And like good fighting cocks, they were temperamental. César had his altercations with them. The boy wasn’t used to commanding, and severity was a two-edged machete that cut him when he gripped it. For that and other reasons, César had become melancholy after a few months on the finca. He spent the whole day locked in his room, not speaking to anyone. Meals? He picked from one dish or another without giving strength or substance to his body. The hashes he was served on the ranch disgusted him. And he was afraid someone would try to poison him or slip him a potion of some kind. He guarded against betrayal in the big house as he did against ambushes in the fields. The Indians are so cowardly, so contemptible. . . .

César went back to Comitán.

But it was impossible to live there either. Let’s say he fell in love with a girl, one of the girls from the classy part of town called La Rovelada, for instance. When is one of those girls going to deign to glance at a Pileño? Their lineage is illustrious; they have white skin and an elegant demeanor; they give themselves airs. And they think anyone who goes near them is a fortune-hunter. Why would César be hunting a fortune? The Santiago family is as rich or richer than theirs. But it’s their family name that makes them so proud. And, on the other hand, César doesn’t want to lower himself by dragging his wing around after a more common girl. So there is nowhere to look.

But without a girlfriend, who will he serenade? The marimba rings out late at night in the lonely streets. . . . When the marimberos are carrying it, it reverberates like a barrel of water on a burro’s back. Then you take up your position in front of a given window and say: here it is. The numbers follow each other like beads on a string: waltzes and danzas, decent music, honest songs. Without any commotion, so the girl’s parents won’t hear and speak ill of the suitor, the bottle passes from hand to hand. Clink, clink, have a swig. It burns in your gullet and invigorates you against the early morning chill. And when your friends start shouting Viva! their voices are stronger and more in earnest.