The Murmur of Bees

Born in the winter of 1910, almost certainly the child of an Indigenous woman, Simonopio is the protagonist of The Murmur of Bees. From his infancy, he’s a peaceful, accepting, and exceptionally wise person with dark skin and black hair. Other characters express the belief that he was abandoned under a bridge—unclothed and with his umbilical cord untied—so that he would die of exposure. Some Indigenous people voice the idea that his mother deserted him because of his cleft palate, which they consider the sign of a curse or “the devil’s kiss” (34).

Bees cover Simonopio’s naked body as an infant and hover around him in varying numbers throughout the narrative, often crawling harmlessly on his skin. Segovia says the bees whisper to Simonopio, teaching him their ways. Even as a child, he follows them through the brush, where the wild, dangerous animals do him no harm. When in contact with the bees, he has spherical vision—an ability to understand what happened in the past, to see what will occur in the near future, and sometimes to avert tragedy. Simonopio’s cleft palate inhibits his ability to speak, and only Francisco Junior—whom Simonopio regards as his brother—can understand and interpret his words.