Rain continues in Macondo for nearly five years. Aureliano Segundo spends time at Fernanda's house and takes care of the children, Amaranta Úrsula and little Aureliano, Meme's son, who makes up stories. Fernanda struggles with uterine pain and consults doctors by mail who seem potentially fraudulent.

Aureliano Segundo visits Petra’s house to check on the animals and finds almost all of them are dead. When he returns to the Buendía house, Fernanda tells him that they are almost out of food and has a day-long outburst of grievances. He asks her to stop, but she does not. He smashes household goods, leaves the house, and returns with some low-quality groceries.

The children play with the ancient Úrsula as though she were a large human doll. They dress her up and paint her face. Aureliano Segundo hires a digging crew to try to finally find the gold buried in the courtyard. He digs under the house and cracks the foundation.

When the rain stops, Macondo is half-abandoned and rotting.

Úrsula cleans and restores the Buendía house. She finds José Arcadio Segundo in Melquíades’s workshop.

Petra and

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