ors and windows back on their hinges； repaired the furniture； and white…washed the walls inside and out； so that three months after her arrival one breathed once more the atmosphere of youth and festivity that had existed during the days of the pianola。 No one in the house had ever been in a better mood at all hours and under any circumstances； nor had anyone ever been readier to sing and dance and toss all items and customs from the past into the trash。 With a sweep of her broom she did away with the funeral mementos and piles of useless trash and articles of superstition that had been piling up in the corners； and the only thing she spared； out of gratitude to ？rsula； was the daguerreotype of Remedios in the parlor。 “My； such luxury；？she would shout； dying with laughter。 “A fourteen…year…old grandmother！？When one of the masons told her that the house was full of apparitions and that the only way to drive them out was to look for the treasures they had left buried； she replied amid loud laughter that she did not think it was right for men to be superstitious。 She was so spontaneous； so emancipated； with such a free and modern spirit； that Aureliano did not know what to do with his body when he saw her arrive。 “My； my！？she shouted happily with open arms。 “Look at how my darling cannibal has grown！？Before he had a chance to react she had already put a record on the portable phonograph she had brought with her and was trying to teach him the latest dance steps。 She made him change the dirty pants that he had inherited from Colonel Aureliano Buendía and gave him some youthful shirts and two…toned shoes； and she would push him into the street when he was spending too much time in Melquíades？room。
Active； small； and indomitable like ？rsula； and almost as pretty and provocative as Remedios the Beauty； she was endowed with a rare instinct for anticipating fashion。 When she received pictures of the most recent fashions in the mail； they only proved that she had not been wrong about the models that she designed herself and sewed on Amaranta’s primitive pedal machine。 She subscribed to every fashion magazine； art publication。 and popular music review published in Europe； and she had only to glance at them to realize that things in the world were going just as she imagined they were。 It was inprehensible why a woman with that spirit would have returned to a dead town burdened by dust and heat； and much less with a husband who had more than enough money to live anywhere in the world and who loved her so much that he let himself be led around by her on a silk leash。 As time passed； however； her intention to stay was more obvious； because she did not make any plans that were not a long way off； nor did she do anything that did not have as an aim the search for a fortable life and a peaceful old age in Macondo。 The canary cage showed that those aims were made up on the spur of the moment。 Remembering that her mother had told her in a letter about the extermination of the birds； she had delayed her trip several months until she found a ship that stopped at the Fortunate Isles and there she chose the finest twenty…five pairs of canaries so that she could repopulate the skies of Macondo。 That was the most lamentable of her numerous frustrated undertakings。 As the birds reproduced Amaranta ？rsula would release them in pairs； and no sooner did they feel themselves free than they fled the town。 She tried in vain to awaken love in them by means of the bird cage that ？rsula had built during the first reconstruction of the house。 Also in vain were the artificial nests built of esparto grass in the almond trees and the birdseed strewn about the roofs； and arousing the captives so that their songs would dissuade the deserters； because they would take flights on their first attempts and make a turn in the sky； just the time needed to find the direction to the Fortunate Isles。
A year after her return； although she had not succeeded in making any friends or giving any parties； Amaranta ？rsula still believed that it was possible to rescue the munity which had been singled out by misfortune。 Gaston； her husband； took care not to antagonize her； although since that fatal noon when he got off the train he realized that his wife’s determination had been provoked by a nostalgic mirage。 Certain that she would be defeated by the realities； he did not even take the trouble to put his velocipede together； but he set about hunting for the largest eggs among the spider webs that the masons had knocked down； and he would open them with his fingernails and spend hours looking through a magnifying glass at the tiny spiders that emerged。 Later on； thinking that Amaranta ？rsula was continuing with her repairs so that her hands would not be idle； he decided to assemble the handsome bicycle； on which the front wheel was much larger than the rear one； and he dedicated himself to the capture and curing of every native insect he could find in the region； which he sent in jam jars to his former professor of natural history at the University of Liège where he had done advanced work in entomology； although his main vocation was that of aviator。 When he rode the bicycle he would wear acrobat’s tights； gaudy socks； and a Sherlock Holmes cap； but when he was on foot he would dress in a spotless natural linen suit； white shoes； a silk bow tie； a straw boater； and he would carry a willow stick in his hand。 His pale eyes accentuated his look of a sailor and his small mustache looked like the fur of a squirrel。 Although he was at least fifteen years older than his wife； his alert determination to make her happy and his qualities as a good lover pensated for the difference。 Actually； those who saw that man in his forties with careful habits； with the leash around his neck and his circus bicycle； would not have thought that he had made a pact of unbridled love with his wife and that they both gave in to the reciprocal drive in the least adequate of places and wherever the spirit moved them； as they had done since they had began to keep pany； and with a passion that the passage of time and the more and more unusual circumstances deepened and enriched。 Gaston was not only a fierce lover； with endless wisdom and imagination； but he was also； perhaps； the first man in the history of the species who had made an emergency landing and had e close to killing himself and his sweetheart simply to make love in a field of violets。
They had met two years before they were married； when the sports biplane in which he was making rolls over the school where Amaranta ？rsula was studying made an intrepid maneuver to avoid the flagpole and the primitive framework of canvas and aluminum foil was caught by the tail on some electric wires。 From then on； paying no attention to his leg in splints； on weekends he would pick up Amaranta ？rsula at the nun’s boardinghouse where she lived； where the rules were not as severe as Fernanda had wanted； and he would take her to his country club。 They began to love each other at an altitude of fifteen hundred feet in the Sunday air of the moors； and they felt all the closer together as the beings on earth grew more and more minute。 She spoke to him of Macondo as the brightest and most peaceful town on earth； and of an enormous house； scented with oregano； where she wanted to live until old age with a loyal husband and two strong sons who would be named Rodrigo and Gonzalo； never Aureliano and Jos？Arcadio； and a daughter who would be named Virginia and never Remedios。 She had evoked the town idealized by nostalgia with such strong tenacity that Gaston understood that she would not get married unless he took her to live in Macondo。 He agreed to it； as he agreed later on to the leash； because he thought it was a passing fancy that could be overe in time。 But when two years in Macondo had passed and Amaranta ？rsula was as happy as on the first day； he began to show signs of alarm。 By that time he had dissected every dissectible insect in the region； he spoke Spanish like a native； and he had solved all of the crossword puzzles in the magazines that he received in the mail。 He did not have the pretext of climate to hasten their return because nature had endowed him with a colonial liver which resisted the drowsiness of siesta time and water that had vinegar worms in it。 He liked the native cooking so much that once he ate eighty…two iguana eggs at one sitting。 Amaranta ？rsula； on the other hand； had brought in by train fish and shellfish in boxes of ice； canned meats and preserved fruits； which were the only things she could eat； and she still dressed in European style and received designs by mail in spite of the fact that she had no place to go and no one to visit and by that time her husband was not in a mood to appreciate her short skirts； her tilted felt hat； and her seven…strand necklaces。 Her secret seemed to lie in the fact that she always found a way to keep busy； resolving domestic problems that she herself had created； and doing a poor job on a thousand things which she would fix on the following day with a pernicious diligence that made one think of Fernanda and the hereditary vice of making something just to unmake it。 Her festive genius was still so alive then that when she received new records she would invite Gaston to stay in the parlor until very late to practice the dance steps that her schoolmates described to her in sketches and they would generally end up making love on the Viennese rocking chairs or on the bare floor。 The only thing that she needed to be pletely happy was the birth of her children； but she respected the pact she had made with her husband not to have any until they had been married for five years。
Looking for something to fill his idle hours with； Gaston became accustomed to spending the morning in Melquíades？room with the shy Aureliano。 He took pleasure in recalling with him the most hidden corners of his country； which Aureliano knew as if he had spent much time there。 When Gaston asked him what he had done to obtain knowledge that was not in the encyclopedia； he received the same answer as Jos？Arcadio： “Everything Is known。？In addition to Sanskrit he had learned English and French and a little Latin and Greek。 Since he went ou