Select a Portuguese sentence to reveal its English support.
Tap a Portuguese sentence to reveal its English support; tap it again or tap outside to close it.
With a keyboard, focus or activate a sentence. Press Escape to dismiss its English support.
Simeão de Prazins had once been the parish regedor for a year. He had lost the post when the government and the civil governor who had appointed him fell. With the restoration of the Constitutional Charter, the Cartista Joaquim de Vilalva had regained the office. Now, ill and broken by the death of his son José, Joaquim had resigned. The administrator then appointed Simeão again, and he fondly remembered the respect shown by recruits, tavern keepers, unmarried pregnant women and the parish council. Feliciano, the brother who had returned wealthy from Brazil, thought it useful to have authority within the family to protect his fortune and his person. The narrator sums up the result in one dry sentence: it was a disaster.
After the Gramido settlement, Zeferino had returned to Lamelas with some of his earliest companions. The narrative looks back to relate the trials he had endured before the fighting ended. In Guimarães, he had joined the Scottish adventurer Reinaldo MacDonell, who was moving from Marco de Canaveses towards Braga. Zeferino had been at the barricades of Cruz da Pedra, where the Baron of Casal had crushed the resistance of men deceived by their foreign commander. He was among the first to understand that the defence was useless, and he fled by way of Carvalho de Este. After crossing hills and valleys, he reached Porto de Ave and then returned to Guimarães. MacDonell had established his headquarters there, and Zeferino immediately went to find his former commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Cerveira Lobo. He found Cerveira at the Viscount of Azenha's town house, sitting over a generous supper and drinking old brandy. Several officers sat at the table, including Quartermaster-General Vitorino Tavares and commanders of royalist volunteers.
It was the freezing night of 27 December 1846, and everyone was drinking heavily. The wine cellar of the Casa do Arco seemed to serve as a heater for the guests. MacDonell, very red-faced and chronically drunk, walked around the drawing room arm in arm with Dona Emília Correia Leite de Almada. He seemed to be celebrating a decisive victory, although his army was in retreat. Cerveira drank and related the exploits of his old Chaves dragoons, accompanying them with gestures of battle. At eleven o'clock that night, a fellow officer hurried in to summon Vitorino.
The man asking for him was Pinho Leal, a rifle captain in the Pópulo battalion. In a note, the narrator identifies him as a friend and as the author of Portugal Antigo e Moderno. Pinho Leal was thirty, strong and cheerful, and held political convictions that contrasted with his intelligence. He told Vitorino that the Cabralists had surrounded them, that two posts had already been attacked and that shots could be heard elsewhere. He asked the quartermaster-general what he should do. Vitorino was terrified and took the captain into the room where MacDonell stood. Pinho repeated the news before the general, the lady and the many noblemen, priests and officers gathered in the house. According to Pinho Leal's later account, MacDonell's expression did not change. The Scotsman replied that it was nothing, that he had prepared everything and that the men should return to their quarters. The lady took fright, released the general's arm and went to pack the trunks for flight. The members of his staff eventually compelled MacDonell to leave as well. At one in the morning, the royalist army left Guimarães along the Amarante road.
Yet the attack Pinho had announced did not exist. The captain had invented it to save himself and to prevent the massacre he believed was near. At daybreak, six hundred of Casal's soldiers did enter Guimarães, still drunk on the slaughter at Braga in the narrator's fierce image. In a later letter, Pinho explained his stratagem in detail. As the officer on duty, he had a reserve of one hundred men commanded by Ensign José Maria, known as the Morgado do Triste. He chose a discreet sergeant and four soldiers, and told only the ensign about the plan. The six men went out through an alley and fired first on their own post at Santa Luzia and then on the one at the Castle. Shots fired by someone on a hill north of the town helped the plan, although Pinho said he did not know who had fired them. As they had agreed, José Maria ordered the assembly to be sounded and formed the reserve beneath the arches of the council building. Pinho and the five men slipped back into the town, and he appeared as though he had merely come to inspect the troops. The letter quoted by the narrator is dated 10 June 1877.
After creating the alarm, Pinho went to the Casa do Arco to remove the officers who were sunk in drink and false calm. The narrator remarks ironically that he thus delayed the Scottish general's death by a few days. When he learnt that the force would leave at one in the morning, Cerveira asked Zeferino for a bottle of the finest gin. On night marches he carried a straw-covered flask slung over his shoulder. He was so unsteady that he needed the mason's help to fill the flask. Zeferino later said that he had seen him so drunk that he feared he would fall from his horse. Cerveira insisted that he felt as he had at thirty and said he had ridden thirteen leagues without tiring. Zeferino asked whether Casal's men would catch them that night and whether another defeat like the one at Braga would finish everything. Cerveira called the general a fool and declared that he and Vitorino were determined to kill him as a traitor to Dom Miguel I. The army moved towards Lixa, and Cerveira rode with the quartermaster-general's group. From time to time MacDonell growled a few words in Spanish at Vitorino. Cerveira fell behind to raise the flask to his mouth, swallowing the gin between persistent coughs. Vitorino warned him that he was drinking too much and that the heat of the liquor was concentrating dangerously in his head. The lieutenant-colonel said he was used to it, but complained of pain in his temples, ringing in his ears and such sleepiness that he could scarcely move; he would give five thousand cruzados to be in bed. Lowering his already faltering voice, he again swore that the next day he would run the English general through with his sword.
Vitorino noticed that Cerveira was stammering, but put the difficulty down to drunkenness. Soon afterwards, the lieutenant-colonel said he was dizzy and could no longer hold the reins. He called anxiously for Zeferino, who was riding far behind. Vitorino called an aide to help him dismount. Cerveira's body folded over the horse's neck, and the animal shook him when it felt the reins go slack. As he was about to slide off, the two officers caught him in their arms, already unconscious. By the light of a match, they saw that his face was swollen and very red. They called to him and shook him, but he did not respond and had no pulse. His mouth was twisted and his wide-open eyes showed streaks of blood. The narrator states that Cerveira had died suddenly of an alcohol-related apoplexy.
Pinho Leal would recall in his letter that the man had died on the march between two and three in the morning. In the quotation, the name appears only as 'F...', and a note adds that Pinho's future memoirs would reveal it. He also confessed that he still felt remorse and wondered whether he might have caused the death indirectly. Yet he comforted himself with the thought that he had saved many young lives, above all his own. He added that the nobleman was already worn out and could have had few years left.
Zeferino and several men from Cerveira's party spent the rest of the night beside the body. In the grey winter morning light, the yellow, twisted face, wet with dew, inspired terror. They could not close his eyelids, and one rigid hand remained caught around the straps of his case. Zeferino said that the lieutenant-colonel must be carrying a large sum in gold around his waist. No one dared open the uniform, as though the dead man himself protected the money through the sacred fear of death. Only one sentry, numb with cold, suggested that they should drink the remaining gin. When daylight came, Zeferino went down to the church at Margaride to inform the parish priest. The priest, a Liberal and barely awake, replied that he was not a gravedigger and told him to find the regedor. The local authority handed the belt and its coins to the administrator without delaying over formalities. Cerveira was tipped into a grave in the churchyard after a very economical prayer. Farm labourers passing on their way to the fields put down their hoes and contemplated the dead man. When they heard that more than one conto de réis had been found on him, two imagined the good fortune they would have enjoyed if they had discovered the body first. To the narrator, that unrealised greed was a remnant of ancient virtues and an idyll in prose.
Zeferino remained with the guerrilla force until soldiers killed MacDonell in Trás-os-Montes. He then went with several royalist leaders to the Porto Junta and returned to Lamelas only when the fighting ended. He handed his sword to his father, but the old man welcomed him by calling him a fool. Gaspar reminded him that he had always warned him not to trust the drunkard from Quadros or go campaigning without the Morgado of Barrimão. He told him to return to building walls and to take care not to be arrested. Zeferino had arrested Joaquim, the regedor of Vilalva, and had tried to capture Feliciano, whose brother was now the regedor. Moreover, Maria of Vilalva went about crying that Marta and Zeferino had killed her son. Zeferino replied that he would destroy the family of anyone who blocked his path. A moment later he confessed that he would almost be grateful if someone killed him. He said that he was the most miserable man under the sun and complained that he had had no woman for three years. He expected to end up dead or on the gallows because of Marta, whose memory felt lodged in his throat like an obsession.
After the peace, municipal administrators were ordered to collect the military rifles still held in the villages. Military detachments were sent out to assist the local authorities. Simeão was summoned to Famalicão and ordered to lead a military search of Zeferino's house at Lamelas. A report claimed that several Miguelists had kept weapons there in breach of the terms of the Gramido protocol. The new regedor understood the danger and asked to be dismissed. The authority refused sharply and compelled him to perform his duty.
On the morning of the search, Zeferino fell asleep after a feverish, sleepless night. He dreamt that he was sergeant-major of Lamelas and watched the victorious Barcelos militia parade. Dom Miguel I watched the army from a Gothic window while bands played royal and popular tunes. The abbot of Calvos rode in a carriage in ceremonial dress and sprinkled holy water over the people. Decorated boats sailed down the Cávado, each with musicians aboard. In one of them came Marta, dressed in white satin like an angel in a procession, arriving to marry him. The political and bridal fantasy ended when a neighbour struck the window three times with the handle of his hoe. Zeferino woke with a start and heard that soldiers were already entering Lamelas with the regedor.
He fled through the garden and hid in a pine wood. From behind a terrace, he saw Simeão stop with the sergeant outside the house and point towards the windows. He heard rifle butts striking the main door and saw soldiers enter through the garden and the open kitchen door. The escort later withdrew, with two men carrying loads of weapons. Gaspar, the old paralysed ensign, was deeply distressed when his son returned. The sergeant had wanted to take his sword from the old army. However, he took pity when the old man wept and asked to be allowed to die beside it, since he could no longer defend it.
Zeferino calmly asked what Simeão had said. Gaspar replied that the regedor had said nothing, but that he himself had quoted the proverb 'We are muleteers travelling the same road', warning that they would meet again. The mason sat for a long time with his head in his hands, staring at the corner where he had kept two dozen rifles bought by Cerveira. He affected resignation and said that the weapons were no longer useful because the war was over. A moment later he began complaining again about Simeão, who had first promised him his daughter and then withdrawn the promise. He claimed that he had led an honest, hardworking life before passion disturbed his judgement. Because of her, he said, he had abandoned his trade, spent money and risked being killed by a bullet. Now he imagined Simeão entering his house, taking his weapons and stabbing him with a bayonet if he found him. His father sensibly replied that he should not have gone to Prazins to provoke Feliciano. Zeferino replied that passion was lodged in his chest like the point of a knife. He asked what harm he had done Simeão and concluded that he was lost. He left suddenly for Monte Córdova, where he went to speak to Patarro. Patarro was a violent old man who had fought at Braga and escaped after losing three fingers and part of his nose to sabre cuts. The narrative leaves them at that meeting without revealing what they said or agreed.
On the Wednesday of the following week, there was a market in Famalicão. Simeão bought two pairs of oxen for the tenant farmer at Retorta. Retorta was an old estate with a tower and a coat of arms, which Feliciano had bought from a nobleman of Afife. The business took all afternoon. As the market was breaking up, Simeão set off with the tenant farmer and two farmers from another parish. The two farmers rode lively mares, while the regedor travelled on an old grey mare that disliked being hurried. When struck with the whip, the grey mare drew in her body and stepped backwards. Simeão boasted that he had fallen with her only a few times.
On the road, the men began talking about Marta. The others had heard that she had tried to kill herself because of José Dias. Simeão replied that she had meant to throw herself into the river, but that she was almost recovered at Caldelas. He claimed that Father Osório and Dona Teresa had set her mind right and that, as soon as she was well, she would marry her uncle. Bento de Penso asked whether Feliciano wanted her, and Simeão replied that his brother was eager to marry. Bento asked leave to repeat another rumour: people said that José entered Marta's room at night. He declared that he had seen nothing, but added that a man would hesitate to marry a woman with a bad reputation. With village bluntness, he concluded that the man who had returned from Brazil appeared to have a good appetite. Belchior da Rechousa confirmed that Feliciano had a strong stomach. Simeão was not offended by such bluntness, but defended his daughter's honour and accused Zeferino of spreading slander for revenge. Belchior then reminded him that, according to local gossip, he had promised Marta to Zeferino for fifteen centos, and added that a man's word should not be withdrawn. Simeão was beginning to defend himself by saying that, on his side, it had been a joke.
At that instant, three men with scarves over their faces leapt from a bank into the road. One of them struck Simeão on the head with a club and knocked him down. The scarves hid their faces, and no one could identify the man who dealt the blow. The two farmers spurred their mares and vanished like figures from a magical comedy in the twilight. The tenant farmer abandoned the oxen and fled over walls and fields to Famalicão. At the entrance to the town, he shouted that there were robbers on the road and related what had happened. The authorities and a large crowd went out to search for Simeão and the attackers. They found him lying on his back, still alive and struggling to breathe. Blood covered his face and formed pools on both sides of his head. Beside him, the old mare chewed tender sprigs of gorse and coughed with swollen flanks.
Futrica, a farrier from Terra Negra, examined the wound and claimed that the brain was visible. He said that Simeão would not last long and should be given the last rites. They fetched a stretcher and promised two days' wages to each of the labourers who carried him to Prazins. The tenant farmer mounted the grey mare to fetch Baptista, the family surgeon, from Santo Tirso. The mare objected to the spurs attached to his clogs, reared and dropped onto her hind legs. She then rolled onto her side as if settling down to sleep, trapping the rider's very hairy leg beneath her belly. The crowd laughed shrilly as they freed him, while nearby the old man groaned on the stretcher and asked for confession.
When the stretcher entered Prazins, Marta was told that her father was dying from the blows dealt by highway robbers. Dona Teresa and Father Osório accompanied her to the house. When they arrived, the parish priest had just heard Simeão's confession, and the bell was summoning the people to accompany the Viaticum, Communion brought to the dying. Anguished curiosity filled the street with people and conflicting accounts. Some said that robbers had attacked a farmer at Santiago de Antas; others whispered the mason's name. A goatherd claimed to have seen Patarro and another sinister-looking man heading towards Lamelas that morning. Yet everyone insisted that they had seen nothing and wanted to know nothing, for fear of Zeferino's group. Simeão lay fully dressed on the bed, his face streaked with blood and his breathing very laboured. Groaning in pain, he kept his head raised on a long pillow that the priest had folded three times. They were waiting for the surgeon when Marta saw her father by the weak light of a candle and fainted. Dona Teresa supported her and asked for lamps and water so that Simeão's blood could be washed away. When Marta regained consciousness, Teresa took her to another room until her father could receive her. She wanted to spare her the sight of the wounded man's fits.
When the last rites procession arrived, with chanting and the measured sound of the bell, Marta cried out and begged to be allowed to say farewell to her father. A neighbour who had entered the room declared in her hearing that only Zeferino of Lamelas could have dealt the blows. Marta accepted that suspicion as a certainty and felt guilty for the death she believed was near. She believed that Zeferino had attacked him because of her and wanted to kneel beside the bed to ask forgiveness. By the wounds of Christ, she begged Teresa to let her enter. Teresa held her back because she feared another attack of madness and asked her to wait until the treatment was over. The surgeon wanted only the barber who was shaving the wounded man's head to remain in the room. Soon afterwards, Feliciano arrived from the Retorta estate, where he had been supervising building work. Terrified, he told Osório that he already regretted buying the estate and that Portugal was a country of thieves and murderers. He announced that he would soon leave. He then entered Marta's room and promised that, if Simeão died, she would find a second father in her uncle.
The surgeon came out with little confidence in the state of the wound. One blow had torn away part of the scalp and exposed the skull, which the farrier had called the brain. The bleeding was severe, and the doctor feared concussion. After bleeding him, he ordered wet cloths to be applied to his head every fifteen minutes. Marta and Teresa did not leave the sick man's bed for a moment. Osório spent the night in the sitting room, listening to Feliciano speak about his niece and her former love for José Dias. Feliciano said that he did not hold that love against her; on the contrary, he appeared to accept it. Towards dawn, Simeão became deeply distressed, shuddered, spoke nonsense and tried to tear the dressings from his head. He flung his arms about and pulled his daughter's tear-wet face against his chest. Osório and Feliciano came to help, believing that he was beginning to die. The agitation subsided into troubled sleep, with his head resting in Marta's lap. She gently adjusted the dressing over his wound. When he woke, Simeão recognised his daughter, but pushed her away and claimed that the mason had killed him. He then fell back into a coma. Osório attributed the drowsiness to bleeding inside the skull and regarded it as a sign of probable death. The surgeon returned at dawn, ordered leeches to be placed behind the ears and said that such sleep was a bad omen. He left to visit other patients, promising to return shortly.
Marta made promises to Our Lady of Health to ease the guilt that crushed her. She promised to go ten times around the chapel on her knees and offer the image a silver halo. She also vowed to fast on bread and water for six months, eat no meat for a year and walk barefoot to the pilgrimage. Those sacrifices made her feel less burdened for a little while. In her mind, her father was dying because of her, just as Maria of Vilalva claimed that José had died through her fault. She therefore saw herself as a wretched woman who caused the deaths of her betrothed and her father.
Simeão then had an interval of calm wakefulness. He looked at Marta and told her that he was going to die and leave her without either father or mother. Feliciano replied that his niece would lack nothing, for he had no one else in the world. In tears, Simeão murmured that he would die content if Marta became her uncle's wife. A strange silence followed. Marta lowered her eyes, Dona Teresa looked at her brother, and Osório watched Feliciano to see how he would respond. Feliciano himself waited for the others to speak first. Simeão drew his daughter close and tenderly asked whether she would marry her uncle. He said that this was the last request he would make of her. Overcome by grief, guilt and filial pressure, Marta answered only with a gesture of assent. The gesture was neither a declaration of love nor a free choice. She fell to her knees, bent over the bed and began to sob. Then she gave a cry and slipped to the floor in convulsions, her face very red and foam at her mouth. Dona Teresa and Osório carried her to the bedroom. She was calm by then, but remained rigid and unresponsive, with her mouth slightly twisted.
The surgeon arrived at that moment and attributed the fit to an illness inherited from her mother. He called the attacks epileptic and privately told Feliciano that the more dangerous inheritance would be the dementia that had driven Genoveva to suicide. In his opinion, that maternal inheritance threatened the girl's future. He also considered Marta weak and overindulged like a city girl, and those ideas shaped his advice. He recommended that they treat her carefully, avoid distressing her, keep her occupied and, finally, arrange a marriage for her. He also advised giving her vinegar to smell and placing a folded cloth between her teeth during another fit to protect her tongue. Feliciano retained chiefly one part of the advice and reminded Osório, 'He said that the best thing was for her to marry.'