This is a great story and an easy
read!
The Pearl tells the story of a poor Mexican pearl diver named
Keno, his wife, Juana, and the couple's infant son, Coyotito. The family lives in a poor
fishing village, and has very little money. As the story begins, a scorpion sneaks into
the crib of Coyotito and stings him. The family kills the intruder and immediately
rushes the infant to see the town doctor, but the doctor turns them away because they
are poor and of native descent.
Juana does what little she can to
provide a makeshift home remedy and keep the child's infection from spreading, and Keno
goes diving for pearls in hopes to find one that he can use to pay for the necessary
treatment. While diving, Keno discovers a giant pearl -- "The Pearl of the World" -- and
he is eager to sell it at the market the following day.
News of Keno's
newfound fortune spreads all over the towns, and even though Keno refuses to sell the
pearl at the markets (the pearl-buyers call his prize "a monstrosity" and offer him far
less than what he perceives its value to be), Keno becomes the talk of his village. The
once-dismissive doctor returns to check on the ailing Coyotito, and the money-hungry
medic applies some sort of "treatment" that only serves to worsen the child's condition
(and thus necessitate further treatment and guarantee future payment from the family's
newfound fortune). That same night, an intruder breaks into Keno's home and attempts to
steal the pearl.
Desperate to save their son but blinded by the
perceived value of their pearl, Keno and Juana flee the town and head for the city under
the cover of nightfall. As they attempt to flee, they find that their canoe has been
destroyed. Keno becomes increasingly paranoid after killing a would-be robber; he
physically assaults his wife when she suggests that the pearl is the cause of their
plight, yet he forces the family to press onward as they are pursued by a posse of armed
men as they make their journey high into the mountains.
Realizing that
the posse will capture them and the pearl once their escape has proven fruitless, Keno
stashes Juana and Coyotito in a nearby cave and ambushes the three armed men in the
story's climax. While grappling with his pursuers, Keno triggers one of the men's
rifles, and when the smoke clears, Keno realizes that he has inadvertantly killed his
own child.
Heartbroken, Keno and Juana carry the bloody lump of their
child's remains back into the fishing village before throwing the cursed pearl back into
the waters from whence it came.
No comments:
Post a Comment