Horacio Quiroga: Literary Vocabulary and the Desert Colt

Essential Literary Vocabulary

• Horsehair: The long hair on the upper neck and tail of a horse.
• Support: To provide necessary food or sustenance for someone.
• Sniff: Tracking something furtively to discover something hidden.
• Astonished: Stunned and frightened by something extraordinary or specific.
• Start: To remove from the root; to begin something.
• Whirlwind: A vortex of wind or water.
• Crushed: To grind a solid until it is made entirely of fragments or dust.
• Overflow: To exceed an established or planned limit.
• Path: A narrow and less open path, used mainly by cattle.
• Consecrate: To make someone or something sacred.
• Prodigious: Wonderful, extraordinary, or marvelous.
• Forage: Grass or fodder that is given to cattle.
• Trite: Common and well-known.
• Waver: To weaken and lose strength.
• Cry: To express a need for something.
• Sight: To see or dimly perceive an object.
• Contemplate: To give full attention to something.
• Trocar: An instrument consisting of a punch with three cutting edges.
• Fraudulent: Deceitful.
• Ping: A large amount or a heavy load.
• Dig: To dig something, as a horse usually does, moving with the hoof.
• Lie: Said of a horse's gallop when it stretches out.
• Burned: Bold, fearless, and undaunted.
• Tight: Moderate and reduced expenses.
• Gullet: A sweet made of pineapple or coconut.

The Tale of the Desert Colt

A young colt that arrived from the desert to the city will have to learn how to survive in a world of greed. After several years, and feeling tired, he will discover his huge talent and will have to decide between freedom and poverty or the pressure of being the best and succumbing to greed.

Reflections on the Young Foal

"Young foal: Lie down in your career, but you hardly eat; for if you do not achieve glory, you gain value and style to barter fraudulently for fat forage, saving yourself from having given everything one day for a handful of grass."

Biography of Horacio Quiroga (1878-1937)

Horacio Quiroga was a prominent Uruguayan writer and one of the most distinguished Hispanic storytellers. His tragic life is deeply reflected in his books, which contain stories of great literary value. He recognized the influence of outstanding universal storytellers such as Edgar Allan Poe, Guy de Maupassant, and Anton Chekhov.

He wrote a theory of the short story and the "Decalogue of the Perfect Storyteller." His principal works include: Jungle Tales, Tales of Love, Madness, and Death, Anaconda, and others.