EL SOLITARIO

THE SOLITAIRE

Kassim era un hombre enfermizo, joyero de profesión, bien que no tuviera tienda establecida.

Kassim was a sickly man, a jeweler by trade, though he had no established shop.

Trabajaba para las grandes casas, siendo su especialidad el montaje de las piedras preciosas.

He worked for the major jewelry houses, specializing in the mounting of precious stones.

Pocas manos como las suyas para los engarces delicados.

Few hands were like his when it came to delicate settings.

Con más arranque y habilidad comercial, hubiera sido rico.

With more drive and commercial skill, he would have been rich.

Pero a los treinta y cinco años proseguía en su pieza, aderezada en taller bajo la ventana.

But at thirty-five, he remained in his room, fitted out as a workshop under the window.

Kassim, de cuerpo mezquino, rostro exangüe sombreado por rala barba negra, tenía una mujer hermosa y fuertemente apasionada.

Kassim, with his slight frame and bloodless face shaded by a sparse black beard, had a beautiful and intensely passionate wife.

La joven, de origen callejero, había aspirado con su hermosura a un más alto enlace.

The young woman, of humble origin, had aspired through her beauty to a higher match.

Esperó hasta los veinte años, provocando a los hombres y a sus vecinas con su cuerpo.

She waited until she was twenty, provoking men and her female neighbors with her body.

Temerosa al fin, aceptó nerviosamente a Kassim.

Fearful at last, she nervously accepted Kassim.

No más sueños de lujo, sin embargo.

No more dreams of luxury, however.

Su marido, hábil--artista aún,--carecía completamente de carácter para hacer una fortuna.

Her husband, skilled—an artist, even—completely lacked the force of character to make a fortune.

Por lo cual, mientras el joyero trabajaba doblado sobre sus pinzas, ella, de codos, sostenía sobre su marido una lenta y pesada mirada, para arrancarse luego bruscamente y seguir con la vista tras los vidrios al transeunte de posición que podía haber sido su marido.

Because of this, while the jeweler worked bent over his tweezers, she would lean on her elbows and fix a slow, heavy gaze upon her husband, only to tear herself away abruptly and follow through the window panes the well-to-do passerby who might have been her husband.

Cuanto ganaba Kassim, no obstante, era para ella.

Everything Kassim earned, nevertheless, was for her.

Los domingos trabajaba también a fin de poderle ofrecer un suplemento.

On Sundays he worked as well, in order to offer her a little extra.

Cuando María deseaba una joya--¡y con cuánta pasión deseaba ella!--trabajaba de noche.

When María desired a piece of jewelry—and with what passion she desired them!—he worked through the night.

Después había tos y puntadas al costado; pero María tenía sus chispas de brillante.

Afterward came coughing and sharp pains in his side; but María got her diamond sparkles.

Poco a poco el trato diario con las gemas llegó a hacerle amar las tareas del artífice, y seguía con ardor las íntimas delicadezas del engarce.

Little by little, daily contact with the gems led her to love the craftsman's tasks, and she would watch with passion the intricate subtleties of the setting process.

Pero cuando la joya estaba concluída--debía partir, no era para ella,--caía más hondamente en la decepción de su matrimonio.

But when the piece was finished—it had to go, it was not for her—she would sink deeper into the disappointment of her marriage.

Se probaba la alhaja, deteniéndose ante el espejo.

She would try on the jewel, lingering in front of the mirror.

Al fin la dejaba por ahí, y se iba a su cuarto.

Finally she would leave it lying somewhere and go to her room.

Kassim se levantaba al oir sus sollozos, y la hallaba en la cama, sin querer escucharlo.

Kassim would get up upon hearing her sobs and find her in bed, refusing to listen to him.

--Hago, sin embargo, cuanto puedo por ti,--decía él al fin, tristemente.

"I do, however, as much as I can for you," he would say at last, sadly.

Los sollozos subían con esto, y el joyero se reinstalaba lentamente en su banco.

The sobs would grow louder at this, and the jeweler would slowly settle back at his workbench.

Estas cosas se repitieron, tanto que Kassim no se levantaba ya a consolarla.

These scenes repeated themselves so often that Kassim no longer got up to console her.

¡Consolarla!

Console her!

¿de qué?

For what?

Lo cual no obstaba para que Kassim prolongara más sus veladas a fin de un mayor suplemento.

This, however, did not prevent Kassim from prolonging his late hours in order to secure a larger bonus.

Era un hombre indeciso, irresoluto y callado.

He was a hesitant, indecisive, and quiet man.

Las miradas de su mujer se detenían ahora con más pesada fijeza sobre aquella muda tranquilidad.

His wife's eyes now lingered with heavier intensity upon that silent calmness.

--¡Y eres un hombre, tú!--murmuraba.

"And you call yourself a man!" she would mutter.

Kassim, sobre sus engarces, no cesaba de mover los dedos.

Kassim, over his mountings, did not cease moving his fingers.

--No eres feliz conmigo, María--expresaba al rato.

"You are not happy with me, María," he would say after a while.

--¡Feliz!

"Happy!

¡Y tienes el valor de decirlo!

And you have the nerve to say it!

¿Quién puede ser feliz contigo?

Who could be happy with you?

¡Ni la última de las mujeres!...

Not even the lowest of women!...

¡Pobre diablo!--concluía con risa nerviosa, yéndose.

Poor devil!" she would conclude with a nervous laugh, walking away.

Kassim trabajaba esa noche hasta las tres de la mañana, y su mujer tenía luego nuevas chispas que ella consideraba un instante con los labios apretados.

Kassim would work that night until three in the morning, and his wife would later have new sparkles that she would contemplate for a moment with tight lips.

--Sí... ¡no es una diadema sorprendente!... ¿cuando la hiciste?

"Yes... it's hardly a breathtaking tiara!... When did you make it?"

--Desde el martes--mirábala él con descolorida ternura--dormías de noche...

"Since Tuesday," he would look at her with pale tenderness, "you were sleeping at night..."

--¡Oh, podías haberte acostado!...

"Oh, you could have just gone to bed!...

¡Inmensos, los brillantes!

How huge the diamonds are!"

Porque su pasión eran las voluminosas piedras que Kassim montaba.

Because her true passion was the bulky stones that Kassim mounted.

Seguía el trabajo con loca hambre de que concluyera de una vez, y apenas aderezada la alhaja, corría con ella al espejo.

She would follow the work with a frantic hunger for it to be finished once and for all, and no sooner was the jewel set than she would run with it to the mirror.

Luego, un ataque de sollozos.

Then, a fit of sobbing.

--¡Todos, cualquier marido, el último, haría un sacrificio para halagar a su mujer!

"Everyone, any husband, even the worst of them, would make a sacrifice to please his wife!

Y tú... y tú... ni un miserable vestido que ponerme, tengo!

And you... and you... I don't even have a miserable dress to wear!"

Cuando se franquea cierto límite de respeto al varón, la mujer puede llegar a decir a su marido cosas increíbles.

When a certain limit of respect for a man is crossed, a woman can end up saying incredible things to her husband.

La mujer de Kassim franqueó ese límite con una pasión igual por lo menos a la que sentía por los brillantes.

Kassim's wife crossed that limit with a passion at least equal to the one she felt for diamonds.

Una tarde, al guardar sus joyas, Kassim notó la falta de un prendedor--cinco mil pesos en dos solitarios.--Buscó en sus cajones de nuevo.

One afternoon, while putting away his jewels, Kassim noticed a brooch missing--five thousand pesos in two solitaires.--He searched through his drawers again.

--¿No has visto el prendedor, María?

--Haven't you seen the brooch, María?

Lo dejé aquí.

I left it here.

--Sí, lo he visto.

--Yes, I've seen it.

--¿Dónde está?--se volvió extrañado.

--Where is it?--he turned around, surprised.

--¡Aquí!

--Right here!

Su mujer, los ojos encendidos y la boca burlona, se erguía con el prendedor puesto.

His wife, her eyes glowing and her mouth mocking, stood tall wearing the brooch.

--Te queda muy bien--dijo Kassim al rato.--Guardémoslo.

--It looks very good on you--Kassim said after a moment.--Let's put it away.

María se rió.

María laughed.

--Oh, no!

--Oh, no!

es mío.

it's mine.

--Broma?...

--A joke?...

--Sí, es broma!

--Yes, it's a joke!

¡es broma, sí!

it's a joke, yes!

¡Cómo te duele pensar que podría ser mío...

How it hurts you to think that it could be mine...

Mañana te lo doy.

I'll give it to you tomorrow.

Hoy voy al teatro con él.

Today I'm wearing it to the theater.

Kassim se demudó.

Kassim turned pale.

--Haces mal... podrían verte.

--You shouldn't... people might see you.

Perderían toda confianza en mí.

They would lose all trust in me.

--¡Oh!--cerró ella con rabioso fastidio, golpeando violentamente la puerta.

--Oh!--she snapped with furious annoyance, slamming the door violently.

Vuelta del teatro, colocó la joya sobre el velador.

Upon returning from the theater, she placed the jewel on the nightstand.

Kassim se levantó y la guardó en su taller bajo llave.

Kassim got up and locked it away in his workshop.

Al volver, su mujer estaba sentada en la cama.

When he returned, his wife was sitting on the bed.

--¡Es decir, que temes que te la robe!

--In other words, you're afraid I'll steal it from you!

¡Qué soy una ladrona!

“That I'm a thief!

--No mires así...

“Don't look at me like that...

Has sido imprudente, nada más.

You've been reckless, nothing more.

--¡Ah!

"Ah!

¡Y a ti te lo confían!

And they trust you with it!

¡A ti, a ti!

You, of all people!

¡Y cuando tu mujer te pide un poco de halago, y quiere... me llamas ladrona a mí!

And when your wife asks you for a little attention and wants... you call me a thief!

¡Infame!

Wretch!”

Se durmió al fin.

She finally fell asleep.

Pero Kassim no durmió.

But Kassim didn't sleep.

Entregaron luego a Kassim para montar, un solitario, el brillante más admirable que hubiera pasado por sus manos.

Later, they gave Kassim a solitaire diamond to mount—the most admirable diamond that had ever passed through his hands.

--Mira, María, qué piedra.

“Look, María, what a stone.

No he visto otra igual.

I've never seen another like it.

Su mujer no dijo nada; pero Kassim la sintió respirar hondamente sobre el solitario.

His wife said nothing, but Kassim felt her breathing deeply over the solitaire.

--Una agua admirable...--prosiguió él--costará nueve o diez mil pesos.

“Remarkable clarity...” he continued. “It must be worth nine or ten thousand pesos.”

--Un anillo!--murmuró María al fin.

“A ring!” María whispered at last.

--No, es de hombre...

“No, it's for a man...

Un alfiler.

A pin.”

A compás del montaje del solitario, Kassim recibió sobre su espalda trabajadora cuanto ardía de rencor y cocotaje frustrado en su mujer.

As he worked on mounting the solitaire, Kassim bore the full weight on his hardworking back of all the burning resentment and frustrated vanity in his wife.

Diez veces por día interrumpía a su marido para ir con el brillante ante el espejo.

Ten times a day she would interrupt her husband to take the diamond over to the mirror.

Después se lo probaba con diferentes vestidos.

Afterward, she would try it on with different dresses.

--Si quieres hacerlo después...--se atrevió Kassim.--Es un trabajo urgente.

“If you'd like to do that later...” Kassim ventured. “It's an urgent job.”

Esperó respuesta en vano; su mujer abría el balcón.

He waited in vain for an answer; his wife was opening the balcony door.

--María, te pueden ver!

“María, people might see you!”

--Toma!

“Here!

¡ahí está tu piedra!

there's your stone!”

El solitario, violentamente arrancado, rodó por el piso.

The solitaire diamond, violently torn away, rolled across the floor.

Kassim, lívido, lo recogió examinándolo, y alzó luego desde el suelo la mirada a su mujer.

Kassim, deathly pale, picked it up to examine it, and then raised his eyes from the floor to look at his wife.

--Y bueno, ¿por qué me miras así?

"Well, why are you looking at me like that?

¿Se hizo algo tu piedra?

Did something happen to your stone?"

--No--repuso Kassim.

"No," Kassim replied.

Y reanudó en seguida su tarea, aunque las manos le temblaban hasta dar lástima.

And he immediately resumed his work, though his hands were trembling pitifully.

Pero tuvo que levantarse al fin a ver a su mujer en el dormitorio, en plena crisis de nervios.

But he finally had to get up to see his wife in the bedroom, in the middle of a nervous breakdown.

El pelo se había soltado y los ojos le salían de las órbitas.

Her hair had come undone and her eyes were bulging from their sockets.

--¡Dame el brillante!--clamó.--¡Dámelo!

"Give me the diamond!" she cried. "Give it to me!

¡Nos escaparemos!

We'll run away!

¡Para mí!

For me!

¡Dámelo!

Give it to me!"

--María...--tartamudeó Kassim, tratando de desasirse.

"María..." stammered Kassim, trying to break free.

--¡Ah!--rugió su mujer enloquecida.--¡Tú eres el ladrón, miserable!

"Ah!" roared his wife, beside herself. "You are the thief, you wretch!

¡Me has robado mi vida, ladrón, ladrón!

You have stolen my life, thief, thief!

Y creías que no me iba a desquitar... cornudo!

And you thought I wasn't going to get even... you cuckold!

¡Ajá!

Aha!

Mírame... no se te había ocurrido nunca, ¿eh?

Look at me... it had never crossed your mind, huh?

¡Ah!--y se llevó las dos manos a la garganta ahogada.

Ah!"—and she raised both hands to her choking throat.

Pero cuando Kassim se iba, saltó de la cama y cayó, alcanzando a cogerlo de un botín.

But as Kassim was leaving, she leaped out of bed and fell, managing to catch him by a boot.

--¡No importa!

"It doesn't matter!

¡El brillante, dámelo!

The diamond, give it to me!

¡No quiero más que eso!

I don't want anything else!

¡Es mío, Kassim miserable!

It's mine, you miserable Kassim!"

Kassim la ayudó a levantarse, lívido.

Kassim helped her up, deathly pale.

--Estás enferma, María.

"You're sick, María.

Después hablaremos... acuéstate.

We'll talk later... go to bed."

--¡Mi brillante!

"My diamond!"

--Bueno, veremos si es posible... acuéstate.

"Well, we'll see if it's possible... go to bed."

--Dámelo!

"Give it to me!"

La bola montó de nuevo a la garganta.

The lump rose again in her throat.

Kassim volvió a trabajar en su solitario.

Kassim went back to working on his solitaire diamond.

Como sus manos tenían una seguridad matemática, faltaban pocas horas ya.

Since his hands moved with mathematical precision, only a few hours remained.

María se levantó para comer, y Kassim tuvo la solicitud de siempre con ella.

María got up to eat, and Kassim was as attentive to her as ever.

Al final de la cena su mujer lo miró de frente.

At the end of dinner, his wife looked him straight in the face.

--Es mentira, Kassim--le dijo.

"It's a lie, Kassim," she said to him.

--¡Oh!--repuso Kassim sonriendo--no es nada.

"Oh," Kassim replied, smiling, "it's nothing."

--¡Te juro que es mentira!--insistió ella.

"I swear to you it's a lie!" she insisted.

Kassim sonrió de nuevo, tocándole con torpe cariño la mano.

Kassim smiled again, touching her hand with awkward affection.

--¡Loca!

"You crazy girl!

Te digo que no me acuerdo de nada.

I tell you I don't remember a thing."

Y se levantó a proseguir su tarea.

And he stood up to continue his work.

Su mujer, con la cara entre las manos, lo siguió con la vista.

His wife, with her face in her hands, watched him go.

--Y no me dice más que eso...--murmuró.

"And he says nothing more than that to me..." she murmured.

Y con una honda náusea por aquello pegajoso, fofo e inerte que era su marido, se fué a su cuarto.

And with deep nausea toward that sticky, flabby, and lifeless thing that was her husband, she went to her room.

No durmió bien.

She didn't sleep well.

Despertó, tarde ya, y vió luz en el taller; su marido continuaba trabajando.

She woke up, late already, and saw light in the workshop; her husband was still working.

Una hora después, éste oyó un alarido.

An hour later, he heard a scream.

--¡Dámelo!

"Give it to me!"

--Sí, es para ti; falta poco, María--repuso presuroso, levantándose.

"Yes, it's for you; it won't be long now, María," he replied hastily, getting up.

Pero su mujer, tras ese grito de pesadilla, dormía de nuevo.

But his wife, after that nightmare cry, was sleeping again.

A las dos de la mañana Kassim pudo dar por terminada su tarea; el brillante resplandecía, firme y varonil en su engarce.

At two in the morning Kassim was able to consider his task complete; the diamond shone, firm and bold in its setting.

Con paso silencioso fué al dormitorio y encendió la veladora.

With silent steps he went to the bedroom and lit the nightlamp.

María dormía de espaldas, en la blancura helada de su camisón y de la sábana.

María was sleeping on her back, amidst the icy whiteness of her nightgown and sheet.

Fué al taller y volvió de nuevo.

He went to the workshop and came back again.

Contempló un rato el seno casi descubierto, y con una descolorida sonrisa apartó un poco más el camisón desprendido.

He gazed for a moment at her almost exposed breast, and with a faint smile pulled back the unfastened nightgown a little further.

Su mujer no lo sintió.

His wife did not feel it.

No había mucha luz.

There was not much light.

El rostro de Kassim adquirió de pronto una dura inmovilidad, y suspendiendo un instante la joya a flor del seno desnudo, hundió, firme y perpendicular como un clavo, el alfiler entero en el corazón de su mujer.

Kassim's face suddenly took on a hard immobility, and holding the jewel for a moment just above her bare breast, he plunged the pin all the way into his wife's heart, firm and straight as a nail.

Hubo una brusca apertura de ojos, seguida de una lenta caída de párpados.

There was a sudden widening of her eyes, followed by a slow drooping of her eyelids.

Los dedos se arqueron, y nada más.

Her fingers arched, and nothing more.

La joya, sacudida por la convulsión del ganglio herido, tembló un instante desequilibrada.

The jewel, jolted by the convulsion of the stricken heart, trembled for an instant, unbalanced.

Kassim esperó un momento; y cuando el solitario quedó por fin perfectamente inmóvil, pudo entonces retirarse, cerrando tras de sí la puerta sin hacer ruido.

Kassim waited a moment; and when the solitaire diamond finally rested perfectly still, he was then able to withdraw, closing the door behind him without making a sound.