Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Laura Esquivel is the award-winning author of Like Water for Chocolate, which has sold over four and a half million copies around the world in 35 languages, The Law of Love, and most recently, Between Two Fires. She lives in Mexico City.

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Swift as Desire

Random House Large Print Publishing

Chapter One

He was born happy and on a holiday. Welcomed into the world by his whole family,gathered together for the special day. They say his mother laughed so hard atone of the jokes being told around the table that her waters broke. At first shethought the dampness between her legs was urine that she had not been able tocontain because of her laughter but she soon realized that this was not thecase, that the torrent was a signal that her twelfth child was about to be born.Still laughing, she excused herself and went to her bedroom. As she had gonethrough eleven previous deliveries, this one took only a few minutes, and shegave birth to a beautiful boy who, instead of coming into the world crying,entered it laughing.

After bathing, Doña Jesusa returned to the dining room. "Look whathappened to me!" she announced to her relatives. Everyone turned to look ather, and, revealing the tiny bundle she held in her arms, she said, "Ilaughed so hard, the baby came out."

A loud burst of laughter filled the dining room and everyone enthusiasticallyapplauded the happy occasion. Her husband, Librado Chi, raised his arms andexclaimed, "Qué júbillo!"?"What joy!"

And that was what they named him. In truth, they could not have chosen a bettername. Júbilo was a worthy representative of joy, of pleasure, of joviality.Even when he became blind, many years later, he always retained his sense ofhumor. It seemed as if he had been born with a special gift for happiness. And Idon't mean simply a capacity for being happy, but also a talent for bringinghappiness to everyone around him. Wherever he went, he was accompanied by achorus of laughter. No matter how heavy the atmosphere, his arrival, as if bymagic, would always ease tension, calm moods, and cause the most pessimisticperson to see the brighter side of life, as if, above all else, he had the giftof bringing peace.

The only person with whom this gift failed him was his wife, but that isolatedcase constituted the sole exception to the rule. In general, there was no onewho could resist his charm and good humor. Even Itzel Ay, his paternalgrandmother-the woman who, after her son had married a white woman, had beenleft with a permanent frown etched on her forehead-began to smile when she sawJúbilo. She called him Che'ehunche'eh Wich, which in the Mayan languagemeans "the one with the smiling face."

The relationship between doña Jesusa and doña Itzel was far from gooduntil after Júbilo was born. Because of race. Doña Itzel was onehundred percent Mayan Indian and she disapproved of the mixing of her race'sblood with doña Jesusa's Spanish blood. For many years, she had avoidedvisiting her son's home. Her grandchildren grew up without her being veryinvolved in their lives. Her rejection of her daughter-in-law was so great thatfor years she refused to speak to her, arguing that she couldn't speak Spanish.So doña Jesusa was forced to learn Mayan in order to be able to speak withher mother-in-law. But she found it very difficult to learn a new language whileraising twelve children, so communication between the two was sparse and of poorquality.

But all that changed after Júbilo was born. As she desired with all hersoul to be near the baby, his grandmother began to visit her son's house again,which had never happened with the other grandchildren, as if she had no greatinterest in them. But from the first moment she saw Júbilo, she becamefascinated with his smiling face. Júbilo was a blessing to the family; heappeared like a gift from heaven that no one expected. A beautiful gift thatthey didn't know what to do with. The difference in age between him and theyoungest of his siblings was several years, and a few of his older brothers andsisters were already married and had children of their own. So it was almost asif Júbilo were an only child, and his playmates were his nieces andnephews, who were the same age as he. Because his mother was busy simultaneouslyfulfilling the roles of mother, wife, grandmother, mother-in-law, anddaughter-in-law, Júbilo spent a lot of time in the company of the servants,until his grandmother adopted him as her favorite grandchild. They spent most ofthe day together, taking walks, playing, talking. Of course, his grandmotherspoke to him in Mayan, which meant that Júbilo became doña Itzel'sfirst bilingual grandchild.

And so, from the age of five, the child became the family's officialinterpreter. This was a fairly complicated matter for a small child, as he hadto take into account that when doña Jesusa said the word mar, shewas referring to the sea in front of their home, where the family often swam. Onthe other hand, when doña Itzel said the word K'ak'nab, she wasn'treferring only to the sea, but also to the "lady of the sea," which isthe name given to one of the phases of the moon and is associated with largebodies of water. Both of these entities have the same name in Mayan. So, asJúbilo translated, not only did he have to be aware of these subtleties,but he also had to pay attention to his mother's and grandmother's tone ofvoice, the tension in their vocal cords, as well as the expression on theirfaces and the set of their mouths. It was a difficult task, but one whichJúbilo performed with great pleasure. Of course, he didn't always translateliterally. He always added a kind word or two to soften the exchange between thetwo women. Over time, this little trick managed to help them get along a littlebetter each day, and they eventually grew to love one another.

This experience helped Júbilo to discover the power of words for bringingpeople closer or pushing them apart, and that the important thing wasn't whatwas said, but the intention behind the communication. This sounds simple, but itis in fact very complicated. When Júbilo's grandmother gave him a messageto translate, generally the words didn't coincide with what she really wanted tosay. The tension around her mouth and vocal cords gave her away. Even to aninnocent child like Júbilo, it was obvious that his grandmother was makingan effort to swallow her words. But, as strange as it sounds, Júbilo heardthe silent words clearly, even though they had never been spoken. And heunderstood that this "voice" that remained silent was the one thattruly represented his grandmother's desires. So Júbilo, without thinkingmuch about it, frequently translated those imperceptible murmurings instead ofthe words she spoke out loud. Of course, it never crossed his mind to do this tobe naughty, just the opposite; his ultimate objective was always to reconcilethese two women, both of them so beloved and important to him, to say out loudthe magic word that neither of them ever dared to speak, the word that had to dowith repressed desires. The frequent disagreements that arose between his motherand his grandmother were a clear example of this. Júbilo had no doubt thatwhen one of them said black, she really meant white, and vice versa.

At his young age, what he didn't understand was why these two women made theirlives, and as a consequence the lives of everyone around them, so complicated,since any argument between them had repercussions on all the rest of the family.There was never a strife-free day. They always found reasons to fight. If onesaid that Indians were lazier than Spaniards, the other would say that Spaniardssmelled worse than Indians. There was no...