The Story Invariably Told Was That A Man Convicted Of Some Serious
Crime And Condemned To Suffer The Last Penalty,
And left, as the
custom then was, for long months in the gaol in Buenos Ayres, amused
himself by composing
The story of the Bien-te-veo, and thinking well
of it he made a present of the manuscript to the gaoler in
acknowledgment of some kindness he had received from that person. The
condemned man had no money and no friends to interest themselves on
his behalf; but it was not the custom at that time to execute a
criminal as soon as he was condemned. The prison authorities preferred
to wait until there were a dozen or so to execute; these would then be
taken out, ranged against a wall of the prison, opposite a file of
soldiers with muskets in their hands, and shot, the soldiers after the
first discharge reloading their weapons and going up to the fallen men
to finish off those who were still kicking. This was the prospect our
prisoner had to look forward to. Meanwhile his ballad was being
circulated and read with immense delight by various persons in
authority, and one of these who was privileged to approach the
Dictator, thinking it would afford him a little amusement, took the
ballad and read it to him. Rosas was so pleased with it that he
pardoned the condemned man and ordered his liberation.
All this, I conjectured, must have happened at least twenty years
before I was born. I also concluded that the ballad had never been
printed, otherwise I would most probably have found it; but some
copies in writing had evidently been made and it had become a
favourite composition with the reciters at festive gatherings, but had
now gone out and was hopelessly lost.
These, as I have already intimated, were but the little things that
touched a child's fancy; there was another romantic circumstance in
the life of Rosas which appealed to everybody, adult as well as child.
He was the father of Dona Manuela, known by the affectionate
diminutive, Manuelita, throughout the land, and loved and admired by
all, even by her father's enemies, for her compassionate disposition.
Perhaps she was the one being in the world for whom he, a widower and
lonely man, cherished a great tenderness. It is certain that her power
over him was very great and that many lives that would have been taken
for State reasons were saved by her interposition. It was a beautiful
and fearful part that she, a girl, was called on to play on that
dreadful stage; and very naturally it was said that she, who was the
very spirit of mercy incarnate, could not have acted as the loving,
devoted daughter to one who was the monster of cruelty his enemies
proclaimed him to be.
Here, in conclusion to this chapter, I had intended to introduce a few
sober reflections on the character of Rosas - certainly the greatest
and most interesting of all the South America Caudillos, or leaders,
who rose to absolute power during the long stormy period that followed
on the war of independence - reflections which came to me later, in my
teens, when I began to think for myself and form my own judgments.
This I now perceive would be a mistake, if not an impertinence, since
I have not the temper of mind for such exercises and should give too
much importance to certain singular acts on the Dictator's part which
others would perhaps regard as political errors, or due to sudden fits
of passion or petulance rather than as crimes.
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