The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas (Translated by Thomson-DeVeaux 2020) by Machado de Assis

Author:Machado de Assis [Assis, Machado de]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literature
ISBN: 9780143135036
Publisher: Penguin Books; Penguin Random House
Published: 1881-01-01T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER LXXIII

REFRESHMENTS1

The nonsense has made me waste another chapter. How much better it would be to say things smoothly, without all this jolting! I’ve already compared my style to a drunkard’s walk. If the idea strikes you as indecorous, I will say that it was precisely what my meals with Virgília were at the little house in Gamboa, where we often had our feasts, our refreshments. Wine, fruit, compotes. We ate, it’s true, but the eating was punctuated with the commas of sweet words, tender gazes, childish moments, an endless stream of these asides of the heart which are the true, uninterrupted discourse of love. At times a lover’s quarrel would come to temper the surfeit of sweetness. She would leave me and take refuge in a corner of the sofa, or go inside to hear Dona Plácida’s cooing. Five or ten minutes later, we would resume the thread of our conversation again, as I resume the thread of narration, only to abandon it yet again. Note that not only did we not flee from method, we also habitually invited it, in the form of Dona Plácida, to join us at the table; but Dona Plácida never said yes.

“It seems you don’t care for me anymore,” Virgília said to her one day.

“Saints preserve us!” the good lady exclaimed, throwing her hands up. “If I don’t care for Missus, then who do I care for in this world?”

And taking hold of her hands, she looked at Virgília fixedly, fixedly, fixedly, until her eyes began to water, so fixed was her gaze. Virgília covered her in caresses; I slipped a silver coin into the pocket of her dress.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.