Autobiografía Obras Completas Vol. XV

A vivid memoir opens with a young man tracing the tangled strands of his family’s past in early‑twentieth‑century Central America. He explains how a lineage originally bearing García and Sarmiento morphed into the Darío name through generations of informal patronymics, and how a marriage of convenience set the stage for his own arrival in a modest village on the borders of Nicaragua and Honduras. The narrative is anchored in the baptismal record of León’s cathedral, reminding listeners that identity often begins in the quiet ink of official documents.

From there, the recollections turn intimate: a boy lost among thickets and cattle, rescued under the shade of a palm that yields a sticky, fragrant fruit; the bright splash of fireworks in a church square while a loyal mulata carries him through crowded streets; the stern yet kind presence of a military uncle who teaches him to ride, to read, and to dream beyond the farmyard. These early scenes paint a portrait of a child navigating love, loss, and the formative power of place, inviting listeners to wander the same dusty roads and bustling markets that shaped his sense of self.