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band 2 part 1
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Band 2 part 9-10
Band 2 core 1 Part 1
Band 1 part 2
1. Flammable materials, like alcohol, should never be dispensed or used near A. an open door. B. an open flame. C. another student. D. a sink. 2. If a laboratory fire erupts, immediately A. notify your instructor. B. run for the fire extinguisher. C. throw water on the fire. D. open the windows. 3. Approved eye protection devices (such as goggles) are worn in the laboratory A. to avoid eye strain. B. to improve your vision. C. only if you don’t have corrective glasses. D. any time chemicals, heat or glassware are used. 4. If you wear contact lenses in the school laboratory, A. take them out before starting the lab. B. you do not have to wear protective goggles. C. advise your science instructor that you wear contact lenses. D. keep the information to yourself. 5. If you do not understand a direction or part of a lab procedure, you should A. figure it out as you do the lab. B. try several methods until something works. C. ask the instructor before proceeding. D. skip it and go on to the next part. 6. After completing an experiment, all chemical wastes should be A. left at your lab station for the next class. B. disposed of according to your instructor’s directions. C. dumped in the sink. D. taken home. 7. If a lab experiment is not completed, you should A. discuss the issue with your instructor. B. sneak in after school and work alone. C. come in during lunch and finish while eating lunch. D. make up some results. 8. You are heating a substance in a test tube. Always point the open end of the tube A. toward yourself. B. toward your lab partner. C. toward another classmate. D. away from all people. Science Laboratory Safety teSt 9. You are heating a piece of glass and now want to pick it up. You should A. use a rag or paper towels. B. pick up the end that looks cooler. C. use tongs. D. pour cold water on it. 10. You have been injured in the laboratory (cut, burn, etc.). First you should A. visit the school nurse after class. B. see a doctor after school. C. tell the science instructor at once. D. apply first aid yourself. 11. When gathering glassware and equipment for an experiment, you should A. read all directions carefully to know what equipment is necessary. B. examine all glassware to check for chips or cracks. C. clean any glassware that appears dirty. D. All of the above. 12. You want to place a piece of glass tubing into a rubber stopper after the tubing has been fire polished and cooled. This is best done by A. lubricating the tubing with water or glycerin. B. using a towel or cotton gloves for protection. C. twisting the tubing and stopper carefully. D. all of the above. 13. Personal eyeglasses provide as much protection as A. a face shield. B. safety glasses. C. splashproof chemical goggles. D. none of the above. 14. Long hair in the laboratory must be A. cut short. B. held away from the experiment with one hand. C. always neatly groomed. D. tied back or kept entirely out of the way with a hair band, hairpins, or other confining device. 15. In a laboratory, the following should not be worn. A. loose clothing. B. dangling jewelry. C. sandals. D. all of the above. 16. The following footwear is best in the laboratory. A. sandals B. open-toed shoes C. closed-toed shoes D. shoes appropriate for the weather3 © 2017 Flinn Scientific, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 17. Horseplay or practical jokes in the laboratory are A. always against the rules. B. okay. C. not dangerous. D. okay if you are working alone. 18. If a piece of equipment is not working properly, stop, turn it off, and tell A. the custodian. B. your lab partner. C. your best friend in the class. D. the science instructor. 19. If an acid is splashed on your skin, wash at once with A. soap. B. oil. C. weak base. D. plenty of water. 20. When you finish working with chemicals, biological specimens, and other lab substances, always A. treat your hands with skin lotion. B. wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. C. wipe your hands on a towel. D. wipe your hands on your clothes. True—False T F 22. ■ ■ Hot glass looks the same as cold glass. 23. ■ ■ All chemicals in the lab are to be considered dangerous. 24. ■ ■ Return all unused chemicals to their original containers. 25. ■ ■ Work areas should be kept clean and tidy. 26. ■ ■ Pipets are used to measure and dispense small amounts of liquids. You should draw the liquid into the pipet using your mouth. 27. ■ ■ Laboratory work can be started immediately upon entering the laboratory even if the instructor is not yet present. 28. ■ ■ Never remove chemicals or other equipment from the laboratory. T F 29. ■ ■ Chipped or cracked glassware is okay to use. 30. ■ ■ Read all procedures thoroughly before entering the laboratory. 31. ■ ■ All unauthorized experiments are prohibited. 32. ■ ■ You are allowed to enter the chemical preparation/storage area any time you need to get an item. 33. ■ ■ Laboratory aprons should be worn during all lab activities. 34. ■ ■ It’s okay to pick up broken glass with your bare hands as long as the glass is placed in the trash. 35. ■ ■ Never leave a lit burner unattended. 21. Draw a diagram of your science room and label the locations of the following: ■ Fire Blanket ■ Fire Extinguisher(s) ■ Exits ■ Eyewash Station ■ Emergency Shower ■ Closest Fire Alarm Station ■ Waste Disposal Container(s)4 © 2017 Flinn Scientific, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Name: ________________________________________________ Date: ______________________________________________ 1. Flammable materials, like alcohol, should never be dispensed or used near A. an open door. B. an open flame. C. another student. D. a sink. 2. If a laboratory fire erupts, immediately A. notify your instructor. B. run for the fire extinguisher. C. throw water on the fire. D. open the windows. 3. Approved eye protection devices (such as goggles) are worn in the laboratory A. to avoid eye strain. B. to improve your vision. C. only if you don’t have corrective glasses. D. any time chemicals, heat or glassware are used. 4. If you wear contact lenses in the school laboratory, A. take them out before starting the lab. B. you do not have to wear protective goggles. C. advise your science instructor that you wear contact lenses. D. keep the information to yourself. 5. If you do not understand a direction or part of a lab procedure, you should A. figure it out as you do the lab. B. try several methods until something works. C. ask the instructor before proceeding. D. skip it and go on to the next part. 6. After completing an experiment, all chemical wastes should be A. left at your lab station for the next class. B. disposed of according to your instructor’s directions. C. dumped in the sink. D. taken home. 7. If a lab experiment is not completed, you should A. discuss the issue with your instructor. B. sneak in after school and work alone. C. come in during lunch and finish while eating lunch. D. make up some results. 8. You are heating a substance in a test tube. Always point the open end of the tube A. toward yourself. B. toward your lab partner. C. toward another classmate. D. away from all people. Science Laboratory Safety teSt 9. You are heating a piece of glass and now want to pick it up. You should A. use a rag or paper towels. B. pick up the end that looks cooler. C. use tongs. D. pour cold water on it. 10. You have been injured in the laboratory (cut, burn, etc.). First you should A. visit the school nurse after class. B. see a doctor after school. C. tell the science instructor at once. D. apply first aid yourself. 11. When gathering glassware and equipment for an experiment, you should A. read all directions carefully to know what equipment is necessary. B. examine all glassware to check for chips or cracks. C. clean any glassware that appears dirty. D. All of the above. 12. You want to place a piece of glass tubing into a rubber stopper after the tubing has been fire polished and cooled. This is best done by A. lubricating the tubing with water or glycerin. B. using a towel or cotton gloves for protection. C. twisting the tubing and stopper carefully. D. all of the above. 13. Personal eyeglasses provide as much protection as A. a face shield. B. safety glasses. C. splashproof chemical goggles. D. none of the above. 14. Long hair in the laboratory must be A. cut short. B. held away from the experiment with one hand. C. always neatly groomed. D. tied back or kept entirely out of the way with a hair band, hairpins, or other confining device. 15. In a laboratory, the following should not be worn. A. loose clothing. B. dangling jewelry. C. sandals. D. all of the above. 16. The following footwear is best in the laboratory. A. sandals B. open-toed shoes C. closed-toed shoes D. shoes appropriate for the weather5 © 2017 Flinn Scientific, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 17. Horseplay or practical jokes in the laboratory are A. always against the rules. B. okay. C. not dangerous. D. okay if you are working alone. 18. If a piece of equipment is not working properly, stop, turn it off, and tell A. the custodian. B. your lab partner. C. your best friend in the class. D. the science instructor. 19. If an acid is splashed on your skin, wash at once with A. soap. B. oil. C. weak base. D. plenty of water. 20. When you finish working with chemicals, biological specimens, and other lab substances, always A. treat your hands with skin lotion. B. wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. C. wipe your hands on a towel. D. wipe your hands on your clothes. 21. Draw a diagram of your science room and label the locations of the following: ■ Fire Blanket ■ Fire Extinguisher(s) ■ Exits ■ Eyewash Station ■ Emergency Shower ■ Closest Fire Alarm Station ■ Waste Disposal Container(s) True—False T F 22. ■ ■ Hot glass looks the same as cold glass. 23. ■ ■ All chemicals in the lab are to be considered dangerous. 24. ■ ■ Return all unused chemicals to their original containers. 25. ■ ■ Work areas should be kept clean and tidy. 26. ■ ■ Pipets are used to measure and dispense small amounts of liquids. You should draw the liquid into the pipet using your mouth. 27. ■ ■ Laboratory work can be started immediately upon entering the laboratory even if the instructor is not yet present. 28. ■ ■ Never remove chemicals or other equipment from the laboratory. T F 29. ■ ■ Chipped or cracked glassware is okay to use. 30. ■ ■ Read all procedures thoroughly before entering the laboratory. 31. ■ ■ All unauthorized experiments are prohibited. 32. ■ ■ You are allowed to enter the chemical preparation/storage area any time you need to get an item. 33. ■ ■ Laboratory aprons should be worn during all lab activities. 34. ■ ■ It’s okay to pick up broken glass with your bare hands as long as the glass is placed in the trash. 35. ■ ■ Never leave a lit burner unattended.
Ostinato Music Definition Ostinato (plural – ostinati or ostinatos) is an Italian word meaning obstinate or persistent and is used in music to describe a musical phrase or rhythm that is repeated persistently. The repeated pattern could be a melody, a figure in the bass – called a basso ostinato or simply a repeated rhythmic idea. An ostinato may be played for an entire piece of music or just during one section. The key aspect to remember in the definition of an ostinato is that it is a pattern that is repeated persistently in a piece of music. Rhythmic Ostinato A rhythmic ostinato is a rhythmic pattern that is persistently repeated. It will often be played on an untuned percussion instrument (e.g. snare drum, triangle, etc..). However, rhythmic ostinati can also be found in parts played on pitched instruments where the note pitch stays the same or where the pitches change as the phrase is repeated. The key characteristic is that it is the rhythm that is persistently repeated.In Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero” the use of a rhythmic ostinato brings a magical and almost hypnotic feel to the piece as the percussive pattern contrasts with the sweeping and almost improvisatory nature of the flute melody. Have a look at the pattern below and listen to its use in the audio extract: Rhythmic Ostinato Example from Ravel Bolero.A rhythmic ostinato is an excellent technique that composers use for creating drama and tension. One of the most famous examples of this is from “Mars” by Gustav Holst. Have a look/listen to the rhythmic pattern: Rhythmic Ostinato Example from Gustav Holst Mars. This rhythmic pattern is played relentlessly throughout the piece and forms the basis for the intense drama associated with the subject – Mars, the god of war! Have a listen to this extract of the piece performed by the United States Air Force Band:You can hear how the relentless sound of a rhythmic ostinato is extremely effective at building tension as the music around it changes and develops. This effect is heightened in the extract from Mars as the bass note remains on a G throughout the extract and acts as a pedal point. Not surprisingly, rhythmic ostinati are used widely in dramatic film music. Hans Zimmer is a film composer who makes considerable use of this technique across the many film scores he has written. Have a listen to the opening from his theme for the film “Pirates of the Caribbean” performed by the Auckland Symphony Orchestra:You can hear that there are a number of different ostinati in many of the different parts that are layered to produce the overall sound. Here is the rhythmic ostinato that forms the basis of the melody line: Rhythmic Ostinato Example Hans ZimmerMelodic ostinato A melodic ostinato is a repeated pattern where both the rhythm and the melody form the basis for the repeated pattern. These often occur in the bass part where they are called a basso ostinato. Basso Ostinato A basso ostinato is a repeated pattern in the bass part of a piece. This technique became particularly popular in the 17th century where a number of Baroque dances were based upon ostinati in the bass part. In dances such as the passacaglia the bass remained constant throughout the piece whilst the other parts developed. This technique is called “ground bass” and you can have a look at my lesson on ground bass for some examples of this. The most famous example of a basso ostinato is Pachelbel’s Canon in D. Ostinati Examples in Contemporary Music Rhythmic and melodic ostinatos have had a massive influence on contemporary popular music across a wide range of genres. This can be seen in 2 main ways: Riffs (short melodic phrases) – these are effectively contemporary expressions of ostinato. Loops – rhythmic and melodic phrases are repeated to create the characteristic sound of contemporary productions. As a result, you will probably be able to find examples of the use of repeated patterns/ostinati in most contemporary songs. However, there are some songs where the use of an ostinato provides the clear foundation for the song and these are useful examples to listen to. Examples of Ostinati Riffs Seven Nation Army by White Stripes The guitar riff from Seven Nation Army is one of the most famous modern guitar riffs and is used as an ostinato that plays throughout the song. It is an excellent example of a melodic ostinato:Back in Black by AC/DC The opening guitar riff in this song is another great example:Examples of Loops Loops are repeated patterns that are clearly built on the concept of ostinati. They are used widely in contemporary music. Hip hop songs often use loops as the foundation for the track. Still D.R.E by Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg In this song a piano loop plays throughout the whole track and forms the foundation of the song:
Filmic Techniques Based on the work of Brad Smilanich Mis-en-Scene: originally a French theatrical term arrangements of all the visual elements of the stage area in film – “the contents of the frame and the way those contents are organized” include: lighting, costume, décor, props, camera movement or distance . . . all photographic decisions etc. Proxemics: Spatial relationship among characters within the mis-en-scene Rule of Thirds: a compositional rule of thumb in painting, design, photography etc. suggests image divided into 9 equal parts with two vertical and two horizontal lines important elements of the mis-en-scene should be placed along these lines and their intersections some suggest aligning with intersections makes for more interesting pictures than just centreing the subject Proxemics Camera Distance: Quite literally, how far the camera is from the subject being filmed The Hand Camera Camera Distance: Quite literally, how far the camera is from the subject being filmed Extreme Close Up: Singles out one small portion of the body or object Used to intensify emotion, or show reaction Camera Distance: Close up Shot: Shows head of character or small significant object Used to show emotions Camera Distance: Medium Shot: shows figures from the waist up allows character to be seen within background Camera Distance: Long Shot: shows figures from feet up similar to the “stage” in live theatre orients audience to figures within a location or surrounding Camera Distance: Extreme Long Shot: Sometimes called an ‘establishing shot’ Panoramic view of an exterior location orients audience to a location Camera Distance: Camera Angle: Camera’s angle of view relative to the subject being photographed High Angle Shot: looks down on the subject often used to make the subject look small and insignificant (in combination with camera distance) puts the camera (audience) in ‘power’ position Camera Angle: Low Angle Shot: looks up at the subject often used to make the subject look large and powerful puts the camera (audience) in a ‘submissive’ position Camera Angle: Flat Angle Shot: camera on same plane as the subject feels most ‘normal’ to an audience Camera Angle: Canted Shot: frame is unbalanced in relation to the subject may indicate a symbolic unbalance in the character Camera Angle: Camera Movement literally the camera moving with or around or to follow the subjects in the mis-en-scene or frame Camera Movement: Tilting Movement camera moves up or down on a horizontal axis similar to head nodding movement may be used to show subjects relation to surroundings Camera Movement: Panning Movement camera moves side to side on a vertical axis similar to head shaking movement may be used to establish setting Camera Movement: Dolly Movement camera mounted on a vehicle that moves along with the subject (camera moves, not pivots) follows the subject to signify something important Camera Movement: Crane Shot camera mounted on a crane or boom permits camera to move in & out, up & down, backward & forward often used for high aerial establishing shots Misc. Shots: Hand Held: camera carried to seem jerky, giving ‘realistic feel’ Push In: camera moves up to a character’s face to indicate an epiphany (realization) Spiral: camera circles subject for effect End for ELA 20-2 and 10-1 Shot Transitions/Editing: artificial editing done to string together multiple shots to create a narrative scene or sequence a cut is the change from one shot to another usually separated in to ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ cuts Jump Cut: an instantaneous change from one shot to another this can be very natural or may disorient the audience, depending on how it is used Transitions/Editing Swish Pan: A pan where the speed of the camera is so fast that images are blurry used often to connect events in different settings that are connected by time Transitions/Editing Dissolve: transition where one shot gradually dissapears while another shot gradually appears often used to suggest change of setting or long time passage i.e. flashbacks Transitions/Editing Fade In/Out: transition where the shot gradually overexposes to white or underexposes to black often used to suggest a lengthy passage of time or change in location Transitions/Editing Wipe: transition where one shot is gradually eliminated as another shot moves onto the screen can be vertically or horizontally often suggests movement of the camera to another location Transitions/Editing Iris In/Out: transition where one shot gradually appears as an expanding circle in the middle of an old image suggests . . .??? Transitions/Editing Shot-Reverse Shot: one character is shown looking (often off-screen) at another character, and then the other character is shown looking "back" at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer unconciously assumes that they are looking at each other. Transitions/Editing Two-Shot: Face-up shot of two people. Often used in interviews, or when two presenters are hosting a show. A "One-Shot" could be a mid-shot of either of these subjects. A "Three-Shot", unsurprisingly, contains three people. Transitions/Editing Shot Transitions/Editing: Sound: used to reflect or enhance what is shown visually on the screen can include dialogue, music, sound effects, voiceover etc. Diegetic Sound: sound that has a source in the world of the story dialogue spoken by characters, sound made by objects, or music coming from a source grounded in the story of the film Non-diegetic Sound: sound that has a source outside the world of the story usually part of the score or the soundtrack Parallel Sound: sound that complements the image shown i.e. romantic music during a love scene Counterpoint Sound: sound that contradicts the ‘feeling’ of the image a happy song played while images of graphic violence are portrayed Voiceover: voice of a non-visible narrator laid over the scene often provides some comment about the narrative of the film Sound Bridge: used to ‘soften’ the transition between one scene and another takes sound from the next shot and overlays it on the current shot 2-3 seconds earlier than we see the image Examples of Diegetic/Non-Diegetic: In the first clip, the non-diegetic music changes to diegetic music when the main character moves inside of the convenience store. In the second clip, the “duhn duhn duuuuh” which often is non-diegetic becomes diegetic because it is the band in the passing bus playing that music! End for ELA 20-1 Lighting: Can be used by a director to: Control the mood of a scene guide a viewer’s eye to a specific place in mis-en-scene Emphasize and de-emphasize elements in frame Add texture and color Make people look beautiful, ugly, sinister, or angelic Standard 3-Point Lighting: uses three lights called the key light, fill light and back light forms the basis of most lighting. once you understand three point lighting you are well on the way to understanding all lighting. Key Light: main light usually the strongest and has the most influence on the look of the scene. it is placed to one side of the camera/subject so that side is well lit and other side has shadow. Fill Light: secondary light is placed on the opposite side of the key light used to fill the shadows created by key softer and less bright than key Back Light: placed behind the subject ; lights it from the rear. provides definition and subtle highlights around the subject's outlines. Separates subject from background provides a three-dimensional look. Standard 3-Point Lighting: http://www.zvork.fr/vls/ Try using this simulator to play with lighting with those 3 points.
She went by the name of Belisa Crepusculario, not because she had been baptized with that name or given it by her mother, but because she herself had searched until she found the poetry of "beauty" and "twilight" and cloaked herself in it. She made her living selling words. She journeyed through the country from the high cold mountains to the burning coasts, stopping at fairs and in markets where she set up four poles covered by a canvas awning under which she took refuge from the sun and rain to minister to her customers. She did not have to peddle her merchandise because from having wandered far and near, everyone knew who she was. Some people waited for her from one year to the next, and when she appeared in the village with her bundle beneath her arm, they would form a line in front of her stall. Her prices were fair. For five centavos she delivered verses from memory, for seven she improved the quality of dreams, for nine she wrote love letters, for twelve she invented insults for irreconcilable enemies. She also sold stories, not fantasies but long, true stories she recited at one telling, never skipping a word. This is how she carried news from one town to another. People paid her to add a line or two: our son was born, so-and-so died, our children got married, the crops burned in the field. Wherever she went a small crowd gathered around to listen as she began to speak, and that was how they learned about each others' doings, about distant relatives, about what was going on in the civil war. To anyone who paid her fifty centavos in trade, she gave the gift of a secret word to drive away melancholy. It was not the same word for everyone, naturally, because that would have been collective dece it. Each person received his or her own word, with the assurance that no one else would use it that way in this universe or the Beyond. Belisa Crepusculario had been born into a family so poor they did not even have names to give their children. She came into the world and grew up in an inhospitable land where some years the rains became avalanches of water that bore everything away before them and others when not a drop fell from the sky and the sun swelled to fill the horizon and the world became a desert. Until she was twelve, Belisa had no occupation or virtue other than having withstood hunger and the exhaustion of centuries. During one interminable drought, it fell to her to bury four younger brothers and sisters, when she realized that her turn was next, she decided to set out across the 2 plains in the direction of the sea, in hopes that she might trick death along the way. The land was eroded, split with deep cracks, strewn with rocks, fossils of trees and thorny bushes, and skeletons of animals bleached by the sun. From time to time she ran into families who, like her, were heading south, following the mirage of water. Some had begun the march carrying their belongings on their back or in small carts, but they could barely move their own bones, and after a while they had to abandon their possessions. They dragged themselves along painfully, their skin turned to lizard hide and their eyes burned by the reverberating glare. Belisa greeted them with a wave as she passed, but she did not stop, because she had no strength to waste in acts of compassion. Many people fell by the wayside, but she was so stubborn that she survived to cross through that hell and at long last reach the first trickles of water, fine, almost invisible threads that fed spindly vegetation and farther down widened into small streams and marshes. Belisa Crepusculario saved her life and in the process accidentally discovered writing. In a village near the coast, the wind blew a page of newspaper at her feet. She picked up the brittle yellow paper and stood a long while looking at it, unable to determine its purpose, until curiosity overcame her shyness. She walked over to a man who was washing his horse in the muddy pool where she had quenched her thirst. "What is this?" she asked. "The sports page of the newspaper," the man replied, concealing his surprise at her ignorance. The answer astounded the girl, but she did not want to seem rude, so she merely inquired about the significance of the fly tracks scattered across the page. "Those are words, child. Here it says that Fulgencio Barba knocked out El Negro Tiznao in the third round." That was the day Belisa Crepusculario found out that words make their way in the world without a master, and that anyone with a little cleverness can appropriate them and do business with them. She made a quick assessment of her situation and concluded that aside from becoming a prostitute or working as a servant in the kitchens of the rich there were few occupations she was qualified for. It seemed to her that selling words would be an honorable alternative. From that moment on, she worked at that profession, and was never tempted by any other. At the beginning, she offered her merchandise unaware that words could be written outside of newspapers. When she learned otherwise, she calculated the infinite possibilities of her trade and with her savings paid a priest twenty pesos to teach her to read and write, with her three 3 remaining coins she bought a dictionary. She poured over it from A to Z and then threw it into the sea, because it was not her intention to defraud her customers with packaged words. One August morning several years later, Belisa Crepusculario was sitting in her tent in the middle of a plaza, surrounded by the uproar of market day, selling legal arguments to an old man who had been trying for sixteen years to get his pension. Suddenly she heard yelling and thudding hoofbeats. She looked up from her writing and saw, first, a cloud of dust, and then a band of horsemen come galloping into the plaza. They were the Colonel's men, sent under orders of El Mulato, a giant known throughout the land for the speed of his knife and his loyalty to his chief. Both the Colonel and El Mulato had spent their lives fighting in the civil war, and their names were ineradicably linked to devastation and calamity. The rebels swept into town like a stampeding herd, wrapped in noise, bathed in sweat, and leaving a hurricane of fear in their trail. Chickens took wing, dogs ran for their lives, women and children scurried out of sight, until the only living soul left in the market was Belisa Crepusculario. She had never seen El Mulato and was surprised to see him walking toward her. "I'm looking for you," he shouted, pointing his coiled whip at her, even before the words were out, two men rushed her -- knocking over her canopy and shattering her inkwell -- bound her hand and foot, and threw her like a sea bag across the rump of El Mulato's mount. Then they thundered off toward the hills. Hours later, just as Belisa Crepusculario was near death, her heart ground to sand by the pounding of the horse, they stopped, and four strong hands set her down. She tried to stand on her feet and hold her head high, but her strength failed her and she slumped to the ground, sinking into a confused dream. She awakened several hours later to the murmur of night in the camp, but before she had time to sort out the sounds, she opened her eyes and found herself staring into the impatient glare of El Mulato, kneeling beside her. "Well, woman, at last you've come to," he said. To speed her to her senses, he tipped his canteen and offered her a sip of liquor laced with gunpowder. She demanded to know the reason for such rough treatment, and El Mulato explained that the Colonel needed her services. He allowed her to splash water on her face, and then led her to the far end of the camp where the most feared man in all the land was lazing in a hammock strung between two trees. She could not see his face, because he lay in the deceptive shadow of the leaves and the indelible shadow of all his years as a bandit, but she imagined from the way his 4 gigantic aide addressed him with such humility that he must have a very menacing expression. She was surprised by the Colonel's voice, as soft and well-modulated as a professor's. "Are you the woman who sells words?" he asked. "At your service," she stammered, peering into the dark and trying to see him better. The Colonel stood up, and turned straight toward her. She saw dark skin and the eyes of a ferocious puma, and she knew immediately that she was standing before the loneliest man in the world. "I want to be President," he announced. The Colonel was weary of riding across that godforsaken land, waging useless wars and suffering defeats that no subterfuge could transform into victories. For years he had been sleeping in the open air, bitten by mosquitoes, eating iguanas and snake soup, but those minor inconveniences were not why he wanted to change his destiny. What truly troubled him was the terror he saw in people's eyes. He longed to ride into a town beneath a triumphal arch with bright flags and flowers everywhere, he wanted to be cheered, and be given newly laid eggs and freshly baked bread. Men fled at the sight of him, children trembled, and women miscarried from fright, he had had enough, and so he had decided to become President. El Mulato had suggested that they ride to the capital, gallop up to the Palace, and take over the government, the way they had taken so many other things without anyone's permission. The Colonel, however, did not want to be just another tyrant, there had been enough of those before him and, besides, if he did that, he would never win people's hearts. It was his aspiration to win the popular vote in the December elections. "To do that, I have to talk like a candidate. Can you sell me the words for a speech?" the Colonel asked Belisa Crepusculario. She had accepted many assignments, but none like this. She did not dare refuse, fearing that El Mulato would shoot her between the eyes, or worse still, that the Colonel would burst into tears. There was more to it than that, however, she felt the urge to help him because she felt a throbbing warmth beneath her skin, a powerful desire to touch that man, to fondle him, to clasp him in her arms. All night and a good part of the following day, Belisa Crepusculario searched her repertory for words adequate for a presidential speech, closely watched by El Mulato, who could not take his eyes from her firm wanderer's legs and virginal breasts. She discarded harsh, cold words, words 5 that were too flowery, words worn from abuse, words that offered improbable promises, untruthful and confusing words, until all she had left were words sure to touch the minds of men and women's intuition. Calling upon the knowledge she had purchased from the priest for twenty pesos, she wrote the speech on a sheet of paper and then signaled El Mulato to untie the rope that bound her ankles to a tree. He led her once more to the Colonel, and again she felt the throbbing anxiety that had seized her when she first saw him. She handed him the paper and waited while he looked at it, holding it gingerly between thumbs and fingertips. "What the shit does this say," he asked finally. "Don't you know how to read?" "War's what I know," he replied. She read the speech aloud. She read it three times, so her client could engrave it on his memory. When she finished, she saw the emotion in the faces of the soldiers who had gathered round to listen, and saw that the Colonel's eyes glittered with enthusiasm, convinced that with those words the presidential chair would be his. "If after they've heard it three times, the boys are still standing there with their mouths hanging open, it must mean the thing's damn good, Colonel" was El Mulato's approval. "All right, woman. How much do I owe you?" the leader asked. "One peso, Colonel." "That's not much," he said, opening the pouch he wore at his belt, heavy with proceeds from the last foray. "The peso entitles you to a bonus. I'm going to give you two secret words," said Belisa Crepusculario. "What for?" She explained that for every fifty centavos a client paid, she gave him the gift of a word for his exclusive use. The Colonel shrugged. He had no interest at all in her offer, but he did not want to be impolite to someone who had served him so well. She walked slowly to the leather stool where he was sitting, and bent down to give him her gift. The man smelled the scent of a mountain cat issuing from the woman, a fiery heat radiating from her hips, he heard the terrible whisper of her hair, and a breath of sweetmint murmured into his ear the two secret words that were his alone. "They are yours, Colonel," she said as she stepped back. "You may use them as much as you 6 please." El Mulato accompanied Belisa to the roadside, his eyes as entreating as a stray dog's, but when he reached out to touch her, he was stopped by an avalanche of words he had never heard before; believing them to be an irrevocable curse, the flame of his desire was extinguished. During the months of September, October, and November the Colonel delivered his speech so many times that had it not been crafted from glowing and durable words it would have turned to ash as he spoke. He travelled up and down and across the country, riding into cities with a triumphal air, stopping in even the most forgotten villages where only the dump heap betrayed a human presence, to convince his fellow citizens to vote for him. While he spoke from a platform erected in the middle of the plaza, El Mulato and his men handed out sweets and painted his name on all the walls in gold frost. No one paid the least attention to those advertising ploys; they were dazzled by the clarity of the Colonel's proposals and the poetic lucidity of his arguments, infected by his powerful wish to right the wrongs of history, happy for the first time in their lives. When the Candidate had finished his speech, his soldiers would fire their pistols into the air and set off firecrackers, and when finally they rode off, they left behind a wake of hope that lingered for days on the air, like the splendid memory of a comet's tail. Soon the Colonel was the favorite. No one had ever witnessed such a phenomenon: a man who surfaced from the civil war, covered with scars and speaking like a professor, a man whose fame spread to every corner of the land and captured the nation's heart. The press focused their attention on him. Newspapermen came from far away to interview him and repeat his phrases, and the number of his followers and enemies continued to grow. "We're doing great, Colonel," said El Mulato, after twelve successful weeks of campaigning. But the Candidate did not hear. He was repeating his secret words, as he did more and more obsessively. He said them when he was mellow with nostalgia; he murmured them in his sleep; he carried them with him on horseback; he thought them before delivering his famous speech; and he caught himself savoring them in his leisure time. And every time he thought of those two words, he thought of Belisa Crepusculario, and his senses were inflamed with the memory of her feral scent, her fiery heat, the whisper of her hair, and her sweetmint breath in his ear, until he began to go around like a sleepwalker, and his men realized that he might die before he ever sat in the presidential chair. "What's got hold of you, Colonel," El Mulato asked so often that finally one day his chief broke 7 down and told him the source of his befuddlement: those two words that were buried like two daggers in his gut. "Tell me what they are and maybe they'll lose their magic," his faithful aide suggested. "I can't tell them, they're for me alone," the Colonel replied. Saddened by watching his chief decline like a man with a death sentence on his head, El Mulato slung his rifle over his shoulder and set out to find Belisa Crepusculario. He followed her trail through all that vast country, until he found her in a village in the far south, sitting under her tent reciting her rosary of news. He planted himself, spraddle-legged, before her, weapon in hand. "You! You're coming with me," he ordered. She had been waiting. She picked up her inkwell, folded the canvas of her small stall, arranged her shawl around her shoulders, and without a word took her place behind El Mulato's saddle. They did not exchange so much as a word in all the trip; El Mulato's desire for her had turned into rage, and only his fear of her tongue prevented his cutting her to shreds with his whip. Nor was he inclined to tell her that the Colonel was in a fog, and that a spell whispered into his ear had done what years of battle had not been able to do. Three days later they arrived at the encampment, and immediately, in view of all the troops, El Mulato led his prisoner before the Candidate. "I brought this witch here so you can give her back her words, Colonel," El Mulato said, pointing the barrel of his rifle at the woman's head. "And then she can give you back your manhood." The Colonel and Belisa Crepusculario stared at each other, measuring one another from a distance. The men knew then that their leader would never undo the witchcraft of those accursed words, because the whole world could see the voracious-puma eyes soften as the woman walked to him and took his hand in hers. Copyright © 1989 by Isabel Allende From The Stories of Eva Luna, Translated by Margaret Sayers Peden
Band 2 part 2