There is nothing more that I long for. Secure in the affection of these beings that I love, and in my own self-respect, I watch calmly the fleeting of the hours. Snow has begun to show slowly about my temples, but it does not touch my heart. Neither envy nor boredom enters it. And if, as I have heard Castell say many times, life has no flavor, I am persuaded that he does not know what it can give. For me it has a delicate, exquisite savor. I am an artist in happiness. This thought increases my pleasures.
And when inexorable death knocks at my door I shall not wait for him to call twice. With firm step and tranquil heart, I will go to meet him, and giving him my hand say:
"I have done my duty, and I have lived happily. Nobody has suffered because of me. Whether I am led to a sweet eternal sleep, or to a new incarnation of this impalpable force that fills me, I have no fear. Here I am!"
But, no! it is not death that will in that moment knock at my door. It is life, radiant, immortal, divine! From my opened window I feel it and see it. The sun rises in the firmament and sheds its rays upon the garden. The flowers, shining, exhale their perfume. This light and these odors intoxicate me. Everything is riant, stirring, singing, in the world that I behold from my balcony. Beautiful is life! Her fruitful breath meets my own softly. What joy in the freshness of this springtime morning! The birds among the boughs sing joyfully with melodious voices in concert with the sunbeams.
But I would not exchange all their melodious voices for one that is now calling me impatiently from the stairway:
The following typographical errors were corrected by the etext transcriber:
He had also overcome the ill effects of the chill=>She had also overcome the ill effects of the chill
The world bears it goal in it own existence.=>The world bears it goal in its own existence.
irresistible impluse of his nature=>irresistible impulse of his nature
Si en la nocha callada=>Si en la noche callada
End of Project Gutenberg's The Joy of Captain Ribot, by Armando Palacio Valdés