diff --git a/data/benito_english_fragment.txt b/data/benito_english_fragment.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..db2fe6b --- /dev/null +++ b/data/benito_english_fragment.txt @@ -0,0 +1,204 @@ +The sun had set. After the brief interval of twilight the night fell +calm and dark, and in its gloomy bosom the last sounds of a sleepy +world died gently away. The traveller went forward on his way, +hastening his step as night came on; the path he followed was narrow +and worn by the constant tread of men and beasts, and led gently up a +hill on whose verdant slopes grew picturesque clumps of wild cherry +trees, beeches and oaks.--The reader perceives that we are in the north +of Spain. + +Our traveller was a man of middle age, strongly built, tall and +broad-shouldered; his movements were brisk and resolute, his step +firm, his manner somewhat rugged, his eye bold and bright; his pace +was nimble, considering that he was decidedly stout, and he was--the +reader may at once be told, though somewhat prematurely--as good a +soul as you may meet with anywhere. He was dressed, as a man in easy +circumstances should be dressed for a journey in spring weather, with +one of those round shady hats, which, from their ugly shape, have been +nicknamed mushrooms (_hongo_), a pair of field-glasses hanging to a +strap, and a knotted stick which, when he did not use it to support his +steps, served to push aside the brambles when they flung their thorny +branches across so as to catch his dress. + +He presently stopped, and gazing round the dim horizon, he seemed vexed +and puzzled. He evidently was not sure of his way and was looking +round for some passing native of the district who might give him such +topographical information as might enable him to reach his destination. + +"I cannot be mistaken," he said to himself. "They told me to cross the +river by the stepping-stones--and I did so--then to walk on, straight +on. And there, to my right, I do in fact, see that detestable town +which I should call _Villafangosa_ by reason of the enormous amount of +mud that chokes the streets.--Well then, I can but go 'on, straight +on'--I rather like the phrase, and if I bore arms, I would adopt it +for my motto--in order to find myself at last at the famous mines of +Socartes." + +But before he had gone much farther, he added: "I have lost my way, +beyond a doubt I have lost my way.--This, Teodoro Golfin, is the +result of your 'on, straight on.' Bah! these blockheads do not know +the meaning of words; either they meant to laugh at you or else +they did not know the way to the mines of Socartes. A huge mining +establishment must be evident to the senses, with its buildings and +chimneys, its noise of hammers and snorting of furnaces, neighing of +horses and clattering of machinery--and I neither see, nor hear, nor +smell anything. I might be in a desert! How absolutely solitary! If I +believed in witches, I could fancy that Fate intended me this night to +have the honor of making acquaintance with some. Deuce take it! why is +there no one to be seen in these parts? And it will be half an hour +yet before the moon rises. Ah! treacherous Luna, it is you who are to +blame for my misadventure.--If only I could see what sort of place I +am in.--However, what could I expect?" and he shrugged his shoulders +with the air of a vigorous man who scorns danger. "What, Golfin, after +having wandered all round the world are you going to give in now? The +peasants were right after all: 'on, straight on.' The universal law of +locomotion cannot fail me here." + +And he bravely set out to test the law, and went on about a kilometre +farther, following the paths which seemed to start from under his feet, +crossing each other and breaking off at a short distance, in a thousand +angles which puzzled and tired him. Stout as his resolution was, at +last he grew weary of his vain efforts. The paths, which had at first +all led upwards, began to slope downwards as they crossed each other, +and at last he came to so steep a slope that he could only hope to get +to the bottom by rolling down it. + +"A pretty state of things!" he exclaimed, trying to console himself for +this provoking situation by his sense of the ridiculous. "Where have +you got to now my friend? This is a perfect abyss. Is anything to be +seen at the bottom. No, nothing, absolutely nothing--the hill-side has +disappeared, the earth has been dug away. There is nothing to be seen +but stones and barren soil tinged red with iron. I have reached the +mines, no doubt of that--and yet there is not a living soul to be seen, +no smoky chimneys; no noise, not a train in the distance, not even a +dog barking. What am I to do? Out there the path seems to slope up +again.--Shall I follow that? Shall I leave the beaten track? Shall I go +back again? Oh! this is absurd! Either I am not myself or I will reach +Socartes to-night, and be welcomed by my worthy brother! 'On, straight +on.'" + +He took a step, and his foot sank in the soft and crumbling soil. +"What next, ye ruling stars? Am I to be swallowed up alive? If only +that lazy moon would favor us with a little light we might see each +other's faces--and, upon my soul, I can hardly expect to find Paradise +at the bottom of this hole. It seems to be the crater of some extinct +volcano.... Nothing could be easier than a slide down this beautiful +precipice. What have we here?... A stone; capital--a good seat while I +smoke a cigar and wait for the moon to rise." + +The philosophical Golfin seated himself as calmly as if it were a +bench by a promenade, and was preparing for his smoke, when he heard a +voice--yes, beyond a doubt, a human voice, at some little distance--a +plaintive air, or to speak more accurately, a melancholy chant of a +single phrase, of which the last cadence was prolonged into a "dying +fall," and which at last sank into the silence of the night, so softly +that the ear could not detect when it ceased. + +"Come," said the listener, well pleased, "there are some human beings +about. That was a girl's voice; yes, certainly a girl's, and a lovely +voice too. I like the popular airs of this country-side. Now it has +stopped.... Hark! it will soon begin again.... Yes, I hear it once +more. What a beautiful voice, and what a pathetic air! You might +believe that it rose from the bowels of the earth, and that Señor +Golfin, the most matter-of-fact and least superstitious man in this +world, was going to make acquaintance with sylphs, nymphs, gnomes, +dryads, and all the rabble rout that obey the mysterious spirit of the +place.--But, if I am not mistaken, the voice is going farther away--the +fair singer is departing.... Hi, girl, child, stop--wait a minute!..." + +The voice which had for a few minutes so charmed the lost wanderer with +its enchanting strains was dying away in the dark void, and at the +shouts of Golfin it was suddenly silent. Beyond a doubt the mysterious +gnome, who was solacing its underground loneliness by singing its +plaintive loves, had taken fright at this rough interruption by a human +being, and fled to the deepest caverns of the earth, where precious +gems lay hidden, jealous of their own splendor. + +"This is a pleasant state of things--" muttered Golfin, thinking that +after all he could do no better than light his cigar.--"There seems no +reason why it should not go on for a hundred years. I can smoke and +wait. It was a clever idea of mine that I could walk up alone to the +mines of Socartes. My luggage will have got there before me--a signal +proof of the advantages of 'on, straight on.'" + +A light breeze at this instant sprang up, and Golfin fancied he +heard the sound of footsteps at the bottom of the unknown--or +imaginary--abyss before him; he listened sharply, and in a minute felt +quite certain that some one was walking below. He stood up and shouted: + +"Girl, man, or whoever you are, can I get to the mines of Socartes by +this road?" + +He had not done speaking when he heard a dog barking wildly, and then a +manly voice saying: "Choto, Choto! come here!" + +"Hi there!" cried the traveller. "My good friend--man, boy, demon, or +whatever you are, call back your dog, for I am a man of peace." + +"Choto, Choto!..." + +Golfin could make out the form of a large, black dog coming towards +him, but after sniffing round him it retired at its master's call; +and at that moment the traveller could distinguish a figure, a man, +standing as immovable as a stone image, at about ten paces below him, +on a slanting pathway which seemed to cut across the steep incline. +This path, and the human form standing there, became quite clear now to +Golfin, who, looking up to the sky, exclaimed: + +"Thank God! here is the mad moon at last; now we can see where we are. +I had not the faintest notion that a path existed so close to me, why, +it is quite a road. Tell me, my friend, do you know whether the mines +of Socartes are hereabout?" + +"Yes, Señor, these are the mines of Socartes; but we are at some +distance from the works." + +The voice which spoke thus was youthful and pleasant, with the +attractive inflection that indicates a polite readiness to be of +service. The doctor was well pleased at detecting this, and still +better pleased at observing the soft light, which was spreading through +the darkness and bringing resurrection to earth and sky, as though +calling them forth from nothingness. + +"_Fiat lux!_" he said, going forward down the slope. "I feel as if I +had just emerged into existence from primeval chaos.... Indeed, my good +friend, I am truly grateful to you for the information you have given +me, and for the farther information you no doubt will give me. I left +Villamojada as the sun was setting.--They told me to go on, straight +on...." + +"Are you going to the works?" asked the strange youth, without stirring +from the spot or looking up towards the doctor, who was now quite near +him. + +"Yes, Señor; but I have certainly lost my way." + +"Well, this is not the entrance to the mines. The entrance is by the +steps at Rabagones, from which the road runs and the tram-way that +they are making. If you had gone that way you would have reached the +works in ten minutes. From here it is a long way, and a very bad road. +We are at the outer circle of the mining galleries, and shall have to +go through passages and tunnels, down ladders, through cuttings, up +slopes, and then down the inclined plane; in short, cross the mines +from this side to the other, where the workshops are and the furnaces, +the machines and the smelting-house." + +"Well, I seem to have been uncommonly stupid," said Golfin, laughing. + +"I will guide you with much pleasure, for I know every inch of the +place." + +Golfin, whose feet sank in the loose earth, slipping here and tottering +there, had at last reached the solid ground of the path, and his first +idea was to look closely at the good-natured lad who addressed him. +For a minute or two he was speechless with surprise. + +"You!" he said, in a low voice. + +"I am blind, it is true, Señor," said the boy. "But I can run without +seeing from one end to the other of the mines of Socartes. This stick I +carry prevents my stumbling, and Choto is always with me, when I have +not got Nela with me, who is my guide. So, follow me, Señor, and allow +me to guide you." + + diff --git a/data/emilia_english_fragment.txt b/data/emilia_english_fragment.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..90d4a10 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/emilia_english_fragment.txt @@ -0,0 +1,317 @@ +Behind the pine grove the setting sun had left a zone of fire +against which the trunks of the pine trees stood out like bronze +columns. The path was rugged and uneven, giving evidence of the +ravages wrought by the winter rains; at intervals loose stones, +looking like teeth detached from the gum, rendered it still more +impracticable. The melancholy shades of twilight were beginning to +envelop the landscape; little by little the sunset glow faded away +and the moon, round and silvery, mounted in the heavens, where the +evening star was already shining. The dismal croaking of the frogs +fell sharply on the ear; a fresh breeze stirred the dry plants and +the dusty brambles that grew by the roadside; and the trunks of the +pine trees grew momentarily blacker, standing out like inky bars +against the pale green of the horizon. + +A man was descending the path slowly, bent, apparently, on +enjoying the poetry and the peace of the scene and the hour. He +carried a stout walking-stick, and as far as one could judge in the +fading light, he was young and not ill-looking. + +He paused frequently, casting glances to the right and to the +left as if in search of some familiar landmark. Finally he stood +still and looked around him. At his back was a hill crowned with +chestnut trees; on his left was the pine grove; on his right a small +church with a mean belfry; before him the outlying houses of the +town. He turned, walked back some ten steps, stopped, fronting the +portico of the church, examined its walls, and, satisfied at last +that he had found the right place, raised his hands to his mouth and +forming with them a sort of speaking trumpet, cried, in a clear +youthful voice: + +"Echo, let us talk together!" + +From the angle formed by the walls, there came back instantly +another voice, deeper and less distinct, strangely grave and +sonorous, which repeated with emphasis, linking the answer to the +question and dwelling upon the final syllable: + +"Let us talk togethe-e-e-e-r!" + +"Are you happy?" + +"Happy-y-y-y!" responded the echo. + +"Who am I?" + +"I-I-I-I!" + +To these interrogations, framed so that the answer should make +sense with them, succeeded phrases uttered without any other object +than that of hearing them reverberated with strange intensity by the +wall. "It is a lovely night."--"The moon is shining."--"The sun has +set."--"Do you hear me, echo?"--"Have you dreams, echo, of glory, +ambition, love?" The traveler, enchanted with his occupation, +continued the conversation, varying the words, combining them into +sentences, and, in the short intervals of silence, he listened to the +faint murmur of the pines stirred by the evening breeze, and to the +melancholy concert of the frogs. The crimson and rose-colored clouds +had become ashen and had begun to invade the broad region of the +firmament over which the unclouded moon shed her silvery light. The +honeysuckles and elder-flowers on the outskirts of the pine grove +embalmed the air with subtle and intoxicating fragrance. And the +interlocutor of the echo, yielding to the poetic influences of the +scene, ceased his questions and exclamations and began to recite, in +a slow, chanting voice, verses of Becquer, paying no heed now to the +voice from the wall, which, in its haste to repeat his words, +returned them to him broken and confused. + +Absorbed in his occupation, pleased with the harmonious sounds of +the verse, he did not notice the approach of three men of odd and +grotesque appearance, wearing enormous broad-brimmed felt hats. One +of the men was leading a mule laden with a leathern sack filled, +doubtless, with the juice of the grape; and as they walked slowly, +and the soft clayey soil deadened the noise of their footsteps, they +passed close by the young man, unperceived by him. They exchanged +some whispered words with one another. "Who is he, +man?"--"Segundo."--"The lawyer's son?"--"The same."--"What is he +doing? Is he talking to himself?"--"No, he is talking to the wall of +Santa Margarita."--"Well, we have as good a right to do that as he +has."--"Begin you ----"--"One--two--here goes----" + +And from those profane lips fell a shower of vile words and +coarse and vulgar phrases, interrupting the _Oscuras Golondrinas_ +which the young man was reciting with a great deal of expression, and +producing, in the peaceful and harmonious nocturnal silence, the +effect of the clatter of brass pans and kettles in a piece of German +music. The most refined expressions were in the following style: +"D---- (here an oath). Hurrah for the wine of the Border! Hurrah for +the red wine that gives courage to man! D----" (the reader's +imagination may supply what followed, it being premised that the +disturbers of the Becquerian dreamer were three lawless muleteers who +were carrying with them an abundant provision of the blood of the +grape). + +The nymph who dwelt in the wall opposed no resistance to the +profanation and repeated the round oaths as faithfully as she had +repeated the poet's verses. Hearing the vociferations and bursts of +laughter which the wall sent back to him mockingly, Segundo, the +lawyer's son, aware that the barbarians were turning his sentimental +amusement into ridicule, became enraged. Mortified and ashamed, he +tightened his grasp on his stick, strongly tempted to break it on the +ribs of some one of them; and, muttering between his teeth, "Kaffirs! +brutes! beasts!" and other offensive epithets, he turned to the left, +plunged into the pine grove and walked toward the town, avoiding the +path in order to escape meeting the profane trio. + +The town was but a step away. The walls of its nearest houses +shone white in the moonlight, and the stones of some buildings in +course of erection, garden walls, orchards, and vegetable beds, +filled up the space between the town and the pine grove. The path +grew gradually broader, until it reached the highroad, on either side +of which leafy chestnut trees cast broad patches of shade. The town +was already asleep, seemingly, for not a light was to be seen, nor +were any of those noises to be heard which reveal the proximity of +those human beehives called cities. Vilamorta is in reality a very +small beehive, a modest town, the capital of a district. Bathed in +the splendor of the romantic satellite, however, it was not without a +certain air of importance imparted to it by the new buildings, of a +style of architecture peculiar to prison cells, which an +_Americanized_ Galician, recently returned to his native land with a +plentiful supply of cash, was erecting with all possible expedition. + +Segundo turned into an out-of-the-way street--if there be any +such in towns like Vilamorta. Only the sidewalks were paved; the +gutter was a gutter in reality; it was full of muddy pools and heaps +of kitchen garbage, thrown there without scruple by the inhabitants. +Segundo avoided two things--stepping into the gutter and walking in +the moonlight. A man passed so close by him as almost to touch him, +enveloped, notwithstanding the heat, in an ample cloak, and holding +open above his head an enormous umbrella, although there was no sign +of rain; doubtless he was some convalescent, some visitor to the +springs, who was breathing the pleasant night air with hygienic +precautions. Segundo, when he saw him, walked closer to the houses, +turning his face aside as if afraid of being recognized. With no less +caution he crossed the Plaza del Consistorio, the pride of Vilamorta, +and then, instead of joining one of the groups who were enjoying the +fresh air, seated on the stone benches round the public fountain, he +slipped into a narrow side street, and crossing a retired little +square shaded by a gigantic poplar turned his steps in the direction +of a small house half hidden in the shadow of the tree. Between the +house and Segundo there stood a lumbering bulk--the body of a +stage-coach, a large box on wheels, its shafts raised in air, +waiting, lance in rest, as it were, to renew the attack. Segundo +skirted the obstacle, and as he turned the corner of the square, +absorbed in his meditations, two immense hogs, monstrously fat, +rushed out of the half-open gate of a neighboring yard, and at a +short trot that made their enormous sides shake like jelly, made +straight for the admirer of Becquer, entangling themselves stupidly +and blindly between his legs. By a special interposition of +Providence the young man did not measure his length upon the ground, +but, his patience now exhausted, he gave each of the swine a couple +of angry kicks, which drew from them sharp and ferocious grunts, as +he ejaculated almost audibly: "What a town is this, good Heavens! +Even the hogs must run against one in the streets. Ah, what a +miserable place! Hell itself could not be worse!" + +By the time he had reached the door of the house, he had, to some +extent, regained his composure. The house was small and pretty and +had a cheerful air. There was no railing outside the windows, only +the stone ledges, which were covered with plants in pots and boxes; +through the windows shaded by muslin curtains a light could be seen +burning, and in the silent façade there was something peaceful and +attractive that invited one to enter. Segundo pushed open the door +and almost at the same instant there was heard in the dark hall the +rustling of skirts, a woman's arms were opened and the admirer of +Becquer, throwing himself into them, allowed himself to be led, +dragged, carried bodily, almost, up the stairs, and into the little +parlor where, on a table covered with a white crochet cover, burned a +carefully trimmed lamp. There, on the sofa, the lover and the lady +seated themselves. + +Truth before all things. The lady was not far from thirty-six or +thirty-seven, and what is worse, could never have been pretty, or +even passably good-looking. The smallpox had pitted and hardened her +coarse skin, giving it the appearance of the leather bottom of a +sieve. Her small black eyes, hard and bright like two fleas, matched +well her nose, which was thick and ill-shaped, like the noses of the +figures of lay monks stamped on chocolate. True, the mouth was +fresh-colored, the teeth white and sound like those of a dog; but +everything else pertaining to her--dress, manner, accent, the want of +grace of the whole--was calculated rather to put tender thoughts to +flight than to awaken them. With the lamp shining as brightly as it +does, it is preferable to contemplate the lover. The latter is of +medium height, has a graceful, well-proportioned figure, and in the +turn of his head and in his youthful features there is something that +irresistibly attracts and holds the gaze. His forehead, which is high +and straight, is shaded and set off by luxuriant hair, worn somewhat +longer than is allowed by our present severe fashion. His face, thin +and delicately outlined, casts a shadow on the walls which is made up +of acute angles. A mustache, curling with the grace which is peculiar +to a first mustache, and to the wavy locks of a young girl, shades +but does not cover his upper lip. The beard has not yet attained its +full growth; the muscles of the throat have not yet become prominent; +the Adam's apple does not yet force itself on the attention. The +complexion is dark, pale, and of a slightly bilious hue. + +Seeing this handsome youth leaning his head on the shoulder of +this woman of mature age and undisguised ugliness, it would have been +natural to take them for mother and son, but anyone coming to this +conclusion, after a single moment's observation, would have shown +scant penetration, for in the manifestations of maternal affection, +however passionate and tender they may be, there is always a +something of dignity and repose which is wanting in those of every +other affection. + +Doubtless Segundo felt a longing to see the moon again, for he +rose almost immediately from his seat on the sofa and crossed over to +the window, his companion following him. He threw open the sash, and +they sat down side by side in two low chairs whose seats were on a +level with the flower-pots. A fine carnation regaled the sense with +its intoxicating perfume; the moon lighted up with her silvery rays +the foliage of the poplar that cast broad shadow over the little +square. Segundo opened the conversation this wise: + +"Have you made any cigars for me?" + +"Here are some," she answered, putting her hand into her pocket +and drawing from it a bundle of cigars. "I was able to make only a +dozen and a half for you. I will complete the two dozen to-night +before I go to bed." + +There was a moment's silence, broken by the sharp sound made by +the striking of the match and then, in a voice muffled by the first +puff of smoke, Segundo went on: + +"Why, has anything new happened?" + +"New? No. The children--putting the house in order--and +then--Minguitos. He made my head ache with his complaining--he +complained the whole blessed evening. He said his bones ached. And +you? Very busy, killing yourself reading, studying, writing, eh? Of +course!" + +"No, I have been taking a delightful walk. I went to Peñas-albas +and returned by way of Santa Margarita. I have seldom spent a +pleasanter evening." + +"I warrant you were making verses." + +"No, my dear. The verses I made I made last night after leaving +you." + +"Ah! And you weren't going to repeat them to me. Come, for the +love of the saints, come, recite them for me, you must know them by +heart. Come, darling." + +To this vehement entreaty succeeded a passionate kiss, pressed on +the hair and forehead of the poet. The latter raised his eyes, drew +back a little and, holding his cigar between his fingers after +knocking off the ashes with his nail, proceeded to recite. + +The offspring of his muse was a poem in imitation of Becquer. His +auditor, who listened to it with religious attention, thought it +superior to anything inspired by the muse of the great Gustave. And +she asked for another and then another, and then a bit of Espronceda +and then a fragment or two of Zorrilla. By this time the cigar had +gone out; the poet threw away the stump and lighted a fresh one. Then +they resumed their conversation. + +"Shall we have supper soon?" + +"Directly. What do you think I have for you?" + +"I haven't the least idea." + +"Think of what you like best. What you like best, better than +anything else." + +"Bah! You know that so far as I am concerned, provided you don't +give me anything smoked or greasy----" + +"A French omelet! You couldn't guess, eh? Let me tell you--I +found the receipt in a book. As I had heard that it was something +good I wanted to try it. I had always made omelets as they make them +here, so stiff, that you might throw one against the wall without +breaking it. But this--I think it will be to your taste. As for me, I +don't like it much, I prefer the old style. I showed Flores how to +make it. What was in the one you ate at the inn at Orense? Chopped +parsley, eh?" + +"No, ham. But what difference does it make what was in it?" + +"I'll run and take it out of the pantry! I thought--the book says +parsley! Wait, wait." + +She overturned her chair in her haste. An instant later the +jingling of her keys and the opening and closing of a couple of doors +were heard in the distance. A husky voice muttered some +unintelligible words in the kitchen. In two minutes she was back +again. + +"Tell me, and those verses, are you not going to publish them? Am +I not going to see them in print?" + +"Yes," responded the poet, slowly turning his head to one side +and sending a puff of smoke through his lips. "I am going to send +them to Vigo, to Roberto Blanquez, to insert them in the _Amanecer_." + +"I am delighted! You will become famous, sweetheart! How many +periodicals have spoken of you?" + +Segundo laughed ironically and shrugged his shoulders. + +"Not many." And with a somewhat preoccupied air he let his gaze +wander over the plants and far away over the top of the poplar whose +leaves rustled gently in the breeze. The poet pressed his companion's +hand mechanically, and the latter returned the pressure with +passionate ardor. + +"Of course. How do you expect them to speak of you when you don't +put your name to your verses?" she said. "They don't know whose they +are. They are wondering, likely----" + +"What difference does the name make? They could say the same +things of the pseudonym I have adopted as of Segundo García. The few +people who will trouble themselves to read my verses will call me the +Swan of Vilamorta." +