Aura

Felipe concludes that Consuelo keeps Aura to perpetuate the illusion of youth. He goes searching for the young woman and finds her in the kitchen beheading a kid. She does not seem to notice him. He then goes to the widow’s bedroom to confront her. When he pushes the door open, he sees her performing some kind of ritual that looks like she is skinning an animal. The young man runs back to the kitchen, where Aura is still skinning the kid. Felipe returns to his room in shock, feeling scared and disoriented. He blocks the door and falls into a stupor, dreaming about a woman who is crawling toward him on fleshless hands. He recognizes the old woman, but then her image becomes superimposed over Aura’s face.

Felipe is awoken by the dinner bell. His head is aching, but he gets up and starts getting ready for dinner. The narrator notes that the order in which he washes, brushes his teeth, and combs his hair is all wrong.

In the dining room there is only one place setting, and there is a strange little rag doll under the napkin. Felipe starts eating with his right hand while holding the doll with his left. Suddenly, Felipe feels disgust at the sight of the doll and lets it fall to the floor. Aura is supposed to be waiting for him in her room, but it is still early in the evening, so he decides to go to the covered patio. Using his matches, he illuminates parts of the garden and notices medicinal plants and herbs, including henbane, nightshade, and belladonna.

When Felipe goes to Aura’s room, she is waiting for him in a green taffeta robe that reveals her thighs, like in his dream. She looks different: She is no longer a girl but a woman of 40. Her green eyes look hard, and her smile combines “the taste of honey and the taste of gall” (105).

She tells him that they will play a game, but he needs not do anything. Aura washes his feet then takes him by the hand, and they begin dancing. Gradually, they undress each other, until Felipe stops dancing and starts kissing Aura. She crouches on the bed holding an object against her thigh, a thin wafer, which she breaks in half to offer one piece to Felipe. The young man falls on top of her, saying he will love her forever, even if she grows old and loses her beauty.

After they have sex, Felipe falls asleep. When he wakes up, he sees the young woman walk toward the corner of the room where the old woman is sitting in the dark. The two of them look at Felipe, smiling and moving their heads in sync. Then, they get up at the same time and walk slowly to the connecting door, leaving Felipe to sleep in Aura’s bed.