“Están bailando
el clavel y la rosa,
están bailando
el clavel y la rosa,
ay! están bailando!”
(They are dancing, the pink and the rose, they are dancing, the pink and the rose; Ah! they are dancing!)
This last phrase, which was somewhat sad, was accompanied by a ferocious sound of castanets, as if the player wished to make the dancers forget the melancholy of the song.
The girl went on:
“Porque la rosa
entre más encarnada,
Porque la rosa
entre más encarnada
ay! es más hermosa!”
(For the rose, the more she blushes, for the rose, the more she blushes, Ah! the more beautiful she becomes.)
Then the castanets clicked wildly, while all the bystanders cheered the dancers on. Pacheco pursued his partner with open arms, and she seemed to provoke him and to flee from him, keeping out of his reach when he was about to conquer her. In these changes and movements, the Countess’ skirts swished back and forth and folded about her thighs, outlining her powerful hips. The whole room seemed filled with an effluvia of life.
Quentin enthusiastically continued to strum the guitar. The singer had offered him a glass of white wine, and without ceasing to play, he had stretched out his lips and drained it.
The dance was repeated several times, until the dancers, worn out, sat down.
“Splendid! Magnificent!” exclaimed Quentin with tears in his eyes.