during the following days pepe rey made the acquaintance of several of the people of the place; he visited the casino, and formed friendships with some of the individuals who spend their lives in the rooms of that corporation.
but the youth of orbajosa did not spend all their time in the casino, as evil-minded people might imagine. in the afternoons there were to be seen at the corner of the cathedral, and in the little plaza formed by the intersection of the calle del condestable and the calle de la triperia, several gentlemen who, gracefully enveloped in their cloaks, stood there like sentinels, watching the people as they passed by. if the weather was fine, those shining lights of the urbs augustan culture bent their steps, still enveloped in the indispensable cloak, toward the promenade called the paseo de las descalzas, which was formed by a double row of consumptive-looking elms and some withered bushes of broom. there the brilliant pleiad watched the daughters of this fellow-townsman or that, who had also come there for a walk, and the afternoon passed tolerably. in the evening, the casino filled up again; and while some of the members gave their lofty minds to the delights of monte, others read the newspapers, while the majority discussed in the coffee-room subjects of the various kinds, such as the politics, horses, bulls, or the gossip of the place. the result of every discussion was the renewed conviction of the supremacy of orbajosa and its inhabitants over all the other towns and peoples on the face of the earth.
these distinguished men were the cream of the illustrious city; some rich landowners, others very poor, but all alike free from lofty aspirations. they had the imperturbable tranquillity of the beggar who desires nothing more so long as he has a crust of bread with which to cheat hunger, and the sun to warm him. what chiefly distinguished the orbajosans of the casino was a sentiment of bitter hostility toward all strangers, and whenever any stranger of note appeared in its august halls, they believed that he had come there to call in question the superiority of the land of the garlic, or to dispute with it, through envy, the incontestable advantages which nature had bestowed upon it.
when pepe rey presented himself in the casino, they received him with something of suspicion, and as facetious persons abounded in it, before the new member had been there a quarter of an hour, all sorts of jokes had been made about him. when in answer to the reiterated questions of the members he said that he had come to orbajosa with a commission to explore the basin of the nahara for coal, and to survey a road, they all agreed that señor don josé was a conceited fellow who wished to give himself airs, discovering coalbeds and planning railroads. some one added:
“he has come to a bad place for that, then. those gentlemen imagine that here we are all fools, and that they can deceive us with fine words. he has come to marry doña perfecta’s daughter, and all that he says about coalbeds is only for the sake of appearances.”
“well, this morning,” said another, a merchant who had failed, “they told me at the dominguez’ that the gentleman has not a peseta, and that he has come here in order to be supported by his aunt and to see if he can catch rosarito.”
“it seems that he is no engineer at all,” added an olive-planter, whose plantations were mortgaged for double their value. “but it is as you say: those starvelings from madrid think they are justified in deceiving poor provincials, and as they believe that here we all wear tails—”
“it is plain to be seen that he is penniless—”
“well, half-jest and the whole earnest, he told us last night that we were lazy barbarians.”
“that we spent our time sunning ourselves, like the bedouins.”
“that we lived with the imagination.”
“that’s it; that we lived with the imagination.”
“and that this city was precisely like a city in morocco.”
“well! one has no patience to listen to those things. where else could he see (unless it might be in paris) a street like the calle del condestable, that can show seven houses in a row, all of them magnificent, from doña perfecta’s house to that of nicolasita hernandez? does that fellow suppose that one has never seen any thing, or has never been in paris?”
“he also said, with a great deal of delicacy, that orbajosa was a city of beggars; and he gave us to understand that in his opinion we live in the meanest way here without being ourselves aware of it.”
“what insolence! if he ever says that to me, there will be a scene in the casino,” exclaimed the collector of taxes. “why didn’t they tell him how many arrobas of oil orbajosa produced last year? doesn’t the fool know that in good years orbajosa produces wheat enough to supply all spain, and even all europe, with bread? it is true that the crops have been bad for several years past, but that is not the rule. and the crop of garlic! i wager the gentleman doesn’t know that the garlic of orbajosa made the gentleman of the jury in the exposition of london stare!”
these and other conversations of a similar kind were to be heard in the rooms of the casino in those days. notwithstanding this boastful talk, so common in small towns, which, for the very reason that they are small, are generally arrogant, rey was not without finding sincere friends among the members of the learned corporation, for they were not all gossips, nor were there wanting among them persons of good sense. but our hero had the misfortune—if misfortune it can be called—to be unusually frank in the manifestation of his feelings, and this awakened some antipathy toward him.
days passed. in addition to the natural disgust which the social customs of the episcopal city produced in him, various causes, all of them disagreeable, began to develop in his mind a profound sadness, chief among these causes being the crowd of litigants that swarmed about him like voracious ants. many others of the neighboring landowners besides uncle licurgo claimed damages from him, or asked him to render accounts for lands managed by his grandfather. a claim was also brought against him because of a certain contract of partnership entered into by his mother and which, as it appeared, had not been fulfilled; and he was required in the same way to acknowledge a mortgage on the estate of the poplars executed in an irregular form by his uncle. claims swarmed around him, multiplying with ant-like rapidity. he had come to the determination to renounce the ownership of his lands, but meanwhile his dignity required that he should not yield to the wily manoeuvres of the artful rustics; and as the town-council brought a claim against him also on account of a pretended confusion of the boundary lines of his estate with those of an adjoining wood belonging to the town-lands, the unfortunate young man found himself at every step obliged to prove his rights, which were being continually called in question. his honor was engaged, and he had no alternative but to defend his rights to the death.
doña perfecta had promised in her magnanimity to help him to free himself from these disgraceful plots by means of an amicable arrangement; but the days passed, and the good offices of the exemplary lady had produced no result whatever. the claims multiplied with the dangerous swiftness of a violent disease. pepe rey passed hour after hour at court, making declarations and answering the same questions over and over again, and when he returned home tired and angry, there appeared before him the sharp features and grotesque face of the notary, who had brought him a thick bundle of stamped papers full of horrible formulas—that he might be studying the question.
it will be easily understood that pepe rey was not a man to endure such annoyances when he might escape from them by leaving the town. his mother’s noble city appeared to his imagination like a horrible monster which had fastened its ferocious claws in him and was drinking his blood. to free himself from this monster nothing more was necessary, he believed, than flight. but a weighty interest—an interest in which his heart was concerned—kept him where he was; binding him to the rock of his martyrdom with very strong bonds. nevertheless, he had come to feel so dissatisfied with his position; he had come to regard himself as so utterly a stranger, so to say, in that gloomy city of lawsuits, of old-fashioned customs and ideas, of envy and of slander, that he resolved to leave it without further delay, without, however, abandoning the project which had brought him to it. one morning, finding a favorable occasion, he opened his mind to doña perfecta on this point.
“nephew,” responded that lady, with her accustomed gentleness, “don’t be rash. why! you are like fire. your father was just the same—what a man he was! you are like a flash—i have already told you that i will be very glad to call you my son. even if you did not possess the good qualities and the talents which distinguish you (in spite of some little defects, for you have those, too); even if you were not as good as you are; it is enough that this union has been proposed by your father, to whom both my daughter and myself owe so much, for me to accept it. and rosarito will not oppose it since i wish it. what is wanting, then? nothing; there is nothing wanting but a little time. the marriage cannot be concluded with the haste you desire and which might, perhaps, give ground for interpretations discreditable to my dear daughter’s reputation. but as you think of nothing but machines, you want every thing done by steam. wait, man, wait; what hurry are you in? this hatred that you have taken to our poor orbajosa is nothing but a caprice. but of course you can only live among counts and marquises and orators and diplomats—all you want is to get married and separate me forever from my daughter,” she added, wiping away a tear. “since that is the case, inconsiderate boy, at least have the charity to delay for a little this marriage, for which you are so eager. what impatience! what ardent love! i did not suppose that a poor country girl like my daughter could inspire so violent a passion.”
the arguments of his aunt did not convince pepe rey, but he did not wish to contradict her. a fresh cause of anxiety was soon added to those which already embittered his existence. he had now been in orbajosa for two weeks, and during that time he had received no letter from his father. this could not be attributed to carelessness on the part of the officials of the post-office of orbajosa, for the functionary who had charge of that service being the friend and protégé of doña perfecta, the latter every day recommended him to take the greatest care that the letters addressed to her nephew did not go astray. the letter-carrier, named cristoval ramos, and nicknamed caballuco—a personage whose acquaintance we have already made—also visited the house, and to him doña perfecta was accustomed to address warnings and reprimands as energetic as the following:
“a pretty mail service you have! how is it that my nephew has not received a single letter since he has been in orbajosa? when the carrying of the mail is entrusted to such a giddy-pate, how can things be expected to go well? i will speak to the governor of the province so that he may be careful what kind of people he puts in the post-office.”
caballuco, shrugging his shoulders, looked at rey with the most complete indifference.
one day he entered the house with a letter in his hand.
“thank heaven!” said doña perfecta to her nephew. “here are letters from your father. rejoice, man! a pretty fright we have had through my brother’s laziness about writing. what does he say? he is well, no doubt,” she added, seeing that pepe rey opened the letter with feverish impatience.
the engineer turned pale as he glanced over the first lines.
“good heavens! pepe, what is the matter?” exclaimed doña perfecta, rising in alarm. “is your father ill?”
“this letter is not from my father,” responded pepe, revealing in his countenance the greatest consternation.
“what is it, then?”
“an order from the minister of public works, relieving me from the charge which was confided to me.”
“what! can it be possible!”
“a dismissal pure and simple, expressed in terms very little flattering to me.”
“was there ever any thing so unjust!” exclaimed doña perfecta, when she had recovered from her amazement.
“what a humiliation!” exclaimed the young man. “it is the first time in my life that i have received an affront like this.”
“but the government is unpardonable! to put such a slight upon you! do you wish me to write to madrid? i have very good friends there, and i may be able to obtain satisfaction for you from the government and reparation for this brutal affront.”
“thanks, señora, i desire no recommendations,” said the young man, with ill-humor.
“but what a piece of injustice! what a high-handed proceeding! to discharge in this way a young man of your merit, an eminent scientist. why, i cannot contain my anger!”
“i will find out,” said pepe, with energy, “who it is that occupies himself in injuring me.”
“that minister—but what is to be expected from those infamous politicasters?”
“in this there is the hand of some one who is determined to drive me to desperation,” declared the young man, visibly disturbed. “this is not the act of the minister; this and other contrarieties that i am experiencing are the result of a revengeful plot, of a secret and well-laid plan of some implacable enemy, and this enemy is here in orbajosa, this plot has been hatched in orbajosa, doubt it not, dear aunt.”
“you are out of your mind,” replied doña perfecta, with a look of compassion. “you have enemies in orbajosa, you say? some one wishes to revenge himself upon you? come, pepillo, you have lost your senses. the reading of those books in which they say that we have for ancestors monkeys or parrots has turned your brain.”
she smiled sweetly as she uttered the last words, and taking a tone of familiar and affectionate admonition, she added:
“my dear boy, the people of orbajosa may be rude and boorish rustics, without learning, or polish, or fine manners; but in loyalty and good faith we yield to no one—to no one, i say, no one.”
“don’t suppose,” said the young man, “that i accuse any one in this house. but that my implacable and cruel enemy is in this city, i am persuaded.”
“i wish you would show me that stage villain,” responded doña perfecta, smiling again. “i suppose you will not accuse uncle licurgo, nor any of the others who have brought suits against you; for the poor people believe they are only defending their rights. and between ourselves, they are not altogether wanting in reason in this case. besides, uncle licurgo likes you greatly. he has told me so himself. from the moment he saw you, you took his fancy, and the poor old man has conceived such an affection for you—”
“oh, yes—a profound affection!” murmured pepe.
“don’t be foolish,” continued his aunt, putting her hand on his shoulder and looking at him closely. “don’t imagine absurdities; convince yourself that your enemy, if you have one, is in madrid, in that centre of corruption, of envy and rivalry, not in this peaceful and tranquil corner, where all is good-will and concord. some one, no doubt, who is envious of your merit——there is one thing i wish to say now—and that is, that if you desire to go there to learn the cause of this affront and ask an explanation of it from the government, you must not neglect doing so on our account.”
pepe rey fixed his eyes on his aunt’s countenance, as if he wished to penetrate with his glance the inmost depths of her soul.
“i say that if you wish to go, do so,” repeated doña perfecta, with admirable serenity, while her countenance expressed the most complete and unaffected sincerity.
“no, señora: i do not wish to go.”
“so much the better; i think you are right. you are more tranquil here, notwithstanding the suspicions with which you are tormenting yourself. poor pepillo! we poor rustics of orbajosa live happy in our ignorance. i am very sorry that you are not contented here. but is it my fault if you vex and worry yourself without a cause? do i not treat you like a son? have i not received you as the hope of my house? can i do more for you? if in spite of all this you do not like us, if you show so much indifference toward us, if you ridicule our piety, if you insult our friends, is it by chance because we do not treat you well?”
doña perfecta’s eyes grew moist.
“my dear aunt,” said pepe, feeling his anger vanish, “i too have committed some faults since i have been a guest in this house.”
“don’t be foolish. don’t talk about committing faults. among the persons of the same family every thing is forgiven.”
“but rosarito—where is she?” asked the young man, rising. “am i not to see her to-day, either?”
“she is better. do you know that she did not wish to come down stairs?”
“i will go up to her then.”
“no, it would be of no use. that girl has some obstinate notions—to-day she is determined not to leave her room. she has locked herself in.”
“what a strange idea!”
“she will get over it. undoubtedly she will get over it. we will see to-night if we cannot put these melancholy thoughts out of her head. we will get up a party to amuse her. why don’t you go to don inocencio’s and ask him to come here to-night and bring jacintillo with him?”
“jacintillo!”
“yes, when rosarito has these fits of melancholy, the only one who can divert her is that young man.”
“but i will go upstairs——”
“no, you must not.”
“what etiquette there is in this house!”
“you are ridiculing us. do as i ask you.”
“but i wish to see her.”
“but you cannot see her. how little you know the girl!”
“i thought i knew her well. i will stay here, then. but this solitude is horrible.”
“there comes the notary.”
“maledictions upon him!”
“and i think the attorney-general has just come in too—he is an excellent person.”
“he be hanged with his goodness!”
“but business affairs, when they are one’s own, serve as a distraction. some one is coming. i think it is the agricultural expert. you will have something to occupy you now for an hour or two.”
“an hour or two of hell!”
“ah, ha! if i am not mistaken uncle licurgo and uncle paso largo have just entered. perhaps they have come to propose a compromise to you.”
“i would throw myself into the pond first!”
“how unnatural you are! for they are all very fond of you. well, so that nothing may be wanting, there comes the constable too. he is coming to serve a summons on you.”
“to crucify me.”
all the individuals named were now entering the parlor one by one.
“good-by, pepe; amuse yourself,” said doña perfecta.
“earth, open and swallow me!” exclaimed the young man desperately.
“señor don josé.”
“my dear don josé.”
“esteemed don josé.”
“my dearest don josé.”
“my respected friend, don josé.”
hearing these honeyed and insinuating preliminaries, pepe rey exhaled a deep sigh and gave himself up. he gave himself up, soul and body, to the executioners, who brandished horrible leaves of stamped paper while the victim, raising his eyes to heaven with a look of christian meekness, murmured:
“father, why hast thou forsaken me?”
