世纪文学经典:《百年孤独》第20章Part5

“He’s a real cannibal.?she said. “We’ll name him Rodrigo.?
“No,?her husband countered. “We’ll name him Aureliano and he’ll win thirty-two wars.?
After cutting the umbilical cord, the midwife began to use a cloth to take off the blue grease that covered his body as Aureliano held up a lamp. Only when they turned him on his stomach did they see that he had something more than other men, and they leaned over to examine him. It was the tail of a pig.
They were not alarmed. Aureliano and Amaranta ?rsula were not aware of the family precedent, nor did they remember ?rsula’s frightening admonitions, and the midwife pacified them with the idea that the tail could be cut off when the child got his second teeth. Then they had no time to think about it again, because Amaranta ?rsula was bleeding in an uncontainable torrent. They tried to help her with applications of spider webs and balls of ash, but it was like trying to hold back a spring with one’s hands. During the first hours she tried to maintain her good humor. She took the frightened Aureliano by the hand and begged him not to worry, because people like her were not made to die against their will, and she exploded with laughter at the ferocious remedies of the midwife. But as Aureliano’s hope abandoned him she was becoming less visible, as if the light on her were fading away, until she sank into drowsiness. At dawn on Monday they brought a woman who recited cauterizing prayers that were infallible for man and beast beside her bed, but Amaranta ?rsula’s passionate blood was insensible to any artifice that did not come from love. In the afternoon, after twenty-four hours of desperation, they knew that she was dead because the flow had stopped without remedies and her profile became sharp and the blotches on her face evaporated in a halo of alabaster and she smiled again.

“他是一个真正吃人的野兽，”阿玛兰塔·乌苏娜说。“咱们就管他叫罗德里格吧。”
“不，”她的丈夫不同意。“咱们还是管他叫奥雷连诺，他将赢得三十二次战争的胜利。”
在给婴儿剪掉脐带之后，助产婆开始用一块布擦拭他小身体上一层蓝莹莹的胎毛，奥雷连诺·布恩蒂亚为她掌着灯。他们把婴儿肚子朝下地翻过身来时，忽然发现他长着一个别人没有的东西；他们俯身一看，竟然是一条猪尾巴！
奥雷连诺·布恩蒂亚和阿玛兰塔·乌苏娜并没有惊慌失措，他俩不知道布恩蒂亚家族中是否有过类似的现象，也早已忘记乌苏娜曾发出过的可怕的警告了，而助产婆的一番话使他们完全放了心。她说，等到小孩脱去乳牙以后，也许可以割掉这条无用的尾巴。然后，他们就再也没有时间去考虑这件事了，因为阿玛兰塔·乌苏娜开始大出血，血如泉涌，怎么也止不住。助产婆在产妇的出血口上撒了一些蜘蛛网和灰未，但这就象用手指按住喷泉口一样毫无用处。起先，阿玛兰塔·乌苏娜还竭力保持镇静，她拉着惊恐万状的奥雷连诺·布恩蒂亚的手，求他不要难过——因为象她这么一个人，是心甘情愿地来到这个世界，也是心甘情愿离开这个世界的，——她望着助产婆的忙劲，不由得发出爽朗的笑声。但是奥雷连诺·布恩蒂亚渐渐丧失了希望，因为她的脸色暗淡下来，好象亮光正从她脸上移开，最后，她陷入了沉睡状态。星期一黎明，人们领来一个女人，这女人开始在她床边大声念止血的涛词，据说这种祷词对人和牲畜同样灵验，可是阿玛兰塔·乌苏娜殷红的鲜血，对于任何同爱情无关的妙方都毫无知觉。晚上，在充满绝望的二十四小时之后，他们眼看着阿玛兰塔·乌苏娜死去了，象泉水一般喷涌的鲜血已经流尽。她伪侧影变得轮廓分明，脸上仿佛回光返照，已不见痛苦的神色，嘴角边似乎还挂着一丝微笑。