Selected Stories by Adolfo Bioy Casares

Author:Adolfo Bioy Casares [Casares, Adolfo Bioy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General
ISBN: 9780811212755
Google: y-yI4avG2mUC
Publisher: New Directions Publishing
Published: 1994-01-15T06:30:04+00:00

Flies and Spiders

They had married for love. Raúl Gigena couldn’t imagine any place in the world as secure as his parents’ home, but his wife Andrea thought that they should live alone so as never to lose that love. Since the last thing he wanted to do was to go against her wishes, he decided to leave town with her and start a new life. With the help of a relative who worked in a liquor store, he bought into a wine brokerage. He withdrew his savings from the bank and left, with Andrea, for Buenos Aires. He wanted to buy a house as soon as they arrived, partly to appease Andrea and partly to make a sound investment (according to him people rarely got their money’s worth when they spent it on rent or boardinghouses). They didn’t know a soul: together, young and in love, they discovered the city.

The search for a house left them with fond memories. On Ramos Mejia they found an old coach house which could have been easily converted into a comfortable home. It had been part of some wealthy estate and was being sold with a garden, com­plete with a fine orange tree in full bloom. For eight days, they discussed the coach house and how they would set it up. The price was high but Raúl was about to take it, when he was offered another property on Cramer Street, a few blocks from the train station—a desolate, rambling old house, a deal which he himself classified as tempting.

He finally decided in favor of the big house because its advan­tages far outweighed its defects. The view, overlooking the tracks, was not pleasant, and the continuous rumbling of the trains was noisy, but they could certainly get used to the shaking. Besides, if you really thought about it, weren’t they lucky to have found such a place? They’d never have any problem traveling to and from the city. The mansion’s depressing appearance could be considered a plus, since it would help lower the price of such a spacious plot of land situated in the best part of town.

Andrea was swayed by the same reasoning as her husband’s. She forgot about the coach house on Ramos Mejia and focused all her thoughts on tidying up the big house. “We’ll fix up just one part of the house,” she explained, “but let’s change every­thing in that section. I don’t want us to be reminded of those who lived here before. Who knows what spirits run loose around this place.”

Even though they set up only three rooms and closed off all the rest, they spent a lot of money. The rooms they occupied were very cheery, but the mere existence of the others, closed and empty as they were, bothered Andrea. It didn’t take Raúl long to think up a solution: “I understand what you’re feeling,” he said. “It’s as if we’re living in a house run by ghosts. I think I have the solution. We’ll take in boarders for a while.

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