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| Monje by Mariano Gabriel Pérez |
THE TORTURE OF HOPE
by
Villiers de L'Isle-Adam
from Nouveaux contes cruels
VILLIERS DE L'SLE-ADAM / LA TORTURE PAR L'ESPÉRANCE (A short story in French)
VILLIERS DE I'SLE-ADAM / LA ESPERANZA (A short story in Spanish)
Villiers de L'Isle-Adam / A tortura da esperança (A short story in Portuguese)
MANY years ago, as evening
was closing in, the venerable Pedro Arbuez d'Espila, sixth prior of the
Dominicans of Segovia, and third Grand Inquisitor of Spain, followed by a fra
redemptor, and preceded by two familiars of the Holy Office, the latter
carrying lanterns, made their way to a subterranean dungeon. The bolt of a
massive door creaked, and they entered a mephitic in pace, where the dim
light revealed between rings fastened to the wall a blood-stained rack, a
brazier, and a jug. On a pile of straw, loaded with fetters and his neck
encircled by an iron carcan, sat a haggard man, of uncertain age, clothed in
rags.
