When Úrsula realized that José Arcadio Segundo was a cockfight man and that Aureliano Segundo played the… — Gabriel Garcia Marquez
When Úrsula realized that José Arcadio Segundo was a cockfight man and that Aureliano Segundo played the accordion at his concubine's noisy parties, she thought she would go mad with the combination. It was as if the defects of the family and none of the virtues had been concentrated in both. Then she decided that no one again would be called Aureliano or José Arcadio. Yet when Aureliano Segundo had his first son she did not dare go against his will.
"All right," Úrsula said, "but on one condition: I will bring him up."
Although she was already a hundred years old and on the point of going blind from cataracts, she still had her physical dynamism, her integrity of character, and her mental balance intact. No one would be better able than she to shape the virtuous man who would restore the prestige of the family, a man who would never have heard talk of war, fighting cocks, bad women, or wild undertakings, four calamities that, according to what Úrsula thought, had determined the downfall of the line. "This one will be a priest," she promised solemnly. "And if God gives me life he'll be Pope someday."
Cuando Úrsula se dio cuenta de que José arcadio Segundo era gallero y Aureliano Segundo tocaba el acordeón en las fiestas ruidosas de su concubina, creyó enloquecer de confusión. Era como si en ambos se hubieran concentrado los defectos de la familia y ninguna de sus virtudes. Entonces decidió que nadie volviera a llamarse Aureliano y José Arcadio. Sin embargo, cuando Aureliano Segundo tuvo su primer hijo, no se atrevió a contrariarlo.
—De acuerdo —dijo Úsula—, pero con una condición: yo me encargo de criarlo.
Aunque ya era centenaria y estaba a punto de quedarse ciega por las cataratas, conservaba intactos el dinamismo físico, la integridad del carácter y el equilibrio mental. Nadie mejor que ella para forma al hombre virtuoso que había de restaurar el prestigio de la familia, un hombre que nunca hubiera oído hablar de la guerra, los gallos de pelea, las mujeres de mala vida y las empresas delirantes, cuatro calamidades que, según pensaba Úrsula, habían determinado la decadencia de su estirpe. «Este será cura», prometió solemnemente. «Y si Dios me da vida, ha de llegar a ser Papa.»
p. 229Source: Wikiquote · CC BY-SA 4.0
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p. 30
Aureliano gave her a look that wrapped her in an atmosphere of uncertainty.
"Somebody is coming," he told her.
Úrsula, as she did whenever he made a prediction, tried to break it down with her housewifely logic. It was normal for someone to be coming.
p. 55
