Hurston, Zora N. ''Their Eyes were watching God''-Fr-En-Sp

tr. de Fr. Brosky Zora N. Hurston’s Their eyes were tr. de Andrés Ibañez notas
18
CHAPTER 18
CAPÍTULO 18
Chapter 18
Depuis que Ptit-Four et janie s’étaient Since Tea Cake and Janie had
encopinés avec les ouvriers bahamiens des friended with the Bahaman workers
Everglades (les « Scies »), ceux-ci s’étaient 5 in the ’Glades, they, the “Saws,” had
graduellement mêlés à la bande américaine. been gradually drawn into the
Ils cessèrent d’organiser des bals en American crowd. They quit hiding
cachette lorsqu’ils s’aperçurent que leurs out to hold their dances when they
amis américains ne se moquaient pas d’eux found that their American friends
comme ils l’avaient craint. Beaucoup 10 didn’t laugh at them as they feared.
d’Américains apprirent à sauter, et à aimer Many of the Americans learned to
cela autant que les « Scies ». Ils jump and liked it as much as the
commencèrent à organiser des sauteries “Saws.” So they began to hold dances
nuit après nuit dans les quartiers, en général
night after night in the quarters,
derrière la maison de PtitFour. À présent, 15 usually behind Tea Cake’s house. Often
Janie et lui restaient si tard aux
danses du feu, que souvent Ptit-Four
refusait qu’elle l’accompagne aux champs.
II tenait à ce qu’elle se repose.
« Gagner les terres hautes. Laîche en fleurs.
Ouragan arrive. »
35
Tous en parlèrent ce soir-là. Mais personne
Everybody was talking about it
ne s’inquiétait. La danse du feu con-
40 that night. But nobody was worried.
tinua presque jusqu’à l’aube. Le lendemain, The fire dance kept up till nearly
d’autres Indiens partirent vers l’est, sans dawn. The next day, more Indians
hâte mais d’un pas ferme. Et pourtant, ciel moved east, unhurried but steady.
bleu et temps superbe. Des haricots Still a blue sky and fair weather.
magnifiques, de bons prix aussi, et donc 45 Beans running fine and prices good,
les Indiens se trompaient sans doute, se so the Indians could be, must be,
trompaient sûrement. I1 ne peut y avoir wrong. You couldn’t have a
d’ouragan alors qu’on gagne des sept et huit hurricane when you’re making seven
dollars par jour à cueillir des haricots. and eight dollars a day picking
D’ailleurs les Indiens sont des nigauds, 50 beans. Indians are dumb anyhow,
Todo el mundo hablaba de aquello por
la noche. Pero nadie estaba preocupado.
Las danzas del fuego continuaron casi hasta
el amanecer. Al día siguiente, más indios
se dirigieron al este, sin prisa pero sin detenerse.
El cielo seguía azul, [173] el tiempo,
bueno. Las judías crecían hermosas y
los precios subían, de modo que los indios
podían estar, tenían que estar, equivocados.
No puede haber un huracán cuando uno está
ganando de siete a ocho dólares al día recogiendo
judías. Además, los indios eran
estúpidos, siempre lo habían sido. Una noche
más con Stew Beef creando sutilezas
rítmicas con el tambor y figuras vivientes,
escultóricas, grotescas, al danzar. Al día siguiente
no pasó ningún indio. Era un día
ardiente y bochornoso, y Janie dejó el cam-
l’ont toujours été. Encore une nuit avec always were. Another night of Stew
Viande-à-Ragoût improvisant de [274] Beef making dynamic subtleties
dynamiques subtilités sur son tambour et with his drum and living, sculptural,
des danses aux grotesques statues vivantes. grotesques in the dance. Next day,
Le lendemain, plus d’Indiens. I1 faisait 55 no Indians passed at all. It was hot
chaud et lourd ; Janie quitta les champs et and sultry and Janie left the field
rentra chez elle.
and went home.
po y se fue a casa.
lisp : cecear
sultry 1 (weather) hot, oppressive, bochornoso 2 (persona, voz) passionate, sensual
Morning came without
60 motion. The winds, to the tiniest,
Le matin arriva, sans le moindre mouvement.
Les vents, jusqu’au plus léger des
zézayants zéphyrs, avaient quitté la terre.
Avant même que le soleil ne donne la
lumière, un jour mort rampait de buisson
en buisson et observait l’homme.
Quelques lapins détalèrent à travers les Some rabbits scurried through the
quartiers et filèrent vers l’est. Des quarters going east. Some possums
opossums passèrent furtivement et leur slunk by and their route was definite.
route était manifeste. Un ou deux à la fois, One or two at a time, then more. By
puis plus. Une procession ininterrompue à 70 the time the people left the fields the
l’heure où l’on rentrait des champs. Des procession was constant. Snakes,
serpents, des crotales se mirent à traverser rattlesnakes began to cross the quarters.
les quartiers. Les hommes en tuèrent The men killed a few, but they could
quelques-uns mais la horde rampante ne not be missed from the crawling horde.
s’en trouva guère diminuée. À plusieurs 75 People stayed indoors until daylight.
reprises au cours de la nuit, Janie entendit
s’ébrouer de gros animaux, comme des
daims. Et la voix assourdie d’une panthère.
now, Tea Cake and Janie stayed up so
late at the fire dances that Tea Cake
would not let her go with him to the
field. He wanted her to get her rest.
“Going to high ground. Saw-grass
bloom. Hurricane coming. “ [146]
lisping baby breath had left the earth.
Even before the sun gave light,
dead day was creeping from bush
to bush watching man.
65
Several times during the night Janie
heard the snort of big animals like deer.
Once the muted voice of a panther.
110
Desde que Tea Cake y Janie habían simpatizado
con los nativos de las Bahamas que trabajaban
en los Everglades, ellos, los «Saws», fueron acercándose
poco a poco a los norteamericanos.
Cuando descubrieron que sus amigos norteamericanos
no se reían de ellos, como ellos habían temido,
dejaron de ocultarse para celebrar sus danzas.
Muchos de los norteamericanos aprendieron
también a saltar y haciéndolo disfrutaban tanto
como los propios «Saws». Así fue como empezaron
a celebrarse danzas noche tras noche en los
barracones, por lo general detrás del de Tea Cake.
Muchas veces Tea Cake y Janie permanecían
hasta tan tarde contemplando las danzas del fuego
que, a la mañana siguiente, Tea Cake no permitía
que ella fuera con él a los campos. Quería
que descansara bien.
stolid 1 lacking or concealing emotion 20 or animation. 2 not easily excited or moved. impasible, sosegado, flema, imperturbable, insensible
Et donc elle était seule à la maison un So she was home by herself one Así, una tarde que estaba sola en
après-midi lorsqu’elle vit passer une bande de afternoon when she saw a band of casa, Janie vio pasar a un grupo de
Séminoles *. Les hommes marchant [273] Seminoles passing by. The men walking seminolas. Los hombres en cabeza y
devant, suivis de femmes impassibles, chargées in front and the laden, stolid women X las fuertes mujeres siguiéndolos cargadas
comme des burros *. Janie avait souvent vu des 25 following them like burros. She had seen como burros. Había visto indios varias veces
Indiens dans les Everglades, par groupes de deux Indians several times in the ’Glades, in
en los Everglades, de dos en dos o de
ou trois, mais cette bande-ci était nombreuse. twos and threes, but this was a large party. tres en tres, pero ésta era una partida numerosa.
Ils se dirigeaient vers la route de Palm Beach They were headed towards the Palm
Se dirigían hacia la carretera de Palm
et progressaient d’un pas ferme. Une heure Beach road and kept moving steadily. Beach y caminaban a buen paso. Una hora
plus tard environ, une autre bande apparut 30 About an hour later another party más tarde apareció otra partida, caminando
qui partit dans la même direction. Et une autre appeared and went the same way. Then
también en la misma dirección. Luego
encore juste avant le coucher du soleil. Cette another just before sundown. This time otra más, justo antes del anochecer. Esta
fois-là, elle leur demanda où ils allaient, et pour she asked where they were all going and vez les preguntó adónde iban y por fin uno
finir, l’un des hommes lui répondit : at last one of the men answered her. de los hombres le contestó:
* Tribu indienne. (NdT)
* Baudets. (NdT)
—Vamos a tierra alta. Hierba del pantano
florecida. Huracán viene.
La mañana fue de una calma total.
Los vientos, incluido el mínimo y
balbuceante soplo de aire, habían abandonado
la tierra. Incluso antes de que el sol alumbrara,
el día se arrastraba moribundo por entre
los arbustos espiando al hombre.
Algunos conejos pasaron por los
barracones camino del este. También pasaron
zarigüeyas y era evidente hacia dónde
se dirigían. Una o dos cada vez, luego más.
Cuando la gente comenzó a volver de los
campos, el desfile era constante. Culebras y
serpientes de cascabel empezaron a cruzar
por los barracones. Los hombres mataron
unas cuantas, pero no era nada comparado
con la horda reptante. Todo el mundo se quedó
en casa hasta el amanecer. Durante la noche,
Janie oyó varias veces resoplidos de animales
grandes como ciervos. Una vez el ve-
One day, Janie sees several groups of Native
Americans departing the Everglades for Palm
Beach. She asks them why they are leaving and
they respond that a hurricane is coming. The
news spreads through the settlement and
everyone begins watching anxiously. Over the
next few days, more indigenous people leave
and animals begin scurrying off in the same
direction. Soon, workers begin leaving the town.
Although he is offered a ride to higher ground,
Tea Cake decides to stay. Several men who decide
to stay gather at Tea Cake’s house, and a
party ensues. But as the storm whips up, all of
the men leave for their own houses except a
fellow named Motor Boat. That night and the next
day, the storm builds in the distance and the
gigantic Lake Okechobee begins to roil. The
three of them wait out the storm in the shanty
with «their eyes…watching God.»
roil v. tr. 1 enturbiar 2 fig. molestar, irritar
Tea Cake says that he bets Janie wishes that
she had stayed in her big house in Eatonville,
but she replies that she doesn’t care what
happens as long as they remain together. He
goes outside and sees that a serious flood has
begun. They decide to flee. They gather up some
essential papers and, arms locked against the
wind, Tea Cake, Janie, and Motor Boat head east
to higher ground.
The three look behind them and see that the
Okechobee’s dikes have burst and that the lake
is pouring toward them, crushing everything in
its path. They hurry and reach an abandoned,
tall house on a little hill, where they decide to
rest. After a short sleep, Janie wakes up and
sees the lake moving closer. She and Tea Cake
flee, but Motor Boat decides to stay in the house.
Exhausted, the couple trudges onward, and the
flooding gets so bad that they have to swim great
distances. They pass dead bodies and horrible
destruction along the way.
Trying to grab a piece of roofing for cover, Janie
gets blown into rough water. She struggles but
then sees a cow swimming by with a growling
dog perched on its back. She grabs the cow’s
tail for safety, but the dog begins to attack her.
Tea Cake dives to the rescue and wrestles in
the water with the beast, who bites him on the
cheek before he stabs it to death. The next day,
Janie and Tea Cake reach Palm Beach, a scene
of chaotic destruction. They find a place to rest
and Janie thanks Tea Cake for saving her life.
Analysis
Chapter 17 provides another glimpse of life in
the muck, complicating our understanding of
Janie and Tea Cake’s relationship just before
the climactic arrival of the hurricane in Chapter
18. Tea Cake’s beating of Janie early in Chapter
17 is one of the most confusing incidents in the
novel. Modern readers may be surprised that the
beating has such little effect on Janie. It is
tempting to attribute the briefness of Hurston’s
treatment of the incident to the more tolerant
attitude toward domestic violence that prevailed
when Hurston wrote Their Eyes Were Watching
God. Janie’s passive acceptance of the beating,
however, relates to the development of her
character. At this point in the story, the idea of
silence becomes quite significant. Since Jody’s
death, Janie has struggled to find her voice. Now
that she has found it, she is learning to control
it. With Jody, Janie’s silence is a sign of his
domination and her weakness; now, silence is
becoming an important part of Janie’s strength.
She chooses when and when not to speak. In
this situation, it is implied that she is willing to
sacrifice her body to satisfy Tea Cake’s need
for control. Her silence reflects her strength. She
puts up with a beating, just once, because she
feels that she is strong enough to withstand it
and because its negative effects are outweighed
by her love for Tea Cake and the good things
that he does for her.
In many ways, Chapter 18 is the book’s climax.
The battle with the hurricane is the source of
the book’s title and illuminates the central
conflict of the novel: Janie’s quasi-religious
quest to find her place in the world amid
confusing, unpredictable, and often threatening
forces. Throughout the novel, characters have
operated under the delusion that they can control
their environment and secure a place for
themselves in the world. Jody, in particular,