a short laugh; "and we can talk it over." —Salgamos a dar un paseo por la terraza —dijo, con una risa breve; "y podemos hablarlo". And though he laughed two or three times again, as they walked to and fro on the broad stone terrace, where they walked together almost every fine evening, he seemed to be thinking of something which did not displease him, and still he kept his hand on his small companion's shoulder. Y aunque volvió a reírse dos o tres veces, mientras paseaban de un lado a otro por la ancha terraza de piedra, por donde paseaban juntos casi todas las noches, parecía estar pensando en algo que no le disgustaba, y aun así mantuvo la mano en alto. en el hombro de su pequeño compañero.