The man's realistic criticism was
not always to Manuel's taste, and at times the boy would make bold
to defend a romantic, immoral thesis. Senor Custodio, however, would
at once cut him short, refusing to let him continue.
For professional reasons the ragdealer was much preoccupied with
thought of the manure that went to waste in Madrid. He would say to
Manuel:
"Can you imagine how much money all the refuse that comes from
Madrid is worth?"
"No."
"Then figure it out. At seventy centimos per arroba, the millions of
arrobas that it must amount to in a year.... Spread this over the
suburbs and have the waters of the Manzanares and the Lozoya
irrigating all these lands, and you'd see a world of gardens and
orchards everywhere."
Another of the fellow's fixed ideas was that of reclaiming used
material. It seemed to him that lime and sand could be extracted
from mortar refuse, live plaster from old, dead plaster, and he
imagined that this reclamation would yield a huge sum of money.
Senor Custodio, who had been born near the very depression in which
his house was situated, felt for his particular district, and for
Madrid in general, a deep enthusiasm; the Manzanares, to him, was as
considerable a river as the Amazon.
Senor Custodio had two children, of whom Manuel knew only Juan, a
tall, swarthy sport who was married to the daughter of a laundry
proprietress in La Bombilla.
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