United States or United States Minor Outlying Islands ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
The betrothal of El Carnicerin and Justa was formally arranged, Senor Custodio and his wife bathed in rose water, and only Manuel believed that in the end the wedding would never take place. El Carnicerin was all together too haughty and too much of a fine fellow to marry the daughter of a ragdealer; Manuel imagined that now the butcher's son would try to take advantage of his opportunity.
He hated El Carnicerin because that fellow had robbed him of happiness, had made it impossible for him to go on living in the one corner where he had found some affection and shelter. Then contradicting himself, he imagined that perhaps he was bad after all, and in this case the most he could do was to reform and become better.
"Your father told you to be back home by night. Come along, now." "See here, my child," interposed El Carnicerin with calm deliberation. "Who gave you a taper to bear at this funeral?" "I was entrusted to...." "All right. Shut up. Understand?" "I don't feel like it." "Well, I'll make you with a good ear-warming."
Manuel thought that if in time he should become the owner of a little house like Senor Custodio's, and of a cart and donkeys, and hens and a dog, and find in addition a woman to love him, he would be one of the almost happy men in this world. Senor Custodio's Ideas La Justa, El Carnicerin, and El Conejo.
"'This," thought Manuel, "could please only folks like El Carnicerin, effeminate loafers and indecent women." Reaching home Manuel ragingly threw down his hat, pulled off his shoes and got out of the suit in which he had so ridiculously gone to the bull fight....
The coach halted before one of the inns of Los Viveros; everybody rolled out of the omnibus and the shouts and clamouring were heard anew. El Carnicerin was not there, but he soon appeared and sat down at table right beside Justa. The day seemed hateful to Manuel; there were moments in which he felt like crying.
When he caught sight of Justa dancing with El Carnicerin he was overwhelmed with a desire to drown them both. The suitor, moreover, was a terrible show-off; he would affect a feminine grace as he danced, and it seemed as if he were applauding and complimenting himself. He kept so finically true to the rhythm of the dance that a spontaneous motion might ruin everything.
As they danced she threw herself upon him, her eyes sparkled and her nostrils dilated; it seemed as if she wished to dominate him, swallow him, devour him. She did not take her eyes off him, and if she saw him with another woman her face at once turned colour. One afternoon El Carnicerin was speaking to a friend. Manuel drew near so as to overhear the conversation.
But for the present nothing authorized such malevolent suppositions. El Carnicerin was generosity itself and showed delicate attentions to his sweetheart's parents. One summer day he invited the whole family and Manuel to a bull fight. Justa dressed up very fetchingly in her best to make a worthy companion to her lover.
They got into a street car at Toledo Street and rode to the Puerta del Sol; there they boarded art omnibus, which took them to the bull ring. They entered and, guided by El Carnicerin, sat themselves down in their respective places. The spectacle had begun and the amphitheatre was packed. Tier upon tier was crammed with a black mass of humanity.
Word Of The Day