Waltey
Guvernerjevo desno oko
258 The Governor's Right Eye
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land · Charles M. SkinnerO besedilu
Guvernerjevo desno oko
- Vir
- Myths and Legends of Our Own Land
- Avtor
- Charles M. Skinner
- Jezik branja
- Slovenščina
- Jezik izvirnika
- English
- Čas branja
- 3 min branja
- Obseg
- 3 strani
- Naslov izvirnika
- 258 The Governor's Right Eye
O izvirniku
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land
Obsežna zgodovinska zbirka ameriških legend, ki jih je Skinner zbral in avtorsko rekonstruiral. Bralni jezik je Slovenščina, izvirnik pa prihaja iz vira Myths and Legends of Our Own Land v jeziku English.
Besedilo
Guvernerjevo desno oko
Stari guverner Hermenegildo Salvatierra iz Presidia v Kaliforniji je premogel eno samo oko — levo —, kajti drugo mu je izstrelila indijanska puščica. S svojim zdravim očesom je nekega vetrovnega popoldneva v deževni dobi strmel v ogenj, ko so predenj privedli čokatega moža v nepremočljivem mornarskem klobuku. Ko se je ta predstavil kot nihče drug kot kapitan Peleg Scudder s škune General Court iz Salema, ga je guverner sprejel s toplino, ki je bila povsem nesorazmerna s pomenom, kakršnega bi takšno razkritje imelo za navadnega smrtnika.
Pozdravili so ga z zdravicami in celo z vinom. Poveljnikovo veselje je bilo tolikšno, da je ob tretji čaši z nekoliko počenim glasom zapel ljubezensko balado in zlezel na mizo, da bi Jenkija naučil plesati kačučo. Zakon je Američanom prepovedoval daljše zadrževanje v španskih vodah, zato je General Court odplula še tisto noč — kajti to se je, pomislite, dogajalo leta 1797, ko so Španci vladali daljni zahodni obali.
Naslednji dan se je Salvatierra pred svojimi osuplimi podložniki prikazal z desnim očesom. Duhovniki, ki so službovali v trdnjavi, so opravili posebno zahvalno bogoslužje in o čudežu pripovedovali okoliškim rdečekožcem kot o dokazu moči dobrote, molitve in vere. Ljudje so prihajali od blizu in daleč, da bi šli v cerkev in si ta čudež ogledali na lastne oči. A gorje guvernerjevemu slovesu pobožnega moža! Kmalu so začele krožiti šepetave govorice, da je novo oko zlo; da s svojim neizprosnim, hladnim pogledom bere najgloblje človeške misli; da so nekateri patri pod njegovim vplivom izdali o sebi reči, za katere poveljnik nikoli ne bi pomislil, da jih je duhovnik sploh zmožen. Ljudje so se tega očesa bali in starcu pripisovali vsakršne lopovščine, ki so bile dotlej njegovi naravi povsem tuje.
Ta vsesplošni strah in sumničavost sta neizogibno vplivala tudi nanj in Salvatierra je nezavedno začel kazati nekatere lastnosti, ki so mu jih pripisovali podložniki. Iz prizanesljivega očeta se je počasi spreminjal v strogega in zahtevnega zakonodajalca. Vendar ni vedel, kaj ljudje govorijo o njem, in niti slutil ni, da bi ga utegnilo njegovo oko spraviti v težave.
Bila je topla noč in k počitku je legel pri odprtih oknih — oknih, ki so gledala na vrt in katerih spodnji rob je bil v višini tal. Po peščeni stezi se je prikradla temna postava in vstopila skozi eno izmed oken. Bil je Indijanec iz misijona. Iz pogovorov vernikov je razbral, da bi z uničenjem moči tega zlega očesa storil uslugo tako Bogu kakor ljudem. Stopil je k postelji in si pozorno ogledal guvernerja, ki je tam spal v soju sveče. Nato je zatulil od groze — tako glasno, da je starec skočil na noge —, kajti medtem ko je levo oko trdno spalo, je bilo zlo oko na stežaj odprto in je strmelo vanj s srhljivim leskom.
Že naslednji hip je bil poveljnik pri oknu in nad glavo vihtel svoj zvesti toledski meč ter sekal ušesa in nosove rdečekožim odpadnikom, ki so prišli za prvim. V prerivanju je dobil še udarec s pestjo v desno oko. Ko se je zdanilo, so z veseljem ugotovili, da je zlo oko ugasnilo — in to za zmeraj. Ljudje so mu spet zaupali. Ko je spoznal, da ne zbuja več groze, je njegov glas postal prijaznejši, vedenje pa milejše. Prav tistega dne je ponehalo nenavadno silovito deževje, ki je trajalo že nekaj časa, in tako je bilo odvrnjeno uničenje zaradi povodnji, kakršno so napovedovali v misijonih, duhovščina pa je v cerkvi zapela »Te Deum«. Stari poveljnik si vse do smrti ni upal priznati, da je bilo zlo oko zgolj stekleno.
Izvirnik
258 The Governor's Right Eye
Naslednje strani prikazujejo izvirno besedilo za primerjavo.
Old Governor Hermenegildo Salvatierra, of Presidio, California, sported only one eye--the left--because the other had been shot out by an Indian arrow. With his sound one he was gazing into the fire, on a windy afternoon in the rainy season, when a chunky man in a sou'wester was-ushered into his presence, and after announcing that he was no other than Captain Peleg Scudder, of the schooner General Court, from Salem, he was made welcome in a manner quite out of proportion in its warmth to the importance that such a disclosure would have for the every-day citizen.
He was hailed with wassail and even with wine. The joy of the commandant was so great that at the third bowl he sang a love ballad, in a voice somewhat cracked, and got on the table to teach the Yankee how to dance the cachuca. The law forbade any extended stay of Americans in Spanish waters, and the General Court took herself off that very night--for this, mind you, was in 1797, when the Spaniard ruled the farther coast.
Next day Salvatierra appeared before his astonished people with a right eye. The priests attached to the fort gave a special service of praise, and told the miracle to the red men of their neighborhood as an illustration of the effect of goodness, prayer, and faith. People came from far and near that they might go to church and see this marvel for themselves. But, alas, for the governor's repute for piety! It soon began to be whispered around that the new eye was an evil one; that it read the deepest thoughts of men with its inflexible, cold stare; that under its influence some of the fathers had been betrayed into confessing things that the commandant had never supposed a clergyman to be guilty of. The people feared that eye, and ascribed such rogueries to the old man as had been entirely foreign to his nature hitherto.
This common fear and suspicion reacted, inevitably, and Salvatierra began, unconsciously, to exhibit some of the traits that his subjects said he possessed. He changed slowly from the indulgent parent to the stern and exacting law-giver. He did not know, however, what the people had been saying about him, and never suspected that his eye was likely to get him into trouble.
It was a warm night and he had gone to bed with his windows open--windows that opened from his garden, and were level, at the bottom, with the floor. A shadowy form stole along the gravel path and entered one of these windows. It was that of a mission Indian. He had gathered from the talk of the faithful that it would be a service to the deity as well as to men to destroy the power of that evil eye. He came beside the bed and looked attentively at the governor, sleeping there in the light of a candle. Then he howled with fright--howled so loudly that the old man sprang to his feet--for while the left eye had been fast asleep the evil one was broad awake and looking at him with a ghostly glare.
In another second the commandant was at the window whirling his trusty Toledo about his head, lopping ears and noses from the red renegades who had followed in the track of the first. In the scrimmage he received another jab in the right eye with a fist. When day dawned it was discovered, with joy, that the evil eye was darkened--and forever. The people trusted him once more. Finding that he was no longer an object of dread, his voice became kinder, his manner more gentle. A heavy and unusual rain, that had been falling, passed off that very day, so that the destruction from flood, which had been prophesied at the missions, was stayed, and the clergy sang “Te Deum” in the church. The old commandant never, to his dying day, had the heart to confess that the evil eye was only a glass one.
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