Chapter 10

Mas ¡ay! que es la mujer ángel caído O mujer nada más y lodo inmundo, [210] Hermoso ser para llorar nacido, O vivir como autómata en el mundo. Sí, que el demonio en el Edén perdido Abrasara con fuego del profundo La primera mujer, y ¡ay! aquel fuego [215] La herencia ha sido de sus hijos luego.

Brota en el cielo del amor la fuente Que a fecundar el universo mana, Y en la tierra su límpida corriente Sus márgenes con flores engalana; [220] Mas ¡ay! huíd: el corazón ardiente Que el agua clara por beber se afana Lágrimas verterá de duelo eterno, Que su raudal lo envenenó el infierno.

Huíd, si no queréis que llegue un día, [225] En que, enredado en retorcidos lazos El corazón, con bárbara porfía Luchéis por arrancároslo a pedazos: En que al cielo en histérica agonía Frenéticos alcéis entrambos brazos, [230] Para en vuestra impotencia maldecirle, Y escupiros, tal vez, al escupirle.

Los años ¡ay! de la ilusión pasaron; Las dulces esperanzas que trajeron Con sus blancos ensueños se llevaron, [235] Y el porvenir de oscuridad vistieron: Las rosas de amor se marchitaron, Las flores en abrojos convirtieron, Y de afán tanto y tan soñada gloria Sólo quedó una tumba, una memoria. [240]

¡Pobre Teresa! al recordarte siento Un pesar tan intenso...! embarga impío Mi quebrantada voz mi sentimiento, Y suspira tu nombre el labio mío: Pára allí su carrera el pensamiento, [245] Hiela mi corazón punzante frío, Ante mis ojos la funesta losa, Donde vil polvo tu beldad reposa.

¡Y tú feliz, que hallaste en la muerte Sombra a que descansar en tu camino, [250] Cuando llegabas, mísera, a perderte, Y era llorar tu único destino: Cuando en tu frente la implacable suerte Grababa de los réprobos el sino...! ¡Feliz! la muerte te arrancó del suelo, [255] Y otra vez ángel te volviste al cielo.

Roída de recuerdos de amargura, Árido el corazón sin ilusiones, La delicada flor de tu hermosura Ajaron del dolor los Aquilones: [260] Sola, y envilecida y sin ventura, Tu corazón secaron las pasiones, Tus hijos, ¡ay! de ti se avergonzaran, Y hasta el nombre de madre te negaran.

Los ojos escaldados de tu llanto, [265] Tu rostro cadavérico y hundido, Único desahogo en tu quebranto, El histérico ¡ay! de tu gemido: ¿Quién, quién pudiera, en infortunio tanto, Envolver tu desdicha en el olvido, [270] Disipar tu dolor y recogerte En su seno de paz? ¡Sólo la muerte!

¡Y tan joven, y ya tan desgraciada! Espíritu indomable, alma violenta, En ti, mezquina sociedad, lanzada [275] A romper tus barreras turbulenta. Nave contra las rocas quebrantada, Allá vaga, a merced de la tormenta, En las olas tal vez náufraga tabla, Que sólo ya de sus grandezas habla. [280]

Un recuerdo de amor que nunca muere Y está en mi corazón; un lastimero Tierno quejido que en el alma hiere, Eco süave de su amor primero: ¡Ay! de tu luz en tanto yo viviere [285] Quedará un rayo en mí, blanco lucero, Que iluminaste con tu luz querida La dorada mañana de mi vida.

Que yo como una flor que en la mañana Abre su cáliz al naciente día, [290] ¡Ay! al amor abrí tu alma temprana, Y exalté tu inocente fantasía: Yo inocente también: ¡oh! ¡cuán ufana Al porvenir mi mente sonreía, Y en alas de mi amor con cuánto anhelo [295] Pensé contigo remontarme al cielo!

Y alegre, audaz, ansioso, enamorado, En tus brazos en lánguido abandono, De glorias y deleites rodeado, Levantar para ti soñé yo un trono: [300] Y allí, tú venturosa y yo a tu lado, Vencer del mundo el implacable encono, Y en un tiempo sin horas y medida Ver como un sueño resbalar la vida.

¡Pobre Teresa! Cuando ya tus ojos [305] Áridos ni una lágrima brotaban, Cuando ya su color tus labios rojos En cárdenos matices cambïaban, Cuando de tu dolor tristes despojos La vida y su ilusión te abandonaban, [310] Y consumía lenta calentura Tu corazón al par de tu amargura,

Si en tu penosa y última agonía Volviste a lo pasado el pensamiento, Si comparaste a tu existencia un día [315] Tu triste soledad y tu aislamiento; Si arrojó a tu dolor tu fantasía Tus hijos ¡ay! en tu postrer momento, A otra mujer tal vez acariciando, Madre tal vez a otra mujer llamando, [320]

Si el cuadro de tus breves glorias viste Pasar como fantástica quimera, Y si la voz de tu conciencia oíste Dentro de ti gritándote severa, Si, en fin, entonces tú llorar quisiste, [325] Y no brotó una lágrima siquiera Tu seco corazón, y a Dios llamaste, Y no te escuchó Dios, y blasfemaste,

¡Oh! ¡crüel! ¡muy crüel! ¡martirio horrendo! ¡Espantosa expiación de tu pecado! [330] ¡Sobre un lecho de espinas maldiciendo, Morir el corazón desesperado! ¡Tus mismas manos de dolor mordiendo, Presente a tu conciencia lo pasado, Buscando en vano con los ojos fijos, [335] Y extendiendo tus brazos a tus hijos!!

¡Oh! ¡crüel! ¡muy crüel!... ¡Ah! yo entre tanto, Dentro del pecho mi dolor oculto, Enjugo de mis párpados el llanto Y doy al mundo el exigido culto: [340] Yo escondo con vergüenza mi quebranto, Mi propia pena con mi risa insulto, Y me divierto en arrancar del pecho Mi mismo corazón pedazos hecho.

Gocemos, sí; la cristalina esfera [345] Gira bañada en luz: ¡bella es la vida! ¿Quién a parar alcanza la carrera Del mundo hermoso que al placer convida? Brilla radiante el sol, la primavera Los campos pinta en la estación florida: [350] Truéquese en risa mi dolor profundo.... ¡Que haya un cadáver más! ¿Qué importa al mundo?

NOTES

EL ESTUDIANTE DE SALAMANCA

PARTE PRIMERA

Instead of =Cuento=, later editions read =Leyendas=.

The introductory quotation is taken from the "Don Quijote," Part I, chap. 45. The words were addressed by Don Quijote to members of the rural police who were arresting him for depredations committed on the highway. The full sentence in Ormsby's translation reads: "Who was he that did not know that knights-errant are independent of all jurisdictions, that their law is their sword, their charter their prowess, and their edicts their will?" This Spanish declaration of independence was frequently used as a slogan by the Romanticists. Espronceda is here making the quotation apply more particularly to his lawless hero.

=1. Era más de media noche=: the poet begins with a characteristic Romantic landscape, gloomy, medieval, fantastic, uncanny. He is trying to create a mood of horror. He follows the Horatian precept of beginning the plot in the middle (_in medias res_). The situation here introduced is not resumed until Part Four is reached. Parts Two and Three supply the events leading up to the duel. The Duque de Rivas's "Candil" begins in similar fashion:

Más ha de quinientos años En una torcida calle, Que de Sevilla en el centro Da paso a otras principales; Cerca de la media noche, Cuando la ciudad más grande Es de un grande cementerio En silencio y paz imagen; De dos desnudas espadas Que trababan un combate Turbó el repentino encuentro Las tinieblas impalpables. El crujir de los aceros Sonó por breves instantes Lanzando azules centellas, Meteoro de desastres. Y al gemido _¡Dios me valga! ¡Muerto soy!_ y al golpe grave De un cuerpo que a tierra vino El silencio y paz renacen, etc.

This was first published in "El Liceo," 1838. The Duque de Rivas may have been influenced by our text, but such introductions were a Romantic commonplace. See M. Fernández y González, "Crónicas romanescas de España. Don Miguel de Mañara, memorias del tiempo de Carlos V," Paris, 1868. The story begins "Era la media noche"; and, later, "Hacía mucho tiempo que Sevilla estaba entregada al sueño y al silencio." Espronceda is here following his sources closely.

=2. antiguas historias=: not a mere rhetorical statement. These old stories actually existed. See the study of sources in the Introduction.

=4. lóbrego=: I follow the reading of the 1840 edition. Later editions changed to =lóbrega=, making the adjective agree with =tierra= instead of =silencio=. Either reading makes good sense, but in cases of doubt I follow the Editio Princeps.

=11. fantasmas=: this noun is usually masculine, but is often feminine in popular speech. The distinction between the masculine and feminine meanings given in most dictionaries does not apply in Espronceda. He uses both genders indifferently.

=19. sábados=: Saturday was the usual day when, according to popular belief, witches attended their yearly =aquelarre= or sabbath. The favorite meeting-place for Spanish witches was said to be the plain around Barahona (Soria).

=27. gótico=: admiration for the Gothic was a characteristic of Romanticism.

=37. Salamanca=: the famous university city of Spain. Its founding antedates the Carthaginians and the Romans. The university of Palencia was transferred to Salamanca by Fernando III in 1239. Neither the university nor the city retains much of its ancient importance. See Gustave Reynier, "La Vie universitaire dans l'ancienne Espagne," Paris, 1902.

=38. armas y letras=: these words summarize the Renaissance ideal of culture. The perfect gentleman must combine literature and arms. Letters were not considered to be apart from active life. Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Quevedo, and many others of Spain's great writers of the classic period exemplify this ideal.

=53. embozado=: to avoid breathing the cool mountain air of his country, a Spaniard frequently draws the corner of his cape over his face, concealing it. He is then =embozado=, 'muffled.' When a woman is heavily veiled she is =tapada=. This national custom has been effectively used by Spanish poets, novelists, and dramatists. It offered a plausible excuse for the concealment or confusion of identity.

=64. calle=: this word is the object of =atraviesa=, l. 72.

=65. la calle del Ataúd=: this dismal name does not seem to be of Espronceda's own invention. It is found in José Gutiérrez de la Vega's "Don Miguel de Mañara," 1851. Espronceda probably used some earlier edition of the prose romance of Don Miguel de Mañara.

=96. que=: a relative adverb used with the force of a genitive Translate 'whose.'

=100. Segundo Don Juan Tenorio=: see the Introduction.

PARTE SEGUNDA

The quotation is taken from Byron's "Don Juan," Canto IV, stanza 72, the description of Haidée's tomb. I restore the first two words, omitted in all previous editions, without which the passage is devoid of meaning. The way in which this passage has been garbled was pointed out by Piñeyro, "El Romanticismo en España," Paris, 1904.

=181. de luceros coronada=: this verse occurs also in Meléndez Valdés' "Rosana en los fuegos." See Foulché-Delbosc, "Quelques Réminiscences dans Espronceda," _Revue Hispanique_, XXI, p. 667.

=218. hoja tras hoja=, etc.: in the first part of "Faust," Margarete pulls out one by one the petals of a daisy to determine whether or not Faust loves her. Is this a reminiscence of Margarete's _Er liebt mich--liebt mich nicht?_

=242. pasó=: translate by the English perfect tense. There are many other cases in these poems where the preterit had best be rendered by the perfect.

=245. miraran=: here and elsewhere the second (=-ra=) tense of the imperfect subjunctive is equivalent to a simple past. This use of the tense is frequent. At other times this tense is better rendered by a pluperfect indicative, when the common subjunctive meaning does not serve.

=268.= These verses are the most frequently quoted of the whole poem.

=268. juguete=: I retain, though with some doubt, the reading of the original. Later editions have changed to juguetes.

=278.= The thought of these verses is that mean objects may present a beautiful appearance when viewed through a telescope. "Distance lends enchantment." So woman when viewed through the illusion of fancy is better than the woman of reality. This thought is developed farther in "A Teresa."

=298.= A frequently recurring thought in Espronceda, typical of Romantic pessimism. Truth is man's greatest enemy, he holds. Illusion is friendly.

=318.= In this and what follows, Elvira is plainly a copy of Ophelia. The influence of Hamlet cannot be doubted. Churchman has pointed out that Elvira is a composite of Goethe's Margarete, Shakespeare's Ophelia, and the Haidée and Doña Julia of Lord Byron. See "Byron and Espronceda," _Revue Hispanique_, Vol. XX, p. 164.

=324. otra=: I retain the original reading. Later editions erroneously read _otras_.

=347. Vaso de bendición=: `blessed vessel,' i.e. an individual peculiarly favored with the divine blessing. The phrase _vaso de elección_ is commoner, meaning one chosen for a particular mission or appointed task. The latter term is frequently applied to the Apostle Paul (Acts ix, 15).

=359. Mas despertó también de su locura=, etc.: Ophelia did not recover her reason before dying. Likewise she was drowned, while Elvira dies of love.

=364. El bien pasado y el dolor presente=: an obvious reminiscence of Dante's:

Nessun maggior dolore Che ricordarsi del tempo felice Nella miseria.--"Inferno," Canto V, ll. 121-123.

There is no greater sorrow than to recall the happy time in the midst of misery.

=371.= The letter which follows represents Espronceda's most important borrowing from Byron. It is based upon Doña Julia's letter of adieu to Don Juan: see "Don Juan," Canto I, stanzas 192-197. The circumstances attending the writing of the two letters are entirely different. The tone of Doña Julia's letter is cynical; she is a married woman whose sin has been discovered and whose husband is forcing her to enter a convent. Doña Elvira's letter, written with death in view, is tender and pathetic. For details see Churchman, "Byron and Espronceda," _Revue Hispanique_, Vol. XX, p. 161.

PARTE TERCERA

In giving this quotation from the second act of Moreto's "El Lego del Carmen o San Franco de Sena," Espronceda is either quoting erroneously or following some edition not known to me. In the Rivadeneyra edition the passage is as follows:

SARGENTO ¿Tiene más que parar?

FRANCO Tengo los ojos, Y los juego en lo mismo; que descreo De quien los hizo para tal empleo.

As this play influenced Espronceda, it is well to give a synopsis of it. Like the "Rufián dichoso" of Cervantes, the "San Franco de Sena" deals with the sinful life and conversion of one who was destined to be a saint. Franco of Siena, a youth noted for his wild conduct, falls in love with the inappropriately named Lucrecia. He kills her lover Aurelio in a duel, and, passing himself off for Aurelio, elopes with her and gets possession of her jewels. A cross with a lighted lamp before it is placed on a wall to mark the spot where Aurelio fell. One night, as he is passing, Franco sacrilegiously attempts to extinguish the light. A hand issues from the wall and seizes him by the wrist. Words of warning accompany this action. Franco shows neither fear nor compunction. He kills all the officers of justice who try to arrest him. Again passing the wall, he hears a ghostly voice urge him to try his hand at play, for by losing he will win. Franco hopes to win in a material way, and decides to follow this advice. He loses all and then stakes his eyes, making the blasphemous remark quoted above. He loses and is stricken blind. His conversion follows immediately. In the weak third act he becomes a Carmelite monk, and his companions in sin experience a like change of heart.

The legend of the saint of Siena has many points of similarity with the legends of Don Juan Tenorio, Don Miguel de Mañara, and Lisardo the Student; but Espronceda has been only slightly influenced by Moreto's play. If he gained from it, rather than from Dumas or Mérimée, the idea of his gambling scene, he does not follow his model closely. In each case a chain is played for, but in Moreto the game is =pintas=, not =parar= or dice, and the other details are different. Moreto (1618-1659) was one of the most graceful but least original of the dramatists of the classic period.

=438.= The game of =parar=, =carteta=, or =andaboba=, as it was variously called, was played as follows: The dealer, who also serves as banker, places two cards face up at his left. The third card he places in front of himself. The fourth card, called the réjouissance card in the French form of the game, he places in the middle of the table. The players stake on this card whatever bets they desire to make, and these the banker is obliged to cover. He then deals a fifth. If this matches his own card, he wins all the money staked. If, on the contrary, it matches the réjouissance card, those who have staked money upon it win from the bank. If it matches neither, it is laid face up on the table, and money may be staked upon it precisely as upon the réjouissance card. So with all successive cards. The deal ends as soon as the banker's card is matched. He then surrenders the bank to the winner, unless the two cards laid to his left are matched before the third card dealt, his own, is duplicated. In this latter case he is privileged to keep the bank for another deal. This game, by reason of its swift action and the large number of players who could engage in it, was called =el juego alegre=. As results depended upon the turn of a single card, it lent itself readily to cheating. It is mentioned in a _pragmática_ of Philip II, 1575, among a list of games to be prohibited. The modern games of monte and baccarat have points of similarity. In France and England the game is known as _lansquenet_, and is supposed to have been invented by the German _Landsknechte_, mercenary foot-soldiers of the sixteenth century. For further information see Hazañas y la Rúa, "Los Rufianes de Cervantes," Sevilla, 1906, p. 44, and Monreal, "Cuadros Antiguos," Sevilla, 1906, p. 342. For a similar gambling scene see Tirso de Molina, "Tanto es lo de más como lo de menos," Act II, sc. vii.

=455. El Caballo=: to understand what follows some knowledge of Spanish playing-cards is necessary. In Spain the =baraja=, or deck, consists, according to the game played, of 48 or 40 cards (=cartas, naipes, cartones=), and not of 52 as with us. The ten spot is unknown, and when the deck consists of but 40 the eight and nine spots are also wanting. The =palos=, or suits, are four: =oros= (gold coins, corresponding to our diamonds), =copas= (cups, corresponding to our hearts), =espadas= (swords, corresponding to our spades), and =bastones= (clubs). These figures are not conventionalized. The face cards are three: =el rey= (the king), =el caballo= (representing a mounted cavalryman, and corresponding in value to our queen), and =la sota= (a standing infantryman, sometimes called also =el infante=, and corresponding in value to our knave). These figures are unreversible. The First Gambler is dealer and banker, as is shown by the fact that he covers the bets (line 466). He is losing in spite of the fact that the banker had an advantage. The =caballo= is clearly the card that has turned up in front of the dealer. The turning up of a second =caballo= would end the deal.

=457. Pues por poco=, etc.: the Second Gambler is mocking the First. "You want the =caballo=, and the =sota=, the card next under it in the suit, has turned up. This is so close that you should be satisfied." All this is implied in his remark.

=459.= The Second Gambler strikes an irreligious note by pretending to believe that the First Gambler's oath is a pious remark. He suggests that prayer and repentance should be deferred until one is dying. Gentlemen of equal rank formerly addressed each other in the second person plural.

=466.= The Third Gambler stakes upon the =sota=. Each new card, not matching previous ones, was the occasion for new bets.

=480.= An allusion to the world-wide superstition that he who is lucky at love is unlucky at cards and vice versa.

=490. Se vende y se rifa=: Don Félix, who has no ready cash, raffles off his chain. He places on it a value of 2000 ducats, and announces that each of the five gamblers who are in funds must contribute 400 ducats to the raffle. The First Gambler, a heavy loser, does not engage in the play; and Don Félix, too, enters into this first transaction merely as a seller. The chain is to go to the player to whom he deals the ace of =oros=, and he himself will get the 2000 ducats. After this he will begin to gamble on his own account. The game of =parar= ceased upon the entrance of Don Félix.

=491. afrenta=: the affront lies in Don Félix's insolent manner and the masterful way in which he forces them to accept his terms without question. Indignant as the Fourth Gambler is, he dares not offer open objection.

=496=. I restore =una= from the 1840 edition instead of =uno=, found in the later prints. The agreement is with =carta=, understood, not with =naipe=. So likewise when the cards are dealt out in Moreto's "San Franco de Sena," the first numeral is =una=.

=498.= Three is the lucky number. The third card falls to the Third Gambler, who wins. The grief of the First Gambler is increased by the fact that the winning card would have fallen to him, if he had been in the game. Line 496 indicates that D. Félix passes him in dealing.

=500.= Having now come into possession of his 2000 ducats, Don Félix, always a reckless gambler, proposes to stake them all upon a single throw of the dice.

=516. Si esta imagen respirara=: the First Gambler is so unlucky at cards that he may be supposed to be lucky in love. Hence sentimental remarks are placed in his mouth.

=520.= The Second Gambler makes a side bet with the Fourth and then a second one with the Fifth. These bets will be decided by the same throw that decides the bet between Don Félix and the Third Gambler.

=526. Tirad con sesenta=, etc.: "Throw in the name of sixty horsemen." Some word like =hombres= or =demonios= needs to be supplied.

=529.= Don Félix, who has again lost, speaks with ironic blasphemy. He blames the First Gambler for addressing his prayer to God rather than to the devil.

=546. vendellas=: for =venderlas=. In Old Spanish the final =r= of the infinitive frequently assimilates to the initial =l= of the enclitic pronoun.

=550.= Don Félix's perverted sense of honor will not brook the most trivial verbal slight to Elvira on the part of another, although he has cruelly wronged her himself by his deeds.

=558.= The First Gambler is not sufficiently blasphemous to invoke the devil, and Don Félix does so himself. This invocation changes his luck.

=567. Encubierta fatídica figura=: one of those threadbare phrases abused by Spain's romantic poets. Valera in his "Del Romanticismo en España y de Espronceda" instances some of these, such as =negro capuz, lúgubre són, fúnebre ciprés=, etc. Mesonero Romanos in his "Románticos y Romanticismo" ridicules the abuse of the word =fatídica=. Espronceda was less frequently guilty of this sort of unoriginality than other less gifted poets were.

=610. Mentís vos=: the usual formula for picking a quarrel.

=625, 631. Que=: equivalent to =porque=.