How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)
Quote #7
Then he came out of the chicken coop and in a brief sermon warned the curious against the risks of being ingenuous. He reminded them that the devil had the bad habit of making use of carnival tricks in order to confuse the unwary. (5)
Of course he does. If the priest is worrying about losing customers/ congregants, he has a reason to warn them against being too naïve. (But a little naïve is okay. Believe in angels, sure—just not angels that land in your backyard.)
Quote #8
Nevertheless, he promised to write a letter to his bishop so that the latter would write to his primate so that the latter would write to the Supreme Pontiff in order to get the final verdict from the highest courts. (5)
And if you don't forward it to ten people, you'll drop dead by the end of the year. This chain letter about the angel's true identity shows just how slow and bulky the Catholic Church's lines of communication and decision-making can be. It's the total opposite of the neighbor lady's live, one-on-one experience.
Quote #9
Father Gonzaga held back the crowd's frivolity with formulas of maidservant inspiration while awaiting the arrival of a final judgment on the nature of the captive. But the mail from Rome showed no sense of urgency. They spent their time finding out if the prisoner had a navel, if his dialect had any connection with Aramaic, how many times he could fit on the head of a pin, or whether he wasn't just a Norwegian with wings. (9)
These tests seem absurd because… they are. García Márquez seems to think that it's pretty silly to study something scientifically if it's supposed to be supernatural.