Translation and analysis of Como Auga Para Chocolate Chapter 11

Translation
It was useless to try to forget About Esperanza. When Tita emptied the beans into the pot, she

remembered how much the girl liked bean broth. To feed it to her, she sat her on her knees, spread

a huge napkin over her front, and gave her the broth with a little silver spoon. How happy she had

been the day she heard the sound of the spoon hitting against Esperanza's first tooth. Now two

more were coming in. Tita was very careful not to hurt them when she fed her. She hoped that

Rosaura would be, too. But how would she know, if she'd never done it before? She wouldn't know

how to prepare her bath either, putting lettuce leaves in the water to make sure she slept peacefully

at night; she wouldn't know how to dress her and kiss her and hug her and coo to her like Tita did.

Tita thought it might be best for her to leave the ranch. Rosaura was disappointed in Pedro and, if

Tita weren't in the house, Rosaura could start a new life; the baby had to get used to being cared

for by her real mother sooner or later. If Tita kept getting more attached to her every day, she

would end up suffering as she had with Roberto. She had no claim, it wasn't her family, and they

could send her away at any moment, just as easily as one tosses away a stone while cleaning a pot

of beans. John, in contrast, was offering her something different, the opportunity to establish a new

family that no one could take away from her. He was a marvelous man she loved him very much.

As time went by, it wouldn't be hard to fall deeply in love with him. She couldn't continue her

reflections because the chickens were starting to make a huge ruckus on the patio. It seemed they'd

gone mad or developed a taste for cock-fighting. They were giving little pecks at each other, trying

to snatch away the last chunks of tortilla left on the ground. They hopped and flew wildly in every

direction, launching violent attacks.

every hen she could, causing Esperanza's white diapers to be sprayed with blood. Tita, scared, tried

to break up the fight, throwing a bucket of water over them. That only enraged them the more,

raising the battle to a higher pitch. They formed a circle, each one setting dizzily upon the next.

Suddenly the chickens were inescapably trapped by the force they themselves were generating in

their mad chase they couldn't break loose from that whirl of feathers, blood, and dust that spun

faster and faster, gathering force at every turn until it changed into a mighty tornado, destroying

everything in its path, starting with the things that were closest, in this case, Esperanza's diapers,

which were on the clotheslines of the yard. Tita tried to save a few diapers, but when she went to

get them, she found herself being swept away by the force of the incredible whirlwind, which lifted

her several feet off the ground and took her on three hellish orbits within the fury of beaks before

flinging her onto the opposite end of the patio, where she landed like a sack of potatoes.

Tita stayed flat on the ground, terrified. she didn't want to move. If she was caught in the whirlwind

again, the chickens could peck her eyes out. That hen hurricane was boring a hole in the dirt of the

patio, a hole so deep that most of the chickens disappeared from the face of the earth. The earth

swallowed them up. After that fight only three chickens remained, plucked bald and One eyed.

And no diapers. Tita, shaking the dust off of her, looked around the patio, there was no sign of the

chickens. She was more worried about the disappearance of the diapers she had embroidered so

lovingly. They had to be replaced with new ones right away. Well, on second thought, that was no

longer her problem, Rosaura had said she didn't want her to get any closer to Esperanza, did she?..

so Tita let Rosaura tend to her concerns and she would tend to hers, which at the moment was

getting dinner ready for John and his Aunt Mary. She entered the kitchen and went to finish the
preparation of the beans, but much to her surprise she found that the beans still weren't done,

despite the hours they had been cooking.

Something strange was going on. Tita remembered that Nancha had always said that when people

argue while preparing tamales, the tamales won't get cooked. They can be heated day after day and

still stay raw, because the tamales are angry. In a case like that, you have to sing to them, which

makes them happy, then they'll cook. Tita supposed the same thing had happened with the beans,

which had witnessed her fight with Rosaura. That meant all she could do was to try to improve

their mood, to sing them a song full of love, she didn't have much time to finish preparing the meal

for her guests.

The best thing was to try to remember a moment when she had felt great joy and relive it as she

sang. She closed her eyes and began to sing a waltz that went "I'm so happy since I have found

you, I've surrendered my love to you, and given up my soul Images from her first meeting with

Pedro in the dark room flooded her mind. The passion with which Pedro had torn away her clothes,

causing the flesh beneath her skin to burn beneath the touch of those incandescent hands. The

blood simmered in her veins. Her heart burst into a seething passion. Very slowly the frenzy had

subsided and given way to infinite tenderness, leaving their shaken souls satisfied. While Tita was

singing, the bean liquor was boiling madly. The beans allowed the liquid in which they were

floating to penetrate them; they swelled until they were about to burst. When Tita opened her eyes

and took a bean to test it, she saw that now the beans were done perfectly. That left enough time

to get herself ready for Aunt Mary.

thing she had to do was brush her teeth. The roll on the ground, when she'd been knocked over by

the whirlwind of chickens, had left them full of dirt. She took some tooth powder and brushed

them vigorously. They had learned to prepare these powders in school. They're made by combining

half an ounce cream of tartar, half an ounce of sugar, and half an ounce of jivia bone with two

drachmas of Florentine iris and dragon's blood, reducing all the ingredients to a powder, and

blending well. Jovita, their teacher, was in charge of making it.

She was their teacher for three years in a row. She was a small, slight woman. They all remembered

her not so much for what she had taught them, but because she was such a character. They say

she'd been left a widow at eighteen, with a baby.

No one wanted to become stepfather to this child, which is why she had chosen to spend her life

entirely celibate. Who knows how she adopted that resolution or how it affected her1 as the years

went by, the poor thing went completely out of her mind. She struggled night and day to put a stop

to bad thoughts. Her favorite saying was "Idle hands are the devil's playground." She never rested

a moment the entire day. She worked more and slept less all the time. In time, the work inside her

house wasn't enough to put her spirit at rest, so she was out on the street at five every morning to

sweep the sidewalk. Her own and her neighbors. Then she expanded her field of action to the four

blocks around her house and so on, gradually, until, in crescendo, she was sweeping all of Piedras

Negros before going to school. Sometimes she still had bits of garbage clinging to her skin, and

the students laughed at her. In the mirror, Tita saw that she looked like her teacher. Perhaps it was

just the feathers matted in her hair because of her fall, but still, she was horrified. She didn't want

to become another Jovita. She removed the feathers, gave her hair a vigorous brushing, and went
down to receive John and Mary, who were just arriving. Pulque's barking had announced their

presence.

Tita received them in the living room. Aunt Mary was just as she had imagined her, a polite,

pleasant elderly lady. Despite her years, she was impeccably turned out. She was wearing an

understated floral hat, in a pastel color, that contrasted with the white of her hair. Her gloves

matched her hair, gleaming snow-white. She carried a mahogany walking stick with a silver head

shaped like a swan. Her conversation was absolutely charming. The aunt pronounced herself

delighted with Tita, she went on at length about her nephew's excellent choice and Tita's perfect

English.

Tita made her sister's excuses for not being present, saying she was indisposed, and invited them

to move into the dining room. The aunt was delighted with the rice with fried plantains and praised

the bean dish to the heavens. When the beans are served, they are covered with grated cheese and

garnished with tender lettuce leaves, avocado slices, chopped radishes, chiles tornachiles, and

olives.

Summary

In this chapter Tita is taking care of Pedro’s and Rosaura’s daughter Esperenza. As usual Tita takes

care of her like what she did for Roberto and like what Nacha did for her. Tita is becoming more

attached to Esperenza day by day, perhaps because she does more for Esperenza than the baby’s

real mother Rosaura does. Tita questions Rosaura’s ability to care for Esperenza the way she does

and thinks that she should just leave the ranch. While Rosaura is disappointed in Pedro for having

Tita at the ranch. Because if Tita weren’t in the house she could start a new life and Esperenza

would have to get used to being cared for by her real mother sooner or later. (It Is important to
note that these thoughts that each sister thinks about each other are not expressed by either sister

at least not yet). Tita also has to make a decision regarding who she wants to spend the rest of her

life with (John or Pedro) because despite what she thinks of her sister Rosaura, she has to claim to

Pedro or Esperanza. She can either stay with Pedro and Rosaura who could easily send her away

at any time because she had no claim and it wasn’t her family, or she could be with John who in

contrast was offering her something completely different, with John she would have the

opportunity to establish a new family that no one could take away from her. (In other words she

would have stability with John).However she would have to continue thinking about who she

wants to spend her life with another time because the chickens were fighting on the patio. Tita

tried to separate them however here efforts were futile since the chickens fought even more

furiously. This resulted in a chicken tornado which destroyed everything in it’s path including

Esperenza’s diapers which were on the clothes line The whirlwind from the chicken hurricane also

caught Tita and moved here to an the opposite part of the patio. Just as Tita began to think of

making new diapers for Esperenza she remembered that Rosaura had said that she did not want

her near Esperenaza. So Tita she switched her attention to finishing the tamales for John and his

aunt Mary. However despite the hours they had been cooking they still weren’t finished. This was

because the tamales had witnessed Tita and Rosura’s argument. Tita remembered that Nacha once

said that when people argue while preparing tamales the tamales won’t get cooked because they

were angry the only way to resolve this was to sing to them. The best thing was to try to remember

a moment when she had felt great joy and relive it as she sang. So as a result Tita decided to sing

a love song to them to improve their mood. As she began to sing Images from her first meeting

with Pedro in the dark room flooded her mind. The passion with which Pedro had torn away her

clothes, causing the flesh beneath her skin to burn beneath the touch of those incandescent hands
The blood simmered in her veins. Her heart burst into a seething passion. Very slowly the frenzy

had subsided and given way to infinite tenderness, leaving their shaken souls satisfied. While Tita

was singing, the bean liquor was boiling madly. The beans allowed the liquid in which they were

floating to penetrate them. And they swelled and began to cook will allow Tita enough time to get

ready. She quickly went to her room and prepared for John and his aunt Mary’s arrival. Who was

impeccably turned out and praised Tita for her cooking and commended John for his excellent

choice in women.( well at least it seemed so)

Literary devices

The most prevalent literary devices used in this chapter thus far were magical realism, simile as

well as irony.

Magical realism

The first example of magical realism was when the chickens who were fighting on the patio caused

a mighty tornado/hen hurricane to occur, which destroyed everything in its path and the whirlwind

from the tornado moved Tita from one area of the patio to another. The hen hurricane bored a hole

in the patio a hole so deep that most of the chickens disappeared from the face of the earth since

the earth swallowed them up leaving only three bald one eyed chickens. Here we see the use of

magical realism because a tornado cannot be caused from a chicken fight regardless of the amount

of chickens or how violent they were fighting, also the earth cannot open up and eat chickens in

reality. However this is made possible by the use of magical realism.

Another example of magical realism was when Tita had to sing to the angry tamales to make them

happy so she could cook them in time for John’s arrival because they weren’t finished despite

being on the fire for a while because they witnessed her and Rosaura arguing. It was only after
Tita sang to them that they began to cook. The use of magical realism allowed this to occur because

in reality food (tamales) cannot get angry also singing to food cant cause them to cook however

the use of magical realism allowed this to occur.

Simile

A simile was used to describe how the chicken tornado moved Tita from one side of the patio to

another.( sack of potatoes)

Another simile is used to show how easily Pedro and Rosaura can send her away at any time if

they wanted to. This simile compares how easy they can send away Tita to one tosses away a

stone while cleaning a pot of beans.