Lillian Morris, and Other StoriesSienkiewicz, Henryk
General
Lillian Morris, and Other Stories
Sienkiewicz, Henryk
Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.) -- Fiction; Short stories, Polish -- Translations into English
The capeadors scatter, like a flock of sparrows at which some man has
fired small-shot. Holding behind them red capes, they circle now in the
arena, with a swiftness that makes the head dizzy; they are everywhere;
they glitter to the right, to the left; they are in the middle of the
arena, at the paling, before the eyes of the bull, in front, behind.
The red capes flutter in the air, like banners torn by the wind.
The bull scatters the capeadors in every direction; with lightning-like
movements he chases one,—another thrusts a red cape under his very
eyes; the bull leaves the first victim to run after a second, but
before he can turn, some third one steps up. The bull rushes at that
one! Distance between them decreases, the horns of the bull seem to
touch the shoulder of the capeador; another twinkle of an eye and he
will be nailed to the paling,—but meanwhile the man touches the top of
the paling with his hand, and vanishes as if he had dropped through the
earth.
What has happened? The capeador has sprung into the passage extending
between the paling and the first row of seats.
The bull chooses another man; but before he has moved from his tracks
the first capeador thrusts out his head from behind the paling, like a
red Indian stealing to the farm of a settler, and springs to the arena
again. The bull pursues more and more stubbornly those unattainable
enemies, who vanish before his very horns; at last he knows where they
are hidden. He collects all his strength, anger gives him speed, and
he springs like a hunting-horse over the paling, certain that he will
crush his foes this time like worms.
But at that very moment they hurl themselves back to the arena with
the agility of chimpanzees, and the bull runs along the empty passage,
seeing no one before him.
The entire first row of spectators incline through the barrier, then
strike from above at the bull with canes, fans, and parasols. The
public are growing excited. A bull that springs over the paling
recommends himself favorably. When people in the first row applaud him
with all their might, those in the upper rows clap their hands, crying,
“Bravo el toro! muy buen! Bravo el toro!” (Bravo the bull! Very well,
bravo the bull!)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account