Juan Rulfo

“The night they left him alone” ("La noche que lo dejaron solo")
Summary
This story takes place between 1926 and 1929 during what was known as the Cristero War. It is told in third person by anomniscient narrator who describes the flight of a Cristero soldier, Feliciano Ruelas, from a successful ambush of federal troops.
The tale begins with Feliciano asking his two companions why they arewalking so slowly, warning them that if they continue at this pace they will become sleepy. The other two men reply that they want to arrive at their destination at dawn. The narrator tells us thatthese were the last words Feliciano heard his friends say, “but he would only remember that afterward, the next day.” Then he adds that the men had also said that it was better to travel in the darkbecause then they would not be seen.
Feliciano walks off ahead of his two companions. He leans back against a tree trunk and falls fast asleep. Feliciano awakes to the sound of mule drivers travelingalong the road. They say, "Good morning!" but he doesn't reply. Feliciano gets up and leaves the road. He abandons his heavy weaponry in order to travel faster, worried that the mule drivers will alertsentries of his presence.
Finally he sees the gray plain stretch out ahead of him and thinks that his friends must now be out there, lying in the sun with no worries.
Feliciano rolls down thecanyon to the plain. Once there, he approaches the houses at Agua Zarca and watches the noisy movements of soldiers warming up beside bonfires. He sees two men hanging from a mesquite tree and realizesthat they are his uncles, Tanis and Librado.
Feliciano hides himself in a corner to rest and hears someone above him say, “What are we waiting for to take them down?” Another man says, “We’re waitingfor the other one to come” and adds that “the third one is just a boy” but that he was the one who “laid the ambush for Lieutenant Parra and wiped out his men.” They add that “if he doesn’t come...