bsorbed
that he did not feel the second surge of wind either as its
cyclonic strength tore the doors and windows off their hinges,
pulled off the roof of the east wing, and uprooted the foundations. Only then did he discover that Amaranta Ursula was not his sister but his aunt, and that Sir Francis Drake had
attacked Riohacha only so that they could seek each other
through the most intricate labyrinths of blood until they
would engender the mythological animal that was to bring
the line to an end. Macondo was already a fearful whirlwind
of dust and rubble being spun about by the wrath of the
biblical hurricane when Aureliano skipped eleven pages so as
not to lose time with facts he knew only too well, and he
began to decipher the instant that he was living, deciphering
it as he lived it, prophesying himself in the act of deciphering
the last page of the parchments, as if he were looking into a
speaking mirror. Then he skipped again to anticipate the