THE HOLIDAYS
FERNANDO had been three months in school and was beginning to grow
tired, when it came time for the feast of Christmas, and he was very
happy in the thought of all he was to do and see during his holiday.
He and Juanita were very much excited in preparing their _nacimento_,
which nearly every Spanish child has at Christmas time. This is a
plaster representation of the birth of Christ. There are in it many
figures, a manger surrounded with greens, the Baby Our Lord, St.
Joseph, and the Blessed Virgin, the Wise Men worshipping the Holy
Child, and angels hovering near, as well as the patient ox and ass who
were his first worshippers. Juanita was wild with excitement as these
were all grouped and set in place. She was only four and did not well
remember the Christmas before, so that it was all new to her.
Christmas Eve there was a grand family party, all the relatives coming
to the home of Fernando and partaking of a supper of sweetmeats and
wine. In the morning there was, of course, early Mass in the great
cathedral, where the choir sang divinely. It started way up in the
loft to sing the _Adeste Fideles_, the Church's Christmas hymn for
centuries, slowly coming nearer and nearer; and Juanita thought it was
an angel choir until she saw it come into sight and the glorious voices
rolled forth in a volume of song.
Then the children had breakfast and they made their _aguinaldo_, for
every servant on the place expected a present as surely as did the old
darkies of Southern days. The postman, the errand boy, the porter, the
_sereno_ who walks the street all night with his lantern, trying your
door to see if it is locked properly, and assuring you that all is well
as the hours strike,--all must be remembered. Then the señora took
the carriage, and the children accompanied her, as she filled it with
sweetmeats for the poor children and such of her special protégés as
could not come to the house for their _aguinaldo_.
It was a cold day, for Granada grows cold in the winter time, and is
not like other Spanish cities, which have summer all the year. The
wind sweeps down from the Sierras and brings with it a blustering hint
of mountain snows; and as the houses have no furnaces and seldom good
stoves to heat them, even the rich can suffer, and the poor do suffer
bitterly.
While the sun shines it matters not, for the sun of Andalusia is so
warm and bright that it blesses all who lie beneath it; but when the
dark days come or evening's mantle falls upon the town, people hover
close about the _brazero_ and long for summer.
With Fernando it mattered little, for he was seldom still enough to
be cold, and he spent a merry Christmas, falling asleep to dream of
delightful things, and waking to the happy thought that it would soon
be the feast of the Circumcision. This is New Year's Day, and is
celebrated with much festivity in Spain. The evening before there is a
grand party for the grown-ups, and slips of paper are passed around,
one being drawn by each person. They are in pairs, so that the one who
draws number one must go to supper with number one, and great merriment
is made over the pairing off of the guests. The gentleman has to send a
bunch of flowers or sweets to the lady whose number he draws, and not a
few matches have been made in Spain by this merry custom.
Fernando and Juanita, however, were quite otherwise engaged. They were
sent early to bed and were dreaming of the sugar-plums of the morrow,
wondering whom they would first meet, for they think in Spain that what
happens to you on New Year's Day will determine the course of the whole
year. If you meet a pauper you will have bad luck, but if you see a man
with gold in his pocket, you will have money all the year.
Merrier still was the feast of the Three Kings, which is the day upon
which little Spanish children have gifts made them as American children
do at Christmas. This is in honour of the Wise Men having brought
presents to Our Lord on that day, so that on the eve of January sixth,
the feast of the Epiphany, Fernando and Juanita set their little shoes
on their balcony with a wisp of straw to feed the Magi's horses, and
with many surmises as to what they would find in them on the morrow.
What wonderful things there were! Fernando had all the things that
boys love,--tops, marbles, balls, and a fine knife; while Juanita had a
wonderful dolly and all manner of dainty things for her to wear. "The
Three Kings never make one feel like the governor of Cartagena," said
Fernando, as he tossed his new ball and lovingly fingered his knife.
"But there is still another gift for thee and thy sister," said his
father, and he led them to the door. There stood a wonderful little
donkey, his bridle decorated with streaming ribbons and bells, his kind
eyes blinking as he turned his head and seemed to say, "Hello, Little
Master, are you and I going to be great friends?"
"Oh, papa, is that for us?" cried Fernando, while Juanita clapped her
tiny hands with delight. It took Fernando but a moment to spring on the
donkey's back, but his mother cried, warningly:
"Be careful, son! Remember how the little Prince of Granada rode too
fast through the streets, and fell from his pony and was killed."
"Have no fear," her husband said, smiling, "the donkey will not go fast
enough to hurt him; that is why I selected him." And he placed Juanita
up behind her brother, bidding Manuel walk beside them, while Mazo,
unbidden, jumped around.
Everything else that Fernando had sank into insignificance when
compared to the little donkey, which he named Babieca, and which he
and Juanita rode whenever they had a chance. Babieca was a kind little
beast, though something of a rogue. He seemed to know that he must play
no tricks when Juanita rode him, and he behaved himself well; but when
Fernando rode, it was quite another matter. Babieca would prick up his
long ears and go along quietly, then stop suddenly without saying "by
your leave," and, of course, Fernando would go over his head. He would
not hurt himself at all, and the naughty little mule would look at him
wonderingly as if to say: "Now what on earth are you doing down there?"
Fernando soon grew to expect such antics and was on the lookout for
them.
[Illustration: "ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE TOWN WHO HAD SUCH ANIMALS DROVE
THEM DOWN TO THE CHURCH TO BE BLESSED."]
When St. Anthony's Day came, of course Babieca had to go with the other
four-footed friends of the saint, to be blessed and insured from all
harm through the year. The seventeenth of January is the day of St.
Anthony, patron of mules, horses, and donkeys, and a grand parade took
place. All the people of the town who had such animals drove them down
to the church to be blessed and to get a barley wafer. Many of the
animals were gaily decorated with streamers and ribbons, and some with
flowers; and all along the streets small booths were set up containing
little images of St. Anthony and barley cakes. Babieca behaved very
well at his blessing, though his refractory tongue did try to nibble
the priest's stole; but some of the horses kicked and neighed, and,
with the braying of the many donkeys and mules, there was a din not
often heard in staid Granada.
There were no more fêtes for the time being, and Fernando, a trifle
spoiled by all the gaiety, had to return to his studies again. It was a
long month before carnival time, but his thoughts went forward to that
delightful season, and it seemed to the little boy as if it would never
come. However, as "all things come to him who will but wait," the great
day arrived at last, and Fernando was wild with joy. Carnival time is
just before the beginning of Lent, and is a season of great merriment.
Under a turquoise sky, with no clouds to mar its fairness, there is a
pageant almost like those of the days of chivalry, and Fernando and
Juanita, attended by their faithful Manuel and Dolores, saw it all.
Fernando dressed as a page, and his sister as a court lady of the days
of Isabella the Catholic, and they were masked, as are all the people
who throng the streets on these gay days.
Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday the carnival continues, each year, and
the children are asked to little dances at the houses of friends, and
also to hear student choirs sing and to see plays. But what they most
enjoy is mingling in the crowds upon the _paseo_, throwing _confetti_
at those who throw at them, seeing the flower-decked carriages, the
wonderful costumes; monks, nuns, generals, court ladies, flowers,
animals, all are represented,--all are laughing and throwing _confetti_
right and left. Children are selling _confetti_, crying shrilly,
"_Confetti_, five _centimos_ a packet. Showers of a million colours!
Only a _perro Chico_!"[10] Ah, how gay and delightful it all is!
Juanita saw much, and Dolores lay down at night thanking the saints
that carnival lasted but three days! But Fernando saw everything, and
poor Manuel's legs were weary as he kept pace with his little master,
now here, now there, now everywhere, laughing and jesting, the merriest
lad in all the carnival.
Alas, it was all over! Ash Wednesday dawned, dull and heavy, the
weather as sad and sorry as the day. Fernando dragged himself to
church, where his brow was marked with ashes according to custom, and
gazed longingly at the _Entierro de la sardina_, a bit of pork the size
and shape of a sardine, buried to show that the fast had begun, for no
one in Spain eats meat on Ash Wednesday, and very little of it in Lent.
Fernando looked so depressed at supper that his mother asked him:
"What is the trouble, little son, are you ill?"
"No, mamma," he said. "But it is so long till Easter."
"Not if you do not think about it," said his mother with a smile. "Do
your work with a will, and the days will pass quickly. If you are a
good boy, you shall have a treat at Easter."
"Oh, what will that be," he asked, and Juanita cried, eagerly, "Shall I
have it, too?"
"Both of you," the mother said. "Your father is going to take us to
Sevilla, to see the grand Easter festival, and we shall see your
brother and sister as well, and your cousins and your Aunt Isabella, so
you must be good children."
"Indeed we will," cried both, joyously, at the thought of so much
pleasure.
FOOTNOTE:
[10] _Perro Chico_, little dog, name given to a five-_centimo_ piece
because of the little lion upon it.