Bless Me, Ultima: Chapters 17-22

by Rudolfo Anaya
As he grows up and develops his own sense of identity, Tony is guided by Ultima, a curandera who heals with magic.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–11, Chapters 12–16, Chapters 17–22
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. heresy
    a belief that rejects the orthodox tenets of a religion
    I had listened to Florence’s heresy, but the God of the church had not hurled his thunder at me.
  2. genuflect
    bend the knees and bow before a religious superior or image
    The line moved past the water fonts where we wet our fingers and genuflected as we made the sign of the cross.
  3. devout
    deeply religious
    His head was bowed, his eyes closed, and he looked so devout that no one could doubt his sincerity.
  4. venial
    warranting only temporal punishment
    Father Byrnes went on to discuss the difference between mortal and venial sins.
  5. emphatic
    forceful and definite in expression or action
    “For eternity!” Father Byrnes said emphatically.
  6. frock
    a habit worn by clerics
    He reached under his frock and pulled out a tattered, well-worn copy of the catechism book.
  7. nebulous
    lacking definition or definite content
    Millions of worlds are born, evolve, and pass away into nebulous, unmeasured skies; and there is still eternity.
  8. immortality
    perpetual life after death
    And so when the burden of being nothing lifts from one’s thoughts the idea of the immortality of the soul is like a light in a blinding storm.
  9. facet
    a distinct feature or element in a problem
    Each new question, each new catechism chapter, each new story seemed to open up a thousand facets concerning the salvation of my soul.
  10. interlude
    an intervening period or episode
    Then there was an interlude of silence while the priest and his attendants moved to the second station, Christ receiving the cross.
  11. engulf
    flow over or cover completely
    Inside the prayers were like muffled cries against a storm which seemed to engulf the world.
  12. vigorous
    characterized by forceful and energetic action or activity
    “Four! Four! Four!” Bones cried. Then he shook his head vigorously. “Or five! I don’t know?”
  13. contemptuously
    without respect; in a disdainful manner
    “And you passed?” Lloyd said contemptuously.
  14. cumbersome
    difficult to handle or use, especially because of size or weight
    “That’s enough practice,” I said and started to take off the cumbersome costume, but they wouldn’t let me.
  15. trappings
    ornaments; embellishments to or characteristic signs of
    I tried to pull their hands away from him to relieve the pain I saw in his face, but the trappings of the priest’s costume entangled me and so I could do very little.
  16. sinewy
    possessing physical strength and weight; rugged and powerful
    He was long and sinewy, but because of his mild manner we had always underestimated his strength.
  17. incessant
    uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing
    I kicked and wiggled and struggled to get free from the incessant beating, but they held me tight and I could not throw them off.
  18. yearning
    prolonged unfulfilled desire or need
    The bad blood of spring filled us with strange yearnings and tumult, and the boys from Los Jaros split off from the boys from town and there were gang fights.
  19. emaciated
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
    “Aye, Gabriel Márez,” the gray, emaciated face smiled weakly, “it does my heart good to see an old compadre, an old vaquero—”
  20. sardonic
    disdainfully or ironically humorous
    "The imagination!" Téllez laughed sardonically, “this is not imagined!”
  21. beset
    assail or attack on all sides
    Why can’t the power of God work against the evils that beset the family of Téllez?
  22. inextricable
    incapable of being disentangled or untied
    From my mother I had learned that man is of the earth, that his clay feet are part of the ground that nourishes him, and that it is this inextricable mixture that gives man his measure of safety and security.
  23. crescendo
    a gradual increase in loudness
    His body twisted to the crescendo of the fearful drum beat.
  24. brackish
    slightly salty
    We had not brought food and so the only thing we had was water from the well, which tasted brackish.
  25. eddy
    flow in a circular current, of liquids
    I carefully marked where the churning waters eddied into a pool.
  26. rapture
    a state of elated bliss
    The white sun reflected off his bright orange scales and the glistening glorious light blinded us and filled us with the rapture true beauty brings.
  27. render
    cause to become
    The arrival of the golden carp rendered us silent.
  28. culvert
    a transverse and enclosed drain under a road or railway
    We sprinted the last few yards and came to the edge of the culvert.
  29. concentric
    having a common center
    They glided earthward in wide, concentric circles.
  30. desecrate
    violate the sacred character of a place or language
    He pointed to the church where the priest desecrated the altar by pouring the blood of dead pigeons into the holy chalice.
  31. divulge
    make known to the public information previously kept secret
    “A religion different from the religion of the Lunas,” I was again talking to myself, intrigued by the easy flow of thoughts and the openness with which I divulged them to my father.
  32. quagmire
    a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot
    Once I ran into a flat piece of bottom land, and what seemed solid earth by the light of the moon was a marshy quagmire.
  33. tranquility
    a state of peace and quiet
    But the tranquility of the night was false.
  34. serenity
    the absence of mental stress or anxiety
    It was a moment of serenity, lasting only as long as my sigh of relief.
  35. wallow
    devote oneself entirely to something
    Those who wallow in evil and brujería cannot understand this.
Created on Fri Jun 13 02:23:20 EDT 2014 (updated Thu Aug 30 10:10:13 EDT 2018)

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