CLOSE upon the hour of noon the whole village was suddenly electrified with the ghastly news. No need of the as yet un-dreamed-of telegraph; the tale flew from man to man, from group to group, from house to house, with little less than telegraphic speed. Of course the schoolmaster gave holi-day for that afternoon; the town would have thought strangely of him if he had not.
Arran arran del migdia, tot el llogarret fou sobtadament galvanitzat per les noves esgarrifoses. Sense necessitat del telègraf, en aquell temps encara no somniat, la història volà d'home a home, de grup a grup, de casa a casa, amb velocitat poc menys que telegràfica. Naturalment, el mestre d'escola concedí festa aquella tarda: quí sap què hauria pensat d'ell el poble si no ho hagués fet.
A gory knife had been found close to the murdered man, and it had been recognized by somebody as belonging to Muff Potter--so the story ran. And it was said that a belated citizen had come upon Potter washing himself in the "branch" about one or two o'clock in the morning, and that Potter had at once sneaked off--suspicious circumstances, especially the washing which was not a habit with Potter. It was also said that the town had been ransacked for this "murderer" (the public are not slow in the matter of sifting evidence and arriving at a verdict), but that he could not be found. Horsemen had departed down all the roads in every direction, and the Sheriff "was confident" that he would be captured before night.
Hom havia trobat un ganivet sangonós vora l'assassinat, i algú l'havia reconegut com a pertanyent a Muff Potter: això deia la història. I hom deia que un vianant noctàmbul havia vist Potter que es rentava en el rierol, cap a la una o les dues del matí, i que Potter s'havia escorregut enllà; sospitosa circumstància, sobretot el rentar-se, que no era un costum en Potter. Hom digué, aiximateix, que el poble havia estat escorcollat en cerca de l'assassí (el públic no és lent a garbellar les proves i arribar a un veredicte), però que havia estat introbable. Gent a cavall havien eixit per tots els camins, en totes direccions, i el xerif confiava que podria ésser capturat abans de la nit.
All the town was drifting toward the graveyard. Tom's heartbreak vanished and he joined the procession, not because he would not a thousand times rather go anywhere else, but because an awful, unaccountable fascination drew him on. Arrived at the dreadful place, he wormed his small body through the crowd and saw the dismal spectacle. It seemed to him an age since he was there before. Somebody pinched his arm. He turned, and his eyes met Huckleberry's. Then both looked elsewhere at once, and wondered if anybody had noticed anything in their mutual glance. But everybody was talking, and intent upon the grisly spectacle before them.
Tot el poble derivava cap al cementiri. El cortrencament de Tom s'esvaí, i s'ajuntà a la processó, no pas per no preferir mil vegades més d'anar a qualsevol banda, sinó perquè una paorosa, inexplicable fascinació l'hi arrossegava. Arribat a l'indret paorós, insinuà son cosset entre la multitud i veié el llòbrec espectacle. Li semblà que havia passat un segle abans que ell arribés allí al davant. Algú li pessigà el braç. Es girà, i sos ulls trobaren els de Huckleberry. Després, tots dos, d'un plegat, miraren a una altra banda i es preguntaren si algú havia reparat alguna entresenya en llur mútua llambregada. Però tothom enraonava, i es fixava en l'astorador espectacle que tenien en front.
"Poor fellow!" "Poor young fellow!" "This ought to be a lesson to grave robbers!" "Muff Potter'll hang for this if they catch him!" This was the drift of remark; and the minister said, "It was a judgment; His hand is here."
-Pobre companyó! Pobre companyó! Tan jove!
-Això hauria d'ésser un escarment per als lladres de tombes.
-Muff Potter anirà a la forca, d'aquesta feta, si l'atrapen!
Aquest era el tarannà de les consideracions, i el ministre digué:
-Sentència de Déu! La seva mà hi és visible.
Now Tom shivered from head to heel; for his eye fell upon the stolid face of Injun Joe. At this moment the crowd began to sway and struggle, and voices shouted, "It's him! it's him! he's coming himself!"
En aquell moment Tom s'estremí de cap a peus, perquè son esguard caigué damunt la cara estòlida de Joe l'Indi. Aleshores la multitud començà de decantar-se i empènyer-se, i se sentiren veus que cridaven:
-És ell! És ell! Ve pel seu grat!
"Who? Who?" from twenty voices.
-Quí? Quí?- feren una vintena de veus.
"Muff Potter!"
-Muff Potter!
"Hallo, he's stopped!--Look out, he's turning! Don't let him get away!"
-Ei! S'ha aturat! Mireu, mireu! Es gira! No el deixéssiu escapar!
People in the branches of the trees over Tom's head said he wasn't trying to get away--he only looked doubtful and perplexed.
La gent que hi havia pel brancam dels arbres, damunt la testa de Tom, digueren que poc mirava escapar-se: només semblava dubtós i malsegur.
"Infernal impudence!" said a bystander; "wanted to come and take a quiet look at his work, I reckon--didn't expect any company."
-Infernal pocavergonya!- digué un badoc. -Necessitava venir a dar un cop d'ull sossegat a la seva tasca: no esperava de trobar companyia.
The crowd fell apart, now, and the Sheriff came through, ostentatiously leading Potter by the arm. The poor fellow's face was haggard, and his eyes showed the fear that was upon him. When he stood before the murdered man, he shook as with a palsy, and he put his face in his hands and burst into tears.
La multitud se'n retirà aleshores, i el xerif passà en mig d'ella aparatosament, duent a Potter del braç. La cara del pobre home era esmaperduda, i sos ulls traspuaven la por que l'atuïa. Quan s'escaigué davant l'home assassinat, son cos es sacsejà com el d'un epilèptic, i es posà la cara entre les mans i trencà el plor.
"I didn't do it, friends," he sobbed; "'pon my word and honor I never done it."
-No ho he pas fet!- sanglotava. -Per la meva paraula i la meva honra que no ho he fet!
"Who's accused you?" shouted a voice.
-Quí us en acusava?- cridà una veu.
This shot seemed to carry home. Potter lifted his face and looked around him with a pathetic hopelessness in his eyes. He saw Injun Joe, and exclaimed:
Aquest tret semblà haver encertat. Potter alçà son rostre i mirà a son volt amb un patètic desempar en sos ulls, i veié Joe l'Indi, i exclamà:
"Oh, Injun Joe, you promised me you'd never--"
-O Joe l'Indi! M'havíeu promès que mai...
"Is that your knife?" and it was thrust before him by the Sheriff.
-És vostre aquest ganivet?- I el xerif li llançà al seu davant.
Potter would have fallen if they had not caught him and eased him to the ground. Then he said:
Potser hauria caigut si no l'haguessin agafat i dipositat en terra. Després va fer:
"Something told me 't if I didn't come back and get--" He shuddered; then waved his nerveless hand with a vanquished gesture and said, "Tell 'em, Joe, tell 'em--it ain't any use any more."
-Quelcom em deia que si no tornava i arreplegava...- Tot s'estremí. Després mogué la seva mà sense nervi, amb un gest de vençut, i féu: -Digueu-los-ho, Joe, digueu-los-ho... Ja tant se val.
Then Huckleberry and Tom stood dumb and staring, and heard the stony-hearted liar reel off his serene statement, they expecting every moment that the clear sky would deliver God's lightnings upon his head, and wondering to see how long the stroke was delayed. And when he had finished and still stood alive and whole, their wavering impulse to break their oath and save the poor betrayed prisoner's life faded and vanished away, for plainly this miscreant had sold himself to Satan and it would be fatal to meddle with the property of such a power as that.
Aleshores Huckleberry i Tom romangueren muts i embadocats. I sentiren com el mentider cor-de-roca conjuminava la seva serena declaració; i esperaven a cada moment que el cel claríssim deixaria caure els llamps divinals damunt sa testa, i s'estranyaven de veure per quant de temps el càstig anava essent ajornat. I quan ell hagué finit, encara vivent i sencer, el fluctuant impuls que havien sentit de rompre llur jurament i salvar la vida del pobrissó detingut i traït s'esvaí i cessà, perquè evidentment aquell inic s'havia venut a Llucifer, i seria fatal de ficar-se en cosa pertanyent a un poder com aquell.
"Why didn't you leave? What did you want to come here for?" somebody said.
-Per què no fugíeu? Per què havíeu de tornar aquí?- va dir algú.
"I couldn't help it--I couldn't help it," Potter moaned. "I wanted to run away, but I couldn't seem to come anywhere but here." And he fell to sobbing again.
-No me'n podia estar... no me'n podia estar- gemegava Potter. Volia escapar-me, però semblava que no pogués anar enlloc si no és aquí.- I altra vegada rompé a sanglotar.
Injun Joe repeated his statement, just as calmly, a few minutes afterward on the inquest, under oath; and the boys, seeing that the lightnings were still withheld, were confirmed in their belief that Joe had sold himself to the devil. He was now become, to them, the most balefully interesting object they had ever looked upon, and they could not take their fascinated eyes from his face.
Joe l'Indi repetí la seva declaració, amb la mateixa calma, uns quants minuts després, en procedir-se a l'enquesta, sota jurament; i els minyons, veient que els llamps eren encara fermats, es consolidaren en llur creença que Joe s'havia venut al diable. Joe havia esdevingut ara, per a ells, l'objecte més obagament interessant que mai haguessin considerat, i no podien llevar-ne els ulls fascinats, de la seva cara.
They inwardly resolved to watch him nights, when opportunity should offer, in the hope of getting a glimpse of his dread master.
Interiorment resolgueren de vigilar-lo, de nit, quan l'avinentesa se'n presentés, amb l'esperança de pegar una llambregada a son temut senyor.
Injun Joe helped to raise the body of the murdered man and put it in a wagon for removal; and it was whispered through the shuddering crowd that the wound bled a little! The boys thought that this happy circumstance would turn suspicion in the right direction; but they were disappointed, for more than one villager remarked:
Joe l'Indi va ajudar a aixecar el cos de la víctima, i l'aconduí en un carro per al seu transport. Hom brunzí, entre la multitud esgarrifada, que la ferida sagnava una mica! Els minyons cregueren que aquesta sortosa circumstància menaria les sospites envers l'oportuna direcció; però foren decebuts, perquè més d'un camperol observava:
"It was within three feet of Muff Potter when it done it."
-Es trobava a tres peus de Muff Potter quan la cosa va passar.
Tom's fearful secret and gnawing conscience disturbed his sleep for as much as a week after this; and at breakfast one morning Sid said:
El paorós secret i el corcó de consciència de Tom li feren la son alterosa per tota una setmana, després d'això; i un matí, al desdejuni, digué Sid:
"Tom, you pitch around and talk in your sleep so much that you keep me awake half the time."
-Tom: us remeneu i parleu tant, en el vostre son, que em passo despert la meitat del temps.
Tom blanched and dropped his eyes.
Tom s'esblaimà i acalà els ulls.
"It's a bad sign," said Aunt Polly, gravely. "What you got on your mind, Tom?"
-És un mal senyal- digué la tia Polly, greument. -Quína cosa us passa pel magí, Tom?
"Nothing. Nothing 't I know of." But the boy's hand shook so that he spilled his coffee.
-Res. Res que jo sàpiga.- Però la mà del minyó es sacsejà en tanta de manera que volcà el seu cafè.
"And you do talk such stuff," Sid said. "Last night you said, 'It's blood, it's blood, that's what it is!' You said that over and over. And you said, 'Don't torment me so--I'll tell!' Tell what? What is it you'll tell?"
-I les coses que dieu!- va fer Sid. -La darrera nit dèieu: -«És sang, és sang: això és!» I ho tornàveu a dir, i ho tornàveu a dir. I fèieu: -«No em turmenteu d'aquesta manera: ja us ho diré». Què diríeu? Quína cosa és el que hauríeu dit?
Everything was swimming before Tom. There is no telling what might have happened, now, but luckily the concern passed out of Aunt Polly's face and she came to Tom's relief without knowing it. She said:
Tot s'esfondrà davant de Tom. És impossible de suposar el que hauria passat aleshores; però sortosament la preocupació s'esvaí a la cara de la tia Polly, i ella comparegué en ajut de Tom sense saber-ho, tot dient:
"Sho! It's that dreadful murder. I dream about it most every night myself. Sometimes I dream it's me that done it."
-Bah! És aquest terrible assassinat. Jo mateixa en somnio coses gairebé cada nit. De vegades somnio que só jo qui l'ha comès.
Mary said she had been affected much the same way. Sid seemed satisfied. Tom got out of the presence as quick as he plausibly could, and after that he complained of toothache for a week, and tied up his jaws every night. He never knew that Sid lay nightly watching, and frequently slipped the bandage free and then leaned on his elbow listening a good while at a time, and afterward slipped the bandage back to its place again. Tom's distress of mind wore off gradually and the toothache grew irksome and was discarded. If Sid really managed to make anything out of Tom's disjointed mutterings, he kept it to himself.
Mary digué que ella havia estat colpida d'una manera ben semblant. Sid semblà satisfet. Tom eixí de la sobirana presència tan de pressa com li vagà de fer-ho plausiblement, i després d'això es queixà de mal al dentat tota una setmana i lligà les seves barres cada nit. Mai sabé que Sid cada nit el vigilava, tot i ajagut, i ben sovint desfeia l'embenament, i aleshores es decantava damunt el colze, escoltant una bella estona cada vegada, i després feia lliscar altre cop l'embenament allà on havia estat. El trontoll espiritual de Tom anà fent-se fonedís gradualment, i el mal de dentat esdevingué enujós, i hom el descartà. Cas que Sid realment hagués tret alguna cosa en clar de les dites desjunyides de Tom, s'ho reservà per a ell.
It seemed to Tom that his schoolmates never would get done holding inquests on dead cats, and thus keeping his trouble present to his mind. Sid noticed that Tom never was coroner at one of these inquiries, though it had been his habit to take the lead in all new enterprises; he noticed, too, that Tom never acted as a witness--and that was strange; and Sid did not overlook the fact that Tom even showed a marked aversion to these inquests, and always avoided them when he could. Sid marvelled, but said nothing. However, even inquests went out of vogue at last, and ceased to torture Tom's conscience.
A Tom li semblava que sos companys mai no acabarien de fer interrogatoris sobre gats morts, renovant així la memòria de la seva calamitat al seu esperit. Sid reparà que Tom mai no era metge forense en cap d'aquests esbrinaments, encara que hagués esdevingut hàbit seu de pendre la direcció en totes les noves empreses; reparà també que Tom mai feia de testimoni, i això era estrany; per a Sid no passà desapercebut el fet que Tom àdhuc mostrava una assenyalada aversió envers tals enquestes, i sempre les evitava, en poder. Sid se'n meravellava, però no en deia una paraula. Tanmateix, però, fins les enquestes passaren de moda, a la fi, i deixaren de torturar la consciència de Tom.
Every day or two, during this time of sorrow, Tom watched his opportunity and went to the little grated jail-window and smuggled such small comforts through to the "murderer" as he could get hold of. The jail was a trifling little brick den that stood in a marsh at the edge of the village, and no guards were afforded for it; indeed, it was seldom occupied. These offerings greatly helped to ease Tom's conscience.
Cada un o dos dies, durant aquest temps aflictiu, Tom espià una oportunitat i anà envers la petita finestra enreixada de la presó i passà de contraban, en direcció a l'assassí, totes les petites comoditats que pogué arreplegar. La presó era un antre insignificant de rajola, vora un aiguamoll, al caire del poblet, mancat de vigilants: tanmateix, poques vegades era ocupat. Aquests presents ajudaven en gran manera a aquietar la consciència de Tom.
The villagers had a strong desire to tar-and-feather Injun Joe and ride him on a rail, for body-snatching, but so formidable was his character that nobody could be found who was willing to take the lead in the matter, so it was dropped. He had been careful to begin both of his inquest-statements with the fight, without confessing the grave-robbery that preceded it; therefore it was deemed wisest not to try the case in the courts at present.
La gent del poblet tenia un vehement desig de fer un cap nou a Joe l'Indi, i arrossegar-lo, per robament de cadàvers. Però tan formidable era el seu geni, que hom no trobà ningú que volgués pendre la iniciativa en aquesta matèria. Així és que hom la deixà córrer. Ell havia tingut compte de començar les seves dues declaracions per la lluita, sense confessar el robament de la tomba que l'havia precedida; així, doncs, semblà, més assenyat de no plantejar el cas davant el Tribunal, ara com ara.