2 ?b90

91
criolla": "La espuma del tu6tano quevediano y el oro principal de.
G6ngora, se amigaban bien por tierras nuestras ...
" (11,350), and
"por lo americano, el estoicismo quevediano y el destello gongorino
tienen soterramiento popular. Engendran un criollo de excelente
resistencia para lo 4tico y una punta fina para el habla y la distin-
ci6n de donde viene la independencia" (1,351).
The passage woven around the apparently simple episode of two
prisoners insisting on hacking down weeds and shrubs alike, in defiance
of Rialta, could almost be an illustration of criollo speech at its
best. Rialta's moral and spiritual qualities have been certified by
the author as irreproachable, only a few pages earlier, so we are in-
tended to accept her authority on ethical matters. Indeed the question
of cutting down the bushes is afforded the stature of a moral issue by
the emotive language unleashed by her fury. She is the defender of
all that is good and worthwhile and here she is seen to lose the battle
(the bushes are cut down), yet the implications of the incident resonate
through her language. She sees the prisoners as: "raspados, ceýffidos
por la piel de la cebra ... canailles" (1,174) and "unos sepultureros
shakesperianos" (1,175). Rialta's role as the protectress of right
and decency is reinforced by her references to phrases from Mallarm(!
C'mumura sus abejas") and Shakespeare ("mientras la pulpa de los anones
les enselTaba sonriente la leche de la bondad humana") which allude to
the benevolence of Nature. Human kindness is the last thing likely
to appeal to these malevolent men, determined to destroy the straw-
berry and naseberry plants by inventing orders from Josd Eugenio.
By destroying them they are actually attacking him, since Rialta says
her husband was planning to sow the strawberry plants in other parts
of the camp. If Josd Eugenio is considered in his role as leading
shoot of the Cemi family, the reader finds the attack on the plants,