Don Juan Tenorio | Page 9

est�� don Juan Tenorio, 'Here's Don Juan Tenorio y no hay hombre para ��l. who has no competition. Desde la princesa altiva From the princess who will not bend a la que pesca en ruin barca, to a fishergirl in a lowly boat, no hay hembra a quien no suscriba; there's no female who does not attend, y a cualquier empresa abarca no enterprise he will not float, si en oro o valor estriba. whether it smacks of gold or valour. B��squenle los re?idores; Let the quarrelsome ones, c��rquenle los jugadores; and the gamblers, come: quien se precie, que le ataje; whoever is proud, let him see Y a ver si hay quien le aventaje if he can take advantage of me, en juego, en lid o en amores. in gaming, in loving, or fighting!' Esto escrib��; y en medio a?o That's what I wrote, and in the half-year que mi presencia goz�� that Naples enjoyed my presence there, N��poles, no hay lance extra?o, there was no strange affair, no hay esc��ndalo ni enga?o no scandal or fraud, I fear, en que no me hallara yo. towards which I didn't steer. Por dondequiera que fui Wherever I strayed la raz��n atropell��, I trampled on right, la virtud escarnec��, virtue, the jade, a la justicia burl��, I scorned, tricked the might y a las mujeres vend��. of the law, and women betrayed. Yo a las caba?as baj��, I went down the alleys. yo a los palacios sub��, and up to the palaces, yo los claustros escal��, boarded cloisters, like galleys, y en todas partes dej�� and wherever I sallied, memoria amarga de m��. left bitter memories, Ni reconoc�� sagrado, knew nothing holy. ni hubo ocasi��n ni lugar There was no occasion or place por mi audacia respetado; respected by my audacity, ni en distinguir me he parado nor did I stop, for veracity, al cl��rigo del seglar. to distinguish a lay from a clerical face. A quien quise provoqu��, Any whose wish I detected con quien quiso me bat��, I challenged, and any I chose, y nunca consider�� and I never once reflected que pudo matarme a m�� that any I killed of those aquel a quien yo mat��. might have had me dissected. A esto don Juan se arroj��, This is what Don Juan undertook, y escrito en este papel and written on this sheet est�� cuanto consigui��, is what he made of his luck, y lo que ��l aqu�� escribi�� and what he wrote here, look, mantenido est�� por ��l. is vouched for by him, and complete.
DON LUIS: Leed, pues. Read it then.
DON JUAN: No, oigamos antes No, first lets hear news vuestros bizarros extremos, of your extravagant acts, y si tra��is terminantes and if you've the proof, vuestras notas comprobantes, that will show us the truth, lo escrito cotejaremos. let's hear the facts.
DON LUIS: Dec��s bien; cosa es que You speak well, yes, that's right est��, don Juan, muy puesta en raz��n; Don Juan, its said with reason; aunque a mi ver poco ir�� though in my opinion it's slight, de una a otra relaci��n. any small difference between them.
DON JUAN: Empezad, pues. Begin then.
DON LUIS: All�� va. Here goes. Buscando yo como vos I, like you, searching out a mi aliento empresas grandes, great actions to embrace, dije: ?D�� ir��, ?vive Dios!, cry 'Where will I go? Good God', I shout de amor y lides en pos, 'if it's love and duels we're about que vaya mejor que a Flandes? Flanders is the place. All��; puesto que empe?adas Since there are, I'm told, guerras hay, a mis deseos fierce wars there, perfect chances to seize, habr�� al par centuplicadas multiplied a hundred fold, ocasiones extremadas to meet my desires for brave and bold de ri?as y galanteos. duels and gallantries.' Y en Flandes conmigo di, But in Flanders, unfortunately, mas con tan negra fortuna I had an unlucky run que al mes de encontrarme all�� so that within a month, you see, todo mi caudal perd��, I was no longer rich, as formerly, dobla a dobla, una por una. coin by coin, gone, one by one. En tan total carest��a Seeing I was in such need mir��ndome de dineros, of a little ready money, de m�� todo el mundo hu��a; everyone fled from me, mas yo busqu�� compa?ia but I sought company, y me un�� a unos bandoleros. and joined the banditry. Lo hicimos bien, ?voto a tal!, We did well, by the devil, y fuimos tan adelante and such a road we went, con suerte tan colosal with such good luck in our revel, que entramos a saco en Gante that we entered and sacked, in Ghent, el palacio episcopal. the bishop's episcopal palace. ?Qu�� noche! Por el decoro What a night! To keep the rule