Eyes of a Blue Dog

Eyes of a Blue Dog Summary | Detailed Summary

Eyes of a Blue Dog is a short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which is a dream scenario between a man and a woman whose love is never fully realized in real life. The story begins with the thoughts of a man who is watching a woman and trying to decide whether or not the woman is looking at him for the first time or he is looking at her for the first time. It is only when the woman turns around behind an oil lamp that the man realizes it is he who looks at her for the first time. The man is sitting on a chair balanced on one of the back legs contemplating the woman as they just look at each other for a few minutes. The narrator notices the woman's hand is now on the oil lamp and he recognizes the familiar cast of her eyelids which he sees every night.

The narrator then comments on another ritual in which he tells the woman, "eyes of a blue dog" and the woman responds that the two of them will never forget that phrase. The woman repeats the phrase and tells the man that she has written it everywhere. The woman walks to her dressing table and powders her face and reveals her fear that someone else is dreaming about this room, which would reveal all her secrets.

The woman is cold and comments that the man cannot feel the cold but he replies that he does feel it sometimes; maybe the sheet has fallen off. The woman returns to her former position at her dressing table and the man can see her actions despite the woman's back to him and the fact that there is no mirror. The man can see the woman lower her eyes and keep them focused on her brassiere and tells the woman this, but the woman does not believe the man.

The man moves his chair around and sees that the woman now warms her hands over the open flame of the lamp declaring that she is going to catch cold and asks the man to do something about the cold. Nevertheless, the woman begins to undress and the man offers to turn his back to the wall again but the woman says that this is unnecessary because he will see her just as he did before.

The woman's skin glows a warm copper color in the lamplight and the man comments that he has always wanted to see her in this way. The woman is trying to warm her naked body over the flame of the lamp claiming that she feels as if she is made of metal. The woman explains that sometimes she can hear her heart beating as if echoing as if she were a hollow metal structure. The woman tells the man that if they ever find each other in real life she wants him to put his ear to her ribs and listen to her echoes.

The woman tells the man that she has searched for the man for years and has used the phrase, "eyes of a blue dog" in the hopes that someone will understand and direct the woman to the man or that the man she repeats it to will be the man himself. The woman has embarrassed herself in the name of love by repeating the phrase to waiters, writing the phrase in the condensation on windows, even writing the phrase on the clean tile of a drugstore with a bright red lipstick but the man never materializes.

The man tries to console the woman by telling her that he tries to remember the phrase every day so that he can find her and is never able to recall it but promises not to forget tomorrow although he has made that same promise many times and never remembers. The woman would have some consolation if only the man could remember what city the woman is in when she writes the phrase.

The man tells the woman that he would like to touch her now to which the woman raises her face to say that the man has never said that before. The woman is distressed that she cannot remember the city where she wrote the phrase and worries that perhaps that has been a dream too. The man rises to give the woman a cigarette and she lights it from the lamp's flame before the man can offer a lit match.

The narrator again tells the woman that if only he could remember the phrase, "eyes of a blue dog" tomorrow he knows he could find her. The woman comments that the cigarette is warming her and the man is pleased because he does not like to see her trembling beside the lamp. The narrator states that he and the woman have been meeting this way for several years and their encounters are always interrupted or ended by something like the sound of a spoon dropping in the morning.

The man remembers the first time he saw the woman and they agree it was in a room very much like the one in which they are sitting, but the woman feels certain that they have met in other places too. The man notices the copper color of the woman's skin, which has turned from a metallic state to something warm and malleable and tells the woman that he would like to touch her.

The woman does not want to be touched because it will ruin everything but the man states that it does not matter because all that is needed for the situation to be righted again is for them to turn over their pillows. The woman still resists the touch and stays behind the lamp despite the man's claim that everything will be all right once they turn over the pillows.

The man tells the woman that the dawn is approaching and moves to the door and the woman asks him not to open the door because the hallway has many difficult dreams. The woman knows this because she was just there and returned when she realized she had been sleeping on her heart. Nevertheless, the man opens the door a little bit and smells the earth and feels a slight breeze.

The man cannot tell if there is any hallway outside the door. All he can sense is a smell of the country. The woman declares that what the man smells is not the country but rather a woman who is also dreaming of the country. The man will not be deterred and tells the woman he must leave the room and go to breakfast in order to wake up.

The wind has quieted down and the only sound is that of a person who has turned over in bed. The man once again tells the woman that he will look for signs of the phrase, "eyes of a blue dog" and he will find her but the woman is resigned to the fact that the man will not remember anything about her during the day.