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The mudslide
José Milla (1822-1882)
He was born in 1822 in Guatemala City. He was a
prolific writer since he was a poet, journalist, novelist
and historian. He enjoyed great fame bai the pseudonym
of "Salomé Gil."
He distinguished himself more than anything else for
his interesting costume paintings such as "El embrollón."
In this tale truth and emotion blend in perfect harmony.

Cheerful, good-natured,° and quite intelligent, Pedro good-natured good

Maraña had only one little flaw: he was the most informal
person in the world, the most liberal man in promising
and the most miserly° in fulfilling his promises. greedy miser

A member of the Municipal Council, Don Pedro was

also a member of the Chamber of Commerce and many
other organizations. In all of them he became
conspicuous for his punctuality in not attending the
sessions. Whenever some urgent decision had to be
made, Don Pedro would take his shotgun and go
hunting.
On one occasion he was engaged to play the lead
role in a comedy. In the second act, the character he
fugue flight: pilgrim
was playing was supposed to simulate an escape° and stranger
Don Pedro had the strange idea of really escaping: he
went home to sleep, leaving the spectators and actors
waiting for him.
Don Pedro never repeated that his house was his
home,
his goods, and his person itself were always at the
disposal of all his friends and acquaintances. If someone
announced in his presence that he was going on a trip,
Don Pedro would immediately offer him his horse:
"You can count on him", he would say emphatically.
But when the gullible person came for the horse, Don acudia i6a

Pedro would reply that he was very sorry, that the

animal was sick, etc., etc., etc. If one was looking for a
car to go to the station to meet his family returning from
vacation, Don Pedro would hurry° to offer his car, but at hastened hastened

the precise hour God knows what wheel° would appear wheel wheel

broken ...
But all this was nothing compared to Don Pedro's
undertake cornenzaba¡
love affairs. He undertook hundreds of such hundreds hundreds
adventures. Sometimes he had eight or ten girlfriends
at the same time, and the curious thing is that he
found the time to keep so many appointments, to be
present in so many places. Often the work piled up so
much that he had to employ a scribe.
However, the day came when Don Pedro found the last met his match met his
of his shoe.° It happened then that he added to the match

number of his girlfriends a young lady named Florencia

del Anzuelo, twenty-four years old and many months
more ... to a total of thirty-eight years. Florenci a was a march1te withered
bit withered:° she was skinny, flat-nosed, big-mouthed flatbed
astoundingly that
and frighteningly cross-eyed.° In spite of all that, she causes terror or fear;
became fashionable and was declared pretty, bWna cross-eyed
sorceress enchantress
bewitching, ° "fabulous." Don Pedro observed this
Venus and found her rather ugly, but since she was
already famous, he devoted himself to a c onq ui st,
which he considered to be very beautiful. As at first Don
Install inGisfir
Pedro failed, ° he had to start again and to persevere° porllar persist;
courage va/oF, courage
with even greater courage, ° He offered to marry her.
Upon hearing the magic word "marriage," the lady
was surrendered surrendered
surrendered° and the day for the wedding was
immediately set. Eight
Pedro spent days returning letters and portraits,
rings,° dried flowers, hair and other articles of
his ex-girlfriends.
The day came, The end, when our butterfly was
going to burn its wings to fly no more from flower to
flower. Everything was ready. The priest and the god parents

godparents° were in the church, already crowded with

people. The bride approached the altar like a
impregnable
triumphant general to whom the gates of a city inescapab le
declared impregnable have been opened.
Don Pedro was pensive, as if meditating on a bold bold, daring

strange and daring resolution.° Don Pedro was

thoughtful, as if meditating on a strange and daring
resolution.
When the priest asked him if he received Miss 9i8 of áombr-s
Florencia del Anzuelo as his legitimate wife, a clear shrugged his
shou lders
and well pronounced NO left everyone astonished.
The priest repeated the question having heard the very
same answer, shrugged his shoulders° and withdrew no
less astonished than the others. The poor bride fainted.
That scandalous event was the subject of all
singles single g iris
conversations. Poor Florence won the sympathy of all sensible reasonable,
prudent
her friends, and especially of the spinsters, ° who challenge him defy
declared Pedro Maraña an abominable monster. The him; duel duel

sensible people° censured him and Florencia's relatives

wanted to challenge him° to a duel.
insult insult, abuse
The unhappy woman remained in bed with fever for
deep inside bottom
eight days. When she regained her health, she began
to look for a way to make amends for the insult. Don
Pedro, who at heart° was not a bad person, saw the
result of his ugly deed and repented. He was ready to
do anything to repair the damage caused. reject h im reject
It was then that Florencia proposed to him to return to h im

the altar so that she could reject him° and thus be equal,
and her self-love would be satisfied. The idea seemed
excellent to Don Pedro.
The day of the new sham wedding arrived and, as was
natural, the church was full of people again. The priest
asked his question and Don Pedro answered yes:
he was receiving as his wife the lady of 1 Anzuelo. The
priest then turned to the lady and asked if she was
receiving Don Pedro Maraña as her husband, to
which she answered with such a resounding YES sonorous lueRe

that it echoed throughout the church.

Don Pedro was as cold as a corpse and was on the
verge of fainting. His wife, Doña Florencia, was
serious and impassive, inwardly enjoying her revenge.
But her joy did not last long, for the poor m a n , caught
in the net against his will, grew sadder and sadder until
he fell ill and died.

FOR DISCUSSION
1. What was the defect had Pedro Maraña?
Cite you
examples of the story.
2. Why did Don Pedro propose marriage to
Florencia even though she was ugly?
3. Why did Florence fall ill?
4. To prove that he was not evil, what did Don Pedro
do?
5. Discuss what happened the second time that you
Pedro and Florencia went to the altar.
6. What was the purpose of Don Pedro?
7. What is the moral of the story?

CREATIVE EXERCISES (ORAL OR WRITTEN)

1. Whatwould youdoi f your bride(or groom)

repented at the altar?
2. Tell us about a case similar to this one.

4
Spanish 4 Vocabulary of "El Embrollón".

name 1 page 2

embrollón- confuser; mischief maker persona misma- his own self

nacer- to be bom ofrecer- to offer
prolific- productive; fruitful in a row- immediately
puesto- job; position sorry- was sorry to
periodista- journalist become- to become
novelista- novelist love- love; romances
historiador- historian genre- kind; soit
gozar- to enjoy simultaneously- at the same time
pseudómino- pen acudir- to keep an appointment
name a hallarse- to be encountered
mezclarse- to mix; combine sites- situations
armonía- harmony acumularse- to accumulate
defectillo- slightest defect dar empleo- to hire
prometer- to promise escribiente- clerk
fulfillment- completion however- nevertheless
council- council happen- to happen
chamber- chamber agregar- t o join up with
conspicuous- cospicuous; skinny- skinny
noticeable asistir- to attend mouth- mouth
shotgun- shotgun linda- pretty; ente
cazar- to hunt- to conquista- conquest
hunt fracasar- to fail
comprometerse- to commit oneself temer- to fear
play the main role- to play the main role casamiento- marriage
simular- to imitate la dama- lady
fugarse- to escape señalar- to signal
espectadores- spectators la boda- wedding
jamás- never emplear- to spend
cause- to become tired devolver- to return
retratos- portraits
pass 3 page 4
lloras secas- dried flowers por esposo(a)- for his/her
cabellos- locks of hair spouse rumbar- to rumble
demás- the rest quedarse frio- to be cold
butterfly- butterfly desmayarse- to discourage
quemar- to bum serta- serious
alas- wings impasible- unmoved
volar- to fly gozar- to enjoy
el cura- priest venganza- revenge
already full- already full gozo- enjoyment
acercarse- to draw near cogido en la red- caught in the
triunfante- victorious net voluntad- will
pensativo- thoughtful entristeciendo- to become sad
legítima- legitimate; beloved
esposa- wife
dejar asombrados- to leave astonished
retirarse- to withdraw
fell- fell
desmayada- dismayed; discouraged
escandaloso suceso- scandalous event
meditar- to think; meditate
ganarse- to gain
la simpatía- sympathy
rnonstnio- monster
infeliz- unhappy
quedarse- to stay
fiebre- fever
recuperar-
recover la salud-
health
repair- to remedy; repair
tardó- to take a long time
arrepentirse- to repent
quedar iguales- to be even
boda fingida- fixed wedding
llenarse- to fill up