At dawn, worn out by the tormented vigil, he appeared in the cell an hour before the execution. "The farce is… — Gabriel Garcia Marquez

At dawn, worn out by the tormented vigil, he appeared in the cell an hour before the execution. "The farce is over, old friend," he said to Colonel Gerineldo Marquez. "Let's get out of here before the mosquitos in here execute you." Colonel Gerineldo Marquez could not express the disdain that was inspired in him by that attitude.

"No, Aureliano," he replied. "I'd rather be dead than see you changed into a tyrant."

"You won't see me," Colonel Aureliano Buendía said. "Put your shoes and help me get this shitty war over with."

When he said it he did not know that it was easier to start a war than to end one.

In the original (Spanish)

Al amanecer, estragado por la tormentosa vigilia, apareció en la cuarto del cepo una hora antes de la ejecución. «Terminó la fasa, compadre», le dijo al coronel Gerineldo Márquez. «Vámonos de aquí, antes de que acaben de fusilarte los mosquitos.» El coronel Gerineldo Márquez no pudo reprimir el desprecio que le inspiraba aquella actitud.

—No, Aureliano —replicó—. Vale más estar muerto que verte convertido en un chafarote.

—No me verás —dijo el coronel Aureliano Buendía—. Ponte los zapatos y ayúdame a terminar con esta guerra de mierda.

Al decirlo, no imaginaba que era más fácil empezar una guarra que terminarla.

p. 207Source: Wikiquote · CC BY-SA 4.0

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