Dom Casmurro

by Machado de Assis

LXXXV - The Deceased

Such was the confused feeling I entered into the china shop. The store was dark, and the interior of the house had less light, now that the windows of the area were closed. At one corner of the dining room I saw her mother crying; At the door of the alcove two children stared in amazement, their finger in the mouth. The corpse was lying on the bed; the bed...

Let us suspend the penna and go to janella to lighten the memory. Actually, the painting was ugly, already by death, already by the deceased, which was horrible ... This here, yes, is another thing. Everything I see there breathes life, the goat that ruminates at the foot of a wagon, the chicken that feeds on the floor of the street, the train of the Central Road that snorts, whistles, smokes and passes, the palm that invests for the sky, and finally that church tower, although it has no muscles or foliage. A young man, who stands there in a bag, throws a paper kite, does not die or die, even if he calls himself Manduca.

True, the other Manduca was older than this, little older. It would have been eighteen or nineteen years, but you would give it fifteen to twenty-two years, your face would not allow you to bring the truth into view, but would hide it in the folds of ... Go, tell yourself everything; is dead, his kinsmen are dead, if any is not in such evidence that is vexe or dôa. Tell yourself everything; Manduca suffered from a cruel illness, no less than leprosy. Alive was ugly; dead man looked horrible to me. When I saw him lying on the bed, the sad body of my neighbor, I was terrified and I looked away. I do not know what occult hand compelled me to look again, even if I ran away; I gave in, looked, looked again, until I pulled back from everything and left the room.

"You've done much!" sighed the pae.

-Queuca of Manduca! her mother sobbed.

I took care of going out, said I was expected at home, and said goodbye. The father asked me if he would go to the funeral; I answered the truth, I did not know, I would do what my mother wanted. And quickly I left, went through the store, and jumped into the street.