Juanita la Larga: a Novel

Epilogue

Epilogue S ix or seven years have passed since the events recounted above. It’s possible, for as much as it might grieve me, that the main personages who figure in this story don’t interest anyone, but, since I’ve had to deal with them and describe their characters, I’ve taken quite a liking to them, and their present situation and condition awaken a curious interest in my spirit. I’ve questioned the novice representative to whom I’m indebted for this entire story, and he has given me the news that I am going to pass on as a crowning or finishing touch, even though critics may consider it superfluous. Don Paco continues to enjoy the favor of the cacique and to manage in his name everything that has to be managed in the town. Juanita adores her husband, pampers him, and has given him two beautiful children: a girl who’s also named Juanita la Larga, the third one with this name and nickname, and who promises to be every bit as worthy as her mother, because she’s already very pretty, talkative, and charming; and a boy, Ricardito, named after his maternal grandfather , who’s a little devil, nimble, robust, and rowdy, for which reason his parents intend for him to be, also like his grandfather, a cavalry officer. Juanita has not put on weight. She’s fetching and pretty as always . She dresses in silk without Father Anselmo reproaching her in his sermons, and looks like an enchanted princess since time does 247 248 Juanita la Larga not seem to pass for her. Nor is Don Paco aging because happiness sustains, preserves, and even rejuvenates a person, and he is truly happy. Poor Don Álvaro is the one who has really gone downhill. Some time ago he turned stupid and paralytic, with his fingers gnarled. No one knows if it is a tongue impediment or some other organ of the vocal apparatus, but the fact is that he can only say, and does say: “Ta, ta, ta, ta, ta.” Doña Inés tends him with wifely solicitousness and affection, but since she is so moralistic and so excitable, she often admonishes him gently. When, despite his deplorable condition, he looks at Serafina with eyes that betray arousal and Doña Inés notices, she says to him: “Is it possible, Alvarito, that the devil who possesses you has not abandoned you? The vice that flees from your entire body is lodging in your head and not leaving you! It’s disgusting and shameful!” “Ta, ta, ta, ta, ta!” Don Álvaro replies. If through sign language he complains about his stomach or belly that is lowing as if he had not one young lamb there, but two or three calves, Doña Inés exclaims: “I’ve told you a thousand times that you’ve always been a glutton , but it has caught up with you, my dear. Your digestive powers are on the wane. You must restrain yourself and be temperate if you don’t want to drop dead when least expected.” And Don Álvaro responds: “Ta, ta, ta, ta, ta!” Calvete, who has gone from a strapping boy to a very dashing and handsome youth, and a mischievous and devilish one to boot, sees that Don Álvaro cannot complain about his pranks, since he neither talks nor writes, and delights in making him furious. To accomplish this he turns to the robust and buxom Serafina, who is still as lively as she was in her early youth. The rascal starts to frolic amorously with Serafina right under the nose of Don Álvaro, Juanita la Larga 249 who, beside himself with froth in his mouth, shouts like an energumen : “Ta, ta, ta, ta, ta!” And each “ta,” from the tone with which Don Álvaro bellows it, seems like a cento of blasphemies and a litany of curses. Doña Inés usually comes then and says: “Why are you yelling so much, you unbearable man? What you’re going through is nothing compared with the vinegar and gall given to Christ. Do you think that Job ever yelled on the dungheap1 as much as you’re yelling now? Suffer and you’ll be admitted to heaven .” “Ta, ta, ta, ta, ta!” says Don Álvaro, somewhat resigned. Doña Inés is usually moved to pity too and says to Calvete: “Come...