The Crossing (The Border Trilogy, #2)

by Cormac McCarthy

Finally Quijada leaned forward and studied his cup. He should have gone home, he said. Yes. Why didnt he? I dont know. Maybe the girl. The girl would not have gone with him? I suppose she would have. He didnt rightly have a home to go to. Maybe you are the one who should have cared for him better. He wasnt easy to care for. You said it yourself. Yes. What does the corrido say? Quijada shook his head. The corrido tells all and it tells nothing. I heard the tale of the güerito years ago. Before your brother was even born. You dont think it tells about him? Yes, it tells about him. It tells what it wishes to tell. It tells what makes the story run. The corrido is the poor man’s history. It does not owe its allegiance to the truths of history but to the truths of men. It tells the tale of that solitary man who is all men. It believes that where two men meet one of two things can occur and nothing else. In the one case a lie is born and in the other death. That sounds like death is the truth.