Páginas brillantes de la literatura inglesa - 6

The Pickwick Papers de Dickens tiene un tono general humorístico, pero este fragmento del capítulo XI, que hoy comparto con vosotros no es para reírse, sino más bien para llorar. Pone los pelos de punta pensar cuántos individuos como éste habrá sueltos por ahí:

A Madman's Manuscript

"Yes! - a madman's! How that word would have struck to my heart many years ago! How it would have roused the terror that used to come upon me sometimes; sending the blood hissing and tingling through my veins, till the cold dew of fear stood in large drops upon my skin, and my knees knocked together with fright! I like it now though. It's a fine name. Show me the monarch whose angry frown was ever feared like the glare of a madman's eye - whose cord and axe were ever half so sure as a madman's grip. Ho! ho! It's a grand thing to be mad! to be peeped at like a wild lion through the iron bars - to gnash one's teeth and howl, through the long still night, to the merry ring of a heavy chain - and to roll and twine among the straw, transported with such a brave music. Hurrah for the madhouse! Oh, it's a rare place!
I remember days when I was afraid of being mad; when I used to start from my sleep, and fall upon my knees, and pray to be spared the curse of my race; when I rushed from the sight of merriment or happiness, to hide myself in some lonely place, and spend the weary hours in watching the progress of the fever that was to consume my brain. I knew that madness was mixed up with my very blood, and the marrow of my bones; that one generation had passed away without the pestilence appearing among them, and that I was the first in whom it would revive. I knew it must be so: that so it always had been , and so it ever would be; and when I cowed in some obscure corner of a crowded room, and saw men whisper, and point, and turn their eyes towards me, I knew they were telling each other of the doomed madman; and I slunk away again to mope in solitude.
"I did this for years; long, long years they were. The nights here are long sometimes - very long; but they are nothing to the restless nights, and dreadful dreams I had at that time. It makes me cold to remember them. Large dusky forms with sly and jeering faces crouched in the corners of the room, and bent over my bed at night, tempting me to madness. They told me in low whispers, that the floor of the old house in which my father's father died, was stained with his own blood, shed by his own hand in raging madness. I drove my fingers into my ears, but they screamed into my head till the room rang with it, that in one generation before him the madness slumbered, but that his grandfather had lived for years with his hands fetered to the ground, to prevent his tearing himself to pieces. I knew they told the truth - I knew it well. I had found it out years before, though they had tried to keep it from me. Ha! ha! I was too cunning for them, madman as they thought me.
"At last it came upon me, and I wondered how I could ever have feared it. I could go into the world now, and laugh and shout with the best amon them. I knew I was mad, but they did not even suspect it. How I used to hug myself with delight, when I thought of the fine trick I was playing them after their old pointing and leering, when I was not mad, but only dreading that I mught one day become so! And how I used to laugh for joy, when I was alone, and thought how well I kept my secret, and how quickly my kind friends would have fallen from me, if they had known the truth. I could have sreamed with ecstasy when I dined alone with some fine roaring fellow, to think how pale he would have turned, and how fast he would have run, if he had known that the dear friend who sat close to him, sharpening a bright glittering knife, was a madman with all the power, and half the will to plunge it in his heart. Oh, it was a merry life!

GLOSSARY

to strike to one's heart - llegar al alma
to rouse terror - provocar terror
to hiss - silbar
to tingle - hormiguear
dew - rocío
angry frown - ceño airado
glare - mirada furiosa
cord and axe - cuerda y hacha
grip - acción de agarrar con fuerza, (fig) fuertes garras
to be peeped at - ser mirado con curiosidad
to gnash one's teeth - rechinar los dientes
still night - noche tranquila/silenciosa
to howl - aullar
to roll and twine - rodar y enroscarse
straw - paja
madhouse - manicomio
a rare place - un lugar especial
to start from one's sleep - despertarse sobresaltado
to be spared from the curse of my race - librarse de la maldición de mi estirpe
merriment - diversión, alegría
weary - tedioso,-a
brain - cerebro
mixed up with my very blood - mezclada con mi propia sangre
marrow of my bones - mi médula ósea
pestilence - pestilencia
to cow - estar encogido lleno de miedo
to whisper - susurrar
doomed - condenado
I slunk away - me iba con las orejas gachas
to mope - deprimirse
restless - inquieto,-a
dreadful - terrible, espantoso,-a
dusky forms - formas oscuras
with sly and jeering faces - con caras maliciosas y burlonas
to crouch - agazaparse/estar agazapado
stained - manchado,-a
shed - derramado,-a, vertido,-a
raging madness - furiosa locura
I drove my fingers into my ears - me metía los dedos en los oídos 
to scream - gritar
to slumber -dormitar (tamb. fig estar dormido/estar latente) 
fettered to the ground - encadenado,-a al suelo
to tear oneself to pieces - hacerse pedazos uno mismo
cunning - astuto,-a
to keep sth from sb - ocultar algo a alguien
madman as they thought me - aunque me creían loco
with the best among them - como el que más/el primero
to hug oneself - abrazarse
to play sb a trick - engañar a alguien
to dread - temer
some fine roaring fellow - algún tipo apuesto y vigoroso
to sharpen - afilar
glittering -reluciente
with all the power, and half the will - con toda la fuerza y casi las ganas
to plunge - hundir (cuchillo, etc)

EJERCICIO

Rellena los huecos con partes del cuerpo humano y luego mira de nuevo el texto para comprobar si tus respuestas son correctas:

"Yes! - a madman's! How that word would have struck to my ..... many years ago! How it would have roused the terror that used to come upon me sometimes; sending the ....... hissing and tingling through my ......., till the cold dew of fear stood in large drops upon my ....., and my ...... knocked together with fright! I like it now though. It's a fine name. Show me the monarch whose angry frown was ever feared like the glare of a madman's ...... - whose cord and axe were ever half so sure as a madman's grip. Ho! ho! It's a grand thing to be mad! to be peeped at like a wild lion through the iron bars - to gnash one's ....... and howl, through the long still night, to the merry ring of a heavy chain - and to roll and twine among the straw, transported with such a brave music. Hurrah for the madhouse! Oh, it's a rare place!
I remember days when I was afraid of being mad; when I used to start from my sleep, and fall upon my ......, and pray to be spared the curse of my race; when I rushed from the sight of merriment or happiness, to hide myself in some lonely place, and spend the weary hours in watching the progress of the fever that was to consume my ........ I knew that madness was mixed up with my very ......., and the marrow of my .......; that one generation had passed away without the pestilence appearing among them, and that I was the first in whom it would revive. I knew it must be so: that so it always had been , and so it ever would be; and when I cowed in some obscure corner of a crowded room, and saw men whisper, and point, and turn their ..... towards me, I knew they were telling each other of the doomed madman; and I slunk away again to mope in solitude.
"I did this for years; long, long years they were. The nights here are long sometimes - very long; but they are nothing to the restless nights, and dreadful dreams I had at that time. It makes me cold to remember them. Large dusky forms with sly and jeering ...... crouched in the corners of the room, and bent over my bed at night, tempting me to madness. They told me in low whispers, that the floor of the old house in which my father's father died, was stained with his own ....., shed by his own ..... in raging madness. I drove my ....... into my ......, but they screamed into my ..... till the room rang with it, that in one generation before him the madness slumbered, but that his grandfather had lived for years with his ...... fetered to the ground, to prevent his tearing himself to pieces. I knew they told the truth - I knew it well. I had found it out years before, though they had tried to keep it from me. Ha! ha! I was too cunning for them, madman as they thought me.