"Two Words" is a short story by Isabel Allende.
She wasn't christened or recommended by her mother, but she sought the name until she found it.The name adorned her.Her job was to sell things.From the tallest mountains to the hottest coast, she toured the country.She would set up her tent at the fairs and markets so that she could attend to her customers in the shade of the linen awning.Her nomadic lifestyle spread the word like wildfire and there was no need for her business to be advertised.There were people who had been waiting.They formed a queue outside her stall when she arrived in the village.Her prices were reasonable.She would give words for five cents, seven for seven, nine for nine, and twelve for twelve.She also sold stories.They were not fantastic tales.She would recite them all perfectly.The news spread from one village to another.She would be paid to add a line or two.A child was born, so-and-so died, someone's children got married, the harvest caught fire, they all went to her.A small group of people gathered around her to hear her speak.They would learn about the lives of other people and the Civil War.She gave a secret verse to anyone who gave her fifty cents.It would be a collective delusion if it was different for everyone.No one else will use it for that purpose in the Universe or beyond, even if they received their own.
The Crepusculario family couldn't afford names for their children because they were poor.She was raised in the most inhospitable region after entering the world.The rains would inundate and sweep away everything that came in contact with it.In some places, the sun would inflate so as to take over the entire horizon, turning the land into a desert.She had no skill or virtue until she was twelve years old.A long period of dry weather resulted in the death of four of her brothers.She decided to walk towards the sea after it was her turn.She wanted to see if she could dodge death.The land was covered with fossils of trees and skeletons of animals, which were roasted by the heat.She would find families that were heading towards the south in search of a mirage of water.Some people started the journey with their belongings on their shoulders or on wheelbarrows, but were unable to move their bones.They had to let go of their things after walking a little.Their skin turned into a leather lizard as they crawled.Their eyes were burning from the bright sunlight.She could not afford to waste her time in being compassionate, so she did not stop greeting them with a wave.Many fell on the way but Belisa was so stubborn that she succeeded at crossing Hell and finally arrived at the first springs-fine threads of water, almost invisible, feeding a rickety vegetation.The springs became streams and estuaries.
This way, Belisa Crepusculario saved her life and discovered the art of writing.On reaching a village along the coast, the wind landed a newspaper at her feet.She kept looking at the yellow, brittle sheet for a long time without thinking about its use until her shyness got the better of her.She went to quench her thirst when she saw a man bathing his horse in a muddy puddle.
The young girl was shocked by the answer.She withdrew herself from asking more about the significance of the flies painted on the paper.
My child, they are words.Fulgencio Barba defeated Nero Tiznao in the third round.
Words do not belong to anyone and they are free to be used by everyone.She discovered that anyone can learn to use words.She concluded that there were very few respectable things that she could do for a living, besides prostitution or working as a servant in the kitchens of the rich.It seemed like a decent alternative to sell words.She adopted that profession and never entertained anyone else.She was unaware that the words could be written outside of newspapers.She evaluated her profession and everything she could do with the knowledge of words.She paid twenty pesos of her savings to a priest to learn to read and write and then bought a dictionary.She did not intend to cheat customers when she memorised the words from A to Z and threw them in the sea.
An old man who had been hoping to receive his pension due from twenty six years was sold arguments of rights by a woman at the centre of the market square.There was a lot of activity in the market on a busy day.There were gallops and screeches.A group of horsemen barged into the marketplace after a cloud of dust followed by them.They were Coronel's men who had come there on the orders of the Mulato, a giant known all over the region for his swiftness of his knife and his loyalty towards his boss.Both the Coronel and the Mulato were associated with bloodshed and calamity during the Civil War.The warriors entered the village like a herd of animals and left behind a storm.Chickens flew everywhere, dogs went helter skelter, women fled the scene with their children, and there wasn't another living soul in the marketplace except Belisa Crepusculario.She was shocked to see the giant man walking in her direction, because she had never seen him before.
He pointed his whip at Belisa and yelled, "You are the one I have been looking for!"Two men threw themselves at her, smashing into the awning and breaking the inkstand.They put her on the back of Mulato's horse with her legs and hands behind her.They galloped towards the hills.
She felt the horse come to a halt and four powerful hands place her on the ground as she was at the verge of dying.She tried standing up on her feet and holding her head up, but her strength failed her and she fell into a dream.She didn't have time to listen to the sounds of the night before she woke up.The Mulato kneeled at her side.
Finally, woman.He reached out for his water-bottle and gave it to Belisa so she could drink the brandy and gunpowder that came from it and revive herself.
She asked Mulato why she was being manhandled and he told her that the Colonel needed her services.She was taken to the extreme end of the camp where the most feared man in the country rested on his hammock.She couldn't see his face because it was obscured by the foliage and the years of living as a bandit.She thought the mans expressions were forgivable for he addressed her with humility.She was surprised at the sound of his voice.
She scanned the darkness to catch a glimpse of his face.The light from the torch that the Colonel carried gave him a face as he got up on his feet.He had dark skin and fiery eyes.She knew that the loneliest man in the world was in front of her.
He was tired of travelling that land of useless wars and defeats that could not turn into victories.He spent years sleeping in the open, getting bitten by mosquitoes, and feeding on iguanas and snake soup.He wasn't able to change his destiny because of the minute struggles.The fear and terror in other people's eyes was what triggered him the most.He wanted to walk through the villages under the arches of triumph.He wanted to be given fresh eggs and warm bread.He was fed up of seeing men run, women run away, and all creatures fear each time he passed by.He decided to be the President.They should go to the capital and take over the government, just like they did with so many other things.The Colonel already had a lot of tyrants.He wouldn't be able to win the affection of the people.He wanted to be elected by public vote.
I need to speak as a candidate.The Colonel asked if he could sell him words for a speech.
She had accepted many assignments but not this one.She couldn't refuse because she was afraid that the Mulato would shoot her between the eyes, or even worse, the Colonel would go into mourning.She got a sudden urge to help the Colonel because she felt a throbbing heat in her skin and wanted to touch him and embrace him.
For a large part of the next day, Belisa Crepusculario searched for the right words to use in her speech.She was protected by the Mulato, who kept his eyes on her legs and breasts.He accepted those that were able to stir the thinking of men and appeal to the intuitions of women because he dismissed the harsh and dry words.She wrote a speech on a piece of paper after buying all the knowledge from the priest.She motioned the Mulato to untie the rope that fastened her legs to the tree.They took her to the Colonel again.She felt the same anxiety when she saw him again.She handed him the paper and waited for him to look at it.
The speech was read out loud by her.She wanted her customer to be able to engrave it in his mind.She saw the excitement on the faces of the men who had gathered to listen to the speech and then the Colonel himself, whose yellow eyes shone with enthusiasm.He was confident that he would win the elections.The presidential throne will be his.
The Mulato said that if the boys were left awestruck after hearing the speech three times, they had secured themselves a good place in the elections.
He opened his bag and found the remains of his last loot.
Colonel, you are entitled to a small gift.I will give you two secrets.
She explained that for every fifty cents a customer paid, she gave them a word.The boss shrugged.He didn't want to be rude to the woman who had served him so well because the offer was not very tempting.He bent over to give her the gift as she calmly approached the stool.His senses were stimulated by the scent of this woman, the heat from her derriere, and the gentle brush of her haIR against his skin.
The Mulato looked at Belisa like a stray dog.She stopped him with a string of words that were powerful enough to drive away his desire, for he thought they were a curse.
In the months of September, October and November, the Colonel gave many speeches.If he didn't use them so much, the words would turn to ashes.He toured all over the country, entering cities with a triumphant air, stopping by even at the most inconsequential places, where only the trash-can indicated human presence.This is to get voters to make him the President.
As he spoke from the podium at the center of the market square, Mulato and his men handed out sweets and painted his name on the walls.No one paid attention to the publicity tactics.They were enchanted by the clarity of his proposals.For the first time in their lives, they were happy because of his passion to correct the mistakes of the past.
After the oration of the candidate, his men fired shots in the air.They left behind a trail of hope that lingered in the air for days, like a memory of catching a glimpse of a comet.The Colonel became the most popular politician.He was a rare phenomenon, the man who emerged from the Civil War, dressed in scars and orating like a king, whose prestige was scattered everywhere, stirring the heart of the nation.
The press took over his case.Journalists traveled from far-away lands to interview him.His enemies and followers grew.
The candidate was not paying attention.He was repeating his two secret words and they sounded more powerful in his head.He would recite them in his sleep, he carried them on his horse, and he would deliver his famous speech.He would think of Belisa Crepusculario when he heard those two words.His senses would be rattled by the memory of her wild corporeal scents, the warmth from her derriere, her hair, and her minty breath, until he started sleepwalking.His own men were worried that he would die before becoming the President.
After asking him multiple times, the Mulato finally broke down and confessed that the culprit of his anguish was those two secret words that were nailed in his head.
Tired of watching his boss's condition get worse with each passing day, the Mulato threw his rifle over his shoulders and set out to find Belisa Crepusculario.He was able to locate her in a small village in the South, under the awning of her make-shift office.He stood in front of her with his legs open and his weapon in his hand.
It was as if Belisa Crepusculario knew he was going to get her.She quietly climbed on the rump of the horse after gathering her inkstand, folding the canvas of her tent and throwing a shawl over herself.They did not greet each other.The fear that her language evoked in him stopped him from destroying her, as the Mulatos desire for her had converted into rage.He was not willing to bring up the Colonel.He didn't want her to be happy that she had been able to achieve by whispering in his ears.They arrived at the camp of the Colonel three days later and Mulato presented his prisoner to the candidate and all the troops.
Colonel, I brought this witch to you so you can return those secret words and have your manliness back from her.The Colonel and Belisa looked at each other from a distance.
The men saw that the Colonel would never be able to reverse the spell of those two words because of his dangerous puma eyes.The beast had been defeated.