Chapter 11

As Antonio is fishing and thinking - wondering how Ultima could cure his uncle when the priest had failed - his friend Cico invites him to see the golden carp that Samuel had told him about and he had been hoping to see all summer. Cico asks if he believes the golden carp is a god and Antonio replies, "I am a Catholic...I can believe only in the God of the church....But I want to believe...it's just that I have to believe in Him?" Cico asks him to swear never to hunt or kill a carp and then they leave for the river.

They pass by Narciso's house and Antonio is amazed at the garden that seems magical with its abundance of fruits and vegetables. At Cico's urging, Antonio eats a carrot from the garden - the most delicious he had ever tasted - though he feels some guilt at taking it without permission. Later they encounter some of the kids rom school playing basketball, who accuse Ultima of being a bruja (witch). Disturbed by their comments, Antonio startles them by throwing up the carrot, and then he and Cico run off.

Finally Cico leads Antonio to a hidden pond and they see the huge golden carp. Antonio is "entranced...I felt my body trembling as I saw the bright golden form disappear. I knew I had witnessed a miraculous thing, the appearance of a pagan god, a thing as miraculous as the curing of my uncle Lucas." Cico tells him stories about a mermaid in the Hidden Lakes and a prophecy sent by the golden carp that the town would someday collapse under the weight of the people's sins and be swallowed by water! Antonio goes home and asks Ultima about the story, and she tells him, "I cannot tell you what to believe. Your father and your mother can tell you, because you are their blood, but I cannot. As you grow into manhood you must find your own truths--"

That night Antonio dreams of a great conflict between forces of nature: the lake, the golden carp and Antonio's father on one side; the moon and Antonio's father on the other. Antonio begs to know which he belongs to. Ultima appears, calming the storm and explaining that the two waters are one and them same, part of a larger cycle that binds both of them together. "Then there was peace in my dreams and I could rest."

Discussion Questions:
1. How does Antonio's perception of Ultima differ from the opinions of those in his town?
2. How does the legend of the Golden Carp resemble the New Testament story of Jesus Christ, or the Mexican story of the Virgin of Guadalupe?