The Corn Grows Ripe
The first three chapters of the book talk about Tigre, a twelve year old Mayan boy, who isn't willing to do his fathers job-cutting down trees and planting corn. Like all other boys, he wants to play and learn how to handle a gun. But one day, his father got badly injured, so he can't cut down trees any more. Tigre's Great-Grandmother sends him to get the bone doctor to heal his fathers leg. Next morning Tigre arrives home and starts chopping down trees and cutting down bushes for the milpa. He works hard for weeks and doesn't go to school. He finishes the job and Tigre is now glad that he had enough time to go to school. Tigre becomes curious and starts asking all sorts of questions to his great grandmother and Don Alfonso (Tigres teacher ). Great grandmother answers every Tigres question the same way: "It's the will of the Gods", but Don Alfonso answers his questions with a scientific explanation.
Three days in a row, chickens were dying. Tigres family thought it was a vampire bat. Next day, Tigre goes in to the chicken shed and finds a vampire bat. He removes it.
Tigres father told him to wait for his uncle to arrive to the village, but Tigre burnt the trees and bushes for the milpa instead. After that, with his burnt clothes and skin, he was go home. His father was proud of him. Tigre wants to enter a contest where he has to make a good, smooth rope. He spends all of his time at home making a rope. He enters the contest and his rope isn't the best one. Then, there was a bull fight. Tigre enters it and everyone is cheering for him.
Rain fell and softened the ground, so Tigre is planting seeds. After that, there is a big draught. Chan tata ( his baby brother ) is four months old now and is going through a ceremony. The village is waiting for the medicine man. He arrives and he gets four boys to be the frogs. Tigre is the youngest among them. They are croaking while the others are praying. They end the draught. Tigres corn grows ripe, so he and his father go and harvest it.
The End
