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43 - Insurgent Mexico by John Reed · Insurgent Mexico

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  Speaker 1: Section forty two of Insurgent Mexico. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Insurgent
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  Speaker 1: Mexico by John Reid, Part six, Mexican Knights, Chapter three,
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  Speaker 1: Los Pastores. The romance of Gold hangs over the mountains
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  Speaker 1: of northern Durango like an old perfume. There, it is rumored,
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  Speaker 1: was that mythical ophir.
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  Speaker 2: Whence the Aztecs and their mysterious.
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  Speaker 1: Predecessors drew the red gold that Cortes found in the
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  Speaker 1: treasury of Montezuma. Before the dawn of Mexican history, the
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  Speaker 1: Indians scratched these barren hillsides with dull copper knives. You
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  Speaker 1: can still see the traces of their workings, and after
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  Speaker 1: them the Spaniards, with flashing bright helmets and steel breastplates,
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  Speaker 1: filled from these mountains the lofty treasure ships of the Indies,
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  Speaker 1: almost miles from the capital, over trackless deserts and fierce
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  Speaker 1: stony mountains. A tiny, colorful fringe of the most brilliant
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  Speaker 1: civilization in Europe flung itself among the canyons and high
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  Speaker 1: peaks of this desolate land, and so far was it
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  Speaker 1: from the seed of change, that, long after Spanish rule
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  Speaker 1: had disappeared from Mexico, forever it persisted here. The Spaniards
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  Speaker 1: enslaved the Indians of the region, of course, and the
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  Speaker 1: torrent worn narrow valleys are still sinister with legend. Almost
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  Speaker 1: anybody around Santa Maria del Oro can tell you the
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  Speaker 1: stories of the old days when men were flogged to
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  Speaker 1: death in the mines, and the Spanish overseers lived like princes.
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  Speaker 1: But they were a hardy race, these mountaineers. They were
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  Speaker 1: always rebelling. There is a legend of how the Spaniards,
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  Speaker 1: finally discovering themselves alone two hundred leagues from the sea coast,
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  Speaker 1: in the midst of an overwhelmingly hostile native race, attempted
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  Speaker 1: one night to leave the mountains. Fires sprang up on
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  Speaker 1: the high peaks, and the mountain villages throbbed to the
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  Speaker 1: sound of drums somewhere in the narrow defiles. The Spaniards
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  Speaker 1: disappeared forever, and from that time until certain foreigners secured
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  Speaker 1: mining concessions there, the place had an evil name. The
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  Speaker 1: authority of the Mexican government barely reached it. There are
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  Speaker 1: two villages which were the capitals of the gold seeking
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  Speaker 1: Spaniards in this region and where the Spanish tradition is
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  Speaker 1: still strong, Inde and Santa Maria del Oro, usually called
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  Speaker 1: el Oro. Inde, the Spaniards romantically named from their persistent
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  Speaker 1: dream that this new world was India. Santa Maria del
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  Speaker 1: Oro was called so on the same principle that one
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  Speaker 1: sung a te deum in honor of bloody victory, a
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  Speaker 1: gratefulness to Heaven for the finding of red gold, our
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  Speaker 1: Lady of the gold. In el Oro, one can still
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  Speaker 1: see the ruins of a monastery.
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  Speaker 2: They call it now.
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  Speaker 1: Vaguely the Coleahio, the pathetic little arched roofs of a
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  Speaker 1: row of Monkish cells, built of adobe, and now fast
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  Speaker 1: crumbling under hot suns and torrential rains. It partly surrounds
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  Speaker 1: what was once the patio of the cloister, and a
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  Speaker 1: great mesquite tree towers there over the forgotten headstone of
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  Speaker 1: an ancient grave inscribed with the lordly name of Donia
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  Speaker 1: Isabella Guzman. Of course, everybody has entirely forgotten who Donia
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  Speaker 1: Isabella was or when she died. There still stands in
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  Speaker 1: the public square, a fine old Spanish church with a
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  Speaker 1: beamed ceiling, and over the door of the tiny Palacio
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  Speaker 1: Munusipal is the almost erased carving of the arms of
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  Speaker 1: some ancient Spanish house. Here is romance for you, But
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  Speaker 1: the inhabitants have no respect for tradition, and hardly any
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  Speaker 1: memory of the ancients who left these monuments. The exuberant
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  Speaker 1: Indian civilization has entirely obliterated all tree of the Conquisto d'ores.
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  Speaker 1: El Oro is noted as the gayest town of all
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  Speaker 1: the mountain region. There are by lays almost every night,
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  Speaker 1: and far and near. It is a matter of common
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  Speaker 1: knowledge that el Oro is the home of the prettiest
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  Speaker 1: girls in Durango.
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  Speaker 2: In el Oro two.
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  Speaker 1: They celebrate feast days with more embulence than in other localities.
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  Speaker 1: All the charcoal burners and goatherds, and pack train drivers
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  Speaker 1: and ranchers for miles around come there on holidays, so
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  Speaker 1: that one feast day generally means two or three without work,
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  Speaker 1: since there must be one day for celebrating and at
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  Speaker 1: least another for coming and returning home. And what pastoreyas
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  Speaker 1: they have in el Oro once a year on the
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  Speaker 1: feast of the Santos Reyes. They perform Los Pastores all
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  Speaker 1: over this part of the country. It is an ancient
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  Speaker 1: miracle play of the kind that used to take place
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  Speaker 1: all over Europe in the Renaissance, the kind that gave
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  Speaker 1: birth to Elizabethan drama and is now extinct everywhere.
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  Speaker 2: In the world.
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  Speaker 1: It is handed down by word of mouth from mother
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  Speaker 1: to daughter from the remotest antiquity. It is called loose
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  Speaker 1: Bell the Spanish for Lucifer, and depicts perverse man in
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  Speaker 1: the midst of his deadly sin, Lucifer, the great antagonist
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  Speaker 1: of souls, and the everlasting mercy of God made flesh
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  Speaker 1: in the child Jesus. In most places there is only
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  Speaker 1: one performance of Los Pastores, but in al Oro there
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  Speaker 1: are three or four on the night of the Santos Reyes,
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  Speaker 1: and others at different times of the year.
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  Speaker 2: As the spirit moves.
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  Speaker 1: The cura or village priest still trains the actors. The
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  Speaker 1: play takes place no longer in the church, however, it
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  Speaker 1: is added to from generation to generation, sometimes being twisted
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  Speaker 1: to satirize persons in the village. It has become too profane,
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  Speaker 1: too realistic for the church, but still it points the
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  Speaker 1: great moral of medieval religion. Fidenzio and I dined early
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  Speaker 1: on the night of the Santos Reyes. Afterward, he took
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  Speaker 1: me along the street to a narrow alley way between
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  Speaker 1: adobe walls, which led through a broken place into a
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  Speaker 1: tiny corral behind a house hung with red peppers. Under
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  Speaker 1: the legs of two meditative burrows, scurried dogs and chickens,
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  Speaker 1: a pig or so, and a swarm of little naked
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  Speaker 1: brown children. A wrinkled old Indian hag smoking a cigarette
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  Speaker 1: made of an entire corn husk, squatted upon a wooden box.
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  Speaker 1: Upon our appearance, she arose, muttering toothless words of greeting,
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  Speaker 1: lifted the lid of the box, and produced an oya
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  Speaker 1: full of new made aguadiente. The distillery was in the kitchen.
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  Speaker 1: We paid her a silver peso and circulated the jug
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  Speaker 1: among the three of us, with many polite wishes for
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  Speaker 1: health and prosperity.
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  Speaker 2: Over our heads.
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  Speaker 1: The sunset sky yellowed and turned green, and a few
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  Speaker 1: large mountain stars blazed out. We heard laughter and guitars
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  Speaker 1: from the lower end of the town, and the uproarious
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  Speaker 1: shouts of the charcoal burners finishing their holidays. Strong.
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  Speaker 2: The old lady consumed much.
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  Speaker 1: More than her share. Oh, mother, said Fidenzio, where are
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  Speaker 1: they going to give the pastores to night? There are
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  Speaker 1: many pastores, she answered, with a leer karamba. What a
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  Speaker 1: year it is for pastores. There is one in the schoolhouse,
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  Speaker 1: and another back of Don Pedros, and another in the
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  Speaker 1: casa of Don Mario, and still another in the house
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  Speaker 1: of Perdita, who was married to Tomas Redondo, who was
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  Speaker 1: killed last.
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  Speaker 2: Year in the mines. May God have mercy on.
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  Speaker 1: His soul, which will be the best, demanded Fidenzio, kicking
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  Speaker 1: a goat which was trying to enter the kitchen. Gien sabe,
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  Speaker 1: she shrugged vaguely. Were my old bones not so twisted?
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  Speaker 1: I would go to Don Pedros, but I would be disappointed.
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  Speaker 1: There are no pastores nowadays, such as the ones we
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  Speaker 1: used to give when I.
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  Speaker 2: Was a girl.
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  Speaker 1: We went then to Don Pedros, down a steep, uneven street,
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  Speaker 1: stopped every few feet by boisterous bankrupts who wanted to
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  Speaker 1: know where a man could establish credit for liquor. Don
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  Speaker 1: Pedros was a considerable house, for he was the village
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  Speaker 1: rich man. The open square which his buildings enclosed would
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  Speaker 1: have been a corral ordinarily, but Don Pedro could afford
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  Speaker 1: a patio, and it was full of fragrant shrubs and
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  Speaker 1: barrel cacti, a rude fountain pouring from an old iron
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  Speaker 1: pipe in the center.
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  Speaker 2: The entrance to this.
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  Speaker 1: Was a narrow black archway, in which sat the town
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  Speaker 1: orchestra playing. A pine torch was stuck by its pitch
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  Speaker 1: against the outside wall, and under this a man took
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  Speaker 1: up fifty cent pieces for the entrance fee. We watched
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  Speaker 1: for some time, but nobody seemed to be paying anything.
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  Speaker 1: A clamorous mob stood around him, pleading special privilege that
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  Speaker 1: they ought to get in free. One was Don Pedro's cousin,
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  Speaker 1: another his gardener. A third had married the daughter of
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  Speaker 1: his mother in law by his first marriage. One woman
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  Speaker 1: insisted that she was the mother of a performer. There
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  Speaker 1: were other entrances at which no guardian stood, and through these,
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  Speaker 1: when they found themselves unable to cajole the gentlemen at
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  Speaker 1: the main door, the crowd placidly sifted. We paid our
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  Speaker 1: money amid an odd silence, and entered. White burning moonlight
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  Speaker 1: flooded the place. The patio sloped upward along the side
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  Speaker 1: of the mountains, where there was no wall to stop
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  Speaker 1: the view of the great plains of shining upland tilted
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  Speaker 1: to meet the shallow jade sky. To the low roof
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  Speaker 1: of the house, a canopy of canvas drooped out over
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  Speaker 1: a flat place, supported by slanting poles, like the pavilion
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  Speaker 1: of a Bedouin king. Its shadow cut the moonlight blacker
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  Speaker 1: than night. Six torches stuck in the ground around the
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  Speaker 1: outside of the place sent up thin lines of pitchy smoke.
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  Speaker 1: There was no other light under the canopy except the
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  Speaker 1: restless gleams of innumerable cigarettes. Along the wall of the
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  Speaker 1: house stood black robed women with black mantillas over their heads.
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  Speaker 1: The men folks squatting at their feet. Wherever there was
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  Speaker 1: a space between their knees were children. Men and women
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  Speaker 1: alike smoked their cigarros, handing them placidly down so that
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  Speaker 1: the little ones might take a puff. It was a
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  Speaker 1: quiet audience, speaking little and softly, perfectly content to wait,
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  Speaker 1: watching the moonlight on the patio and listening to the
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  Speaker 1: music which sounded far away in the arch. A nightingale
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  Speaker 1: burst into song somewhere among the shrubs, and all of
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  Speaker 1: us fell ecstatically silent listening to it. Small boys were
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  Speaker 1: dispatched to tell the band to stop while the song
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  Speaker 1: went on.
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  Speaker 2: That was very exciting.
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  Speaker 1: During all this time, there was no sign whatever of
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  Speaker 1: the performers. I don't know how long we sat there,
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  Speaker 1: but nobody made any comment on the fact. The audience
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  Speaker 1: was not there primarily.
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  Speaker 2: To see the pastores.
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  Speaker 1: It was there to see and hear whatever took place,
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  Speaker 1: and everything interested it.
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  Speaker 2: But being a.
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  Speaker 1: Restless, practical Westerner alas I broke the charmed silence to
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  Speaker 1: ask a woman next to me when the play would begin.
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  Speaker 1: Who knows, she answered tranquility. A newcomer, after turning my
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  Speaker 1: question and the answer over in his mind, leaned across
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  Speaker 1: perhaps tomorrow, he said, I noticed that the band was
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  Speaker 1: playing no longer, it appears. He continued, that there are
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  Speaker 1: other pastores at Dona Perdita's house. They tell me that
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  Speaker 1: those who were to have performed here have gone up
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  Speaker 1: there to see them, and the musicians also have gone
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  Speaker 1: up there. For the past half hour, I have been
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  Speaker 1: considering seriously going up there myself. We left him, still
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  Speaker 1: consider ring seriously. The rest of the audience had settled
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  Speaker 1: down for an evening of pleasant gossip having apparently forgotten
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  Speaker 1: the pastores altogether. Outside, the ticket taker with our peso
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  Speaker 1: had long since gathered his companions to him and sought
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  Speaker 1: the pleasing hilarity of a CANTEENA.
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  Speaker 2: And so we.
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  Speaker 1: Strolled slowly up the street toward the edge of town,
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  Speaker 1: where the whitewashed plaster walls of rich men's houses give
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  Speaker 1: way to the undecorated adobase of the poor. There all
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  Speaker 1: pretensive streets ended, and we went along bureau paths between
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  Speaker 1: huts scattered according to their owner's whims, through dilapidated corrals,
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  Speaker 1: to the house of the widow don Toomas. It was
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  Speaker 1: built of sun dried mud bricks, jutting part way into
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  Speaker 1: the mountain itself, and looked as the stable of Bethlehem
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  Speaker 1: must have looked, as if to carry out the analogy,
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  Speaker 1: A great cow lay in the moonlight just beneath the window,
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  Speaker 1: breathing and chewing her cod. Through the window and the
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  Speaker 1: door over a throng of heads, we could see candle
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  Speaker 1: light playing on the ceiling and hear the whining chant
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  Speaker 1: sung by girlish voices, and the bead of crooks keeping
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  Speaker 1: time on the floor with jingling bells. It was a
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  Speaker 1: low dirt floored, whitewashed room, rafted and waddled with mud above,
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  Speaker 1: like any peasant dwelling in Italy or Palestine. At the end,
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  Speaker 1: farthest from the door, was a little table heaped with
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  Speaker 1: paper flowers, where two tall church candles burned above it.
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  Speaker 1: On the wall hung a chromo of the Virgin and Child,
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  Speaker 1: and in the middle of the flowers was set a
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  Speaker 1: tiny wooden model of a cradle, in which lay a
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  Speaker 1: lead and dull to represent the infant Jesus. All the
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  Speaker 1: rest of the room, except for a small space in
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  Speaker 1: the middle of the floor, was packed with humanity. A
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  Speaker 1: fringe of children sitting cross legged around the stage, half
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  Speaker 1: grown ups in girls kneeling and behind them until they choked.
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  Speaker 1: The doorway blanketed peons with their hats off, eager and
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  Speaker 1: curious by some exquisite chance. A woman sat next to
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  Speaker 1: the altar, her breast exposed as she nursed her baby.
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  Speaker 1: Other women with their babies stood along the wall on
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  Speaker 1: both sides of her, except for a narrow curtained entrance
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  Speaker 1: into another room, where we could hear the giggling of
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  Speaker 1: the performers.
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  Speaker 2: Has it begun?
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  Speaker 1: I asked the boy next to me, No, he answered,
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  Speaker 1: They just came out to sing a song to see
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  Speaker 1: if the stage was big enough. It was a merry,
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  Speaker 1: noisy crowd, bandying jokes and gossip across each other's heads.
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  Speaker 1: Many of the men were exhilarated with Aguardiente, singing snatches
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  Speaker 1: of Ribald songs with their arms around each other's shoulders,
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  Speaker 1: and breaking out every now and then into fierce little
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  Speaker 1: quarrels that might have led to anything, for they were
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  Speaker 1: all armed, and right in the middle of everything, a
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  Speaker 1: voice said, sh they're going to begin now. The curtain
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  Speaker 1: was lifted, and Lucif hurled from heaven because of his
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: invincible pride, stood before us. It was a young girl.
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  Speaker 1: All the performers were girls, in distinction to the pre
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  Speaker 1: Elizabethan miracle plays.
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  Speaker 2: Where the actors were boys.
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  Speaker 1: She wore a costume whose every part had been handed
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  Speaker 1: down from immeasurable antiquity. It was red, of course, red leather,
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  Speaker 1: the conventional medieval color for devils. But the exciting thing
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  Speaker 1: about it was that it was evidently the traditional rendering
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  Speaker 1: of the uniform of a Roman legionary, and the Roman
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: soldiers who crucified Christ were considered a little less than
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: devils in the Middle Ages. She wore a wide skirted
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  Speaker 1: doublet of red leather, under which were scalloped trousers, falling
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  Speaker 1: almost to the shoe tops. There doesn't seem to be
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  Speaker 1: much connection here until you remember that the Roman legionnaires
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: in Britain and in Spain wore leather trousers. Her helmet
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  Speaker 1: was greatly distorted because feathers and flowers had been fast
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  Speaker 1: to it, but underneath you could trace the resemblance to
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  Speaker 1: the Roman helmet. A cuirass covered her breast and back.
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  Speaker 1: Instead of steel, it was made of small mirrors, and
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  Speaker 1: a sword hung by her side. Drawing the sword, she
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  Speaker 1: strutted about, pitching her voice to imitate a man's yo.
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  Speaker 2: SOI loose aye.
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  Speaker 1: In me nombreseve pois con la LUs k bahe todo
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  Speaker 1: alabismo In Sindy, a splendid soliloquy of Lucifer hurled from heaven.
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  Speaker 1: Light am I, as my name proclaims, And the light
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  Speaker 1: of my fall kindled all the great abyss. Because I
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  Speaker 1: would not humble myself, I, who was the captain general.
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  Speaker 1: Be it known to all men, am to day thee
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  Speaker 1: accursed of God, to thee O mountains and to thee
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  Speaker 1: O sea, I will make my complaint, and thus alas
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  Speaker 1: relieve my overburdened, breast cruel fortune. Why art thou so inflexible, severe, I,
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  Speaker 1: who yesterday dwelt serene in yonder starry vault, am to
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  Speaker 1: day disinherited, abandoned because of my mad envy and ambition,
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  Speaker 1: because of my rash presumption, Gone is my palace of yesterday,
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  Speaker 1: And to day finds me sad among these mountains, mute
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  Speaker 1: witnesses of my grievous and pitiful state o mountains. Happy
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  Speaker 1: art thou, Happy art thou in all, whether bleak and
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  Speaker 1: bare or gay with leafy verdure o ye swift brooks
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  Speaker 1: flowing free. Behold me good, good, said the audience. That's
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: the way Wertha is going to feel. When the mad
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: Ristas enter Mexico City, shouted one irrepressible revolutionist amid laughter,
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  Speaker 1: behold me in my affliction and guilt, continued loose bell.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: Just then a large dog came through the curtain, cheerfully
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  Speaker 1: wagging his tail. Immensely pleased with himself, he nosed among
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  Speaker 1: the children, licking a face here and there. One baby
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  Speaker 1: slapped him violently, and the dog heard, and astonished, made
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  Speaker 1: a rush between Lucifer's legs. In the midst of that
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: sublime peroration. A second time, Lucifer fell, and, rising amid
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  Speaker 1: the wild hilarity.
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  Speaker 2: Of the house, laid about her with her sword.
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  Speaker 1: At least fifty of the house descended upon the dog
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  Speaker 1: and ejected him, howling, and the play went on.
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  Speaker 2: Laura married to Arcadio.
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  Speaker 1: A shepherd appeared singing at the door of her cottage.
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  Speaker 1: That is to say, through the curtain, how peacefully falls
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: the light of the moon and the stars. The supremely
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: beautiful night nature appears to be on the point of
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  Speaker 1: revealing some wonderful secret. The whole world is at peace,
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: and all hearts, methinks, are overflowing with joy and contentment.
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  Speaker 1: But who is this of such pleasing presence and fascinating figure?
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  Speaker 1: Lucifer prinked and strutted, avowing with Latin boldness his love
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  Speaker 1: for her. She replied that her heart was Arcadio's. But
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  Speaker 1: the archdevil dwelt upon her husband's poverty, and himself promised
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  Speaker 1: her riches, towering palaces, jewels, and slaves. I feel that
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  Speaker 1: I am beginning to love thee, said Laura, against my will,
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  Speaker 1: I cannot deceive myself. At this point, there was smothered
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  Speaker 1: laughter in the audience. Antonia Antonia said, everybody grinning and nudging.
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  Speaker 1: That's just the way Antonia left Endrique. I always thought
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  Speaker 1: the devil was in it, remarked one of the women.
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  Speaker 1: But Laura had pangs of conscience about port Arcadio. Lucifer
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  Speaker 1: insinuated that Arcadio was secretly in love with another, and
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  Speaker 1: nat settled it. So that thou mayst not be troubled,
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  Speaker 1: Lauda said, calmly, And so that I may be free
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: from him, I shall even watch for an opportunity to
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: kill him. This was a shock even to Lucifer.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: He suggested that it would be.
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: Better to make Arcadio feel the pangs of jealousy, and,
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: in an exultant aside, remarked with satisfaction that her feet
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: are already on the direct pathway to hell. The women
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: apparently felt a good deal.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: Of satisfaction at this.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: They nodded virtuously to one another, But one young girl
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: leaned over to another and, sighing, said, ah, but it
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: must be wonderful to love like that. Arcadio returned to
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: be reproached by Lauda with his poverty. He was accompanied
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: by Bato, a combination of Iago and Altolechis, who attended
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: the dialog between the shepherd and his wife with ironical asides.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: By means of the jeweled ring that Lucifer had given Laura,
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: Arkadio's suspicions were aroused, and when Lauda had left him
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: in haughty insolence, he gave vent to his feelings. Just
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: when I was happy in her fidelity, she with cruel
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: reproaches embitters my heart.
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: What shall I do with myself? Look for a new mate.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: Said Bato, that being rejected, butto gave the following modest
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: prescription for settling the difficulty. Kill her without delay, this done,
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: Take her skin and carefully fold it away. Shouldst thou
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: marry again, let the bride's sheet be that skin, and
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: thus prevent another jilting. To still further strengthen her virtue,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: tell her gently but firmly, sweetheart, this thy sheet was
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: once my wife. See that thou dost carry thyself circumspectly,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: lest thou too come to the same end. Remember that
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: I am a hard and peevish man who does not
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: stick at trifles. At the beginning of this speech, the
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: men began to snicker, and when it ended they were
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: guffying loudly, and Old Pian, however, turned furiously on them.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: There is a proper prescription, he said. If that were
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: done more often, there would not be so many domestic troubles.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: But Arcadio didn't seem to see it, and butto recommended
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: the philosophic attitude. Stop thy complaining and leave laua to
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: her lover.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: Free.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: Thus from obligations, thou wilt become rich and be able
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: to eat well, dress well, and truly enjoy life. The
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: rest matters, but little seize. Therefore this opportunity toward thine
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: own good fortune, and do not forget. I beg thee
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: once thy fortune is made to regal this meager paunch
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: of mine.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: With good cheer.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: Shame cried the women, chuckling.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: How false the des gracia tho, a.
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: Man's voice piped up, there is some truth in that, Senoras.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: If it weren't for the women and children, we all
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: might be able to dress in fine clothes and ride
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: upon a horse. A fierce argument grew up around this point.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: Arcadio lost patience with BOTHO, and the latter plaintively said,
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: if thou hast any regard for poor Bato, let us
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: go to supper. Arcadio answered firmly, not until he had
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: unburdened his heart, unburden and welcome, said BOTHO, until thou
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: art tired as for me, I shall put such a
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: knot in my tongue that even shouldst thou chatter like
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: a parrot, I shall be mute. He seated himself on
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: a large rock and pretended to be asleep, And then
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: for fifteen minutes Arcadio unburdened himself to the mountains and
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: the stars. O laurra, inconstant, ungrateful and inhuman. Why hast
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: thou coused me such woe? Thou hast wounded my faith
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: and my honor, and hast put my soul in torment?
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: Why dost thou mock my ardent love? O? Thou steep
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: hills and towering mountains help me to express my woe.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: And thou stern immovable cliffs and thou silent woods help
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: me to ease the heart of its pain. Amid heart
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: felt in sympathetic silence, the audience mourned with Arcadio a
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: few women sobbed openly. Finally BOTHO could stand it no longer.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: Let us go to supper, he said, better it is
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: to suffer a little at a time. A perfect gale
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: of laughter cut off the end of the sentence, arkadio
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: to thee only, boto have I confided my secret? Boto aside,
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: I do not believe I can keep it. Already my
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: mouth itches to tell it. This fool will learn that
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: a secret and a pledge to none should be entrusted.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: And to a group of shepherds with their shepherdesses singing.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: They were dressed in their feminine Sunday best, with flowery
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: summer hats, and carried enormous wooden apostolic crooks, hung with
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: paper flowers and strings of bells. Beautiful is this night
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: beyond compare beautiful and peaceful as never before, and happy
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: the mortal who beholds it everything proclaims that the Son
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: of God, the Word divine made human flesh, will soon
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: be born in Bethlehem, and mankind's ransom be complete. Then
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: followed a dialogue between ninety year old miserly Fabio and
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: his sprightly young wife, to which all present contributed upon
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: the subject of the great virtues of women and the
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: great failings of men. The audience joined violently in the discussion,
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: hurling the words of the play back and forward, men
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: and women drawing together in two solid, hostile bodies. The
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: women were supported by the words of the play, but
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: the men had the conspicuous example of Laura to draw from.
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: It passed soon into argument about the virtues and failings
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: of certain married couples in al Oro. The play suspended
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: for some time. Bras, one of the shepherds, stole Fabio's
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: wallet from between his knees as he slept. Then came
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: gossip and backbiting. Batto forced Bros To share with him
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: the contents of the stolen wallet, which they opened to
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: find none of the food they expected. In their disappointment,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: both declared their willingness to sell their souls to the
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: devil for a good meal. Lucifer overheard the declaration and
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: attempted to bind them to it, but after a battle
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: of wits between the rustics and the devil, the audience
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: solid to a man against the underhanded tactics of Lucifer.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: It was decided by a throw of the dice, at
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: which the devil lost but he had told them where
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: food could be obtained, and they went for it. Lucifer
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: cursed God for interfering in behalf of two worthless shepherds.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: He marveled that a hand mightier than Lucifer's has been
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: stretched out to save. He wondered at the everlasting mercy
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: toward worthless man, who has been a persistent sinner down
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: the ages. While he Lucifer had felt God's wrath so heavily.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: Sweet music was suddenly heard the shepherds singing behind the curtain,
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: and Lucifer mused upon Daniel's prophecy that the divine words
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: shall be made flesh. The music continued, announcing the birth
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: of Christ among the shepherds. Lucifer enraged, swore that he
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: would use all his power to the end that all
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: mortals shall at some time taste Hell, and commanded Hell
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: to open and receive him in its center. At the
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: birth of Christ, the spectators crossed themselves, the women muttering prayers.
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: Lucifer's impotent raging against God was greeted with shouts of blasphemy, sacrilege,
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: death to the devil for insulting God, bras and butto
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: returned ill from overeating and believing they were about to die,
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: called wildly for help. Then the shepherds and s s
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: reppardesses came in, singing and pounding the floor with their
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: crooks as they promised they would cure them. At the
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: beginning of Act two, Boto and Bras, fully restored to health,
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: were discovered again plotting to steal and eat the provisions
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: laid by for a village festival, And as they went
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: out to do so, Laura appeared, singing of her love
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: for Lucifer.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: Heavenly music was heard, rebuking.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: Her for her adulterous thoughts, whereupon she renounced all desire
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: for guilty love and declared that she would be content
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: with Arcadio. The women of the audience rustled and nodded
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: and smiled at these exemplary sentiments. Sighs of relief were
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: heard all over the house that the play was coming
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: out right. But just afterward, the sound of a falling
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: roof was heard, and comic relief in the persons of
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: Bras and Boto entered carrying a basket of food and
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: a bottle of wine. Everybody brightened up at the appearance
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: of these blos loved crooks, anticipatory mirth went around the room.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: Boto suggested that he eat his half while Bras stood guard,
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: whereupon Boto ate Brass's share too, in the midst of
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: the quarrel that followed, Before they could hide the traces
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: of their guilt, the shepherds and shepherdesses came back in
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: search of the thief. Many and absurd were the reasons
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: invented by Boto and Bras to explain the presence of
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: the food and drink, which they finally managed to convince
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: the company was of diabolical origin. In order to further
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: cover their traces, they invited the.
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: Others to eat what is left.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: This scene, the most comic of the whole play, could
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: hardly be heard for the roars of laughter that interrupted
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: every speech. A young fellow reached over and punched a campadre.
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: Do you remember how we got out of it? When
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: they caught us milking don Pedro's cows. Lucifer returned and
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: was invited to join the feast. He incited them deliciously
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: to continue discussion of the robbery, and little by little,
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: to place the blame upon a stranger.
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: Whom they all agreed.
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: Having seen, of course, they meant Lucifer, but upon being
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: invited to describe him, they depicted a monster a thousand
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: times more repulsive than the reality. None suspected that the
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: apparently amiable stranger seated in their midst was Lucifer. How
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: Boto and Bras were at last discovered and punished. How
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: Laura and Arcadio were reconciled. How Fabio was rebuked for
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: his avariciousness and saw the error of his ways. How
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: the infant Jesus was shown lying in his manger with
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: the three strongly individualized kings out of the east. How
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: Lucifer was finally discovered and cast back into Hell. I
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: have not space here to describe. The play lasted for
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: three hours, absorbing all the attention of the audience. Botho
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: and Bras, especially Boto, received their inn enthusiastic approbation. They
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: sympathized with Lauda, suffered with Arcadio, and hated Lucifer with
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: the hatred of gallery gods for the villain in the melodrama.
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: Only once was the play interrupted, when a hatless youth
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: rushed in and shouted, A man has come from the army,
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: who says that Urbina has taken Mapimi. Even the performers
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: stopped singing. They were pounding the floor with jingling crooks
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: at the time, and a whirlwind of questions beat upon
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: the newcomer. But in a minute the interest passed, and
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: the shepherds took up their song where they had dropped it.
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: When we left Donia Perdita's house about midnight, the moon
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: had already gone behind the western mountains, and a barking
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: dog was all the noise in the dark, sharp night.
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: It flashed upon me, as Fidencio and I went home,
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: with our arms about each other's shoulders, that this was
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: the kind of thing which had preceded the Golden age
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: of the theater in Europe, the flowering of the Rennaissance.
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: It was amusing to speculate what the Mexican Renaissance would
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: have been if it had not come so late. But
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: already around the narrow shores of the Mexican Middle Ages
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: beat the great seas of modern life, machinery, scientific thought,
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: and political theory. Mexico would have to skip for a
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: time her golden age of drama. End of section forty
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: two End of Insurgent Mexico by John Reid