Esteban Echeverría

The Captive (excerpts) (...) "There it is his beloved wounded, looking at the sky, and tight the body with hard bows, open his arms in a cross, tied hands and feet. Captive he is, but sleeps; immovable, weak, unarmed lies his invincible arm: from the Pampas the terrible lion prey of vultures is. There, waiting with the day by the impious tribe the death, is the man whose fame, whose name was, to the barbarian traitor, more fearful than the buzz of the iron or burning lead; more ill-fated and frightful than the rancorous Valichu to whom admits his mistake. There it is; silent she, like a shy maiden, kisses his half-open mouth, and as if she doubted she touches him to see if he still breathes. And thus, the hard ties that gnaw his flesh she cuts, cuts rapidly with his obedient blade, dyed with vulgar blood. Brian awakes; his soul strong, in agreement with his luck, do not disquiets nor disturbs; slowly he incorporates, looks, serene, and thinks he sees a murderer: bright with fire his wrathful eyes; but then he feels free, and he calms down, and says: -Are thou any soul that I can and shall love? Art thou an errant spirit, good angel, or vacillating breeding of my fantasy? -My vulgar name is Mary. Your guardian angel I am; and while it gains puissance- blind the dreadful vengeance of the barbarians- secure, in this dark night, watching over you I am." (...)		La Cautiva (fragmento) (...) "Allí está su amante herido, mirando al cielo, y ceñido el cuerpo con duros lazos, abiertos en cruz los brazos, ligadas manos y pies. Cautivo está, pero duerme; inmoble, sin fuerza, inerme yace su brazo invencible: de la Pampa el león terrible presa de los buitres es. Allí de la tribu impía, esperando con el día horrible muerte, está el hombre cuya fama, cuyo nombre era, al bárbaro traidor, más temible que el sumbido del hierro o plomo encendido; más aciago y espantoso que el Valichu rencoroso a quien acata su error. Allí está; silenciosa ella, como tímida doncella, besa su entreabierta boca, cual si dudara le toca por ver si respira aún. Entonces las ataduras, que sus carnes roen duras, corta, corta velozmente con su puñal obediente, teñido en sangre común. Brian despierta; su alma fuerte, conforme ya con su suerte, no se conturba ni azora; poco a poco se incorpora, mira sereno, y cree ver un asesino: echan fuego sus ojos de ira; mas luego se siente libre, y se calma, y dice: -¿eres alguna alma que pueda y deba querer? ¿Eres espíritu errante, angel bueno, o vacilante parto de mi fantasía? -Mi vulgar nombre es María. Angel de tu guarda soy; y mientras cobra pujanza, ebria la feroz venganza de los bárbaros, segura, en aquesta noche oscura, velando a tu lado estoy." (...)
Valichu: Evil god among the Indians of the Pampas
"Llamaban ellos salvaje unitario, conforme a la jerga inventada por el Restaurador, patrón de la cofradía, a todo el que no era degollador, carnicero, ni salvaje, ni ladrón; a todo hombre decente y de corazón bien puesto, a todo patriota ilustrado amigo de las luces y de la libertad; y por el suceso anterior puede verse a las claras que el foco de la federación estaba en el Matadero".		"They called a 'savage Unitarian following the ruling slang invented by the 'Restorer'- master of the cofraternity-, everyone that was not executioner, nor 'butcher', nor savage, nor thief; so they called every decent, kind hearted man, every illustrated patriot, friend of the enlightenment and of freedom; and for the past happening it can be clearly seen that the bastion of the federation was in the abattoir."
Fragment from 'El Matadero' (The Abattoir), a work where he shows the decadence and abuses of the Federalism in the United Provinces of the South (Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata) in the 1830's.-
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