Chapter 2 Summary

In his youth, the Marquis is seen by his father as someone who is mentally retarded. His father is a very wealthy slave trader. The young Marquis, whose first name is Ygnacio, is illiterate and in a daze for a long time. He finally learns to read and write while communicating to Dulce Oliva, a madwoman who lives next door at the female mental asylum. Ygnacio's father, the First Marquis, refuses to allow him to marry Dulce Olivia, though she is fairly quick witted. She does have other problems, like "eating her own filth". Ygnacio spends a long time away in the country at one of his father's estates. He is terrified of the farm animals and even imagines what would happen if the chickens become huge. At some point, somehow the animals are bewitched to all escape the farm, except for a...