The Aleph: Part I Summary

The Immortal

After wandering in the desert, a Roman legionnaire, Marcus, manages to drink from the river of immortality. He leaves a group of troglodytes and makes it into the City of the Immortals, but no one lives there anymore. The troglodyte, who follows him around, after a rare desert rain, recites lines from Homer's Iliad. This man is Homer himself. Finally, Marcus finds the stream of the water that restores mortality.

The Dead Man

Otalora escapes across the river to Uruguay, and works for Bandeira. Otalora challenges Bandeira's leadership and wants his woman. Otalora thinks that he wins the foreman over to the scheme. Otalora gets to sleep with Bandeira's woman. Bandeira is silent. Suddenly, at a meeting, at midnight, Bandeira announces that the game is over, and Bandeira's former woman shoots Otalora to death.

The...