A Fallen Angel

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A Fallen Angel Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings." I t was translated from Spanish to English by Gregory Rabassa. It is the story of an elderly angel found by a family in their courtyard. It had rained for three days and crabs were coming into Pelayo's house. His baby became ill and he thought the illness was caused by the stench of the crabs. On returning home from throwing the crabs into the ocean, Pelayo encounters an old man with large battered wings lying face down in the mud. Frightened, he hurriedly beckons his wife to see his discovery. After their neighbor sees the winged man she assures them that this is an angel. She states that he had probably come for the child but had fallen due to his obvious age and the heavy rain. The following day Pelayo with club in hand observed the angel. He then puts the angel into the chicken coop. News of the angel spreads quickly and soon the courtyard is overrun with people hoping to see the atrocity. Elisenda begins to charge five cents to view the angel. He was elderly, shabbily dressed and his wing...

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