Gentleman of Rio en Medio

Introduction

Gentleman of Rio en Medio is a short story written by Juan A.A. Sedillo about americans who want to buy a piece of land in Mexico.The owner refuses the extra amount of money offered to him. The americans then are disturbed by children who come to play in the orchard to which the americans are forced to buy the trees too.

Summary of the Prose

In the short story, an old man named Don Anselmo has agreed to sell his house and land in New Mexico to some Americans who want to live there. When it is revealed that much more land is involved, he is offered a much larger price. But he refuses the extra money and settles for the original amount. Later, when the American owners have taken residence in the house, they are upset by the village children who continue to run onto the land to play in the orchard. Don Anselmo says that although the land was his, the trees belong to the people of the village, mostly his relatives, for whom the trees were planted. The Americans, faced with his irrefutable logic, buy the trees from their rightful owners, the descendants of Don Anselmo.

Text of the Prose

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