Summary of Works
Father Solana was originally a priest in an ordinary parish, and was arrested and imprisoned for participating in activities aimed at overthrowing the autocratic rule in Pelaes. After his release, he took refuge in Pelaes through a woman's relationship and became the full-time priest of the President. After the president died, the new authorities ordered him to preside over the public sacrifice and give a eulogy. Solana knew that he had played the role of scapegoat, so he fell into contradiction and fear. Solana knew that Pelaes had been dictatorial for 3 years, and implemented a high-handed policy at home. The people were deeply resentful. After the death of the president, their anger was vented on him. In the process of writing his eulogy, Solana recalled Pelaes's long life.
Selected Works
After hearing the bad news on the phone, he just stammered a few words and looked at the phone gaping as if there would be other news from it. He suddenly felt unwell and his throat seemed to be nauseous. He felt weak and sat in a chair. At this time, he was the only one in the house, and it was dark, because he was awakened by the ringing telephone. He got out of bed half asleep, bumped against the furniture and the door several times, and then walked to the telephone. The phone call came from Gua, Taccari. It seemed that they had launched an attack on him in his sleep. He thought of those who were attacked or assassinated in the middle of the night, and also thought of General Damasceno, who must have been stabbed to wake up from his dream.
Then, he walked around aimlessly in the dark room, in the corridor and in the yard. He was talking to himself loudly, with a grimace on his face and incoherent words. Suddenly he stopped. He was afraid that someone would hear him, but no one actually listened to him because the servant had fallen asleep in the room inside.
He wants to call someone else, but who can he call at this time? He has been frightened by the news, and he can do nothing but talk nonsense, abuse, recite poems and shout. Of course, this should have happened. He has been waiting for several years. He sometimes thinks that maybe he can escape it, and he may die before Pelaes. In this way, this terrible moment will not befall him. However, it finally happened, and now people will come to settle accounts with him, regardless of whether he has done bad things in the past. Now that he has lost his protector, he has to let those wild animals bite him.
however, he is not the culprit after all. "They asked me to give a eulogy. I didn't want to do it. It was against my original wish." "I was born a scandal maker, and that's what I should be." Perhaps because of his moving and beautiful words when preaching, people came to him to give a prayer to Pelaes.
It seems that all the past events are arranged by God in advance. If he hadn't interrupted his duties as a priest, he wouldn't have known Elodea, and naturally he wouldn't have had that sentimental relationship with her. If there is no Elodea, then, who knows what will happen? Maybe he Solana has long been forgotten by people.
then, his heart was filled with anger. If people are to be held accountable, then he is not the only one who is at fault. It was not he who pushed Pelaes to the presidency, nor was it he who supported Pelaes. These things are all done by others. There is more than one person who does these things, and almost all officials do it. Why do you want to settle accounts with him alone now? He cursed loudly at some leading figures during Pelaes's reign. "He's the culprit, Dias amaya, but now people are trying to please him, but they're letting everyone hurt me." He put forward a list of names in such a swearing way. "The reason is that I am the weakest and most helpless. I am a person who people can punch and kick at will. " He began to sob.
With Pelaes's death, everything is over. He is neither a head of state nor a president now, and everything he has managed dismally in 3 years has disappeared in an instant. As early as when Solana was a student in a seminary, Pelaes was already on high, with the highest power and supreme authority. His influence is getting bigger and bigger, and everyone has to be subject to him in everything. However, all this is now gone. When he was alive, Solana trembled with fear for him; And now he has the same fear of his death. "After all, I am just a poor priest Solana." He occupies only a small corner in that powerful building.
"What did this person become in the end?" I'm afraid even he doesn't know. He is neither a farmer nor a soldier, nor a president. He used to have all three, but now he is nothing. He is like a dragon constantly changing its form, and millions of people look at him in millions of ways. When he was alive, it seemed that he was constantly turning in circles, and the circles became smaller and smaller. Finally, he turned into a dead end, fell down and died, and finally became the body of an elderly man. With his death, the power he held in his rigid hands did not exist. "We were deprived of everything! Now I have to be at the mercy of fate. I was slapped and all of them were knocked out. " Solana sighed, then said to himself, "I'm just an idiot, and I've wasted my years crazily." Then, he roared in the dark: "but who are others?" They are all crazy, stupid and adventurers, just like I did at the beginning. "
the servant has got out of bed. "What's the matter with you, Father?" He said angrily to the servant who knew nothing, "His farce is over, and so are we." Then, he finally realized that the servant was present and needed to calm down, so he talked to him more calmly than before about what had happened, while still venting his grievances.
The servant sat him in a single soft chair in the reception room and brought him a cup of coffee. This hot and refreshing liquid made his mind clear. "Thank you, son, thank you. God bless you. I'm so excited and scared." It began to dawn, and the traffic in the street kept running. "If someone calls, just say I'm not at home." Who will call? Maybe someone will call to scare him and insult him. "I don't want to talk to anyone."
the servant went out to buy a newspaper. When you come back, tell him that there are many people in the street like an earthquake. He has bought a newspaper, and a huge photo appears on the first page, which reads: "The famous Abari Theo Pelaes died."
what will happen to Taccari melon at this time? Fortunately, he is not there at this moment. If we were there, the situation would be even worse. The people there must have started an infighting before the dead body was cold. He is not there, people will not think of him, and they can stay out of it.
At about ten o'clock in the morning, the servant came to tell him apologetically that Elodea had called him. "I have told her that you are not at home, but she must talk to you." He picked up the phone. Elodea's voice seems to have changed. "Alberto, are you afraid of this?" Then, she talked to him like a barrage about her inner fears, and he didn't even have room to interrupt. "I'm so scared." Then she said that she felt very lonely. "Come on, Alberto, stay with me. I can't stay here alone all the time." He promised to look for her later. In this way, she was finally sent away.
voices came from the street again, high and harsh, and people were heard throwing stones.
it was nearly noon when I called him to give a eulogy. It was the acting president's colonel's secretary who called and said that General Dias amaya wanted him to deliver a eulogy at the memorial ceremony held in Gua Church in Taccari. "You must get everything ready and arrive here tomorrow morning." "Call me to eulogy? What can I say? " "Don't be modest. You can do it well. You do it better than anyone else."
This is fate, and you can't get rid of it. They haven't forgotten him, and they don't allow people to forget him. That is to say, at this moment, when the old grievances are erupting like a volcano, instead of calling others to be scapegoats, he will appear in front of the public as the undertaker of all the blame.
now he feels as if his whole life is to suffer for others. If he can't go, if God can let him die miraculously without pain at this time, it would be great to disappear without a trace.
where can he hide now? He thought that he had to ask General Diaz amaya to protect him, which was the only hope. Anyway, Dias Amaya will remember him, and there is no doubt that he will respect him. Now that power has fallen into amaya's hands, he has a way to protect him and will allow him to spend the rest of his life in peace. In order to achieve this goal, he must do the thing entrusted to him just now.
He stood in front of the bookshelf, holding the rather shabby book written by Bossuet, which smelled of mildew, covered with black spots, and the leather cover was worn out. He glanced at the words about death in the book: "His death brought us indescribable losses." Seeing this, he stopped and stopped looking forward. This is a well-known saying of the bishop, but he doesn't understand the beauty at this time. "His death has brought us indescribable losses." He read it again and then gave a wry smile. This is exactly the case now. Pelaes himself is dead, and it doesn't matter to him what people think of him. But for others, for Solana, the situation is different for all those who have witnessed his rise and mastered all the power, which has changed everything in China.
after his death, everything in China will change again. People are going to bury not only him, but the whole era. Just like the king who buried barbarians in ancient times, there are ladies-in-waiting, attendants, livestock and slaves.
poor father Solana will be pushed into the huge grave like a slave with a rope around his neck.
He began to concentrate on reading that book again. Reading, reading, time passed quickly unconsciously, and I didn't feel so worried in my heart. After reading for a long time, I felt a little sleepy, so I threw the book away and said, "I have to start writing."
He sat at the table and began to write on a piece of white paper. "I am in heaven to preside over the public sacrifice." He plagiarized this sentence from the Collection of Prayers. He thought, maybe we can talk more about today and less about the past, and regard the past as a prelude to the new era. As he wrote, he erased what he had written. He felt that his words were poor and his language was empty and boring, and his mood became tense again.
He was lost in thought again and began to recall the distant past. So he stopped writing, thought for a while, and started writing again. He began to write about Pelaes when he was young, which he always denied, and how he participated in the armed uprising and marched into the capital, combining his own imagination. How to defeat the rebels in the cliff canyon. Then, after he became president, he wrote about how he struggled with all kinds of conspiracy activities, and wrote about his infighting with Prato and other various figures. Writing, writing, he felt that all this happened right in front of him, forty years ago, more than ten years ago, as if it were yesterday. Naturally, everything that happened during this period was closely related to the existence of Pelaes.
He has been writing for hours, sometimes taking a nap, sometimes writing nervously, and sometimes pacing around the room. It was getting late, but he didn't notice it. Look at what he wrote on the paper. He stuck out his head and looked out of the window. The scene outside seemed unfamiliar to him. The dark crowd he had never seen, the cries he had never heard ...
In the evening, the colonel's secretary called again, claiming that the authorities had decided not to give a eulogy, and at the same time thanking him.
he suddenly felt relieved, greatly relieved. Now he can run away or hide. Thankfully, he doesn't have to show his face. Otherwise, his political opponents and those who once called him a traitor and a friend-peddler will mercilessly mock him.
that night, he changed into an old casual clothes and wore an old hat, pulled the brim of his hat to the side of his eyes, took his servant and took a taxi to the city. He crossed the streets and alleys, walked through several squares, looked at groups of men and women gathered together, listened to what they were talking, and tried to find out what they really wanted to do. He is like a ghost, away from the crowd and everything. He walked past several houses of people he knew well. The front door of Dr. Salamanques's house was crowded with people, and someone was distributing leaflets on the street corner. It was a declaration. "The bell for freedom and people's rights has rung." This sentence was not dared to say in the past, and no printing factory dared to print such leaflets. Anyone who carries such a leaflet will be put in prison after being caught. But now, once upon a time, the situation changed suddenly.
His old friends and acquaintances-those who have been in prison with him, participated in rebellion and been exiled, and those who have looked down on him with hatred must be there at this time.
when I got home, it was nearly midnight. He found a bottle of brandy and drank with the servant. After a few drinks, his chatterbox opened again. He tried to explain to his servant that he was a good man himself. He went on to talk about the inevitability of fate and history. "You may not understand all this, but it doesn't matter."
"I didn't make him up," the servant continued to listen to him, "and no one else made him up." Then, he briefly told the servant about what happened in the past and how some things prompted others to happen. During the conversation, many names that servants had never heard of were mentioned. "I know it's a waste of time to tell you these things, but I have to talk to someone. You know who I used to be, right? " The servant didn't really understand it, but he still said, "You are our priest and our son." Say that finish, the servant went out, and he was still there talking to himself. "You will see that people will settle accounts with some people and will come to settle accounts with me."
at dawn, he was lying in bed with his clothes. He had nightmares almost all day that day. When he got out of bed, he saw that the door facing the street was closed and bolted.
"Many people's homes have been robbed, so be careful." Said the servant. They will also come to his house, and thieves will rob everything; Furniture, books, paintings. If you meet him in person, you will also suffer.
Elodea kept calling him and said, "This is terrible, Alberto. They have tried to break into the house twice and rob us.