世纪文学经典:《百年孤独》第14章Part2大纲

"Nothing," Meme answered. "I was only now discovering how much I loved you both."
Amaranta was startled by the obvious burden of hate that the declaration carried. But Fernanda felt so moved that she thought she would go mad when Meme awoke at midnight with her head splitting with pain and drowning in vomited gall. She gave her a vial of castor oil, put compresses on her stomach and ice cubes on her head, and she made her stay in bed for five days and follow the diet ordered by the new and outlandish French doctor, who after examining her for more than two hours reached the foggy conclusion that she had an ailment peculiar to women. Having lost her courage, in a miserable state of demoralization, Meme had no other recourse but to bear up under it. úrsula, completely blind by then but still active and lucid, was the only one who guessed the exact diagnosis. "As far as I can see," she thought, "that's the same thing that happens to drunken people." But she not only rejected the idea, she reproached herself for the frivolity of her thought. Aure-liano Segun-do felt a twinge of conscience when he saw Meme's state of prostration and he promised himself to take better care of her in the future. That was how the relationship of jolly comradeship was born between father and daughter, which freed him for a time from the bitter solitude of his revels and freed her from Fernanda's watchful eye without necessity of provoking the domestic crisis that seemed inevitable by then. At that time Aureli-ano Segun-do postponed any appointments in order to be with Meme, to take her to the movies or the circus, and he spent the greater part of his idle time with her. In recent times his annoyance with the absurd obesity that prevented him from tying his shoes and his abusive satisfaction with all manner of appetites had began to sour his character. The discovery of his daughter restored his former joviality and the pleasure of being with her was slowly leading him away from dissipation. Meme was entering a fruitful age. She was not beautiful, as Amaranta had never been, but on the other hand she was pleasant, uncomplicated, and she had the virtue of making a good impression on people from the first moment. She had a modem spirit that wounded the antiquated sobriety and poorly disguised miserly heart of Fernanda, and that, on the other hand, Aureli-ano Segun-do took pleasure in developing. It was he who resolved to take her out of the bedroom she had occupied since childhood, where the fearful eyes of the saints still fed her adolescent terrors, and he furnished for her a room with a royal bed, a large dressing table, and velvet curtains, not realizing that he was producing a second version of Petra Cotes's room. He was so lavish with Meme that he did not even know how much money he gave her because she herself would take it out of his pockets, and he kept abreast of every kind of new beauty aid that arrived in the commissary of the banana company. Meme's room became filled with pumice-stone cushions to polish her nails with, hair curlers, tooth-brushes, drops to make her eyes languid, and so many and such new cosmetics and artifacts of beauty that every time Fernanda went into the room she was scan-dalized by the idea that her daughter's dressing table must have been the same as those of the French ma-trons. Nevertheless Fernanda divided her time in those days between little Amaranta úrsula, who was mischievous and sickly, and a touching correspondence with the invisible physicians. So that when she noticed the complicity between father and daughter the only promise she extracted from Aureli-ano Segun-do was that he would never take Meme to Petra Cotes's house. It was a meaningless demand because the concubine was so annoyed with the comradeship between her lover and his daughter that she did not want anything to do with her. Petra was tormented by an unknown fear, as if instinct were telling her that Meme, by just wanting it, could succeed in what Fernanda had been unable to do: deprive her of a love that by then she considered assured until death. For the first time Aureli-ano Segun-do had to tolerate the harsh expressions and the violent tirades of his concubine, and he was even afraid that his wandering trunks would make the return journey to his wife's house. That did not happen. No one knew a man better than Petra Cotes knew her lover and she knew that the trunks would remain where they had been sent because if Aureli-ano Segun-do detested anything it was complicating his life with modifications and changes. So the trunks stayed where they were and Petra Cotes set about reconquering the husband by sharpening the only weapons that his daughter could not use on him. It too was an unnecessary effort because Meme had no desire to intervene in her father's affairs and if she had, it would certainly have been in favor of the concubine. She had no time to bother anybody. She herself swept her room and made her bed, as the nuns had taught her. In the morning she took care of her clothes, sewing on the porch or using Amaranta's old pedal machine. While the others were taking their siestas she would practice the clavichord for two hours, knowing that the daily sacrifice would keep Fernanda calm. For the same reason she continued giving concerts at church fairs and school parties, even though the requests were less and less frequent. At nightfall she would fix herself up, put on one of her simple dresses and her stiff high shoes, and if she had nothing to do with her father she would go to the homes of her girl friends, where she would stay until dinnertime. It was rare that Aureli-ano Segun-do would not call for her then to take her to the movies.
Among Meme's friends there were three young American girls who broke through the electrified chicken fence barrier and made friends with girls from Macon-do. One of them was Patricia Brown. Grateful for the hospitality of Aureli-ano Segun-do, Mr. Brown opened the doors of his house to Meme and invited her to the Saturday dances, which were the only ones where gringos and natives mingled. When Fernanda found out about it she forgot about Amaranta úrsula and the invisible doctors for a moment and became very melodramatic. "Just think," she said to Meme, "what the colonel must be thinking in his grave." She sought, of course, the backing of úrsula. But the blind old woman, contrary to what everyone expected, saw nothing reproachable in Meme's going to the dances and making friends with American girls her own age as long as she kept her strict habits and was not converted to the Protestant religion. Meme sensed the thought of her great-great-grandmother very well and the day after the dances she would get up earlier than usual to go to mass. Fernanda's opposition lasted until the day when Meme broke down her resistance with the news that the Americans wanted to hear her play the clavichord. The instrument was taken out of the house again and carried to Mr. Brown's, where the young concert artist really did receive very sincere applause and the most enthusiastic congratulations. From then on she was invited not only to the dances but also to the Sunday swim parties in the pool and to lunch once a week. Meme learned to swim like a professional, to play tennis, and to eat Virginia ham with slices of pineapple. Among dances, swimming, and tennis she soon found herself getting involved in the English language. Aureli-ano Segun-do was so enthusiastic over the progress of his daughter that from a traveling salesman he bought a six-volume English encyclopedia with many color prints which Meme read in her spare time. The reading occupied the attention that she had formerly given to gossip about sweethearts and the experimental retreats that she would go through with her girl friends, not because it was imposed as discipline but because she had lost all interest by then in talking about mysteries that were in the public domain. She looked back on the drunken episode as an infantile adventure and it seemed so funny to her that she told Aureli-ano Segun-do about it and he thought it was more amusing than she did. "If your mother only knew," he told her, doubling up with laughter, as he always said when he told her something in confidence. He had made her promise that she would let him know about her first love affair with the same confidence, and Meme told him that she liked a red-headed American boy who had come to spend his vacation with his parents. "What do you know," Aureli-ano Segun-do said, laughing. "If your mother only knew." But Meme also told him that the boy had gone back to his country and had disappeared from sight. The maturity of her judgment ensured peace in the family. Aureli-ano Segun-do then devoted more time to Petra Cotes, and although his body and soul no longer permitted him the debauches of days gone by, he lost no chance to arrange them and to dig out the accordion, which by then had some keys held in place by shoelaces. At home, Amaranta was weaving her interminable shroud and úrsula dragged about in her decrepitude through the depths of the shadows where the only thing that was still visible was the ghost of José Arcadio Buendía under the chestnut tree. Fernanda consolidated her authority. Her monthly letters to her son José Arcadio at that time did not carry a string of lies and she hid from him only her correspondence with the invisible doctors, who had diagnosed a benign tumor in her large intestine and were preparing her for a telepathic operation.

“没啥，”梅梅回答。“我现在才明白，我多么喜爱你们两个啊。”
这句话里显然的憎恨使得阿玛兰塔吃了一惊。然而，梅梅半夜醒来，脑袋剧痛，开始呕吐，菲兰达却急得差点儿发疯了。菲兰达让女儿喝了一整瓶蓖麻油，给她的肚子贴上敷布，在她的头上放置冰袋，连续五天不准她出门，给她吃有点古怪的法国医生规定的饮食，经过两个多小时对梅梅的检查，医生得出了含糊的结论，说她患了一般的妇女病。梅梅失去了勇气，懊丧已极，在这种可怜的状态中，除了忍耐，毫无办法。乌苏娜已经完全瞎了，可是依然活跃和敏锐，她是凭直觉唯一作出正确诊断的。“我看，”她对自己说，“这是喝醉了，但她立即撇开了这种想法，甚至责备自己轻率，奥雷连诺第二发现梅梅的颓丧情绪时，受到良心的谴责，答应将来更多地关心她。父女之间愉快的伙伴关系由此产生，这种关系暂时使他摆脱了狂饮作乐中苦恼的孤独，而让她脱离了菲兰达令人厌恶的照顾，似乎防止了梅和母亲之间已经难免的冲突。在那些日子里，奥雷连诺第二把大部分空闲时间都用在女儿身上，毫不犹豫地推迟任何约会，只想跟女儿度过夜晚，带她去电影院或杂技场。在最近几年中，奥雷连诺第二脾气变坏了，原因是他过度的肥胖使他无法自己系鞋带，无法象以前那样满足自己的各种欲望。奥雷连诺第二得到女儿以后，恢复了以往的快活劲儿，而他跟她在一起的乐趣逐渐使他放弃了放荡的生活方式。梅梅象春天的树木似的开花了。她并不美，就象阿玛兰塔从来不美一样，但她外貌可爱、作风朴实，人家乍一看就会喜欢她，她的现代精神伤害了菲兰达守旧的中庸思想和欲盖弥彰的冷酷心肠，可是奥雷连诺第二却喜欢这种精神，竭力加以鼓励。奥雷连诺第二把梅梅拉出她从小居住的卧窒（卧室里的圣像吓人的眼睛仍然使她感到孩子的恐惧）；他在女儿的新房间里放了一张华丽的床和一个大梳妆台，挂上了丝绒窗帘，但是没有意识到他在复制佩特娜·柯特的卧室。他很慷慨，甚至不知道自己给了梅梅多少钱，因为钱是她从他衣袋里自己拿的。奥雷连诺第二供给了女儿各种新的美容物品，只要是能在香蕉公司的商店里弄到的。梅梅的卧室摆满了指甲磨石、烫发夹、洁牙剂①、媚限水②，还有其他许多新的化妆品和美容器具；菲兰达每次走愈①使牙齿光洁的药剂。使眼睛显得懒洋洋的眼药水。这个房间就觉得恼怒，以为女儿的梳妆台大概就是法国艺妓的那种玩意。然而，当时菲兰达正全神贯注地关心淘气和病弱的阿玛兰塔·乌苏娜，并且跟没有见过的医生进行动人的通信。因此，她发现父女之间的串通时，只要求奥雷连诺第二决不把梅悔带到佩特娜·柯特家里去。这个要求是多余的，因为佩特娜。柯特已经嫉妒她的情人和他女儿的友谊，甚到听都不愿听到梅梅的名字了。奥雷连诺第二的情妇有一种至今莫名其妙的恐惧，仿佛本能暗示她，梅悔只要愿意，就能做到菲兰达无法做到的事：使佩特娜·柯特失去似乎至死都有保障的爱情。于是，在在情妇家里，奥雷连诺第二看见了凶狠的眼神，听到了恶毒的嘲笑——他甚至担心他那流动衣箱不得不撤回妻子家里。可是事儿没到这个地步，任何人了解另一个人，都不如佩特哪。柯特了解自己的情人！她知道衣箱还会留在原处的，因为奥雷连诺第二最讨厌的事情，就是变来变去而把生活搞得十分复杂。因此，衣箱就留在原地了，佩特娜·柯特开始用自己唯一的武器夺回了情人，而这种武器是他的女儿不能用在他身上的。佩特娜。 例特也白费了力气，因为梅梅从来不想干预父亲的事情，即使她这么做，也只有利于佩特娜。柯特。梅悔是没有时间来打扰别人的。每天，她象修女们教她的，自己收拾卧室和床铺，早上都琢磨自己的衣服——在长廊上刺绣，或者在阿玛兰塔的旧式手摇机上缝纫。在别人饭后午睡时，她就练两小时钢琴，知道自己每天牺牲午睡继续练琴可使菲兰达安心。出于同样的想法，她继续在教堂义卖会和学校集会上演奏，尽管她接到的邀请越来越少，傍晚，她都穿上一件普通的衣服和系带的高腹皮鞋，如果不跟父亲到哪儿去，就上女朋友家里，在那儿呆到晚餐的时候。可是奥雷连诺第二经常都来找她，带她去看电影。
在梅梅的女朋友当中，有三个年轻的美国姑娘，她们都是钻出“电气化养鸡场”，跟马孔多姑娘们交上朋友的。其中一个美国姑娘是帕特里西娅·布劳恩。为了感谢奥雷连诺第二的好客精神，布劳恩先生向梅梅敞开了自己的家、邀请她参加礼拜大的跳舞晚会，这是外国人和本地人混在一起的唯一场合。菲兰达知道了这种邀请，就暂时忘了阿玛兰塔·乌苏娜和没有见过的医生，变得激动不安起来。“你只消想一想，”她向梅梅说。“上校在坟墓里对这件事会有啥想法呀。”菲兰达当然寻求乌苏娜的支持。可是出乎每个人的预料，瞎老太婆认为，如果姑娘保持坚定的信仰，不去皈依基督教，那么，参加跳舞会啦，结交年岁相同的美国姑娘啦，都是没有什么可以指摘的。梅梅十分理解高祖母的意思，舞会之后的第二天，她总比平常更早地起床，去做弥撒。菲兰达仍然采取反对立场，直到有一天女儿说，美国人希望听听她弹钢琴，菲兰达才不反对了，钢琴再一次搬出宅子，送到布劳恩先生家中，年轻的女音乐家在那儿得到了最真诚的鼓掌和最热烈的祝贺；嗣后，他们不仅邀她参加舞会，还邀她参加星期天的游泳会，而且每周请她去吃一次午饭。梅梅学会了游泳（象个职业游泳运动员似的）、打网球、吃弗吉尼亚火腿加几片菠萝的便餐。在跳舞、游泳以及打网球的时候，她不知不觉地学会了英语。奥雷连诺第二对女儿的进步十分高兴，甚至从一个流动商人那儿给她买了六卷附有许多插图的英国百科全书，梅梅空闲下来就拿它来读。读书占据了她的身心，她就不去跟女友们呆在僻静的地方瞎谈情场纠葛了，但这不是因为她认为自己有读书的责任，而是因为她已毫无兴趣去议论全镇皆知的那些秘密了。现在她想起前次的酪酊大醉，就觉得那是孩子的胡闹，是可笑的；她向奥雷连诺第二谈起它来，他更觉得可笑。“如果你母亲知道就好啦！……”他笑得喘呼呼他说。只要儿女向他但白什么事儿，他总是这么说。他得到了女儿向他同样坦率谈谈初恋的许诺以后，梅梅恨快就告诉他，她喜欢一个美国小伙子，他是来马孔多跟他父母一块儿度假的。“原来是这么一个小家伙！”奥雷连诺第二笑着说。“如果你母亲知道就好啦！……”可是梅梅接着又告诉他，那小队子回国了，杏无踪影了。梅梅成熟的头脑帮助巩固了家庭的和睦关系。渐渐地，奥雷连诺第二又经常去佩特娜·柯特那儿了。尽管大宴宾客已经不象从前那样使他身心愉快，但他仍不放过消闲取乐的机会，从套子里取出了手风琴；手风琴的几个琴键现在是用鞋带系上的。在这个家庭里，阿玛兰塔没完没了地缝她的殓衣，而老朽的乌苏娜却呆在黑暗的深处，她从那儿唯一还能看见的就是栗树下面霍·阿·布恩蒂亚的幽灵，菲兰达巩固了自己的权力，她每月寄给儿子的信，这时已经没有一行假话，她隐瞒霍。 阿卡蒂奥的只是她跟没有见过的医生的通信，那些医生断定她息了大肠良性肿瘤，准备让她接受心灵感应术的治疗。