The Sacrificer
The morning illuminates the ruin of the ships.
The caudillos remained vigilant throughout the night, on a coastal overlook, dejected in the thought of defeat.
The victims of the last dispute reveal, across the bosom of the earth, the paralyzed visage and the abandonment and lassitude of death.
A throng gathers to moan around its leader. It censures the turpitude of fate and reveres the hero’s dignity and his countenance of a beardless god. The face of the mourners is flooded in the light of a bonfire eclipsed by the day. The voice of the sea seconds the scene of the weeping, observing a ritual compass.
The caudillos take leave anticipating the fatuous discourse of the most provect and they proceed, without previous concert, to demand succor from Achilles. The supplicants alleviate the young man’s venomous ire and persuade him to accept duty.
The reconciled one proposes to himself the vindication of his own and the satisfaction of the manes of the hero, amid the inconsolable mob. He orders the restitution of Briseis, accusing her, secretly, of being a missionary of discord.
The captive arrives soon afterwards, ashamed of her ignominy, securing with the help of a herald the timid step.
Achilles grabs her by her right hand and situates her beneath the threat of his spear, scorning the attempt of a plea. He annuls resistance with blows, before inflicting the mortal wound.
Las formas del fuego (1929)
{ José Antonio Ramos Sucre, Obra completa, Caracas: Biblioteca Ayacucho, 1989 }
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