世紀文學經典:《百年孤獨》第1章Part 10

Holding a child by each hand so as not to lose them in the tumult, bumping into acrobats with gold-capped teeth and jugglers with six arms, suffocated by the mingled breath of manure and sandals that the crowd exhaled, José Arcadio Buendía went about everywhere like a madman, looking for Melquíades so that he could reveal to him the infinite secrets of that fabulous nightmare. He asked several gypsies, who did not understand his language. Finally he reached the place where Melquíades used to set up his tent and he found a taciturn Armenian who in Spanish was hawking a syrup to make oneself invisible. He had drunk down a glass of the amber substance in one gulp as José Arcadio Buendía elbowed his way through the absorbed group that was witnessing the spectacle, and was able to ask his question. The gypsy wrapped him in the frightful climate of his look before he turned into a puddle of pestilential and smoking pitch over which the echo of his reply still floated: "Melquíades is dead." Upset by the news,José Arcadio Buendía stood motionless, trying to rise above his affliction, until the group dispersed, called away by other artifices, and the puddle of the taciturn Armenian evaporated completely. Other gypsies confirmed later on that Melquíades had in fact succumbed to the fever on the beach at Singapore and that his body had been thrown into the deepest part of the Java Sea. The children had no interest in the news. They insisted that their father take them to see the overwhelming novelty of the sages of Memphis that was being advertised at the entrance of a tent that, according to what was said, had belonged to King Solomon. They insisted so much that José Arcadio Buendía paid the thirty reales and led them into the center of the tent, where there was a giant with a hairy torso and a shaved head, with a copper ring in his nose and a heavy iron chain on his ankle, watching over a pirate chest. When it was opened by the giant, the chest gave off a glacial exhalation. Inside there was only an enormous,transparent block with infinite internal needles in which the light of the sunset was broken up into colored stars. Disconcerted, knowing that the children were waiting for an immediate explanation, José Arcadio Buendía ventured a murmur:
"It's the largest diamond in the world."
"No," the gypsy countered. "It's ice."
José Arcadio Buendía, without understanding, stretched out his hand toward the cake, but the giant moved it away. "Five reales more to touch it," he said. José Arcadio Buendía paid them and put his hand on the ice and held it there for several minutes as his heart filled with fear and jubilation at the contact with mystery. Without knowing what to say, he paid ten reales more so that his sons could have that prodigious experience. Little José Arcadio refused to touch it. Aureliano, on the other hand, took a step forward and put his hand on it, withdrawing it immediately. "It's boiling," he exclaimed, startled. But his father paid no attention to him. Intoxicated by the evidence of the miracle, he forgot at that moment about the frustration of his delirious undertakings and Melquíades' body, abandoned to the appetite of the squids. He paid another five reales and with his hand on the cake, as if giving testimony on the holy scriptures, he exclaimed:
"This is the great invention of our time."

霍·何·布恩蒂亞象瘋子一樣東竄西竄，到處尋找梅爾加德斯，希望從他那兒瞭解這種神奇夢景的許多祕密。他手裏牽着兩個孩了，生怕他們在擁擠的人羣中丟失，不時碰見鑲着金牙的江湖藝人或者六條胳膊的魔術師。人羣中發出屎尿和檀香混合的味兒，叫他喘不上氣。他向吉卜賽人打聽梅爾加德斯，可是他們不懂他的語言。最後，他到了梅爾加德斯往常搭帳篷的地方。此刻，那兒坐着一個臉色陰鬱的亞美尼亞吉卜賽人，正在用西班牙語叫賣一種隱身糖漿，當這吉卜賽人剛剛一下子喝完一杯琥珀色的無名飲料時，霍·阿·布恩蒂亞擠過一羣看得出神的觀衆，向吉卜賽人提出了自己的問題。吉卜賽人用奇異的眼光瞅了瞅他，立刻變成一灘惡臭的、冒煙的瀝青，他的答話還在瀝青上發出回聲：“梅爾加德斯死啦。”霍·阿·布恩蒂亞聽到這個消息，不勝驚愕，呆若木雞，試圖控制自己的悲傷，直到觀衆被其他的把戲吸引過去，亞美尼亞吉卜賽人變成的一灘瀝青揮發殆盡。然後，另一個吉卜賽人證實，梅爾加德斯在新加坡海灘上患瘧疾死了，屍體拋入了爪哇附近的大海。孩子們對這個消息並無興趣，就拉着父親去看寫在一個帳這招牌上的孟菲斯學者的新發明，如果相信它所寫的，這個膿篷從前屬於所羅門王。孩子們糾纏不休，霍·阿·布恩蒂亞只得付了三十里亞爾，帶着他們走進帳篷，那兒有個剃光了腦袋的巨人，渾身是毛，鼻孔裏穿了個銅環，腳跺上拴了條沉重的鐵鏈，守着一隻海盜用的箱子，巨人揭開蓋子，箱子裏就冒出一股刺骨的寒氣。箱子墜只有一大塊透明的東西，這玩意兒中間有無數白色的細針，傍晚的霞光照到這些細針，細針上面就現出了許多五顏六色的星星。霍·阿·布恩蒂亞感到大惑不解，但他知道孩子們等着他立即解釋，便大膽地嘟嚷說：
“這是世界上最大的鑽石。”
“不，”吉卜賽巨人糾正他。“這是冰塊。”
莫名其妙的霍·阿·布恩蒂亞向這塊東西伸過手去，可是巨人推開了他的手。“再交五個里亞爾才能摸，”巨人說。霍·阿·布恩蒂亞付了五個里亞爾，把手掌放在冰塊上呆了幾分鐘；接觸這個神祕的東西，他的心裏充滿了恐懼和喜悅，他不知道如何向孩子們解釋這種不太尋常的感覺，又付了十個里亞爾，想讓他們自個兒試一試，大兒子霍·阿卡蒂奧拒絕去摸。相反地，奧雷連諾卻大膽地彎下腰去，將手放在冰上，可是立即縮回手來。“這東西熱得燙手！”他嚇得叫了一聲。父親沒去理會他。這時，他對這個顯然的奇蹟欣喜若狂，競忘了自己那些幻想的失敗，也忘了葬身魚腹的梅爾加德斯。霍·阿·布恩蒂亞又付了五個里亞爾，就象出庭作證的人把手放在《聖經》上一樣，莊嚴地將手放在冰塊上，說道：
“這是我們這個時代最偉大的發明。”