After three days of rain, the home of Pelayo and Elisenda is infested with a large number of crabs. The crabs are crawling in the house and in the muddy courtyard. The air stinks with the smell of rotting shellfish as Pelayo braves the mud to throw the invading crustaceans back into the sea. Walking across the courtyard in the gray muck, he can barely see what turns out to be a very old man lying in the mud. The old man's efforts to rise are thwarted by the fact that he is weighted down by large and muddy wings.

Pelayo is frightened and runs to get his wife who has been tending their sick child. Back in the courtyard, they assess the reality of the old man. He is poorly dressed, has only a few teeth, and he is almost bald. He has buzzard-like...