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The grey warm evening of August had descended upon the
city and a mild warm air, a memory of summer, circulated in the streets.
The streets, shuttered for the repose of Sunday, swarmed with a gaily
coloured crowd. Like illumined pearls the lamps shone from the summits
of their tall poles upon the living texture below which, changing shape
and hue unceasingly, sent up into the warm grey evening air an
unchanging unceasing murmur.
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La tarde de agosto
había caído, gris y cálida, y un aire tibio, un recuerdo del verano,
circulaba por las calles. La calle, los comercios cerrados por el
descanso dominical, bullía con una multitud alegremente abigarrada. Como
perlas luminosas, las lámparas alumbraban de encima de los postes
estirados y por sobre la textura viviente de abajo, que variaba de forma
y de color sin parar y lanzaba al aire gris y cálido de la tarde un
rumor invariable que no cesa. |
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Two young men came down the hill of Rutland Square. On of
them was just bringing a long monologue to a close. The other, who
walked on the verge of the path and was at times obliged to step on to
the road, owing to his companion's rudeness, wore an amused listening
face. He was squat and ruddy. A yachting cap was shoved far back from
his forehead and the narrative to which he listened made constant waves
of expression break forth over his face from the corners of his nose and
eyes and mouth. Little jets of wheezing laughter followed one another
out of his convulsed body. His eyes, twinkling with cunning enjoyment,
glanced at every moment towards his companion's face. Once or twice he
rearranged the light waterproof which he had slung over one shoulder in
toreador fashion. His breeches, his white rubber shoes and his jauntily
slung waterproof expressed youth. But his figure fell into rotundity at
the waist, his hair was scant and grey and his face, when the waves of
expression had passed over it, had a ravaged look. |
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Dos jóvenes bajaban la
cuesta de Rutland Square. Uno de ellos acababa de dar fin a su largo
monólogo. El otro, que caminaba por el borde del contén y que a veces se
veía obligado a bajar un pie a la calzada, por culpa de la grosería de
su acompañante, mantenía su cara divertida y atenta. Era rubicundo y
rollizo. Usaba una gorra de yatista echada frente arriba y la narración
que venía oyendo creaba olas expresivas que rompían constantemente sobre
su cara desde las comisuras de los labios, de la nariz y de los ojos.
Breves chorros de una risa sibilante salían en sucesión de su cuerpo
convulso. Sus ojos titilando con un contento pícaro echaban a cada
momento miradas de soslayo a la cara de su compañero. Una o dos veces se
acomodó el ligero impermeable que llevaba colgado de un hombro a la
torera. Sus bombachos, sus zapatos de goma blancos y su impermeable
echado por encima expresaban juventud. Pero su figura se hacía rotunda
en la cintura, su pelo era escaso y canoso, y su cara, cuando pasaron
aquellas olas expresivas, tenía aspecto estragado. |
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When he was quite sure that the narrative had ended he
laughed noiselessly for fully half a minute. Then he said: |
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Cuando se aseguró de
que el cuento hubo acabado se rió ruidoso por más de medio minuto. Luego
dijo: |
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"Well!... That takes the biscuit!" |
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-¡Vaya!... ¡Ese sí que
es el copón divino! |
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His voice seemed winnowed of vigour; and to enforce his
words he added with humour: |
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Su voz parecía batir
el aire con vigor; y para dar mayor fuerza a sus palabras añadió con
humor: |
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"That takes the solitary, unique, and, if I may so call
it, recherche biscuit!" |
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-¡Ese sí que es el
único, solitario y si se me permite llamarlo así, recherché copón
divino! |
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He became serious and silent when he had said this. His
tongue was tired for he had been talking all the afternoon in a
public-house in Dorset Street. Most people considered Lenehan a leech
but, in spite of this reputation, his adroitness and eloquence had
always prevented his friends from forming any general policy against
him. He had a brave manner of coming up to a party of them in a bar and
of holding himself nimbly at the borders of the company until he was
included in a round. He was a sporting vagrant armed with a vast stock
of stories, limericks and riddles. He was insensitive to all kinds of
discourtesy. No one knew how he achieved the stern task of living, but
his name was vaguely associated with racing tissues. |
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Al decir esto se quedó
callado y serio. Tenía la lengua cansada, ya que había hablado toda la
tarde en el pub de la Calle Dorset. La mayoría de la gente consideraba a
Lenehan un sanguijuela, pero a pesar de esa reputación, su destreza y
elocuencia evitaba siempre que sus amigos la cogieran con él. Tenía una
manera atrevida de acercarse a un grupo en la barra y de mantenerse
sutilmente al margen hasta que alguien lo incluía en la primera ronda.
Vago por deporte, venía equipado con un vasto repertorio de adivinanzas,
cuentos y cuartetas. Era, además, insensible a toda descortesía. Nadie
sabía realmente cómo cumplía la penosa tarea de mantenerse, pero su
nombre se asociaba vagamente a papeletas y a caballos.
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"And where did you pick her up, Corley?" he asked. |
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-¿Y dónde fue que la
levantaste, Corley? -le preguntó. |
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Corley ran his tongue swiftly along his upper lip. |
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Corley se pasó rápido
la lengua sobre el labio de arriba. |
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"One night, man," he said, "I was going along Dame Street
and I spotted a fine tart under Waterhouse's clock and said good- night,
you know. So we went for a walk round by the canal and she told me she
was a slavey in a house in Baggot Street. I put my arm round her and
squeezed her a bit that night. Then next Sunday, man, I met her by
appointment. We vent out to Donnybrook and I brought her into a field
there. She told me she used to go with a dairyman.... It was fine, man.
Cigarettes every night she'd bring me and paying the tram out and back.
And one night she brought me two bloody fine cigars -- O, the real
cheese, you know, that the old fellow used to smoke.... I was afraid,
man, she'd get in the family way. But she's up to the dodge." |
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-Una noche, chico -le
dijo-, que iba yo por Calle Dame y me veo a esta tipa tan buena parada
debajo del reloj de Waterhouse y cojo y le doy, tú sabes, las buenas
noches. Luego nos damos una vuelta por el canal y eso, y ella que me
dice que es criadita en una casa de la Calle Baggot. Le eché el brazo
por arriba y la apretujé un poco esa noche. Entonces, el domingo
siguiente, chico, tengo cita con ella y nos vemos. Nos fuimos hasta
Donnybrook y la metí en un sembrado. Me dijo que ella salía con un
lechero... ¡La gran vida, chico! Cigarrillos todas las noches y ella
pagando el tranvía a la ida y a la venida. Una noche hasta me trajo dos
puros más buenos que el carajo. Panetelas, tú sabes, de las que fuma el
caballero... Yo que, claro, chico, tenía miedo de que saliera preñada.
Pero, ¡tiene una esquiva! |
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"Maybe she thinks you'll marry her," said Lenehan. |
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-A lo mejor se cree
que te vas a casar con ella -dijo Lenehan. |
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"I told her I was out of a job," said Corley. "I told her
I was in Pim's. She doesn't know my name. I was too hairy to tell her
that. But she thinks I'm a bit of class, you know." |
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-Le dije que estaba
sin pega -dijo Corley-. Le dije que trabajaba en Pim's. Ella ni mi
nombre sabe. Estoy demasiado asustado para decirle eso. Pero se cree que
soy de buena familia, sabes. |
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Lenehan laughed again, noiselessly. |
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Lenehan se rió de
nuevo, sin hacer ruido. |
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"Of all the good ones ever I heard," he said, "that
emphatically takes the biscuit." |
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-De todos los cuentos
buenos que he oído en mi vida -dijo-, ese sí que de veras es el copón
divino. |
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Corley's stride acknowledged the compliment. The swing of
his burly body made his friend execute a few light skips from the path
to the roadway and back again. Corley was the son of an inspector of
police and he had inherited his father's frame and gut. He walked with
his hands by his sides, holding himself erect and swaying his head from
side to side. His head was large, globular and oily; it sweated in all
weathers; and his large round hat, set upon it sideways, looked like a
bulb which had grown out of another. He always stared straight before
him as if he were on parade and, when he wished to gaze after someone in
the street, it was necessary for him to move his body from the hips. At
present he was about town. Whenever any job was vacant a friend was
always ready to give him the hard word. He was often to be seen walking
with policemen in plain clothes, talking earnestly. He knew the inner
side of all affairs and was fond of delivering final judgments. He spoke
without listening to the speech of his companions. His conversation was
mainly about himself what he had said to such a person and what such a
person had said to him and what he had said to settle the matter. When
he reported these dialogues he aspirated the first letter of his name
after the manner of Florentines. |
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Corley reconoció el
cumplido en su andar. El vaivén de su cuerpo macizo obligaba a su amigo
a bailar la suiza del contén a la calzada y viceversa. Corley era hijo
de un inspector de policía y había heredado de su padre la caja del
cuerpo y el paso. Caminaba con las manos al costado, muy derecho y
moviendo la cabeza de un lado al otro. Tenía la cabeza grande, de globo,
grasosa; sudaba siempre, en invierno y en verano; y su enorme bombín,
ladeado, parecía un bombillo saliendo de un bombillo. La vista siempre
al frente, como si estuviera en un desfile, cuando quería mirar a
alguien en la calle, tenía que mover todo su cuerpo desde las caderas.
Por el momento estaba sin trabajo. Cada vez que había un puesto vacante
uno de sus amigos le pasaba la voz. A menudo se le veía conversando con
policías de paisano, hablando con toda seriedad. Sabía dónde estaba el
meollo de cualquier asunto y era dado a decretar sentencia. Hablaba sin
oír lo que decía su compañía. Hablaba mayormente de sí mismo: de lo que
había dicho a tal persona y lo que esa persona le había dicho y lo que
él había dicho para dar por zanjado el asunto. Cuando relataba estos
diálogos aspiraba la primera letra de su nombre, como hacían los
florentinos. |
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Lenehan offered his friend a cigarette. As the two young
men walked on through the crowd Corley occasionally turned to smile at
some of the passing girls but Lenehan's gaze was fixed on the large
faint moon circled with a double halo. He watched earnestly the passing
of the grey web of twilight across its face. At length he said: |
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Lenehan ofreció un
cigarrillo a su amigo. Mientras los dos jóvenes paseaban por entre la
gente, Corley se volvía ocasionalmente para sonreír a una muchacha que
pasaba, pero la vista de Lenehan estaba fija en la larga luna pálida con
su hado doble. Vio con cara seria cómo la gris telaraña del ocaso
atravesaba su faz. Al cabo dijo: |
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"Well... tell me, Corley, I suppose you'll be able to
pull it off all right, eh?" |
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-Bueno... dime,
Corley, supongo que sabrás cómo manejarla, ¿no? |
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Corley closed one eye expressively as an answer. |
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Corley, expresivo,
cerró un ojo en respuesta. |
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"Is she game for that?" asked Lenehan dubiously. "You can
never know women." |
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-¿Sirve ella?
-preguntó Lenehan, dudoso-. Nunca se sabe con las mujeres.
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"She's all right," said Corley. "I know the way to get
around her, man. She's a bit gone on me." |
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-Ella sirve -dijo
Corley-. Yo sé cómo darle la vuelta, chico. Está loquita por mí.
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"You're what I call a gay Lothario," said Lenehan. "And
the proper kind of a Lothario, too!" |
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-Tú eres lo que yo
llamo un tenorio contento -dijo Lenehan-. ¡Y un don Juan muy serio
también! |
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A shade of mockery relieved the servility of his manner.
To save himself he had the habit of leaving his flattery open to the
interpretation of raillery. But Corley had not a subtle mind. |
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Un dejo burlón quitó
servilismo a la expresión. Como vía de escape tenía la costumbre de
dejar su adulonería abierta a interpretaciones de burla. Pero Corley no
era muy sutil que digamos. |
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"There's nothing to touch a good slavey," he affirmed.
"Take my tip for it." |
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-No hay como una buena
criadita -afirmó-. Te lo digo yo. |
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"By one who has tried them all," said Lenehan. |
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-Es decir, uno que las
ha levantado a todas -dijo Lenehan. |
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"First I used to go with girls, you know," said Corley,
unbosoming; "girls off the South Circular. I used to take them out, man,
on the tram somewhere and pay the tram or take them to a band or a play
at the theatre or buy them chocolate and sweets or something that way. I
used to spend money on them right enough," he added, in a convincing
tone, as if he was conscious of being disbelieved. |
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-Yo primero salía con
muchachas de su casa, tú sabes -dijo Corley, destapándose-. Las sacaba a
pasear, chico, en tranvía a todas partes y yo era el que pagaba, o las
llevaba a oír la banda o a una obra de teatro o les compraba chocolates
y dulces y eso. Me gastaba con ellas el dinero que daba gusto -añadió en
tono convincente, como si estuviera consciente de no ser creído. |
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But Lenehan could well believe it; he nodded gravely. |
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Pero Lenehan podía
creerlo muy bien; asintió, grave. |
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"I know that game," he said, "and it's a mug's game." |
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-Conozco el juego
-dijo-, y es comida de bobo. |
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"And damn the thing I ever got out of it," said Corley. |
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-Y maldito sea lo que
saqué de él -dijo Corley. |
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"Ditto here," said Lenehan. |
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-Ídem de ídem -dijo
Lenehan. |
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"Only off of one of them," said Corley. |
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-Con una excepción
-dijo Corley. |
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He moistened his upper lip by running his tongue along
it. The recollection brightened his eyes. He too gazed at the pale disc
of the moon, now nearly veiled, and seemed to meditate. |
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Se mojó el labio
superior pasándole la lengua. El recuerdo lo encandiló. Él, también,
miró al pálido disco de la luna, ya casi velado, y pareció meditar. |
