e his chicken…head soup； prepared by the great…granddaughter； with him。 She was a large black woman with solid bones； the hips of a mare； teats like live melons； and a round and perfect head armored with a hard surface of wiry hair which looked like a medieval warrior’s mail headdress。 Her name was Nigromanta。 In those days Aureliano lived off the sale of silverware； candlesticks； and other bric…a…brac from the house。 When he was penniless； which was most of the time； he got people in the back of the market to give him the chicken heads that they were going to throw away and he would take them to Nigromanta to make her soups； fortified with purslane and seasoned with mint。 When the great…grandfather died Aureliano stopped going by the house； but he would run into Nigromanta under the dark almond trees on the square； using her wild…animal whistles to lure the few night owls。 Many times he stayed with her； speaking in Papiamento about chicken…head soup and other dainties of misery； and he would have kept right on if she had not let him know that his presence frightened off customers。 Although he sometimes felt the temptation and although Nigromanta herself might have seemed to him as the natural culmination of a shared nostalgia； he did not go to bed with her。 So Aureliano was still a virgin when Amaranta ？rsula returned to Macondo and gave him a sisterly embrace that left him breathless。 Every time he saw her； and worse yet when she showed him the latest dances； he felt the same spongy release in his bones that had disturbed his great…great…grandfather when Pilar Ternera made her pretexts about the cards in the granary。 Trying to squelch the torment； he sank deeper into the parchments and eluded the innocent flattery of that aunt who was poisoning his nights with a flow of tribulation； but the more he avoided her the more the anxiety with which he waited for her stony laughter； her howls of a happy cat； and her songs of gratitude； agonizing in love at all hours and in the most unlikely parts of the house。 One night thirty feet from his bed； on the silver workbench； the couple with unhinged bellies broke the bottles and ended up making love in a pool of muriatic acid。 Aureliano not only could not sleep for a single second； but he spent the next day with a fever； sobbing with rage。 The first night that he waited for Nigromanta to e to the shadows of the almond trees it seemed like an eternity； pricked as he was by the needles of uncertainty and clutching in his fist the peso and fifty cents that he had asked Amaranta ？rsula for； not so much because he needed it as to involve her； debase her； prostitute her in his adventure in some way。 Nigromanta took him to her room； which was lighted with false candlesticks； to her folding cot with the bedding stained from bad loves； and to her body of a wild dog； hardened and without soul； which prepared itself to dismiss him as if he were a frightened child； and suddenly it found a man whose tremendous power demanded a movement of seismic readjustment from her insides。
They became lovers。 Aureliano would spend his mornings deciphering parchments and at siesta time he would go to the bedroom where Nigromanta was waiting for him； to teach him first how to do it like earthworms； then like snails； and finally like crabs； until she had to leave him and lie in wait for vagabond loves。 Several weeks passed before Aureliano discovered that around her waist she wore a small belt that seemed to be made out of a cello string； but which was hard as steel and had no end； as if it had been born and grown with her。 Almost always； between loves； they would eat naked in the bed； in the hallucinating heat and under the daytime stars that the rust had caused to shine on the zinc ceiling。 It was the first time that Nigromanta had had a steady man； a bone crusher from head to toe； as she herself said； dying with laughter； and she had even begun to get romantic illusions when Aureliano confided in her about his repressed passion for Amaranta ？rsula； which he had not been able to cure with the substitution but which was twisting him inside all the more as experience broadened the horizons of love。 After that Nigromanta continued to receive him with the same warmth as ever but she made him pay for her services so strictly that when Aureliano had no money she would make an addition to his bill； which was not figured in numbers but by marks that she made with her thumbnail behind the door。 At sundown； while she was drifting through the shadows in the square； Aureliano； was going along the porch like a stranger； scarcely greeting Amaranta ？rsula and Gaston； who usually dined at that time； and shutting herself up in his room again； unable to read or write or even think because of the anxiety brought on by the laughter； the whispering； the preliminary frolics； and then the explosions of agonizing happiness that capped the nights in the house。 That was his life two years before Gaston began to wait for the airplane； and it went on the same way on the afternoon that he went to the bookstore of the wise Catalonian and found four ranting boys in a heated argument about the methods used to kill cockroaches in the Middle Ages。 The old bookseller； knowing about Aureliano’s love for books that had been read only by the Venerable Bede； urged him with a certain fatherly malice to get into the discussion； and without even taking a breath； he explained that the cockroach； the oldest winged insect on the face of the earth； had already been the victim of slippers in the Old Testament； but that since the species was definitely resistant to any and all methods of extermination； from tomato dices with borax to flour and sugar； and with its one thousand six hundred three varieties had resisted the most ancient； tenacious； and pitiless persecution that mankind had unleashed against any living thing since the beginnings； including man himself； to such an extent that just as an instinct for reproduction was attributed to humankind； so there must have been another one more definite and pressing； which was the instinct to kill cockroaches； and if the latter had succeeded in escaping human ferocity it was because they had taken refuge in the shadows； where they became invulnerable because of man’s congenital fear of the dark； but on the other hand they became susceptible to the glow of noon； so that by the Middle Ages already； and in present times； and per omnia secula seculorum； the only effective method for killing cockroaches was the glare of the sun。
That encyclopedic coincidence was the beginning of a great friendship。 Aureliano continued getting together in the afternoon with the four arguers； whose names were ？lvaro； Germán； Alfonso； and Gabriel； the first and last friends that he ever had in his life。 For a man like him； holed up in written reality； those stormy sessions that began in the bookstore and ended at dawn in the brothels were a revelation。 It had never occurred to him until then to think that literature was the best plaything that had ever been invented to make fun of people； as ？lvaro demonstrated during one night of revels。 Some time would have to pass before Aureliano realized that such arbitrary attitudes had thei