(Part One of my translation of a children’s story, “El Hombre de Plata,” by Isabel Allende.)
Joey and his dog, Butterfly, made the three kilometer trip to school twice a day. If it rained or snowed, was cold or sunny, the small figure of Joey appeared in the road followed by Butterfly. Joey had given her this name because she had large, flapping ears which, against the light, made her look like a huge, clumsy, brown butterfly. And also because of the dog’s habit of running around smelling flowers, like some kind of insect.
Butterfly accompanied her master to school and sat to wait in the door until the bell rang. When class ended and the door opened, Butterfly shook off her drowsiness and began looking for her boy. Smelling the shoes and legs of students, she finally arrived at her Joey and then, wagging her tail like a jet propulsion fan, she began the trip back home.
The winter days become nights very early. When clouds gather on the coast and the sea turns black, it is almost dark already by five o’clock at night. This was one of those days: cloudy, half grey and half cold, with rain on the way and the waves foaming at their peaks.
