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She lost her mind over him. She could not sleep and she lost her appetite and sank so deeply into solitude that even her father became an annoyance. She worked out an intricate web of false dates to throw Fernanda off the track, lost sight of her girl friends, leaped over conventions to be with Mauricio Babilonia at any time and at any place. At first his crudeness bothered her. The first time that they were alone on the deserted fields behind the garage he pulled her mercilessly into an animal state that left her exhausted. It took her time to realize that it was also a form of tenderness and it was then that she lost her calm and lived only for him, upset by the desire to sink into his stupefying odor of grease washed off by lye. A short time before the death of Amaranta she suddenly stumbled into in open space of lucidity within the madness and she trembled before the uncertainty of the future. Then she heard about a woman who made predictions from cards and went to see her in secret. It was Pilar Ternera. As soon as Pilar saw her come in she was aware of Meme's hidden motives. "Sit down," she told her. "I don't need cards to tell the future of a Buendía," Meme did not know and never would that the centenarian witch was her great--grandmother. Nor would she have believed it after the aggressive realism with which she revealed to her that the anxiety of falling in love could not find repose except in bed. It was the same point of view as Mauricio Babilonia's, but Meme resisted believing it because underneath it all she imagined that it had been inspired by the poor judgment of a mechanic. She thought then that love on one side was defeating love on the other, because it was characteristic of men to deny hunger once their appetites were satisfied. Pilar Ternera not only cleared up that mistake, she also offered the old canopied bed where she had conceived Arcadio, Meme's grandfather, and where afterward she conceived Aureli-ano José. She also taught her how to avoid an unwanted conception by means of the evaporation of mustard plasters and gave her recipes for potions that in cases of trouble could expel "even the remorse of conscience." That interview instilled In Meme the same feeling of bravery that she had felt on the drunken evening. Amaranta's death, however, obliged her to postpone the decision. While the nine nights lasted she did not once leave the side of Mauricio Babilonia, who mingled with the crowd that invaded the house. Then came the long period of mourning and the obligatory withdrawal and they separated for a time. Those were days of such inner agitation, such irrepressible anxiety, and so many repressed urges that on the first evening that Meme was able to get out she went straight to Pilar Ternera's. She surrendered to Mauricio Babilonia, without resistance, without shyness, without formalities, and with a vocation that was so fluid and an intuition that was so wise that a more suspicious man than hers would have confused them with obvious experience. They made love twice a week for more than three months, protected by the innocent complicity of Aureli-ano Segun-do, who believed without suspicion in his daughter's alibis simply in order to set her free from her mother's rigidity.
On the night that Fernanda surprised them in the movies Aureli-ano Segun-do felt weighted down by the burden of his conscience and he visited Meme in the bedroom where Fernanda kept her locked up, trusting that she would reveal to him the confidences that she owed him. But Meme denied everything. She was so sure of herself, so anchored in her solitude that Aureli-ano Segun-do had the impression that no link existed between them anymore, that the comradeship and the complicity were nothing but an illusion of the past. He thought of speaking to Mauricio Babilonia, thinking that his authority as his former boss would make him desist from his plans, but Petra Cotes convinced him that it was a woman's business, so he was left floating in a limbo of indecision, barely sustained by the hope that the confinement would put an end to his daughter's troubles.
Meme showed no signs of affliction. On the contrary, from the next room úrsula perceived the peaceful rhythm of her sleep, the serenity of her tasks, the order of her meals, and the good health of her digestion. The only thing that intrigued úrsula after almost two months of punishment was that Meme did not take a bath in the morning like everyone else, but at seven in the evening. Once she thought of warning her about the scorpions, but Meme was so distant, convinced that she had given her away, that she preferred not to disturb her with the impertinences, of a great-great-grandmother. The yellow butterflies would invade the house at dusk. Every night on her way back from her bath Meme would find a desperate Fernanda killing butterflies with an insecticide bomb. "This is terrible," she would say, "All my life they told me that butterflies at night bring bad luck." One night while Meme was in the bathroom, Fernanda went into her bedroom by chance and there were so many butterflies that she could scarcely breathe. She grabbed for the nearest piece of cloth to shoo them away and her heart froze with terror as she connected her daughter's evening baths with the mustard plasters that rolled onto the floor. She did not wait for an opportune moment as she had the first time. On the following day she invited the new mayor to lunch. Like her, he had come down from the highlands, and she asked him to station a guard in the backyard because she had the impression that hens were being stolen. That night the guard brought down Mauricio Babilonia as he was lifting up the tiles to get into the bathroom where Meme was waiting for him, naked and trembling with love among the scorpions and butterflies as she had done almost every night for the past few months. A bullet lodged in his spinal column reduced him to his bed for the rest of his life. He died of old age in solitude, without a moan, without a protest, without a single moment of betrayal, tormented by memories and by the yellow butterflies, who did not give him a moment's peace, and ostracized as a chicken thief.
她爱他爱得发狂。她睡不着觉，吃不下饭，陷入孤独，甚至父亲也成了她的障碍。为了迷惑菲兰达，她胡乱地编造了一大堆谎话，不是说别人邀请她，就是说有什么事；她抛弃了自己的女友，逾越了一切常规，只要跟毛里西奥·巴比洛尼亚相会就行——不管什么地方，也不管什么时候，起初，她不喜欢他的粗鲁。他俩第一次在汽车库后面的空地上幽会时，他毫不怜惜地将她弄得象个动物似的，把她搞得精疲力尽。梅梅后来明白，这也是一种爱抚，于是她失去了平静，光是为他活在人世了，渴望一再闻到使她发疯的机器油和碱水味儿。在阿玛兰塔去世之前不久，她突然短时间清醒过来，面对渺茫的前途不住地战粟。那时梅梅听说有一个用纸牌算命的女人，就悄悄地去她那儿。这是皮拉·苔列娜。她一看见梅梅，立刻明白姑娘来找她的隐秘原因。“坐下吧，”皮拉·苔列娜说。“给布恩蒂亚家的人算命，我是不需要纸牌的。”梅梅不知道，永远不会知道，百岁的女巫是她的曾祖母。皮拉·苔列娜向她说，爱情的苦恼只有在床上才能解除，她听了十分直率的解释也不相信，毛里西奥·巴比洛尼亚持同样的看法，可是梅梅也不相信他的话，她心里认为，他那么说是因为无知，象其他工人一样。她以为一方的情欲得到了满足，就会不管另一方了，因为人们由于天性，解除了饥饿，就会失去对食物的兴趣。皮拉·苔列娜不仅消除了梅梅的错误想法，而且让梅梅使用一张旧床，在这张床上，她怀过梅梅的祖父阿卡蒂奥，然后又怀过奥雷连诺·霍塞。此外，她还教梅梅利用芥未膏沐浴的办法预防不需要的受孕，并且给了梅梅药剂处方，如果发生了麻烦，这种药剂就能免除一切——“甚至免除良心的遗贡”。在这次谈话之后，梅梅感到勇气百倍，犹如喝得酩酊大醉的那天晚上一样。然而，阿玛兰塔之死使她不得不推迟计划的实行。在守灵的九夜里，她一分钟也没离开毛里西奥·巴比洛尼亚，他总在房里的人群中踱来踱去。后来开始了长久的服丧期，必须深居简出，一对情人只好暂时分开了。在这些日子里，梅梅心中焦躁，苦闷已极，冲动难抑，在她能够出门的第一个晚上，她就径直前往皮拉·苔列娜家里了。她听任毛里西奥·巴比洛尼亚摆布，没有抗拒，没有羞耻，没有扭捏，表现了那么大的天赋和本领，以致疑心较重的男人都会拿它们跟真正的经验混为一谈。在三个多月中，他俩每周幽会两次。奥雷连诺第二不知不觉地跟他俩狼狈为奸，保护他俩，天真地证实女儿想出的借口，希望她摆脱母亲的束缚。
菲兰达在电影院里突然捉住梅梅和毛里西奥。 巴比洛尼亚的那天晚上，奥雷连诺第二感到良心的谴责，来到禁闭女儿的卧室里，以为梅梅按照她的诺言在他面前吐露真情，心情就会轻松一些。可是梅梅否认一切。她那么自信，一口咬定自己是孤单的，奥雷连诺第二就觉得他和女儿的关系断了，他俩从来不是知心的伙伴——一切只是往日的幻想。他考虑是不是跟毛里西奥·巴比洛尼亚谈谈，也许昔日老板的威望能让这个人放弃自己的打算，可是佩特娜·柯特劝他不要插手女人的事儿，他就陷入犹豫不决的状态，希望禁锢能够解除女儿的痛苦。
梅梅没有显出任何痛苦的迹象，相反地，乌苏娜从隔壁房间里听到，梅梅夜间睡得挺香，白天安静地做事，按时吃饭，消化良好。在梅梅关了几乎两个月之后，乌苏娜觉得奇怪的只有一点：梅梅不象其他的人那样早上走进浴室，而是晚上七时走进浴室，有一次，乌苏娜甚至想警告梅梅当心蝎子，可是梅梅认为高祖母出卖了她，避免跟乌苏娜谈话，乌苏娜就决定不再婆妈妈地打扰她了。天刚黑，房子里就满是黄蝴蝶。每天晚上从浴室出来的时候，梅梅都发现绝望的菲兰达用喷射杀虫剂来消灭蝴蝶。“真可怕，”菲兰达哼叫起来，“我一直听说，夜出的蝴蝶会带来灾祸。”有一次，梅梅在浴室里的时候，菲兰达偶然走进她的房间，那么多的蝴蝶使她气都喘不过来。她随手抓起一块布来驱赶它们，但她把女儿夜间的沐浴和散在地上的芥末膏联系起来，就吓得发呆了，菲兰达并不象前次那样等候方便的机会。第二天，她就把新任镇长邀来吃午饭。这位镇长象她一样是生在山里的。她请他夜间在她的后院设置一名警卫，因为她觉得有人偷她的鸡。那天夜里，几乎象过去几个月的每天夜晚一样，梅梅在浴室里裸着身子，正在战战兢兢地等候毛里西奥。 巴比洛尼亚，周围满是蝎子和蝴蝶；这时，毛里西奥。 巴比洛尼亚在房顶上揭开一块瓦正想跳下浴室，警卫就开枪打伤了他。子弹陷在他的脊柱里，使他躺在床上一直到死。他是在孤独中老死的，没有抱怨，没有愤恨，没有出卖别人；往事的回忆以及不让他有片刻宁静的黄蝴蝶把他折磨死了，人家都骂他是偷鸡的贼。
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