登陆注册
4709000000037

第37章

But the most curious thing about Don Juan Tafetan was his liking for pretty girls. He himself, in the days when he did not hide his baldness with half a dozen hairs plastered down with pomade, when he did not dye his mustache, when, in the freedom from care of youthful years, he walked with shoulders unstooped and head erect, had been a formidable /Tenorio/. To hear him recount his conquests was something to make one die laughing; for there are /Tenorios/ and Tenorios/, and he was one of the most original.

"What girls? I don't see any girls," responded Pepe Rey.

"Yes, play the anchorite!"

One of the blinds of the balcony was opened, giving a glimpse of a youthful face, lovely and smiling, that disappeared instantly, like a light extinguished by the wind.

"Yes, I see now."

"Don't you know them?"

"On my life I do not."

"They are the Troyas--the Troya girls. Then you don't know something good. Three lovely girls, the daughters of a colonel of staff, who died in the streets of Madrid in '54."

The blind opened again, and two faces appeared.

"They are laughing at me," said Tafetan, making a friendly sign to the girls.

"Do you know them?"

"Why, of course I know them. The poor things are in the greatest want.

I don't know how they manage to live. When Don Francisco Troya died a subscription was raised for them, but that did not last very long."

"Poor girls! I imagine they are not models of virtue."

"And why not? I do not believe what they say in the town about them."

Once more the blinds opened.

"Good-afternoon, girls!" cried Don Juan Tafetan to the three girls, who appeared, artistically grouped, at the window. "This gentleman says that good things ought not to hide themselves, and that you should throw open the blinds."

But the blind was closed and a joyous concert of laughter diffused a strange gayety through the gloomy street. One might have fancied that a flock of birds was passing.

"Shall we go there?" said Tafetan suddenly.

His eyes sparkled and a roguish smile played on his discolored lips.

"But what sort of people are they, then?"

"Don't be afraid, Senor de Rey. The poor things are honest. Bah! Why, they live upon air, like the chameleons. Tell me, can any one who doesn't eat sin? The poor girls are virtuous enough. And even if they did sin, they fast enough to make up for it."

"Let us go, then."

A moment later Don Juan Tafetan and Pepe Rey were entering the parlor of the Troyas. The poverty he saw, that struggled desperately to disguise itself, afflicted the young man. The three girls were very lovely, especially the two younger ones, who were pale and dark, with large black eyes and slender figures. Well-dressed and well shod they would have seemed the daughters of a duchess, and worthy to ally themselves with princes.

When the visitors entered, the three girls were for a moment abashed: but very soon their naturally gay and frivolous dispositions became apparent. They lived in poverty, as birds live in confinement, singing behind iron bars as they would sing in the midst of the abundance of the forest. They spent the day sewing, which showed at least honorable principles; but no one in Orbajosa, of their own station in life, held any intercourse with them. They were, to a certain extent, proscribed, looked down upon, avoided, which also showed that there existed some cause for scandal. But, to be just, it must be said that the bad reputation of the Troyas consisted, more than in any thing else, in the name they had of being gossips and mischief-makers, fond of playing practical jokes, and bold and free in their manners. They wrote anonymous letters to grave personages; they gave nicknames to every living being in Orbajosa, from the bishop down to the lowest vagabond; they threw pebbles at the passers-by; they hissed behind the window bars, in order to amuse themselves with the perplexity and annoyance of the startled passer-by; they found out every thing that occurred in the neighborhood; to which end they made constant use of every window and aperture in the upper part of the house; they sang at night in the balcony; they masked themselves during the Carnival, in order to obtain entrance into the houses of the highest families; and they played many other mischievous pranks peculiar to small towns. But whatever its cause, the fact was that on the Troya triumvirate rested one of those stigmas that, once affixed on any one by a susceptible community, accompanies that person implacably even beyond the tomb.

"This is the gentleman they say has come to discover the gold-mines?" said one of the girls.

"And to do away with the cultivation of garlic in Orbajosa to plant cotton or cinnamon trees in its stead?"

Pepe could not help laughing at these absurdities.

"All he has come for is to make a collection of pretty girls to take back with him to Madrid," said Tafetan.

"Ah! I'll be very glad to go!" cried one.

"I will take the three of you with me," said Pepe. "But I want to know one thing; why were you laughing at me when I was at the window of the Casino?"

These words were the signal for fresh bursts of laughter.

"These girls are silly things," said the eldest.

"It was because we said you deserved something better than Dona Perfecta's daughter."

"It was because this one said that you are only losing your time, for Rosarito cares only for people connected with the Church."

同类推荐
  • 观无量寿经义疏

    观无量寿经义疏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 决罪福经

    决罪福经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Good Soldier

    The Good Soldier

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 宝云振祖集

    宝云振祖集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • ON ANCIENT MEDICINE

    ON ANCIENT MEDICINE

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 完美蜕变:冷面伪天使

    完美蜕变:冷面伪天使

    她,因为被抛弃,用冷面伪装了所有。一个是在她最孤单的时候,陪伴在身边的阳光校草;一个是在她最绝望的时候,给予她勇气的邪魅王子。在不断的蜕变之后,最终,她会如何,她和他们之间又会如何……【阅读愉快】
  • 宝座

    宝座

    每回来一个固定车主,老强过去招呼人家停好,给车主手里发一张纸。“一百五了?一下子就涨五十,你真够狠的。”固定车主说。老强嘿嘿一笑:“是老板要涨,跟咱没一点关系。”“什么呀这是,为了贯彻市上有关精神,还为了保障停车场秩序,保护我们的利益。市上什么有关精神,涨价精神吗?保护我们什么利益了?就知道要钱,啥臭水平,短短几句话快十个错别字了。”戴眼镜这位拿着纸,锁好车门嘟嘟囔囔走了,顺手把那张可恨的纸揉了扔进垃圾桶。
  • 史上神级穿越

    史上神级穿越

    萧枫穿越了,一脸黑线。轮回石:收九大仙君轮回转世之身为徒,教导他们走上人生巅峰!轮回石:摆九转乾坤阵,唤醒轮回仙帝!轮回石:寻轮回山,建轮回宗!萧枫蹙眉:真乃一人得道,鸡犬升天。-------------------------本书Q群:144536443
  • 我最想要的形象礼仪书:做优雅有礼的得体女人

    我最想要的形象礼仪书:做优雅有礼的得体女人

    在现代生活中,女人们从服饰打扮、举止言谈、气质风度、文明礼貌等各个方面在做着尽善尽美的改变,因为这一切的细节都可能决定着她们的前程和命运。沿着古老的文明走到今天,女性已逐渐由幕后走到了台前,越来越多的社会生活需要女性参与、融人乃至主导,因此对女性的形象礼仪也提出了新的要求。女人们也用自身独特的形象礼仪为这个世界缔造着温暖和美丽。
  • 路边草

    路边草

    健三从英国留学回东京后,带着满腔热情致力于做学问,但每个月的薪水只够一家人勤俭度日。而落魄的岳父、穷困的养父母、重病的哥哥和姐姐,都把留过学的健三当作“主心骨”。虽然自己的生活窘迫不堪,但碍于情面,健三多少都接济一些,因此经常和妻子闹矛盾。健三为生计疲于奔命,又不善于交际,无法排遣精神上的孤独与迷茫。夹在金钱与理想之间,他一边反思人生的意义,一边艰难地坚持着理想。
  • 地球生命代理人

    地球生命代理人

    星际时代,物种凋敝。曾经地球上司空见惯的小生命,在星际时代要么灭绝,要么价值万金。出身垃圾星球垃圾街区的宋方在死前两个小时,跟能兑换古往今来一切生物的系统大眼对小眼。“请您为恢复生物多样性的伟大事业献出您的一份力量。不然的话,弄死您哦~”
  • 木叶墨痕

    木叶墨痕

    以血为墨,以指为笔,天地万物尽在吾之画中!超器伪画!超兽伪画!超神伪画!待以我血染忍界!书友群:555050388
  • 田园之家有悍妻

    田园之家有悍妻

    【全文完结】穿越到一个挻着大肚子女人身上,正被人扫地出门!恶毒的大嫂;贪财的左邻;眸光短浅的右邻;有继母就有继父;无耻的继弟弟妹妹们;孕妇难为,孩子没出生,王怡咬咬牙先忍了,等孩子出生了,嗯哼……“候爷妾,地位也不底了,比农家妇高出不知道多少,你知足吧。”“娘亲,你不要我的吗?”儿子哭着问,好算计啊,儿子是娘心头肉啊,儿子一求指不定她就同意,忍辱负重的腾了正妻位?滚滚滚,男人神马的一边凉快去,她带着儿子也能过得好。新文《空间农女:彪悍俏媳妇野汉子》,坑品有保障,欢迎姐妹们去跳坑
  • 李家二少爷

    李家二少爷

    21世纪一位姓李的少年正在吹嘘着自家祖先的丰功伟绩,“我家祖上可是唐朝的皇帝李世民”,结果因为一个意外的原因穿越回了唐朝。“怎么回事,我不是李世民的后代吗?怎么成了李靖的儿子”。这是一部轻松,搞笑的小说,作者绝不撒谎。
  • 向周恩来学沟通艺术

    向周恩来学沟通艺术

    本书展示的是周恩来最有特色的部分之一:沟通能力。周恩来一生,不知道与多少人打过交道,在他与人打交道和交谈的过程中,展现出了炉火纯青的沟通艺术。本书从做好铺垫、以情动人、以理服人、换位思考、权威效应、事实说话、随机应变、破解忌讳、语言幽默等九个方面展示了周恩来的说服能力,每一个方面都概括、提炼出了若干个说服技巧。生动活泼的历史事实,加上画龙点睛的理论概括,一定能让你的沟通能力更上层楼。