A shadow is never thrown away: it is mended, or buried with its owner.
In Valdecierzo, shadows wore out like any other cloth. They frayed at the elbows, tore at children’s knees, faded with the years. That was what Ezequiel Urrutia’s workshop was for: he was the only shadow tailor for forty leagues around. Irene, his apprentice, had spent two winters threading needles with dark thread and repeating the first law of the trade: a shadow is never thrown away. It is mended, or buried with its owner.
There was something else everyone there knew: the river gives back its drowned. Shadows float, and they pull bodies towards the bank the way a sail pulls a boat. That was why nobody in Valdecierzo ever vanished completely. Not even on the night of the great flood, eleven years before, when the water swallowed half the mill.
That morning Casilda, the ferrywoman, came into the workshop dragging something that dripped like a net. It was a man’s shadow, long, with the unmistakable outline of a wide-brimmed hat. “It was tangled in my nets,” she said. “I’ve been through the village street by street, master. Everyone here has their own.”
Ezequiel put on his glasses, spread the shadow across the cutting table and examined it in silence. Irene noticed the chalk trembling between his fingers. “It’s old,” he declared at last. “Some traveller’s. Best to burn it before dawn.” Casilda crossed herself; Irene said nothing, although she had never heard him suggest such a thing. When they were alone, she looked at the edge of the shadow. It wasn’t frayed. Someone had cut it, and the cut traced a small, even zigzag, like the one left by the pinking shears the master never lent to anyone.
That night, while sorting reels in the back room, Irene opened the drawer where Ezequiel kept his brother’s letters. Abel, the elder, the one who should have inherited the workshop, had left for Buenos Aires during the flood without even saying goodbye to Elvira, his fiancée. A year later, Elvira married Ezequiel. Since then, every Christmas, a letter had arrived from America. Irene held one up to the oil lamp. The ink was violet, the same violet the master used to mark patterns on cloth.
“Those letters are none of your business.” Ezequiel stood in the doorway, a candle in his hand and the grey face of a man who hasn’t slept. He looked at the letters, then at the shadow folded on the table. “Shadows without an owner bring bad luck,” he said quietly. “At dawn, into the fire.” Irene held his gaze. “And what if it does have an owner, master?” He didn’t answer. He blew out the candle and climbed the stairs slowly, as if every step weighed on him.
Irene waited until she heard snoring from upstairs. Then she folded the shadow carefully, the way you fold a flag, slung it over her shoulder and set off for the river. If the water had given it back once, it would know where to take it.
Activities
1 Detective Inference
Whose shadow is it, and what happened to its owner? Tick the correct hypothesis.
- a) An unknown traveller’s, who drowned far from Valdecierzo.
- ✓b) Abel’s, drowned in the flood: his brother cut off his shadow.
- c) Abel’s, who cut off his own shadow to start a new life in America.
- d) Someone whose shadow came loose on its own from so much wear.
Which clue proves it? Copy or summarise the clue from the text that proves it.
Correct hypothesis: b). That’s it: without a shadow, a drowned body doesn’t float to the bank. And only one pair of shears could make that cut.
Key clue: “The edge was cut in a zigzag, as only the pinking shears the master never lent could cut.” That’s the proof: the shadow didn’t come loose by itself, Ezequiel separated it.
2 The Loom Order of events
Put the events in order, starting with the earliest. Write the order number (1, 2, 3…) in each box.
- 1 The great flood swallows half the mill.
- 6 Irene sets off for the river with the shadow over her shoulder.
- 4 Casilda arrives with a dripping shadow.
- 3 Irene becomes the workshop’s apprentice.
- 2 Elvira marries Ezequiel.
- 5 Irene holds a letter up to the oil lamp.
Correct order:
- The great flood swallows half the mill.
- Elvira marries Ezequiel.
- Irene becomes the workshop’s apprentice.
- Casilda arrives with a dripping shadow.
- Irene holds a letter up to the oil lamp.
- Irene sets off for the river with the shadow over her shoulder.
The flood happens eleven years ago and the wedding a year later. Irene has spent two winters in the workshop when the shadow arrives. That night she reads the letters and, once the master is asleep, sets off for the river.
3 The Missing Page Coherence
What happens next, consistent with the story? Tick only one option.
- a) Ezequiel catches her on the bridge and burns the shadow before dawn, as he had said.
- ✓b) The shadow pulls Irene downstream and leads her to a spot beside the old mill.
- c) Abel comes back from Buenos Aires to claim his shadow and his workshop.
- d) The shadow sews itself to Irene’s feet and makes her its new owner.
Answer: b). It fits: shadows pull at their bodies, and its owner was waiting under the water.
- a) The master fell asleep: Irene waited until she heard him snoring before she left.
- c) Abel’s letters were fake: written in the workshop’s ink. Abel never left.
- d) Nothing in Valdecierzo works like that: shadows are mended with a needle or buried.
4 Spot the Contradiction Literal reading
Three statements don’t fit the story. Put an X next to the 3 statements that don’t fit the text.
- a) Casilda found the shadow tangled in her nets.And she went through the village street by street before taking it to the workshop.
- ✗b) The edge of the shadow was frayed from wear.It had a small, even zigzag cut.
- c) Abel’s letters arrived every Christmas.Written in violet ink.
- ✗d) Abel said goodbye to Elvira before setting sail.He left without even saying goodbye to her.
- e) Irene had been an apprentice for two winters.Threading needles with dark thread.
- ✗f) Ezequiel suggested mending the shadow and keeping it.He suggested burning it before dawn.
5 The Gallery Visualisation
In the game you choose the illustration that answers this question: “Which picture shows what Casilda found and took to the workshop?”. Here, you draw it yourself, with every detail the text gives you.
What should appear: A man’s shadow with a wide-brimmed hat tangled in the net, and Casilda with her own shadow at her feet.
Reward drawings that include the details from the text, not artistic skill.
Ending
To read aloud once the answers have been checked.
As soon as it touched the water, the shadow pulled Irene downstream to a bend overgrown with brambles, beside the old mill. There, under the stones, lay Abel Urrutia. He had never boarded any ship.
On the night of the flood the two brothers argued over the workshop and over Elvira. Abel fell into the water. Ezequiel knew the river would give him back, so he did the one thing nobody else for forty leagues knew how to do: he cut off his brother’s shadow with his pinking shears and let it go downstream, separated from the body. After that, every Christmas, he wrote a letter from Buenos Aires in marking ink.
It took the river eleven years to give the shadow back. And it did so, as custom demands, to the tailor’s house.
Suggested marking
Each activity is worth 2 points (10 in total). In 1, one point for the hypothesis and one for the clue. In 2, give one point if only a couple of events are swapped. In 4, half a point for each correct cross and minus half a point for each true statement crossed out.