XIX

XIX

LA COZ

THE KICK

Íbamos al cortijo de Montemayor, al herradero de los novillos.

We were going to the Montemayor estate, to the branding of the steers.

El patio empedrado, sombrío bajo el inmenso y ardiente cielo azul de la tardecita, vibraba sonoro del relinchar de los caballos pujantes, del reir fresco de las mujeres, de los afilados ladridos inquietos de los perros.

The cobblestone courtyard, shaded beneath the immense and burning blue sky of the late afternoon, vibrated loudly with the neighing of powerful horses, the fresh laughter of the women, and the sharp, restless barking of the dogs.

Platero, en un rincón, se impacientaba.

Platero, in a corner, was growing impatient.

--Pero, hombre--le dije--, si tú no puedes venir con nosotros; si eres muy chico...

"But, my friend," I told him, "you cannot come with us; you are too small..."

Se ponía tan loco, que le pedí al tonto que se subiera en él y lo llevara con nosotros.

He was getting so frantic that I asked the idiot boy to get on him and bring him along with us.

Por el campo claro, ¡qué alegre cabalgar!

Across the bright countryside, what a joyful ride!

Estaban las marismas risueñas y ceñidas de oro, con el sol en sus espejos rotos, que doblaban los molinos cerrados.

The marshes were cheerful and girdled with gold, with the sun in their broken mirrors, which reflected the closed mills.

Entre el redondo trote duro de los caballos, Platero alzaba su raudo trotecillo agudo, que necesitaba multiplicar insistentemente para no quedarse solo en el camino.

Amidst the round, hard trot of the horses, Platero kept up his swift, sharp little trot, which he needed to multiply persistently so as not to be left behind alone on the road.

De pronto, sonó como un tiro de pistola.

Suddenly, there was a sound like a pistol shot.

Platero le había rozado la grupa á un fino potro tordo con su boca, y el potro le había respondido con una rápida coz.

Platero had grazed the rump of a fine dapple colt with his mouth, and the colt had responded with a swift kick.

Nadie hizo caso, pero yo le vi á Platero una mano corrida de sangre.

Nobody paid any attention, but I saw blood trickling down one of Platero's forelegs.

Eché pie á tierra y, con una espina y una crin, le prendí la vena rota.

I dismounted and, with a thorn and a strand of horsehair, I pinned the ruptured vein.

Luego le dije al tonto que se lo llevara á casa.

Then I told the idiot boy to take him back home.

Se volvieron los dos, lentos y tristes, por el arroyo seco que baja del pueblo, volviendo la cabeza al brillante huir de nuestro tropel.

The two of them turned back, slow and sad, along the dry stream that runs down from the town, turning their heads toward the brilliant, fleeting rush of our troop.

Cuando, de vuelta del cortijo, fuí á ver á Platero, me lo encontré mustio y doloroso.

When, upon returning from the estate, I went to see Platero, I found him dejected and in pain.

--¿Ves--le suspiré--que tú no puedes ir á ninguna parte con los hombres?

"Do you see," I sighed to him, "that you cannot go anywhere with men?"