The Fountains of Silence Read Online Free PDF

woman’s ultimate destiny is marriage, motherhood, and domesticity. For poor families, like theirs, hunger turns a blind eye to mandates. Many women from impoverished families take positions of manual labor.
    But Julia is special. Her talent as a seamstress affords her the opportunity to work in a shop. Luis needs Julia’s skills to please his matadors. Julia needs the wages to feed her family and pay their debts.
    “We must pool our earnings,” reminds Julia’s husband, Antonio. “All wages and coins shall be deposited into this old cigar box.”
    To move from impoverished Vallecas to a small flat in Lavapiés—this is the plan. Julia rations and counts everything, pinching every last peseta . For now, four adults and a newborn baby share a dark, single room. But they are together. Which is what their mother wanted.
    Ana has no memory of the war, but she remembers the tears of separation after her parents disappeared. She remembers crying desperately the day she left Zaragoza to be raised by her aunt and uncle in Madrid. Though her aunt and uncle have a daughter of their own, her cousin Puri is different. Obedient. Puri is free of heartache and shame. Free of secrets. Ana envies her.
    “How was your palace today?” Julia asks.
    Lies and threats. But don’t worry, I swallowed them .
    “The same. Ice and more ice,” says Ana with a laugh. She tries to redirect the conversation. “I’ll be on the seventh floor for the summer. I’m assigned to a very wealthy family, staying through August. They have a son about my age.”
    Julia nods.
    “He’s from Texas,” says Ana. “He has American magazines.”
    Julia’s expression shifts from fatigue to fear. “That hotel is not real life, Ana. Not for people like us.”
    “Julia, it seems unbelievable to us, but for them it’s real life!” says Ana. “American women drive their own cars and fly around the world on airplanes. It’s not considered sinful. They don’t need permiso marital . They can seek employment, open a bank account, and travel without their husband’s permission.”
    Julia glances over her shoulder before whispering, “Ana, pleasestop picking through trash in the hotel rooms. Stop reading those books and magazines! You know very well that the content is banned in Spain. This is not America.”
    Julia is right. In Spain, women must adhere to strict subordinate roles in the domestic arts. Ana remembers the teachings of the Sección Femenina : “Do not pretend to be equal to men.” They also teach that purity is absolute. Women’s bathing suits must reach the knees. If a girl is discovered in a movie theater with a boy but no chaperone, her family is sent a yellow card of prostitution.
    Julia’s brow buckles as she reaches for Ana’s hand. Even her whisper is unsteady. “The world at the hotel is a fairy tale. I’m sorry, Ana, but that is not our world. Please remember that. Be careful who you speak to.”
    “It’s my job to be conversational,” says Ana.
    “And that’s fine, as long as it’s a one-way conversation. You may ask questions but try not to answer any.”
    That might work. Guests enjoy talking about themselves. As long as she reveals little about her own life, there’s no need for concern. Her stomach turns, digesting the note.
    “Ana, is something wrong?” asks Julia.
    “No.” She smiles. “Nothing at all.”

The life of every woman, despite what she may pretend, is nothing but a continuous desire to find somebody to whom she can succumb.
    —S EMANARIO DE LA S ECCIÓN F EMENINA , 1944
    Throughout her life, a woman’s mission is to serve others. When God made the first man, he thought: It is not good for man to be alone. And he made the woman, to help him and keep him company, and to be used as a mother. God’s first idea was “man.” He thought about the woman later, as a necessary complement, that is, as something useful.
    —F ORMACIÓN P OLÍTICO S OCIAL (textbook), 1962

9
    Daniel stands in the elegant