Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel García Márquez. Short summary

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After being born, Maria found herself unneeded by her parents, who gave her up to be raised by servants. One day the girl is bitten by a rabid dog. Her father, upon learning of this, takes Mary to a monastery to have the demon cast out of her.

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Marquesa Maria Angela found herself unwanted by her parents after her birth. Her mother hated her and her father did not notice her. The girl was given to servants who began to raise her.

One of the slaves makes a promise that if the child survives, she will not cut her hair until the wedding. The slaves taught Maria to dance, she could speak three African languages, drank cock’s blood on an empty stomach, and sneaked around among the other inhabitants of the house like an invisible person.

The young slaves loved Maria. They took care of her hair, which at five years of age reached to her waist. One day she went with one of the maids to the market, where she was bitten by a rabid dog. The animal was caught and hung from a tree. No one told Maria’s parents about the bite.

Twelve years later, the father’s love for his daughter was awakened. When he learned of the bite, he turned to witch doctors and priests. As a result, the doctors almost killed the child. One priest suggested that Mary had a demon in her. He strongly recommended that she be taken to a monastery and left there so that they could cast the demon out.