Chapter 14
“Some time elapsed before I learned the history of my friends. It was one which could not fail to impress itself deeply on my mind, unfolding as it did a number of circumstances, each interesting and wonderful to one so utterly inexperienced as I was.
"Transcurrió algún tiempo antes de que conociera la historia de mis amigos. Era una historia que no podía dejar de grabarse hondamente en mi mente, pues iba desplegando una serie de circunstancias, cada cual más interesante y admirable para alguien tan por completo inexperto como yo lo era.
“The name of the old man was De Lacey. He was descended from a good family in France, where he had lived for many years in affluence, respected by his superiors and beloved by his equals. His son was bred in the service of his country, and Agatha had ranked with ladies of the highest distinction. A few months before my arrival they had lived in a large and luxurious city called Paris, surrounded by friends and possessed of every enjoyment which virtue, refinement of intellect, or taste, accompanied by a moderate fortune, could afford.
"El anciano se llamaba De Lacey. Descendía de una buena familia de Francia, donde había vivido muchos años en la opulencia, respetado por sus superiores y querido por sus iguales. Su hijo se había criado al servicio de su patria, y Agatha se había contado entre las damas de más alta distinción. Unos meses antes de mi llegada habían vivido en una ciudad grande y lujosa llamada París, rodeados de amigos y en posesión de cuantos placeres pueden procurar la virtud, el refinamiento del intelecto o el buen gusto, unidos a una fortuna moderada.
“The father of Safie had been the cause of their ruin. He was a Turkish merchant and had inhabited Paris for many years, when, for some reason which I could not learn, he became obnoxious to the government. He was seized and cast into prison the very day that Safie arrived from Constantinople to join him. He was tried and condemned to death. The injustice of his sentence was very flagrant; all Paris was indignant; and it was judged that his religion and wealth rather than the crime alleged against him had been the cause of his condemnation.
"El padre de Safie había sido la causa de su ruina. Era un mercader turco que llevaba muchos años residiendo en París, cuando, por alguna razón que no logré averiguar, se hizo odioso al gobierno. Lo prendieron y lo arrojaron a prisión el mismo día en que Safie llegaba de Constantinopla para reunirse con él. Fue juzgado y condenado a muerte. La injusticia de su sentencia era muy flagrante; todo París se indignó; y se juzgó que su religión y su riqueza, más que el crimen que se le imputaba, habían sido la causa de su condena.
“Felix had accidentally been present at the trial; his horror and indignation were uncontrollable when he heard the decision of the court. He made, at that moment, a solemn vow to deliver him and then looked around for the means. After many fruitless attempts to gain admittance to the prison, he found a strongly grated window in an unguarded part of the building, which lighted the dungeon of the unfortunate Muhammadan, who, loaded with chains, waited in despair the execution of the barbarous sentence. Felix visited the grate at night and made known to the prisoner his intentions in his favour. The Turk, amazed and delighted, endeavoured to kindle the zeal of his deliverer by promises of reward and wealth. Felix rejected his offers with contempt, yet when he saw the lovely Safie, who was allowed to visit her father and who by her gestures expressed her lively gratitude, the youth could not help owning to his own mind that the captive possessed a treasure which would fully reward his toil and hazard.
"Felix se hallaba por casualidad presente en el juicio; su horror y su indignación fueron incontenibles cuando oyó la decisión del tribunal. En aquel instante hizo el voto solemne de liberarlo, y acto seguido buscó los medios de hacerlo. Tras muchos intentos infructuosos de lograr acceso a la prisión, dio con una ventana fuertemente enrejada, en una parte desguarnecida del edificio, que iluminaba la mazmorra del desdichado musulmán, quien, cargado de cadenas, aguardaba con desesperación que se ejecutara la bárbara sentencia. Felix acudió a la reja de noche y dio a conocer al preso sus intenciones en su favor. El turco, atónito y encantado, procuró avivar el celo de su libertador con promesas de recompensa y riqueza. Felix rechazó sus ofrecimientos con desdén; y sin embargo, cuando vio a la encantadora Safie, a quien se le permitía visitar a su padre y que con sus gestos expresaba su viva gratitud, el joven no pudo menos que reconocer para sí que el cautivo poseía un tesoro que recompensaría con creces su esfuerzo y su riesgo.
“The Turk quickly perceived the impression that his daughter had made on the heart of Felix and endeavoured to secure him more entirely in his interests by the promise of her hand in marriage so soon as he should be conveyed to a place of safety. Felix was too delicate to accept this offer, yet he looked forward to the probability of the event as to the consummation of his happiness.
"El turco no tardó en advertir la impresión que su hija había causado en el corazón de Felix, y procuró asegurárselo por entero a su causa con la promesa de su mano en matrimonio tan pronto como fuera conducido a lugar seguro. Felix era demasiado delicado para aceptar semejante ofrecimiento; y con todo, aguardaba la probabilidad de aquel acontecimiento como la consumación de su dicha.
“During the ensuing days, while the preparations were going forward for the escape of the merchant, the zeal of Felix was warmed by several letters that he received from this lovely girl, who found means to express her thoughts in the language of her lover by the aid of an old man, a servant of her father who understood French. She thanked him in the most ardent terms for his intended services towards her parent, and at the same time she gently deplored her own fate.
"Durante los días siguientes, mientras avanzaban los preparativos para la fuga del mercader, el celo de Felix se acaloraba con varias cartas que recibía de aquella hermosa muchacha, la cual halló el modo de expresar sus pensamientos en la lengua de su amado con la ayuda de un anciano, sirviente de su padre que entendía el francés. Le daba las gracias en los términos más ardientes por los servicios que se proponía prestar a su progenitor, y al mismo tiempo deploraba con suavidad su propia suerte.
“I have copies of these letters, for I found means, during my residence in the hovel, to procure the implements of writing; and the letters were often in the hands of Felix or Agatha. Before I depart I will give them to you; they will prove the truth of my tale; but at present, as the sun is already far declined, I shall only have time to repeat the substance of them to you.
"Conservo copias de esas cartas, pues durante mi estancia en el cobertizo hallé el modo de procurarme útiles de escritura; y las cartas andaban a menudo en manos de Felix o de Agatha. Antes de partir se las entregaré; probarán la verdad de mi relato; pero por ahora, como el sol ya ha declinado mucho, solo tendré tiempo de repetirle lo esencial de ellas.
“Safie related that her mother was a Christian Arab, seized and made a slave by the Turks; recommended by her beauty, she had won the heart of the father of Safie, who married her. The young girl spoke in high and enthusiastic terms of her mother, who, born in freedom, spurned the bondage to which she was now reduced. She instructed her daughter in the tenets of her religion and taught her to aspire to higher powers of intellect and an independence of spirit forbidden to the female followers of Muhammad. This lady died, but her lessons were indelibly impressed on the mind of Safie, who sickened at the prospect of again returning to Asia and being immured within the walls of a harem, allowed only to occupy herself with infantile amusements, ill-suited to the temper of her soul, now accustomed to grand ideas and a noble emulation for virtue. The prospect of marrying a Christian and remaining in a country where women were allowed to take a rank in society was enchanting to her.
"Safie contaba que su madre había sido una árabe cristiana, capturada y reducida a esclavitud por los turcos; recomendada por su belleza, había ganado el corazón del padre de Safie, que se casó con ella. La joven hablaba en términos altos y entusiastas de su madre, quien, nacida en libertad, despreciaba la servidumbre a la que ahora se veía reducida. Instruyó a su hija en los principios de su religión y le enseñó a aspirar a más altas facultades del intelecto y a una independencia de espíritu vedadas a las seguidoras de Mahoma. Esta dama murió, pero sus lecciones quedaron impresas de manera indeleble en la mente de Safie, a quien enfermaba la perspectiva de regresar de nuevo a Asia y verse emparedada entre los muros de un harén, autorizada tan solo a ocuparse en pasatiempos pueriles, mal avenidos con el temple de su alma, ya habituada a las grandes ideas y a una noble emulación de la virtud. La perspectiva de casarse con un cristiano y permanecer en un país donde a las mujeres se les permitía ocupar un rango en la sociedad la tenía cautivada.
“The day for the execution of the Turk was fixed, but on the night previous to it he quitted his prison and before morning was distant many leagues from Paris. Felix had procured passports in the name of his father, sister, and himself. He had previously communicated his plan to the former, who aided the deceit by quitting his house, under the pretence of a journey and concealed himself, with his daughter, in an obscure part of Paris.
"Se fijó el día para la ejecución del turco, pero en la noche anterior este abandonó su prisión y, antes de amanecer, se hallaba a muchas leguas de París. Felix había conseguido pasaportes a nombre de su padre, de su hermana y de sí mismo. Había comunicado antes su plan al primero, quien secundó el engaño abandonando su casa bajo pretexto de un viaje, y se ocultó, con su hija, en un rincón apartado de París.
“Felix conducted the fugitives through France to Lyons and across Mont Cenis to Leghorn, where the merchant had decided to wait a favourable opportunity of passing into some part of the Turkish dominions.
"Felix condujo a los fugitivos a través de Francia hasta Lyon, y por el Mont Cenis hasta Liorna, donde el mercader había resuelto esperar una ocasión favorable para pasar a algún punto de los dominios turcos.
“Safie resolved to remain with her father until the moment of his departure, before which time the Turk renewed his promise that she should be united to his deliverer; and Felix remained with them in expectation of that event; and in the meantime he enjoyed the society of the Arabian, who exhibited towards him the simplest and tenderest affection. They conversed with one another through the means of an interpreter, and sometimes with the interpretation of looks; and Safie sang to him the divine airs of her native country.
"Safie resolvió permanecer con su padre hasta el momento de la partida de este, antes del cual el turco renovó su promesa de que ella se uniría a su libertador; y Felix se quedó con ellos a la espera de aquel acontecimiento; y entretanto gozaba del trato de la árabe, que le mostraba el afecto más sencillo y tierno. Conversaban entre sí por medio de un intérprete, y a veces por la interpretación de las miradas; y Safie le cantaba las divinas melodías de su tierra natal.
“The Turk allowed this intimacy to take place and encouraged the hopes of the youthful lovers, while in his heart he had formed far other plans. He loathed the idea that his daughter should be united to a Christian, but he feared the resentment of Felix if he should appear lukewarm, for he knew that he was still in the power of his deliverer if he should choose to betray him to the Italian state which they inhabited. He revolved a thousand plans by which he should be enabled to prolong the deceit until it might be no longer necessary, and secretly to take his daughter with him when he departed. His plans were facilitated by the news which arrived from Paris.
"El turco consintió que se diera esa intimidad y alentó las esperanzas de los jóvenes amantes, mientras en su corazón había forjado planes muy distintos. Aborrecía la idea de que su hija se uniera a un cristiano, pero temía el resentimiento de Felix si se mostraba tibio, pues sabía que aún estaba en poder de su libertador, quien podía entregarlo, si así lo decidía, al Estado italiano que habitaban. Revolvió mil planes con que pudiera prolongar el engaño hasta que ya no fuese necesario, y llevarse en secreto a su hija consigo cuando partiera. Sus planes se vieron facilitados por las noticias que llegaron de París.
“The government of France were greatly enraged at the escape of their victim and spared no pains to detect and punish his deliverer. The plot of Felix was quickly discovered, and De Lacey and Agatha were thrown into prison. The news reached Felix and roused him from his dream of pleasure. His blind and aged father and his gentle sister lay in a noisome dungeon while he enjoyed the free air and the society of her whom he loved. This idea was torture to him. He quickly arranged with the Turk that if the latter should find a favourable opportunity for escape before Felix could return to Italy, Safie should remain as a boarder at a convent at Leghorn; and then, quitting the lovely Arabian, he hastened to Paris and delivered himself up to the vengeance of the law, hoping to free De Lacey and Agatha by this proceeding.
"El gobierno de Francia se enfureció sobremanera por la evasión de su víctima y no escatimó esfuerzo alguno para descubrir y castigar a su libertador. La trama de Felix se descubrió pronto, y De Lacey y Agatha fueron encarcelados. La noticia llegó a Felix y lo arrancó de su sueño de placer. Su padre, ciego y anciano, y su dulce hermana yacían en una mazmorra fétida, mientras él gozaba del aire libre y de la compañía de aquella a quien amaba. Esa idea era para él un tormento. Concertó de inmediato con el turco que, si este hallaba ocasión favorable para huir antes de que Felix pudiera regresar a Italia, Safie quedaría interna en un convento de Liorna; y entonces, dejando a la encantadora árabe, corrió a París y se entregó a la venganza de la ley, con la esperanza de liberar a De Lacey y a Agatha con ese proceder.
“He did not succeed. They remained confined for five months before the trial took place, the result of which deprived them of their fortune and condemned them to a perpetual exile from their native country.
"No lo consiguió. Permanecieron encerrados cinco meses antes de que se celebrara el juicio, cuyo resultado los despojó de su fortuna y los condenó a un destierro perpetuo de su país natal.
“They found a miserable asylum in the cottage in Germany, where I discovered them. Felix soon learned that the treacherous Turk, for whom he and his family endured such unheard-of oppression, on discovering that his deliverer was thus reduced to poverty and ruin, became a traitor to good feeling and honour and had quitted Italy with his daughter, insultingly sending Felix a pittance of money to aid him, as he said, in some plan of future maintenance.
"Hallaron un mísero refugio en la cabaña de Alemania, donde yo los descubrí. Felix no tardó en saber que el pérfido turco, por quien él y su familia habían soportado tan inaudita opresión, al descubrir que su libertador quedaba así reducido a la pobreza y la ruina, traicionó todo buen sentimiento y honor y abandonó Italia con su hija, enviando a Felix, en un insulto, una miseria de dinero para ayudarlo, según decía, en algún plan de subsistencia futura.
“Such were the events that preyed on the heart of Felix and rendered him, when I first saw him, the most miserable of his family. He could have endured poverty, and while this distress had been the meed of his virtue, he gloried in it; but the ingratitude of the Turk and the loss of his beloved Safie were misfortunes more bitter and irreparable. The arrival of the Arabian now infused new life into his soul.
"Tales fueron los sucesos que atormentaban el corazón de Felix y que lo hacían, cuando lo vi por primera vez, el más desdichado de su familia. Habría podido soportar la pobreza, y mientras esa aflicción fue el galardón de su virtud, se enorgullecía de ella; pero la ingratitud del turco y la pérdida de su amada Safie eran desgracias más amargas e irreparables. La llegada de la árabe infundía ahora nueva vida en su alma.
“When the news reached Leghorn that Felix was deprived of his wealth and rank, the merchant commanded his daughter to think no more of her lover, but to prepare to return to her native country. The generous nature of Safie was outraged by this command; she attempted to expostulate with her father, but he left her angrily, reiterating his tyrannical mandate.
"Cuando llegó a Liorna la noticia de que Felix se veía privado de su fortuna y su rango, el mercader ordenó a su hija que no pensara más en su amado, sino que se dispusiera a regresar a su país natal. La generosa naturaleza de Safie se indignó ante semejante orden; intentó razonar con su padre, pero este la dejó airadamente, reiterando su tiránico mandato.
“A few days after, the Turk entered his daughter’s apartment and told her hastily that he had reason to believe that his residence at Leghorn had been divulged and that he should speedily be delivered up to the French government; he had consequently hired a vessel to convey him to Constantinople, for which city he should sail in a few hours. He intended to leave his daughter under the care of a confidential servant, to follow at her leisure with the greater part of his property, which had not yet arrived at Leghorn.
"Pocos días después, el turco entró en el aposento de su hija y le dijo con premura que tenía razones para creer que su residencia en Liorna había sido divulgada y que pronto sería entregado al gobierno francés; en consecuencia, había fletado un buque que lo llevara a Constantinopla, hacia cuya ciudad zarparía en pocas horas. Se proponía dejar a su hija al cuidado de un sirviente de confianza, para que lo siguiera con calma, con la mayor parte de sus bienes, que aún no habían llegado a Liorna.
“When alone, Safie resolved in her own mind the plan of conduct that it would become her to pursue in this emergency. A residence in Turkey was abhorrent to her; her religion and her feelings were alike averse to it. By some papers of her father which fell into her hands she heard of the exile of her lover and learnt the name of the spot where he then resided. She hesitated some time, but at length she formed her determination. Taking with her some jewels that belonged to her and a sum of money, she quitted Italy with an attendant, a native of Leghorn, but who understood the common language of Turkey, and departed for Germany.
"A solas, Safie meditó en su interior el plan de conducta que le convenía seguir en aquel trance. Residir en Turquía le resultaba aborrecible; su religión y sus sentimientos eran por igual contrarios a ello. Por unos papeles de su padre que cayeron en sus manos supo del destierro de su amado y averiguó el nombre del lugar donde entonces residía. Vaciló algún tiempo, pero al fin tomó su resolución. Llevando consigo algunas joyas de su propiedad y una suma de dinero, abandonó Italia con una acompañante, natural de Liorna, pero que entendía la lengua común de Turquía, y partió hacia Alemania.
“She arrived in safety at a town about twenty leagues from the cottage of De Lacey, when her attendant fell dangerously ill. Safie nursed her with the most devoted affection, but the poor girl died, and the Arabian was left alone, unacquainted with the language of the country and utterly ignorant of the customs of the world. She fell, however, into good hands. The Italian had mentioned the name of the spot for which they were bound, and after her death the woman of the house in which they had lived took care that Safie should arrive in safety at the cottage of her lover.”
"Llegó a salvo a una ciudad situada a unas veinte leguas de la cabaña de De Lacey, cuando su acompañante cayó gravemente enferma. Safie la cuidó con el afecto más entregado, pero la pobre muchacha murió, y la árabe quedó sola, ajena a la lengua del país y del todo ignorante de las costumbres del mundo. Cayó, no obstante, en buenas manos. La italiana había mencionado el nombre del lugar hacia el que se dirigían, y, tras su muerte, la mujer de la casa en que habían vivido cuidó de que Safie llegara a salvo a la cabaña de su amado."