Carmen
by Prosper Mérimée

Publication date 2017-10-30
Usage Public Domain Mark 1.0Creative Commons Licensepublicdomain
Topics librivox, audiobooks, French, novella, thief, travels, Spain, love story, adultery, Carmen, don José, opera, factory, gypsy, love affair, fictional account, romani, thievery, cordoba, battle of munda, cigar, famous opera, source material, poor people
LibriVox recording of Carmen by Prosper Mérimée. (Translated by Mary Lloyd.)
Read in English by ToddHW; Mariana; Lynne T; Zain Solinski
On a trip to Spain in 1830, our narrator recounts his encounters with two strange characters: a thief named Don José Navarro and a beautiful Romani woman named Carmen...little does he know that soon, these two will be entangled in a tumultuous love affair that spells out tragedy for both parties. This novella, written and first published in 1845, has been adapted into a number of dramatic works, including the famous opera by Georges Bizet. - Summary by Mary Kay and Wikipedia
For further information, including links to online text, reader information, RSS feeds, CD cover or other formats (if available), please go to the LibriVox catalog page for this recording.

section one of carmen this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org carmen by prosper murami translated by mary lloyd chapter one part one i had always suspected the geographical authorities did not know what they were talking about when they located the battlefield of munda in the county of the bastuli pointe close to the modern manda some two leagues north of marbella according to my own surmise founded on the text of the anonymous author of the bellum hispanias and on certain information called from the excellent library owned by the duke of osuma i believe the site of the memorable struggle in which caesar played double or quits once and for all with the champions of the republic should be sought in the neighborhood of montylia happening to be in under lucia during the autumn of 1830 i made a somewhat lengthy excursion with the object of clearing up certain doubts which still oppressed me a paper which i shall shortly publish will i trust remove any hesitation that may still exist in the minds of all honest archaeologists but before that dissertation of mine finally settles the geographical problem on the solution of which the whole of learned europe hangs i desire to relate a little tale it will do no prejudice to the interesting question of the correct locality of munda i had hired a guide and a couple of horses at cordova and had started on my way with no luggage save a few shirts and caesar's commentaries as i wandered one day across the higher lands of the kachina plain worn with fatigue parched with thirst scorched by a burning sun cursing caesar and pompey's sons alike most heartily my eye lighted at some distance from the path i was following on a little stretch of green sword dotted with reeds and rushes that be token to the neighborhood of some spring and indeed as i drew nearer i perceived that what had looked like squared was a marsh into which a stream which seemed to issue from a narrow gorge between two high spurs of the sierra decabra ran and disappeared if i rode up that stream i argued i was likely to find cooler water fewer leeches and frogs and may have a little shade among the rocks at the mouth of the gorge my horse nade and another horse invisible to me nade back before i had advanced 100 paces the gorge suddenly widened and i beheld a sort of natural amphitheater thoroughly shaded by the steep cliffs that lay all around it it was impossible to imagine any more delightful halting place for a traveler at the foot of the precipitous rocks the stream bubbled upward and fell into a little basin lined with sand that was white as snow five or six blended evergreen oaks sheltered from the wind and cooled by the spring grew beside the pool and shaded it with their thick foliage and round about it a close and glossy turf offered the wanderer a better bed than he could have found in any hostile ray for 10 leagues round the honor of discovering this fair spot did not belong to me a man was resting there already sleeping no doubt before i reached it roused by the naying of the horses he had risen to his feet and had moved over to his mount which had been taking advantage of its master slumbers to make a hearty feed on the grass that grew around he was an active young fellow of middle height but powerful and billed and proud and sullen looking in expression his complexion which may once have been fine had been tanned by the sun till it was darker than his hair one of his hands grasped his horse's halter in the other he held a brass blunderbuss at the first blush i confess the blunderbuss and the savage looks the man who bore it somewhat took me aback but i had heard so much about robbers that never seeing any i had ceased to believe in their existence and further i had seen so many honest farmers arm themselves to the teeth before they went out to market that the sight of firearms gave me no warrant for doubting the character of any stranger and then quoth i to myself what could he do with my shirts and my elsevier edition of caesar's commentaries so i bestowed a friendly nod on the man with a blunderbuss and inquired with a smile whether i had disturbed his nap without any answer he looked me over from head to foot then as if the scrutiny had satisfied him he looked as closely at my guide who was just coming up i saw the guide turned pale and pulled up with an air of evident alarm an unlucky meeting thought i to myself but prudence instantly counseled me not to let any symptom of anxiety escape me so i dismounted i told the guide to take off the horse's bridles and kneeling down beside the spring i laughed my head in hands and then drank a long draft lying flat on my belly like gideon soldiers meanwhile i watched the stranger and my own guide this last seemed to come forward unwillingly but the other did not appear to have any evil designs upon us for he had turned his horse loose and the blunderbuss which he had been holding horizontally was now dropped earthward not thinking it necessary to take offense and the scant attention paid me i stretched myself full length upon the grass and calmly asked the owner of the blunderbuss whether he had a light about him at the same time i pulled out my cigar case the stranger still without opening his lips took out his flint and lost no time in getting me a light he was evidently growing tamer for he sat down opposite me though he still grasped his weapon when i had lighted my cigar i chose out the best i had left and asked him whether he smoked yes senor he replied these were the first words i had heard him speak and i noticed that he did not pronounce the letter s in the andalusian fashion once i concluded he was a traveler like myself though maybe somewhat less of an archaeologist you'll find this a fairly good one said i holding out a real havana regalia he bowed his head slightly lighted his cigarette mine thanked me with another nod and began to smoke with the most lively appearance of enjoyment ah he exclaimed as he blew his first puff of smoke slowly out of his ears and nostrils what a time it is since i've had a smoke in spain the giving and accepting of a cigar establishes bonds of hospitality similar to those founded in eastern countries on the partaking of bread and salt my friend turned out to be more talkative than i had hoped however though he claimed to belong to the pardito of montia he seemed very ill informed about the country he did not know the name of the delightful valley in which we were sitting he could not tell me the names of any of the neighboring villages and when i inquired whether he had not noticed any broken down walls broad-rimmed tiles or carved stones in the vicinity he confessed he had never paid any heed to such matters on the other hand he showed himself an expert in horse flesh found fault with my mount not a difficult affair and gave me a pedigree of his own which had come from the famous stud at cordova it was a splendid creature indeed so tough according to its owner's claim that it had once covered 30 leagues in one day either at the gallop or at full trot the whole time in the middle of his story the stranger pulled up short as if startled and sorry he had said so much the fact is i was in a great hurry to get to cordova he went on somewhat embarrassed i had to petition the judges about a lawsuit as he spoke he looked at my guide antonio who had dropped his eyes the spring and the cool shade were so delightful that i've thought me of certain slices of an excellent ham which my friends at montia had packed into my guide's wallet i bade and produced them and invited the stranger to partake our impromptu lunch if he had not smoked for a long time he certainly struck me as having fasted for eight and forty hours at the very least he ate like a starving wolf and i thought to myself that my appearance must really have been quite providential for the poor fellow meanwhile my guide ate but little drank still less and spoke never a word although in the earlier part of our journey he had proved himself a most unrivaled chatterer he seemed ill at ease in the presence of our guest and a sort of mutual distrust the cause of which i could not exactly fathom seemed to be between them the last crumbs of bread and scraps of ham had disappeared we had each smoked our second cigar i told the guide to bridle the horses and was just about to take leave of my new friend when he inquired where i was going to spend the night before i had time to notice a sign my guide was making to me i had replied that i was going to the delta del cuevo that's a bad lodging for a gentleman like you sir i'm bound there myself and if you allow me to ride with you we'll go together with pleasure i r