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La niña estaba en el cuarto desde las diez, me dijo; era bella, limpia y bien criada, pero estaba muerta de miedo, porque una amiga suya que escapó con un estibador de Gayra se había desangrado en dos horas. Pero bueno, admitió Rosa, se entiende porque los de Gayra tienen fama de que hacen cantar a las mulas. - (García Márquez, Memories of my melancholy whores, 2004)

Apparently, the last sentence of the paragraph says that men from Gayra are famous for making mules sing. Is it a proverb in Spanish? What does it mean?

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    I won't post this as an answer since it is not my interpretation. I found in a thread at wordreference.com that in that context they are talking about how well endowed the men from Gayra are. This is hyperbole, an obvious and intentional exaggeration from the author to express what would happen to the girl in that room with a man from Gayra. Quite dark, raw and unpleasant image imho.
    – DGaleano
    Commented Mar 15, 2016 at 16:36
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    I forgot to add on my previous comment. I'm from Colombia where García Márquez is from, and this is not in any way an idiomatic expression used by anyone. The only reference you can find for the expression is linked to that particular book.
    – DGaleano
    Commented Mar 15, 2016 at 16:41

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This phrase could be sexual thematic.

This means that a man from Gayra has enough power to make mules scream.

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