2 ?b90

CHAPTER
IV
Initiations
1. The Life and Death of Alberto Olaya
The ill-fated Alberto Olaya emerges in Paradiso as a restless spirit
on the verge of adolescence, the second son of DoTfa Augusta and Don Andrds.
one of five children, he is shown to be the innovator of family jokes,
since it is he who notices with amusement the frasecita ritually exchan-
ged between the Jacksonville pastor and his organist. Thus "Do you
want to play the organ, Mr. Squabs? " (1,60) becomes a family estribillo
which is aired on any occasion in danger of becoming too solemn. Alberto
seems to have inherited Dofýa Augusta's skill in employing appropriate
aphorisms and word play at crucial moments. The great matriarch's apho-
risms are reknowned in the family circle:
Pero donde su reposada sabiduria paremiol6gica alcanzaba
celeste sin zureo de mosca, era en el refr9n que volcaba
sobre unos vecinitos de la esquina. Alli estaba como
recogida de la casa una flacucha de doce afros, aunque su
sonrisa entreabria rio creciente y matinal y su mirada
atrala y rimaba. Cualquier familia la endilgaba malas
notas,, pereza, gracias fofas, cuentos torpes. Dofia
Augusta afirmaba milenaria, llorosa casi: "La caca del
hudrfano hiede n-As" (1,194).
Alberto's word play comes in lighter vein:
Cemi habia oido contar que Alberto tenia un amigo coleccionista.,
cuyo padre era un ricach6n con un ingenio de
azdcar. A su pasi6n por los platos de cerdmical, unia
la constante alusi6n a los opulentes ramajes de su hergl-
dica. ý En cuil de sus platos,, Sefforia,, le preguntd
Alberto, saborea su sirope en campo de azur (1,241).