XI - The Lost Doll

Unit - 1

The Lost Doll - Summary

Rosa, Roberto, Carmen and Evangelina Soto are the main characters of this story. Carmen was the first child of Rosa and Roberto. She was small, lovely and beautiful. She died at the age of four because she was sick since her birth. A doctor told Rosa that she would not be able to give birth to another child. So, she gave away all the playthings and clothes of Carmen to the priest from another village. But they couldn't find the doll that Carmen always used to play with. Exactly one year after Carmen's death, Rosa gave birth to another child who was named Evangelina. Evangelina meant ""good news. She was very much similar to Carmen in her actions and characters, but the only difference was that she was healthy whereas Carmen was unhealthy. While Evangelina was growing up, she said that she used to be sick but it was her sister Carmen who was sick.

One day, while Rosa and her sister were talking, Evangelina said that she knew where the lost doll was. When Rosa asked her about that doll, she pointed to the ground under a big tree. Then Rosa got the shovel and dug the ground and found the doll. When Rosa asked Evangelina how she knew that the doll had been there, she said that she put it there with the help of a very nice man, who had come to her when she was sick. She also told that the same night's man had suggested her to bury the doll in that place and had taken her away.

Similarity (likeness) between the lost doll and Carmen herself:

The lost doll and Carmen had many similarities. First of all, Carmen was small, beautiful and loving. The doll was too small and beautiful. When Carmen lived, the doll  was also with the Soto family. Similarly, when Carmen died, the doll also vanished from eye-sight of Soto family i.e. the doll was lost too. Carmen was buried and the doll was too buried though at the different places. Roberto had carried Carmen's coffin on his shoulder to the cemetery on the hill and as doll was also with her, the doll was also carried by Roberto on his shoulder. When Evengelina took birth as a reincarnation of Carmen in Soto family, the doll was found as well. Thus, these are the suitable similarities between the lost doll and Carmen.