Part 16.
Ugo had firmly decided that he would not do Dada any
harm; he had thought so from the very beginning. From their very first meeting,
he had been charmed by this girl. More than anything, he was captivated by her
innocent soul.
The gardener had expected that he would feel only disgust
toward a ragged, disheveled beggar wrapped in dirty rags and reeking of vodka
and urine, but he was mistaken. Dada was the first person who accepted him as a
human being and, without any disgust, shared even her own food with him. The
gardener smiled with regret.
In another life and in another place, he had no peace
from women. He had not been idle here in this estate either, but with Dada,
something completely different happened, and it left him even more bewildered.
Enchanted by her spirituality and simplicity, he was also captivated by her
physical beauty.
She was not such a young girl anymore, yet she remained
naive, the owner of a pure, kind heart. She had long since passed the age of
majority, yet she had retained an innocent soul like a child's, and she would
always remain that way.
Her large green eyes and deep black hair only emphasized
her beauty; there was something foreign, special, and different about her.
Even in her childhood, Dada’s unusual beauty was
noticeable. In the camp, they called the girl a "foreign fairy,"
dressed her in Gypsy clothing, and even pierced her ears, hanging large
earrings on them. The Padrone was terribly displeased; Dada had a completely
different style, and he especially disliked the large earrings—although they
were gold, they felt tasteless and ill-suited for a girl with such a beautiful
face.
When the camp dispersed, upon arriving in the first city,
the Padrone dressed Dada in the finest clothing and then took her to a
goldsmith.
A Jewish man of Slavic origin could not hide his
admiration upon seeing Dada’s eyes.
- Брюнетка с изумрудами. (Brunette with emerald
eyes). - he exclaimed, captivated by the girl's beauty.
The Padrone’s heart filled with pride when he learned
what the words meant.
- Well, you know what to do—adorn this little lady with
jewelry befitting her, - he said, stroking his adopted daughter's hair.
"Брюнетка с изумрудами" — the Padrone
remembered these two words well and often addressed Dada this way. Dada would
beam from ear to ear, touching her ears adorned with emerald earrings one by
one, checking to make sure she hadn't lost them.
Dada had many other tastefully crafted pieces of jewelry,
but she was so accustomed to these earrings that she never took them off, even
though she wanted for nothing and never even looked at expensive items.
The Padrone, a man of impeccable taste, would always
spend a long time carefully selecting gifts. Dada, however, was only happy to
receive the act of giving itself, not the value of the gift. At Dada's request,
the Padrone told the gardener the story of the emerald earrings, though he
skipped the part about the gypsies and started directly with the purchase of
the earrings. The gardener also liked the words.
"Брюнетка с изумрудами" (Brunette with
emerald eyes)—he even repeated them several times, which brought about Dada’s
joyful laughter.
At last, the long-awaited spring had arrived. The winter
had dragged on for so long that people had almost lost hope of spring ever
coming. Zeki was expected to appear at any moment, and then perhaps something
would become clearer, though as time passed, the Padrone became more and more
convinced of Zeki’s innocence.
The gardener, however, remained silent, saying nothing
about himself, even when the Padrone told Dada a thousand funny and interesting
stories about his life with Zeki, hoping perhaps that Ugo might let something
slip—but it was in vain. Dada would giggle merrily, while the gardener remained
stubbornly silent, as if he had been born that way and had arrived at their
estate without any past at all.
The Padrone tried every means to make the gardener talk,
but as time went on, Ugo sank deeper into his own past. He had such
well-prepared and refined answers for every question that there was no need to
ask a follow-up.
The Padrone treated him as warmly as possible, trying to
see not a rival in him, but a loyal friend. One morning, the gardener even
found a pair of exquisite shoes by his bed. Ugo was so impressed and taken
aback that he hesitated to even put them on at first.
Dada was so happy about the Padrone's kind attitude
toward the gardener that she felt like the happiest person alive.
The girl's personal doctor noted that since the wounded
gardener was brought into their house, Dada had only needed an IV drip once,
and that was when she saw the man lying helplessly on the bed, covered in
blood, in a state of terrible agitation.
"How little is needed for human happiness,"
the Padrone thought.
"How little, yet how rare it is to see—it is
worth more than all the wealth in the world! It is difficult to perceive and
sometimes seems so insignificant that one might walk right past it without even
noticing. Perhaps that is why it is so hard to attain and, if not well guarded,
so easily lost!"
The Padrone was lost in a thousand thoughts, and concern
for his adopted daughter gnawed at his heart. He could clearly see how kindly
Ugo seemed to be disposed toward Dada, but still...
Ugo was feeling much better. He was dozing in an armchair
in the gallery, listening to Chopin. Dada played very well, and because the
gardener enjoyed it, she performed with even more enthusiasm. Around the
estate, people inquired about the gardener again, asking where he had
disappeared to for so long, as the garden needed tending. The Padrone had
assigned another servant as the gardener, not wanting to bring yet another
stranger into his domain.
The gardener was so changed that even when he looked out
the window into the yard, no one could recognize him; how could they have known
that a much younger, handsome man was wrapped in the skin of that disheveled
forest man?
They thought the gardener was a foreign guest and paid
him no real attention, as everyone was busy with their own work.
LEX. Sunday, February 28, 2016
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