FELISBERTO HERNANDEZ
385
T he second case showed a doll seated a t the head of a table. She
held herself upri ght, her hands on either side of her pla te, between
~he
two long rows of silverware. Her posture and the way her hands rested
on the sil verware made her loo k as if she were a t a keyboard. Horace
looked a t Wa lter, saw him bent over the piano, his tails dangling over
the edge o f the stool, and thought of him as a bird beating black wings.
T hen he stared a t the doll and , as o n other occasions, seemed to sense
tha t she was moving. The movements didn't always begin right away;
nor did he expect them when the doll was dead or lying down ; but this
time they started too soon , possibl y because of her uncomfortable
pos iti on . She was trying. too hard to look up; nodding sli ghtl y, with
effort; so tha t the moment he lefL her face to gaze a t her hands, her head
dropped no ti ceabl y. He in turn quickl y raised his eyes to her face
aga in ; but she was already back in her ori ginal pos ition . He then began
to imagine her story. Her dress and surrounding obj ects suggested grea t
luxury; but the furniture was coarse and the wall s were of stone. On the
far wa ll there was a small window, and behind her a low half-open
door, like a false smil e. She mi ght be in a dungeon in a castl e. The
piano made stormy no ises and every now and then lightning fl ashed in
the window. T hen he remembered tha t a minute ago the ro lling casters
had reminded him of di stant thunder, and he felt uneasy . Also, before
entering the room, he' d been hearing those insinua ting sounds. But,
returning to the doll 's story: maybe she was praying God, a t tha t very
moment , to free her. Finall y, he opened the drawer and read: " Second
scene. Thi s woman is expecting a child soon. She is now living in a
lighthouse by the sea. She has withdrawn from the world, which has
blamed her for loving a sail or. She keeps thinking: '1 want my child to
listen onl y to himse lf and the sea.'" He thought: "Thi s do ll has found
her true story." Then he got up, opened the glass door and slowly went
over her things. He felt he was defiling something as solemn as dea th .
He turned to the doll , trying
to
find a point where their eyes could
mee t; and after a moment he bent over the unhappy girl , and as he
ki ssed her on the forehead it gave him the same cool, pleasant sensation
as Ma ry's face. He' d hardl y taken his lips of[ her forehead when he saw
her move. He was paralyzed . She started
to
slip to one side, losing her
balance, till she fell off the edge of the chair, dragging a spoon and a
fork with her. The pi an o was still making sea noises; and there were
still the fl as hes in the windows and the rumbling machines. He didn 't
want to pi ck her up, and hurri ed out of the case and the room, through
the little pa rl or, into the courtyard. There he saw Al ex and said:
"T ell Wa lter that 's enough for today. And have the boys come in
tomorrow to fix up the doll in the second case."
At tha t moment Mary a ppeared:
