2 ?b90

118
contrast to those "deaths",, imposed by the fatherwhich have ended in
hasty rescues and withdrawals from the point of danger.
What Cemi witnesses here in his dream is, in a sense, his own con-
ception, rather than his copulation with his mother. It is clear that
the marriage of Rialta with Josd Eugenio is a sacred event, unbesmirched
with any taint of sexual desire, that it is a marriage of concepts.
We know nothing of the couple's intimate relationship and it seems to
me that Cemi's dream places the marriage on a ritual level once more, as
the child struggles to come to terms with his own being, examining his
own inherited characteristics. Lezama has gone to great lengths to
enumerate these characteristics as they occur in members of Cemi's fa-
mily tree., both Cemis and Olayas. He has in fact devoted the better
part of five chapters to revealing that the Cemis embody the active spi-
rit in Man and that the Olayas are contemplative and more passive. He
even goes so far as to picture these features in the physionomy of some,
such as Eloisa's fine, English lips and Josd Maria's powerful head and
short, bull-like neck. The regal air shared by Rialta and her mother
signifies their susceptibility to the influence of the spiritual, of
higher reality. Finally, Jos6 Eugenio expresses his vigour and his
slightly aggressive nature in his hearty laughter while Rialta possesses a
gentle2 inspiring smile2 of which Jos6 Eugenio has said: "Me pareci6 que
nuestra antigua carcajada necesitaba de esa sonrisa, que nos daba la lec-
ci6n del espiritu actuando sobre la carne, perfeccionindola 148).
It seems to me that Jos6 Eugenio represents natural Man and Rialta re-
presents spiritual Man, the first having recourse to science and ethics,
and the second looking beyond his material nature to hidden qualities
of the spirit or the subconscious. One might say, with J. L. Henderson:
Here we come to that aspect of initiation which acquaints
man with woman and woman with man in such a way as to