Las Cartas que No Se Enviaron
(The Letters That Were Never Sent)
Cuando Alejandra volvio a Salamanca después de quince años, no esperaba encontrar nada que la conmoviera.
When Alejandra returned to Salamanca after fifteen years, she did not expect to find anything that would move her.
Habia regresado unicamente para vender la casa de su madre, que habia fallecido en otoño.
She had come back solely to sell her mother's house, who had passed away in autumn.
Sin embargo, mientras vaciaba los cajones del escritorio, descubrio un sobre grueso atado con un cordon de seda.
However, while she was emptying the drawers of the writing desk, she discovered a thick envelope tied with a silk cord.
Dentro habia doce cartas, todas dirigidas a ella, todas escritas por la misma mano.
Inside there were twelve letters, all addressed to her, all written by the same hand.
La letra era inconfundible: pertenecia a Pablo Castejon, el hombre al que habia amado en secreto durante toda su juventud.
The handwriting was unmistakable: it belonged to Pablo Castejon, the man she had loved in secret throughout her entire youth.
La primera carta, fechada en junio de hacia dieciseis años, decia: <<Querida Alejandra, hoy te he visto cruzar la Plaza Mayor bajo la lluvia, y aunque habria querido llamarte, las palabras se me quedaron atrapadas en la garganta.
The first letter, dated in June sixteen years earlier, said: <<Dear Alejandra, today I saw you cross the Plaza Mayor in the rain, and although I would have wanted to call out to you, the words got trapped in my throat.
Llevo meses intentando decirte lo que siento, pero cada vez que te tengo delante, el miedo me vence.
I have been trying for months to tell you what I feel, but every time I have you in front of me, fear defeats me.
Quizá estas cartas nunca sean enviadas.
Perhaps these letters will never be sent.
Quizá sea mejor así.>>
Perhaps it is better that way.>>
Alejandra leyo las doce cartas sin detenerse, sentada en el suelo del dormitorio de su madre.
Alejandra read the twelve letters without stopping, sitting on the floor of her mother's bedroom.
En ellas, Pablo le confesaba un amor que jamás se habia atrevido a pronunciar en voz alta.
In them, Pablo confessed to her a love he had never dared to speak aloud.
Le contaba como la observaba desde la ventana de la biblioteca, como memorizaba los libros que ella sacaba para poder leerlos también, como habia renunciado a una beca en Madrid porque no soportaba la idea de alejarse de ella.
He told her how he watched her from the library window, how he memorised the books she borrowed so he could read them too, how he had turned down a scholarship in Madrid because he could not bear the thought of moving away from her.
La ultima carta, escrita dos años antes de que Alejandra se marchara a Barcelona, terminaba con una frase que le hizo temblar: <<Si alguna vez lees esto, sabras que cada silencio mio fue una declaracion que no supe hacer.>>
The last letter, written two years before Alejandra left for Barcelona, ended with a sentence that made her tremble: <<If you ever read this, you will know that every silence of mine was a declaration I did not know how to make.>>
Alejandra supo que Pablo seguia viviendo en Salamanca.
Alejandra learned that Pablo was still living in Salamanca.
Su madre se lo habia mencionado en alguna conversación telefonica, pero ella nunca habia prestado atención.
Her mother had mentioned it to her in some phone conversation, but she had never paid attention.
Ahora comprendia por que su madre habia guardado aquellas cartas: habrian sido entregadas después de que Pablo se las confiara, probablemente sin saber que jamás llegarian a su destinataria.
Now she understood why her mother had kept those letters: they must have been handed over after Pablo entrusted them to her, probably without knowing they would never reach their intended recipient.
Se pregunto cuantas veces habrian coincidido en la misma calle sin reconocerse, cuantas oportunidades habrian sido desperdiciadas por el miedo y el orgullo.
She wondered how many times they might have crossed paths on the same street without recognising each other, how many opportunities had been wasted through fear and pride.
Al día siguiente, Alejandra camino hasta la Plaza Mayor.
The following day, Alejandra walked to the Plaza Mayor.
Se sento en un banco de piedra frente a la fachada dorada y espero, sin saber exactamente que estaba esperando.
She sat on a stone bench facing the golden facade and waited, without knowing exactly what she was waiting for.
A las seis de la tarde, un hombre de pelo canoso se detuvo a pocos metros de ella.
At six in the evening, a grey-haired man stopped a few metres from her.
La miro con los ojos entrecerrados, como si estuviera intentando recordar algo lejano. <<Alejandra>>, murmuro, y su voz sono como si hubiera ensayado aquel nombre durante años sin atreverse a pronunciarlo.
He looked at her with narrowed eyes, as if he were trying to remember something distant. <<Alejandra,>> he murmured, and his voice sounded as though he had rehearsed that name for years without daring to speak it.
<<He leido tus cartas>>, dijo ella, y las lagrimas que habia contenido durante toda la noche brotaron por fin.
<<I have read your letters,>> she said, and the tears she had held back all night finally flowed.
Pablo se sento a su lado, despacio, como si temiera que cualquier movimiento brusco pudiera romper aquel instante. <<Siempre pense que se habrian perdido>>, confeso el. <<Tu madre me dijo que te las daria, pero cuando te fuiste sin decir nada, supuse que las habias leido y que no habias sentido lo mismo.>> Alejandra nego con la cabeza. <<Nunca las recibi.
Pablo sat down beside her, slowly, as if he feared that any sudden movement might shatter that moment. <<I always thought they must have been lost,>> he confessed. <<Your mother told me she would give them to you, but when you left without saying anything, I assumed you had read them and that you had not felt the same.>> Alejandra shook her head. <<I never received them.
Las encontre ayer, escondidas en su escritorio.>> Se miraron durante un largo momento, como si quince años de silencio pudieran ser borrados por una sola mirada.
I found them yesterday, hidden in her desk.>> They looked at each other for a long moment, as if fifteen years of silence could be erased by a single look.
Y aunque sabian que el tiempo perdido no podria ser recuperado, ambos comprendieron que algunas historias de amor no terminan: simplemente esperan.
And although they knew that lost time could not be recovered, they both understood that some love stories do not end: they simply wait.
Key Vocabulary
conmover to move (emotionally), to touch
el cordon cord, string, lace
inconfundible unmistakable, distinctive
la garganta throat
la beca scholarship, grant
el destinatario recipient, addressee
entrecerrado half-closed, narrowed
ensayar to rehearse, to practise
brusco sudden, abrupt, brusque
borrar to erase, to delete, to wipe out