Page 83 - Unit 2 - Exercise 1A

Page 83 - Unit 2 - Exercise 1A

The pearl

When Kino and Juana’s baby son, Coyotito, was stung by a scorpion, Kino took him to the doctor’s. But the doctor didn’t want to see them, because Kino hod no money.

Kino was a pearl diver. Later that morning he and Juana went out in their canoe and Kino went diving. He found a very large oyster. When he opened it, there was a huge pearl inside. ‘N ow we’ll be rich,’ cried Kino. ‘W e’ll buy new clothes,’ said Juana. ‘And Coyotito will go to school!’

Soon everybody knew about their good luck. The doctor came to their home. He was happy to help the baby now. ‘When will you pay for the medicine?’ asked the doctor. ‘When I sell my pearl,’ said Kino.

Unfortunately, as he said that, he looked at the corner of the room where the pearl was hidden under the floor.

Before they went to bed, Kino moved the pearl. In the middle of the night, he woke up and saw someone digging in the corner. Kino jumped out of bed, but the burglar hit him on the head and escaped.

The next day Kino took the pearl into town. However, all the pearl buyers said the same thing: ‘It isn’t very valuable. I’ll give you 1,500 pesos for it.’ ‘They’re all working together to steal the pearl,’ he told Juana angrily. ‘So we’re going to travel to the capital city to sell it.’ Butjuana said: ‘W e should throw it away. It will only bring trouble.’

That night, she quietly left the house.

Tm going to throw the pearl into the sea,’ she said to herself. But Kino woke up, ran after her and stopped her. On the way home Kino was attacked by three men. He used his knife to defend himself and killed one of the men. ‘N o w people will say that you are a murderer,’ said Juana.

They quickly fetched Coyotito and a few things from their house, then ran to their canoe, but there was now a big hole in it. And when they went back to their house, it was on fire. ‘Those people will do anything to get the pearl,’ said Juana, ‘W e must get rid o f it.’

But Kino said: ‘No. When we sell the pearl, everything will be fine. We’ll be rich and happy.’

They hid at Kino’s brother’s house until if was dark. Then they left the town.

They walked all night, but the next day they saw three hunters following them.

They ran up into the mountains. There they found a waterfall and a cave where they could rest.

But in the evening the hunters arrived and camped near the waterfall. ‘Shh, Coyotito,’ said Juana when the baby started to cry. ‘Those men will hear us.’ ‘It’s no good,’ said Kino. ‘They’ll find us sooner or later. I’m going to go down there and kill them.’

Just as Kino reached the hunters’ camp, Coyotito cried very loudly. The hunter thought that it was a wild dog. He fired his rifle towards the sound. Kino jumped out, grabbed the gun and shot the three hunters. ‘We’ll be safe now,’ he thought, but when he went back to the cave, Juana was crying. The hunter’s bullet had hit Coyotito and he was dead.

Kino and Juana went back to their town. They didn’t speak to anyone.

They just walked to the beach with their dead baby. Kino took the pearl from his pocket and threw it far out into the sea. It sank to the bottom and disappeared into the sand forever.