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A Very Old Man withEnormous WingsBased on the story by Gabriel García MárquezOn the third day of rain theyhad killed so many crabs insideAthe house that Pelayo had toHERE’S HOWReading Focuscross the courtyard and throwI have underlined the detailsthe author includes to helpme see, smell, and feel thesetting.them into the sea. They thoughtthe smell was making the babysick. The sky was dark whenBPelayo was coming back to10YOUR TURNthe house. He could just seeReading Focussomething moving and groaningWhat are some details inlines 15–24 that help youimagine what the old manlooks like?in the rear of the courtyard. Hewent very close and saw that itCourtesy of the artist, Clifford Goodenoughwas a very old man, lying face down. The man’s enormous wingswere stuck in the mud. ACopyright by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.Frightened, Pelayo ran to get his wife Elisenda. They bothlooked at the fallen body. He was dressed like a ragpicker. Therewere only a few hairs left on his head, and there were very fewteeth in his mouth. His wings were covered in mud. Pelayo andElisenda looked closely at him for a long time. When they finally20spoke, he answered in a language they couldn’t understand. Sothey ignored the wings and decided that he had probably comefrom some foreign ship wrecked by the storm. Still, they called ina neighbor who knew everything to see him. After one look, sheCQUICK CHECKWhat has happened in thestory so far?could show them their mistake. B“He’s an angel,” she told them. “He must have been comingfor the child, but he is so old that the rain knocked him down.” CThe next day everyone knew that an angel was in Pelayo’shouse. Against the judgment of the wise neighbor, they did not“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” adapted from Leaf Storm and Other Stories by GabrielGarcía Márquez, translated by Gregory Rabassa. Copyright 1971 by Gabriel García Márquez.Retold by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Reproduced by permission of HarperCollins Publishers,Inc. and electronic format by permission of Agencia Literaria Carmen Balcells, S.A. [NO WEB]A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings143

have the heart to club him to death. That night, before going toAHERE’S HOW30bed, Pelayo dragged the old man out of the mud and locked himLiterary Focusin the chicken coop. In the middle of the night, the child wokeThe man with the wingsseems to be an angel. Iwould expect people to treatan angel well. It is ironic thatpeople treat him so badly.up without a fever. Then Pelayo and Elisenda felt generous. TheyBdecided to put the angel on a raft on the ocean with enough freshwater and food to last three days. But in the morning, they foundthe whole neighborhood in front of the chicken coop. People weretossing the angel things to eat as if he were a circus animal. ALITERARY ANALYSISFather Gonzaga arrived before seven o’clock. By that time,Pause after line 41. Why doyou think people have thesereactions to the man withthe wings?onlookers were making all kinds of guesses about the prisoner’sfuture. Some people thought that he should be named mayor40of the world or a five-star general. Father Gonzaga entered thechicken coop to look closely at the pitiful man. BThe old man was lying in a corner drying his wings in thesunlight. He lifted his ancient eyes and murmured somethingwhen Father Gonzaga said good morning to him in Latin. Thepriest believed that the angel was a fake when he saw that the oldman did not understand Latin. Then the priest noticed that theHERE’S HOWold man smelled of the outdoors. His feathers had been damagedLiterary FocusThe setting of this story isvery realistic. I can picturethe town as a very real placeand the characters as realpeople. However, the authorintroduces elements of magicrealism with the descriptionsof the “angel” and how thepeople view him. FatherGonzaga brings the storyback into the real world, ashe questions whether the oldman is actually an angel.by winds, and nothing about him seemed at all like an angel.Father Gonzaga left the chicken coop and warned the people50not to be too trusting. He reminded them that the devil oftenused tricks to confuse people. He argued that wings were notenough to recognize an angel. Still, he promised to write a letterto his bishop. The bishop would send the letter up the chain ofcommand all the way to the Pope. CThe priest’s warnings had little effect. The news of the angelspread so quickly that in a few hours the courtyard was as busy asa marketplace. Elisenda then got the idea of fencing in the yardand charging people five cents each to see the angel. Curiouspeople came from far away. The most unfortunate and sick60people on earth came in search of health. There was a man whocouldn’t sleep because the noise of the stars disturbed him. Therewas a sleepwalker who got up at night to undo the things he haddone while awake. And there were many others with less seriousproblems. Pelayo and Elisenda were happy. In less than a week144A Very Old Man with Enormous WingsCopyright by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.C

DYOUR TURNLiterary FocusCopyright by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.Art by Sergio Bustamante/Photograph 2003 Clint ClemensElisenda decides to chargepeople money to see theangel. Do you think this isironic? Why?they had filled their rooms with money and the line of visitorsHERE’S HOWVocabularyI am not sure what rantingmeans. Based on the context,it seems to mean “screamingor talking wildly.” I checkedmy dictionary to be sure, andI was right.FHERE’S HOWLanguage Coachstill went on and on. DThe angel was the only one who took no part. He spent histime trying to get comfortable. At first they tried to make him eatmothballs, which the wise neighbor said were angel food. But he70Eturned them down, just as he turned down the lunches thatA suffix is a word part that isadded to the end of a word.A suffix can change a word’smeaning. The word mysteriouscomes from the word mysteryand has the suffix –ous.people brought him. They never found out whether it wasbecause he was an angel or because he was an old man, but heate nothing but eggplant mush. His only angelic virtue seemed tobe patience. The hens pecked at him, and injured visitors pulledout feathers to touch their broken limbs with. Even kind peoplethrew stones at him, trying to get him to stand up. Once they evenburned his side with an iron. He awoke with a start, ranting inhis mysterious language. EF With tears in his eyes, he flappedA Very Old Man with Enormous Wings145

his wings a couple of times. That brought on a whirlwind of dustAHERE’S HOW80and made everyone panic. From then on people were careful notLiterary Focusto annoy him. Most understood that he was a disaster waiting toIt is ironic that the peoplesee an angel as “a disasterwaiting to happen.” Angelsare supposed to be good!I think the author is pokingfun at the people whocannot see that.happen. ABFather Gonzaga waited for a final judgment about theprisoner. But the mail from Rome showed no sign of hurrying.They had many questions. Did the prisoner have a belly button?Did his language have any connection with Aramaic?1 Might hejust be a Norwegian with wings? The letters might have comeYOUR TURNand gone forever, but a fortunate event put an end to the priest’sLiterary FocusRe-read lines 83–89. What isironic, or unexpected, aboutthe questions from Rome?How is the irony mocking?difficulties. BA woman who had been changed into a spider for having90disobeyed her parents arrived in town. The admission to see herwas less than the admission to see the angel. And people couldask her all kinds of questions and examine her up and down.She was a tarantula the size of a ram with the head of a sadgirl. In a heartbreaking way, she told her sad story. A sight likethat, with such a fearful lesson, was sure to defeat an angel whoYOUR TURNbarely looked at people. Besides, the angel’s miracles showed aVocabularycertain strangeness. A blind man didn’t get back his sight butExamine context clues tocome up with a definitionfor paralyzed. Write yourdefinition below.grew three new teeth. A paralyzed man didn’t walk but almost100won the lottery. C Such miracles had already ruined the angel’sreputation. Then the woman who had been changed into a spiderfinally crushed him completely. DThe owners of the house had no reason to be sad. With themoney they saved they built a mansion with balconies and gar-Ddens and iron bars on the windows so that angels wouldn’t getYOUR TURNLiterary Focusin. Pelayo gave up his job, and Elisenda bought satin high-heeledThe angel’s miracles arefunny. How are they ironic—the opposite of what youmight expect miracles to be?shoes and silk dresses. The chicken coop was the only thing thatdidn’t receive any attention. If they washed it every so often, itwas not out of respect to the angel. It was to drive away the ter110rible smell that still hung everywhere. When the child learned towalk, they were careful that he not get too close to the chickencoop. But then they began to lose their fears and got used to the1.146A Very Old Man with Enormous WingsAramaic was a Middle Eastern language spoken by Jesus and hisfollowers.Copyright by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.C

smell. Soon the child went inside the chicken coop to play. Theangel was as standoffish with him as with other mortals, but heVocabularychickenpox at the same time. The doctor who took care of theI am not sure what standoffishmeans. Based on how it is used,it sounds like it means theangel was unfriendly and notvery interested in the people.He found so much whistling there that it seemed impossiblethat he was alive. What surprised the doctor most, however, wasthe logic of his wings. They seemed so natural that he couldn’tunderstand why other men didn’t have them too.By the time the child began school, the chicken coop hadcollapsed. The angel now dragged himself around like a dyingman. He could scarcely eat. His eyes were so foggy that hebumped into things, and all his feathers were gone. Pelayo threwa blanket over him and let him sleep in the shed. Only then didthey notice that he had a fever. They became alarmed, for theythought he was going to die. Not even the wise neighbor knewwhat to do with dead angels.130And yet he survived the winter, and seemed improved withthe first sunny days. At the beginning of December some large,stiff feathers began to grow on his wings. He must have knownthe reason for the changes. He carefully made sure that no onenoticed them. One morning a strong wind blew into the kitchen.FHERE’S HOWVocabularyI think an annoyance issomething that is annoyingand causes discomfort ortrouble. It is ironic thatElisenda no longer sees theangel as annoying, since shehad felt that way for thewhole story.GYOUR TURNLiterary FocusNow that you have readthe whole story, did youenjoy the author’s use ofmagic realism? How did theauthor’s use of elements offantasy add to the story?Elisenda went to the window and saw the angel clumsily trying tofly. He managed to take off. Elisenda let out a sigh of relief whenshe saw him pass over the last houses. She kept watching untilshe couldn’t see him. Then he was no longer an annoyance in herlife but an imaginary dot over the sea. F GArt by Sergio Bustamante/Photograph 2003Clint ClemensCopyright by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.HERE’S HOWtolerated insults with the patience of a dog. E They both gotchild couldn’t resist the temptation to listen to the angel’s heart.120EA Very Old Man with Enormous Wings147

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings 143 Copyright by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. On t