The day before, the bullfighter had fought a tough fight against a bull, one of the largest and fiercest he had ever fought. The bull stomped and snorted at the bullfighter but did not charge right away. When he charged, he lowered his head and twisted his horns toward the bullfighter at the last moment and almost gored the bullfighter. The tip of the bull's horn caught the cloth of the bullfighter's chaquetilla and tore it. The bull fought well, but in the end the bullfighter defeated the bull and the bull lay dead in the ring. The people in the ring cheered the old bullfighter.
That evening, the old bullfighter enjoyed his drink at the bar and the people cheered him again for his bravery and his victory. They bought him more drinks. The beautiful woman appeared in the crowd around the old bullfighter. She had a husband, but he was tired and he left the bar to go to his room at the hotel and the beautiful woman, his wife, remained in the bar with the bullfighter.
The bullfighter wanted the woman. He was old but not too old for this woman. When the crowd thinned and the bar almost emptied the bullfighter pursued the woman. She parried his efforts at first, but the bullfighter fought with skill and vigor and determination. He won. Later the beautiful woman came to his room at the hotel.
He undressed the woman and she lay pale and naked in his bed. Her skin shone like snow and her body curved like the tan hills outside the town. The road rose and fell on those hills and a man taking the road enjoyed the curve of the road so much he forgot where he was going.
The bullfighter parted the beautiful woman's legs and he entered her and he took her. He enjoyed the way she closed her eyes and the way she moaned when he pushed into her. She pushed back against him, and he knew, though she was a beautiful woman, that inside she was a wild animal. He had known many women like this beautiful woman with a husband asleep in another hotel room.
The night was late but still warm when they were done, and they lay in bed and sweat covered their bodies. The old bullfighter liked the way the woman's skin glowed in the candlelight. But he did not like the way the woman clung to him with her head on his shoulder when they lay in bed. He wanted to sleep because he had to travel to Seville the next day to fight another bull.
