XVIII

XVIII

ELLA Y NOSOTROS

SHE AND US

Platero; acaso ella se iba--¿adonde?--en aquel tren negro y soleado que, por la vía alta, cortándose sobre los nubarrones blancos, huía hacia el norte.

Platero; perhaps she was going--where?--on that black and sunny train which, along the high track, silhouetted against the large white clouds, was fleeing toward the north.

Yo estaba abajo, contigo, en el trigal amarillo y ondeante, goteado todo de sangre de amapolas, que ya Julio coronaba de ceniza.

I was below, with you, in the yellow and waving wheat field, all flecked with the blood of poppies, which July was already crowning with ash.

Y las nubecillas de vapor celeste--¿te acuerdas?--entristecían un momento el sol y las flores, rodando vanamente hacia la nada...

An the little clouds of bluish steam--do you remember?--saddened the sun and the flowers for a moment, rolling vainly toward nothingness...

¡Breve cabeza rubia, velada de negro!

Brief blonde head, veiled in black!

Era como el retrato de la ilusión en el marco fugaz de la ventanilla.

She was like the portrait of an illusion in the fleeting frame of the window.

Tal vez ella pensara:--¿Quiénes serán ese hombre enlutado y ese burrillo de plata?

Perhaps she was thinking: "Who can that man in mourning and that little silver donkey be?"

¡Quiénes íbamos á ser!

Who else could we be!

Nosotros... ¿verdad, Platero?

Us... right, Platero?