| THE REVELATION OF THE SCARLET LETTER The eloquent voice, on which the souls of the listening audience had been borne aloft as on the swelling waves of the sea, at length came to a pause. There was a momentary silence, profound as what should follow the utterance of oracles. Then ensued a murmur and half-hushed tumult, as if the auditors, released from the high spell that had transported them into the region of another's mind, were returning into themselves, with all their awe and wonder still heavy on them. In a moment more the crowd began to gush forth from the doors of the church. Now that there was an end, they needed more breath, more fit to the gross and earthly life into which they relapsed, than that atmosphere which the preacher had converted into words of flame, and had burdened with the rich fragrance of his thought. In the open air their rapture broke into speech. The street and the market-place absolutely babbled, from side to side, with applauses of the minister. His hearers could not rest until they had told one another of what each knew better than he could tell or hear.
According to their united testimony, never had man spoken in so wise, so high, and so holy a spirit, as he that spake this day; nor had inspiration ever breathed through mortal lips more evidently than it did through his. Its influence could be seen, as it were, descending upon him, and possessing him, and continually lifting him out of the written discourse that lay before him, and filling him with ideas that must have been as marvellous to himself as to his audience. His subject, it appeared, had been the relation between the Deity and the communities of mankind, with a special reference to the New England which they were here planting in the wilderness. And, as he drew towards the close, a spirit as of prophecy had come upon him, constraining him to its purpose as mightily as the old prophets of Israel were constrained, only with this difference, that, whereas the Jewish seers had denounced judgments and ruin on their country, it was his mission to foretell a high and glorious destiny for the newly gathered people of the Lord. But, throughout it all, and through the whole discourse, there had been a certain deep, sad undertone of pathos, which could not be interpreted otherwise than as the natural regret of one soon to away. Yes; their minister whom they so loved—and who so loved them all, that he could not depart heavenward without a sigh—had the foreboding of untimely death upon him, and would soon leave them in their tears. This idea of his transitory stay on earth gave the last emphasis to the effect which the preacher had produced; it was as if an angel, in his age to the skies, had shaken his bright wings over the people for an instant—at once a shadow and a splendour—and had shed down a shower of golden truths upon them. Thus, there had come to the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale—as to most men, in their various spheres, though seldom recognised until they see it far behind them—an epoch of life more brilliant and full of triumph than any previous one, or than any which could hereafter be. He stood, at this moment, on the very proudest eminence of superiority, to which the gifts or intellect, rich lore, prevailing eloquence, and a reputation of whitest sanctity, could exalt a clergyman in New England's earliest days, when the professional character was of itself a lofty pedestal. Such was the position which the minister occupied, as he bowed his head forward on the cushions of the pulpit at the close of his Election Sermon. Meanwhile Hester Prynne was standing beside the scaffold of the pillory, with the scarlet letter still burning on her breast!
Now was heard again the clamour of the music, and the measured tramp of the military escort issuing from the church door. The procession was to be marshalled thence to the town hall, where a solemn banquet would complete the ceremonies of the day.
Once more, therefore, the train of venerable and majestic fathers were seen moving through a broad pathway of the people, who drew back reverently, on either side, as the Governor and magistrates, the old and wise men, the holy ministers, and all that were eminent and renowned, advanced into the midst of them. When they were fairly in the marketplace, their presence was greeted by a shout. This—though doubtless it might acquire additional force and volume from the child-like loyalty which the age awarded to its rulers—was felt to be an irrepressible outburst of enthusiasm kindled in the auditors by that high strain of eloquence which was yet reverberating in their ears. Each felt the impulse in himself, and in the same breath, caught it from his neighbour. Within the church, it had hardly been kept down; beneath the sky it pealed upward to the zenith. There were human beings enough, and enough of highly wrought and symphonious feeling to produce that more impressive sound than the organ tones of the blast, or the thunder, or the roar of the sea; even that mighty swell of many voices, blended into one great voice by the universal impulse which makes likewise one vast heart out of the many. Never, from the soil of New England had gone up such a shout! Never, on New England soil had stood the man so honoured by his mortal brethren as the preacher!
How fared it with him, then? Were there not the brilliant particles of a halo in the air about his head? So etherealised by spirit as he was, and so apotheosised by worshipping irers, did his footsteps, in the procession, really tread upon the dust of earth?
As the ranks of military men and civil fathers moved onward, all eyes were turned towards the point where the minister was seen to approach among them. The shout died into a murmur, as one portion of the crowd after another obtained a glimpse of him. How feeble and pale he looked, amid all his triumph! The energy—or say, rather, the inspiration which had held him up, until he should have delivered the sacred message that had brought its own strength along with it from heaven—was withdrawn, now that it had so faithfully performed its office. The glow, which they had just before beheld burning on his cheek, was extinguished, like a flame that sinks down hopelessly among the late decaying embers. It seemed hardly the face of a man alive, with such a death-like hue: it was hardly a man with life in him, that tottered on his path so nervously, yet tottered, and did not fall!
One of his clerical brethren—it was the venerable John Wilson—observing the state in which Mr. Dimmesdale was left by the retiring wave of intellect and sensibility, stepped forward hastily to offer his . The minister tremulously, but decidedly, repelled the old man's arm. He still walked onward, if that movement could be so described, which rather resembled the wavering effort of an infant, with its mother's arms in view, outstretched to tempt him forward. And now, almost imperceptible as were the latter steps of his progress, he had come opposite the well-ed and weather-darkened scaffold, where, long since, with all that dreary lapse of time between, Hester Prynne had encountered the world's ignominious stare. There stood Hester, holding little Pearl by the hand! And there was the scarlet letter on her breast! The minister here made a pause; although the music still played the stately and rejoicing march to which the procession moved. It summoned him onward—inward to the festival!—but here he made a pause. Bellingham, for the last few moments, had kept an anxious eye upon him. He now left his own place in the procession, and advanced to give assistance judging, from Mr. Dimmesdale's aspect that he must otherwise inevitably fall. But there was something in the latter's expression that warned back the magistrate, although a man not readily obeying the vague intimations that from one spirit to another. The crowd, meanwhile, looked on with awe and wonder. This earthly faintness, was, in their view, only another phase of the minister's celestial strength; nor would it have seemed a miracle too high to be wrought for one so holy, had he ascended before their eyes, waxing dimmer and brighter, and fading at last into the light of heaven! He turned towards the scaffold, and stretched forth his arms.
"Hester," said he, "come hither! Come, my little Pearl!"
It was a ghastly look with which he regarded them; but there was something at once tender and strangely triumphant in it. The child, with the bird-like motion, which was one of her characteristics, flew to him, and clasped her arms about his knees. Hester Prynne—slowly, as if impelled by inevitable fate, and against her strongest will—likewise drew near, but paused before she reached him. At this instant old Roger Chillingworth thrust himself through the crowd—or, perhaps, so dark, disturbed, and evil was his look, he rose up out of some nether region—to snatch back his victim from what he sought to do! Be that as it might, the old man rushed forward, and caught the minister by the arm. "Man, hold! what is your purpose?" whispered he. "Wave back that woman! Cast off this child! All shall be well! Do not blacken your fame, and perish in dishonour! I can yet save you! Would you bring infamy on your sacred profession?" "Ha, tempter! Methinks thou art too late!" answered the minister, encountering his eye, fearfully, but firmly. "Thy power is not what it was! With God's help, I shall escape thee now!" He again extended his hand to the woman of the scarlet letter.
"Hester Prynne," cried he, with a piercing earnestness, "in the name of Him, so terrible and so merciful, who gives me grace, at this last moment, to do what—for my own heavy sin and miserable agony—I withheld myself from doing seven years ago, come hither now, and twine thy strength about me! Thy strength, Hester; but let it be guided by the will which God hath granted me! This wretched and wronged old man is opposing it with all his might!—with all his own might, and the fiend's! Come, Hester—come! me up yonder scaffold." The crowd was in a tumult. The men of rank and dignity, who stood more immediately around the clergyman, were so taken by surprise, and so perplexed as to the purport of what they saw—unable to receive the explanation which most readily presented itself, or to imagine any other—that they remained silent and inactive spectators of the judgement which Providence seemed about to work. They beheld the minister, leaning on Hester's shoulder, and ed by her arm around him, approach the scaffold, and ascend its steps; while still the little hand of the sin-born child was clasped in his. Old Roger Chillingworth followed, as one intimately connected with the drama of guilt and sorrow in which they had all been actors, and well entitled, therefore to be present at its closing scene. "Hadst thou sought the whole earth over," said he looking darkly at the clergyman, "there was no one place so secret—no high place nor lowly place, where thou couldst have escaped me—save on this very scaffold!"
"Thanks be to Him who hath led me hither!" answered the minister.
Yet he trembled, and turned to Hester, with an expression of doubt and anxiety in his eyes, not the less evidently betrayed, that there was a feeble smile upon his lips.
"Is not this better," murmured he, "than what we dreamed of in the forest?"
"I know not! I know not!" she hurriedly replied. "Better? Yea; so we may both die, and little Pearl die with us!"
"For thee and Pearl, be it as God shall order," said the minister; "and God is merciful! Let me now do the will which He hath made plain before my sight. For, Hester, I am a dying man. So let me make haste to take my shame upon me!" Partly ed by Hester Prynne, and holding one hand of little Pearl's, the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale turned to the dignified and venerable rulers; to the holy ministers, who were his brethren; to the people, whose great heart was thoroughly appalled yet overflowing with tearful sympathy, as knowing that some deep life-matter—which, if full of sin, was full of anguish and repentance likewise—was now to be laid open to them. The sun, but little past its meridian, shone down upon the clergyman, and gave a distinctness to his figure, as he stood out from all the earth, to put in his plea of guilty at the bar of Eternal Justice. "People of New England!" cried he, with a voice that rose over them, high, solemn, and majestic—yet had always a tremor through it, and sometimes a shriek, struggling up out of a fathomless depth of remorse and woe—"ye, that have loved me!—ye, that have deemed me holy!—behold me here, the one sinner of the world! At last—at last!—I stand upon the spot where, seven years since, I should have stood, here, with this woman, whose arm, more than the little strength wherewith I have crept hitherward, sustains me at this dreadful moment, from grovelling down upon my face! Lo, the scarlet letter which Hester wears! Ye have all shuddered at it! Wherever her walk hath been—wherever, so miserably burdened, she may have hoped to find repose—it hath cast a lurid gleam of awe and horrible repugnance round about her. But there stood one in the midst of you, at whose brand of sin and infamy ye have not shuddered!" It seemed, at this point, as if the minister must leave the remainder of his secret undisclosed. But he fought back the bodily weakness—and, still more, the faintness of heart—that was striving for the mastery with him. He threw off all assistance, and stepped ionately forward a pace before the woman and the children. "It was on him!" he continued, with a kind of fierceness; so determined was he to speak out the whole. "God's eye beheld it! The angels were for ever pointing at it! (The Devil knew it well, and fretted it continually with the touch of his burning finger!) But he hid it cunningly from men, and walked among you with the mien of a spirit, mournful, because so pure in a sinful world!—and sad, because he missed his heavenly kindred! Now, at the death-hour, he stands up before you! He bids you look again at Hester's scarlet letter! He tells you, that, with all its mysterious horror, it is but the shadow of what he bears on his own breast, and that even this, his own red stigma, is no more than the type of what has seared his inmost heart! Stand any here that question God's judgment on a sinner! Behold! Behold, a dreadful witness of it!"
With a convulsive motion, he tore away the ministerial band from before his breast. It was revealed! But it were irreverent to describe that revelation. For an instant, the gaze of the horror-stricken multitude was concentrated on the ghastly miracle; while the minister stood, with a flush of triumph in his face, as one who, in the crisis of acutest pain, had won a victory. Then, down he sank upon the scaffold! Hester partly raised him, and ed his head against her bosom. Old Roger Chillingworth knelt down beside him, with a blank, dull countenance, out of which the life seemed to have departed. "Thou hast escaped me!" he repeated more than once. "Thou hast escaped me!" "May God forgive thee!" said the minister. "Thou, too, hast deeply sinned!" He withdrew his dying eyes from the old man, and fixed them on the woman and the child.
"My little Pearl," said he, feebly and there was a sweet and gentle smile over his face, as of a spirit sinking into deep repose; nay, now that the burden was removed, it seemed almost as if he would be sportive with the child—"dear little Pearl, wilt thou kiss me now? Thou wouldst not, yonder, in the forest! But now thou wilt?" Pearl kissed his lips. A spell was broken. The great scene of grief, in which the wild infant bore a part had developed all her sympathies; and as her tears fell upon her father's cheek, they were the pledge that she would grow up amid human joy and sorrow, nor forever do battle with the world, but be a woman in it. Towards her mother, too, Pearl's errand as a messenger of anguish was fulfilled. "Hester," said the clergyman, "farewell!"
"Shall we not meet again?" whispered she, bending her face down
close to his. "Shall we not spend our immortal life together?
Surely, surely, we have ransomed one another, with all this woe!
Thou lookest far into eternity, with those bright dying eyes!
Then tell me what thou seest!"
"Hush, Hester—hush!" said he, with tremulous solemnity. "The law we broke!—the sin here awfully revealed!—let these alone be in thy thoughts! I fear! I fear! It may be, that, when we forgot our God—when we violated our reverence each for the other's soul—it was thenceforth vain to hope that we could meet hereafter, in an everlasting and pure reunion. God knows; and He is merciful! He hath proved his mercy, most of all, in my afflictions. By giving me this burning torture to bear upon my breast! By sending yonder dark and terrible old man, to keep the torture always at red-heat! By bringing me hither, to die this death of triumphant ignominy before the people! Had either of these agonies been wanting, I had been lost for ever! Praised be His name! His will be done! Farewell!" That final word came forth with the minister's expiring breath. The multitude, silent till then, broke out in a strange, deep voice of awe and wonder, which could not as yet find utterance, save in this murmur that rolled so heavily after the departed spirit. |
|
|
|
LA REVELACIN DE LA LETRA ESCARLATA LA elocuente voz que haba arrebatado el alma de los oyentes, hacindoles agitarse como si se hallaran mecidos por las olas de turbulento ocano, ces al fin de resonar. Hubo un momento de silencio, profundo como el que tendra que reinar despus de las palabras de un orculo. Luego hubo un murmullo, seguido de una especie de ruido tumultuoso: se dira que los circunstantes, vindose ya libres de la influencia del encanto mgico que los haba transportado a las esferas en que se cerna el espritu del orador, estaban volviendo de nuevo en s mismos, aunque todava llenos de la iracin y respeto que aquel les infundiera. Un momento despus, la multitud empez a salir por las puertas de la iglesia; y como ahora todo haba concluido, necesitaban respirar una atmsfera ms propia para la vida terrestre a que haban descendido, que aquella a que el predicador los elev con sus palabras de fuego.
Una vez al aire libre, los oyentes expresaron su iracin de diversas maneras: la calle y la plaza del mercado resonaron de extremo a extremo con las alabanzas prodigadas al ministro, y los circunstantes no hallaban reposo hasta haber referido cada cual a su vecino lo que pensaba recordar o saber mejor que l. Segn el testimonio universal, jams hombre alguno haba hablado con espritu tan sabio, tan elevado y santo como el ministro aquel da; ni jams hubo labios mortales tan evidentemente inspirados como los suyos. Podra decirse que esa inspiracin descendi sobre l y se apoder de su ser, elevndole constantemente sobre el discurso escrito que yaca ante sus ojos, llenndole con ideas que haban de parecerle a l mismo tan maravillosas como a su auditorio.
Segn se colige de lo que hablaba la multitud, el asunto del sermn haba sido la relacin entre la Divinidad y las sociedades humanas, con referencia especial a la Nueva Inglaterra que ellos haban fundado en el desierto; y a medida que se fue acercando al final de su discurso, descendi sobre l un espritu de profeca, que le obligaba a continuar en su tema como aconteca con los antiguos profetas de Israel, con esta diferencia, sin embargo, que mientras aquellos anunciaban la ruina y desolacin de su patria, Dimmesdale predeca un grande y glorioso destino al pueblo all congregado. Pero en todo su discurso haba cierta nota profunda, triste, dominante, que slo poda interpretarse como el sentimiento natural y melanclico de uno que pronto ha de abandonar este mundo. S: su ministro, a quien tanto amaban, y que los amaba tanto a todos ellos, que no poda partir hacia el cielo sin exhalar un suspiro de dolor,—tena el presentimiento de que una muerte prematura le esperaba, y de que pronto los dejara baados en lgrimas. Esta idea de su permanencia transitoria en la tierra, dio el ltimo toque al efecto que el predicador haba producido; dirase que un ngel, en su paso por el firmamento, haba sacudido un instante sus luminosas alas sobre el pueblo, produciendo al mismo tiempo sombra y esplendor, y derramando una lluvia de verdades sobre el auditorio.
De este modo lleg para el Reverendo Sr. Dimmesdale,—como llega para la mayora de los hombres en sus varias esferas de accin, aunque con frecuencia demasiado tarde,—una poca de vida ms brillante y llena de triunfos que ninguna otra en el curso de su existencia, o que jams pudiera esperar. En aquel momento se encontraba en la cspide de la altura a que los dones de la inteligencia, de la erudicin, de la oratoria, y de un nombre de intachable pureza, podan elevar a un eclesistico en los primeros tiempos de la Nueva Inglaterra, cuando ya una carrera de esa clase era en s misma un alto pedestal. Tal era la posicin que el ministro ocupaba, cuando inclin la cabeza sobre el borde del plpito al terminar su discurso. Entre tanto, Ester Prynne permaneca al pie del tablado de la picota con la letra escarlata abrasando an su corazn.
Oyronse de nuevo los sones de la msica y el paso mesurado de la escolta militar que sala por la puerta de la iglesia. La procesin deba dirigirse a la casa consistorial, donde un solemne banquete iba a completar las ceremonias del da.
Por lo tanto, de nuevo la comitiva de venerables y majestuosos padres de la ciudad empez a moverse en el espacio libre que dejaba el pueblo, hacindose respetuosamente a uno y otro lado, cuando el Gobernador y los magistrados, los hombres ancianos y cuerdos, los santos ministros del altar, y todo lo que era eminente y renombrado en la poblacin, avanzaban por en medio de los espectadores. Cuando llegaron a la plaza del mercado, su presencia fue saludada con una aclamacin general; que si bien poda atribuirse al sentimiento de lealtad que en aquella poca experimentaba el pueblo hacia sus gobernantes, era tambin la explosin irresistible del entusiasmo que en el alma de los oyentes haba despertado la elevada elocuencia que aun vibraba en sus odos. Cada uno sinti el impulso en s mismo y casi instantneamente este impulso se hizo unnime. Dentro de la iglesia a duras penas pudo reprimirse; pero debajo de la bveda del cielo no fue posible contener su manifestacin, ms grandiosa que los rugidos del huracn, del trueno o del mar, en aquella potente oleada de tantas voces reunidas en una gran voz por el impulso universal que de muchos corazones forma uno solo. Jams en el suelo de la Nueva Inglaterra haba resonado antes igual clamoreo. Jams, en el suelo de la Nueva Inglaterra, se haba visto un hombre de tal modo honrado por sus conciudadanos como lo era ahora el predicador.
Y qu era de l? No se vean por ventura en el aire las partculas brillantes de una aureola al rededor de su cabeza? Habindose vuelto tan etreo, habiendo sus iradores hecho su apoteosis, pisaban sus pies el polvo de la tierra cuando iba marchando en la procesin?
Mientras las filas de los hombres de la milicia y de los magistrados civiles avanzaban, todas las miradas se dirigan al lugar en que marchaba el Sr. Dimmesdale. La aclamacin se iba convirtiendo en murmullo a medida que una parte de los espectadores tras otra lograba divisarle. Cun plido y dbil pareca en medio de todo este triunfo suyo! La energa,—, mejor dicho, la inspiracin que lo sostuvo mientras pronunciaba el sagrado mensaje que le comunic su propia fuerza, como venida del cielo,—ya le haba abandonado despus de haber cumplido tan fielmente su misin. El color que antes pareca abrasar sus mejillas, se haba extinguido como llama que se apaga irremediablemente entre los ltimos rescoldos. La mortal palidez de su rostro era tal, que apenas semejaba ste el de un hombre vivo; ni el que marchaba con pasos tan vacilantes como si fuera a desplomarse a cada momento, sin hacerlo sin embargo, apenas poda tampoco tomarse por un ser viviente.
Uno de sus hermanos eclesisticos,—el venerable Juan Wilson,—observando el estado en que se hallaba el Sr. Dimmesdale despus que pronunci su discurso, se adelant apresuradamente para ofrecerle su apoyo; pero el ministro, todo trmulo, aunque de una manera decidida, alej el brazo que le presentaba su anciano colega. Continu andando, si es que puede llamarse andar lo que ms bien pareca el esfuerzo vacilante de un nio a la vista de los brazos de su madre, extendidos para animarle a que se adelante. Y ahora, casi imperceptiblemente a pesar de la lentitud de sus ltimos pasos, se encontraba frente a frente de aquel tablado, cuyo recuerdo jams se borr de su memoria, de aquel tablado donde, muchos aos antes, Ester Prynne haba tenido que soportar las miradas ignominiosas del mundo. All estaba Ester teniendo de la mano a Perla! Y all estaba la letra escarlata en su pecho! El ministro hizo aqu alto, aunque la msica continuaba tocando la majestuosa y animada marcha al comps de la cual la procesin iba desfilando. Adelante!—le deca la msica,—adelante, al banquete! Pero el ministro se qued all como si estuviera clavado.
El Gobernador Bellingham, que durante los ltimos momentos haba tenido fijas en el ministro las ansiosas miradas, abandonando ahora su puesto en la procesin, se adelant para prestarle auxilio, creyendo, por el aspecto del Sr. Dimmesdale, que de lo contrario caera al suelo. Pero en la expresin de las miradas del ministro haba algo que hizo retroceder al magistrado, aunque no era hombre que fcilmente cediese a las vagas intimaciones de otro. Entre tanto la multitud contemplaba todo aquello con temor respetuoso y iracin. Este desmayo terrenal era, segn crean, slo otra faz de la fuerza celestial del ministro; ni se hubiera tenido por un milagro demasiado sorprendente contemplarle ascender en los espacios, ante sus miradas, volvindose cada vez ms transparente y ms brillante, hasta verle por fin desvanecerse en la claridad de los cielos.
El ministro se acerc al tablado y extendi los brazos.
—Ester!—dijo,—ven aqu! Ven aqu tambin, Perlita!
La mirada que les dirigi fue lgubre, pero haba en ella a la vez que cierta ternura, una extraa expresin de triunfo. La nia, con sus movimientos parecidos a los de un ave, que eran una de sus cualidades caractersticas, corri hacia l y estrech las rodillas del ministro entre sus tiernos bracitos. Ester, como impelida por inevitable destino, y contra toda su voluntad, se acerc tambin a Dimmesdale, pero se detuvo antes de llegar. En este momento el viejo Roger Chillingworth se abri paso al travs de la multitud, , tan sombra, maligna e inquieta era su mirada, que acaso surgi de una regin infernal para impedir que su vctima realizara su propsito. Pero sea de ello lo que se quiera, el anciano mdico se adelant rpidamente hacia el ministro y le asi del brazo.
—Insensato, detente! qu intentas hacer?—le dijo en voz baja.—Haz sea a esa mujer de que se aleje! Haz que se retire tambin esta nia! Todo ir bien. No manches tu buen nombre, ni mueras deshonrado! Todava puedo salvarte! Quieres cubrir de ignominia tu sagrada profesin?
—Ah! tentador! Me parece que vienes demasiado tarde,—respondi el ministro fijando las miradas en los ojos del mdico, con temor, pero con firmeza.—Tu poder no es el que antes era. Con la ayuda de Dios me librar ahora de tus garras.
Y extendi de nuevo la mano a la mujer de la letra escarlata.
—Ester Prynne,—grit con penetrante vehemencia,—en el nombre de Aquel tan terrible y tan misericordioso, que en este ltimo momento me concede la gracia de hacer lo que, con grave pecado y agona infinita me he abstenido de hacer hace siete aos, ven aqu ahora y aydame con tus fuerzas. Prstame tu auxilio, Ester, pero deja que lo gue la voluntad que Dios me ha concedido. Este perverso y agraviado anciano se opone a ello con todo su poder, con todo su propio poder y el del enemigo malo. Ven, Ester, ven! Aydame a subir ese tablado.
En la multitud reinaba la mayor confusin. Los hombres de categora y dignidad que se hallaban ms inmediatos al ministro, se quedaron tan sorprendidos y perplejos acerca de lo que significaba aquello que vean, tan incapaces de comprender la explicacin que ms fcilmente se les presentaba, o imaginar alguna otra, que permanecieron mudos y tranquilos espectadores del juicio que la Providencia pareca iba a pronunciar. Vean al ministro, apoyado en el hombro de Ester y sostenido por el brazo con que sta le rodeaba, acercarse al tablado y subir sus gradas, teniendo entre las manos las de aquella niita nacida en el pecado. El viejo Roger Chillingworth le segua, como persona ntimamente relacionada con el drama de culpa y de dolor en que todos ellos haban sido actores, y por lo tanto con derecho bastante a hallarse presente en la escena final.
—Si hubieras escudriado toda la tierra,—dijo mirando con sombros ojos al ministro,—no habras hallado un lugar tan secreto, ni tan alto, ni tan bajo, donde hubieras podido librarte de m,—como este cadalso en que ahora ests.
—Gracias sean dadas a Aquel que me ha trado aqu!—contest el ministro.
Temblaba sin embargo, y se volvi hacia Ester con una expresin de duda y ansiedad en los ojos que fcilmente poda distinguirse, por estar acompaada de una dbil sonrisa en sus labios.
—No es esto mejor,—murmur,—que lo que imaginamos en la selva?
—No s! No s!—respondi ella rpidamente.—Mejor? S: ojala pudiramos morir aqu ambos, y Perlita con nosotros!
—Respecto a ti y a Perla, sea lo que Dios ordene!—dijo el ministro,—y Dios es misericordioso. Djame hacer ahora lo que l ha puesto claramente de manifiesto ante mis ojos, porque yo me estoy muriendo, Ester. Deja, pues, que me apresure a tomar sobre mi alma la parte de vergenza que me corresponde.
En parte sostenido por Ester, y teniendo de la mano a Perla, el Reverendo Sr. Dimmesdale se volvi a los dignos y venerables magistrados, a los sagrados ministros que eran sus hermanos en el Seor, al pueblo cuya gran alma estaba completamente consternada, aunque llena de simpata dolorosa, como si supiera que un asunto vital y profundo, que si repleto de culpa tambin lo estaba de angustia y de arrepentimiento, se iba a poner ahora de manifiesto a la vista de todos. El sol, que haba pasado ya su meridiano, derramaba su luz sobre el ministro y haca destacar su figura perfectamente, como si se hubiera desprendido de la tierra para confesar su delito ante el tribunal de la Justicia Eterna.
—Pueblo de la Nueva Inglaterra!—exclam con una voz que se elev por encima de todos los circunstantes, alta, solemne y majestuosa,—pero que con todo era siempre algo trmula, y a veces semejaba un grito que surga luchando desde un abismo insondable de remordimiento y de dolor,—vosotros, continu, que me habis amado,—vosotros, que me habis credo santo,—mire aqu, mirad al ms grande pecador del mundo. Al fin, al fin estoy de pie en el lugar en que deba haber estado hace siete aos: aqu, con esta mujer, cuyo brazo, ms que la poca fuerza con que me he arrastrado hasta aqu, me sostiene en este terrible momento y me impide caer de bruces al suelo! Ved ah la letra escarlata que Ester lleva! Todos os habis estremecido a su vista. Donde quiera que esta mujer ha ido, donde quiera que, bajo el peso de tanta desgracia, hubiera podido tener la esperanza de hallar reposo,—esa letra ha esparcido en torno suyo un triste fulgor que inspiraba espanto y repugnancia. Pero en medio de vosotros haba un hombre, ante cuya marca de infamia y de pecado jams os habis estremecido!
Al llegar a este punto, pareci que el ministro tena que dejar en silencio el resto de su secreto; pero luch contra su debilidad corporal, y aun mucho ms contra la flaqueza de nimo que se esforzaba en subyugarle. Se desembaraz entonces de todo sostn corporal, y dio un paso hacia adelante resueltamente, dejando detrs de s a la mujer y a la nia.
—Esa marca la tena l!—continu con una especie de fiero arrebato. Tan determinado estaba a revelarlo todo!—El ojo de Dios la vea! Los ngeles estaban siempre sealndola! El enemigo malo la conoca muy bien y la estregaba constantemente con sus dedos candentes! Pero l la ocultaba con astucia a la mirada de los hombres, y se mova entre vosotros con rostro apesadumbrado, como el de un hombre muy puro en un mundo tan pecador; y triste, porque echaba de menos sus compaeros celestiales. Ahora, en los ltimos momentos de su vida, se presenta ante vosotros; os pide que contemplis de nuevo la letra escarlata de Ester; y os dice que, con todo su horror misterioso, no es sino la plida sombra de la que l lleva en su propio pecho; y que aun esta marca roja que tengo aqu, esta marca roja ma, es solo el reflejo de la que est abrasando lo ms ntimo de su corazn. Hay aqu quin pueda poner en duda el juicio de Dios sobre un pecador? Mirad! Contemplad un testimonio terrible de ese juicio!
Con un movimiento convulsivo desgarr la banda eclesistica que llevaba en el pecho. Todo qued revelado! Pero sera irreverente describir aquella revelacin. Durante un momento las miradas de la multitud horrorizada se concentraron en el lgubre milagro, mientras el ministro permaneca en pie con una expresin triunfante en el rostro, como la de un hombre que en medio de una crisis del ms agudo dolor ha conseguido una victoria. Despus cay desplomado sobre el cadalso. Ester lo levant parcialmente y le hizo reclinar la cabeza sobre su seno. El viejo Roger se arrodill a su lado con aspecto sombro, desconcertado, con un rostro en el cual pareca haberse extinguido la vida.
—Has logrado escaparte de m!—repeta con frecuencia.—Has logrado escaparte de m!
—Que Dios te perdone!—dijo el ministro.—T tambin has pecado gravemente!
Apart sus miradas moribundas del anciano, y las fij en la mujer y la nia.
—Mi pequea Perla!—dijo dbilmente, y una dulce y tierna sonrisa ilumin su semblante, como el de un espritu que va entrando en profundo reposo; mejor dicho, ahora que el peso que abrumaba su alma haba desaparecido, pareca que deseaba jugar con la nia,—mi querida Perlita, me besars ahora? No lo queras hacer en la selva! Pero ahora s lo hars.
Perla le dio un beso en la boca. El encanto se deshizo. La gran escena de dolor en que la errtica nia tuvo su parte, haba madurado de una vez todos sus sentimientos y afectos; y las lgrimas que derramaba sobre las mejillas de su padre, eran una prenda de que ella ira creciendo entre la pena y la alegra, no para estar siempre en lucha contra el mundo, sino para ser en l una verdadera mujer. Tambin respecto de su madre la misin de Perla, como mensajera de dolor, se haba cumplido plenamente.
—Ester,—dijo el ministro,—adis!
—No nos volveremos a encontrar?—murmur Ester inclinando la cabeza junto a la del ministro.—No pasaremos juntos nuestra vida inmortal? S, s, con todo este dolor nos hemos rescatado mutuamente. T ests mirando muy lejos, all en la eternidad, con tus brillantes y moribundos ojos. Dime, qu es lo que ves?
—Silencio, Ester, silencio!—dijo el ministro con trmula solemnidad.—La ley que quebrantamos,—la culpa tan terriblemente revelada,—sean tus solos pensamientos. Yo temo!... temo!... Quizs desde que olvidamos a nuestro Dios, desde que violamos el mutuo respeto que debamos a nuestras almas,—fue ya vano esperar el poder asociarnos despus de esta vida en una unin pura y sempiterna. Dios slo lo sabe y l es misericordioso. Ha mostrado su compasin, ms que nunca, en medio de mis aflicciones, con darme esta candente tortura que llevaba en el pecho; con enviarme a ese terrible y sombro anciano, que mantena siempre esa tortura cada vez ms viva; con traerme aqu, para acabar mi vida con esta muerte de triunfante ignominia ante los ojos del pueblo. Si alguno de estos tormentos me hubiera faltado, yo estara perdido para siempre! Loado sea su nombre! Hgase su voluntad! Adis!
Con la ltima palabra, el ministro exhal tambin su ltimo aliento. La multitud, silenciosa hasta entonces, prorrumpi en un murmullo extrao y profundo de temor y de sorpresa que no pudieron hallar otra expresin, sino en ese murmullo que reson tan gravemente despus que aquella alma hubo partido. |
English version
Versin en espaol
