“When it was opened by the giant, the chest gave off a glacial exhalation. Inside there was only an enormous, transparent block with infinite internal needles in which the light of the sunset was broken up into colored stars. Disconcerted, knowing that the children were waiting for an immediate explanation, Jos’ Arcadio Buendia ventured a murmur:

‘It’s the largest diamond in the world.’

‘No,’ the gypsy countered. ‘It’s ice.’”

—Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude, translated by Gregory Rabassa, 1970.