Based on Guatemalan folklore, this story by Miguel Ángel Asturias blends social commentary with magic. A young mulatto dishwasher described as “dizzy as a top” is madly in love with the son of a wealthy landowner who totally ignores her. For a price, a licentious blind man with knowledge of folklore convinces her that she can win the man’s love by sleeping with and viewing herself wearing a costume he will wear at an upcoming festival. Her quest to find a full-length mirror leads to her doom. Themes include identity, social class, longing, magic, the power of belief, the supernatural.
