SONGS AND STORIES.
NIGHT falls suddenly on this beautiful home. There is no long twilight
as in northern lands; and soon the stars are shining, myriads of them.
They do not twinkle, but give a strong, steady light.
[Illustration: "THE HOMES OF THE WORKMEN"]
This is the best part of the day. The planter sits on the veranda,
smoking; his wife, in her delicate evening dress, keeps him company.
Teresa plays some sweet tunes on her guitar and sings, while her
duenna sits back in a rattan chair and dozes. Manuel and Dolores dance
together along the garden paths or play with their fireflies.
Hark! listen to that lively music coming from the homes of the workmen.
We know there are mandolins among the instruments they are playing,
but what is that strange, swishing noise we hear, keeping time with the
other instruments? It is somewhat like the sound of shuffling feet. It
is made upon gourds notched in many places, with holes in the shape of
triangles cut in the necks.
A few nights ago Manuel and Dolores begged their father to take them
over to the "quarters," as the cabins of the coloured farm labourers
are called. Manuel said:
"We want to see the sport. They have such good times over there when
their work is done, and do tell such funny stories. But, after all,
papa, it's the way they tell them that I like best. Their black eyes
are so solemn and look as though they believed every word that is said."
When the planter and his children drew near, they found the coloured
people squatting in a big circle in front of one of the huts. The sun
was just setting in a great round ball in the west. There was still
light enough in the sky to show the shining dark faces ranged around.
Two rows of glistening ivory teeth could be plainly seen in each face
as the workmen jumped up to bow and smile before "Massa, little Massa,
and little Missus." They were quite proud to be honoured by a visit
from these great people. And now the sun suddenly dropped below the
horizon, and the air seemed filled with the darkness.
It was the sign to begin, and the blacks, at a motion from their
leader, started in with an old, old song not learned from books; it had
been handed down from the time when their people lived in their native
land of Africa. It was a song about a beautiful star, and before it
was ended Dolores and Manuel felt as if the star itself were a living
friend and helper of these ignorant, earnest people.
Sing! The word does not begin to describe the music they not only
heard but saw and felt. The voices of the singers were sweet and rich;
their bodies swayed back and forth, keeping perfect time. Their great
round eyes rolled from side to side, and as they sang verse after
verse, they seemed to forget their company as well as themselves. Their
faces shone with a smile of perfect happiness.
When the song was ended a story was called for, and an old gray-haired
man began to tell this tale of the elephant and the whale.
"Once upon a time an elephant was walking on the shore. He saw a whale
in the water. He spoke to the whale and said:
"'Brother Whale, I can pull you up on to the shore.'
"'Indeed you can't,' cried the whale.
"'I bet three thousand dollars that I can,' the elephant answered.
"'All right, let me see you try,' the whale said, quickly, and went
away.
"Soon afterward they met again. The whale spoke this time, and said:
"'Brother Elephant, I can pull you into the sea.'
"'What an idea!' said the elephant. 'No man in the world could pull me
into the sea.'
"Brother Rabbit heard the two talking, and said:
"'I'll try it to-morrow at twelve o'clock.'
"He went away and got a piece of rope. He tied one end of it around the
whale's neck and the other around the elephant's neck. Then he said:
"'When I speak the word you must both pull hard.'
"Now when the whale pulled, he dragged the elephant into the sea. He
said:
"'You, Brother Elephant, think the little rabbit is doing all this.'
"Then the elephant pulled hard, and brought the whale into the surf.
The whale caught underneath a shelf of rock and the elephant found
himself fastened to a big tree.
"These two mightiest of creatures pulled and pulled, till at last the
rope broke, and the elephant was jerked way back into the forest and
the whale was jerked way out to sea. That is why you always see the
whale in the ocean and the elephant in the woods."
There was a great clapping of hands when the tale was ended. After
that, there were other songs and stories, while the faces of the people
grew more earnest and eager after each one.
It was growing late, and Manuel's father said:
"Come, children, we must go now. Your mother will be watching for you.
It is long past your bedtime."
As they walked homeward, Manuel was quiet for some time. Then he said:
"Father, what nonsense many of these stories are! Yet I like them,
too, because they seem to bring one so near all living things. Even
the rabbit and the elephant are brothers to them. It's a little odd,
though, that in their animal stories they always make the rabbit the
wisest."
Sometimes Manuel's father walks over to the "quarters" with his boy to
see the dancing. It is wild and exciting; it fairly makes Manuel dizzy
to watch the people twist and turn themselves about. It is so different
from the slow, graceful steps he and Dolores have been taught.
One wonders if the children are not afraid of snakes in the long grass
at night. No, for in all Porto Rico, it is said, a poisonous serpent
has never been seen. In two other islands of the West Indies the most
deadly snake of the Western world is found. This is the terrible
fer-de-lance whose bite is so much dreaded; but this serpent has never
made its way into Porto Rico. It probably drifted on limbs of forest
trees from South America to the other islands, but never reached
Manuel's home. The boy should be very grateful that it did not.
But there are other things for him to fear. When he goes to bed
to-night, he will get Juana to look under his bed and in every corner
of the room before he can settle himself to sleep. Is he afraid of
burglars, do you suppose? He never thinks of them; but he knows that
scorpions and centipedes can creep into the house, and even into
his bed, without being seen. And oh! their sting means very great
suffering. Manuel's mother was once stung by a scorpion's fiery tail,
and the wound was very painful for a long time.
It was only a few nights ago that Juana found a centipede snuggled away
under a cushion in the sitting-room. Suppose some one had sat down upon
it unawares and been bitten! It makes the shivers creep up and down
Manuel's back to think of it.
The word centipede, perhaps you know, means hundred-footed. These
little insects travel quite rapidly, and although they do not cause
death, they may make very painful wounds.
There are other things, too, to trouble Manuel and Dolores, for
mosquitoes and fleas are always plentiful, and sometimes the children
are awakened at night by an attack from a small regiment of cruel
little ants, and sleep no more till morning.
There is a certain insect in the West Indies known as a "chico,"
"chigoe," or "jigger," and woe to the toes of the person whom it
visits. It gets under the skin, and there lays many eggs and prepares
to make itself very much at home. So if any person's toe begins to
itch, he needs to have it examined at once, or there may be trouble.
People have sometimes been obliged to have the toe, and even the foot
and leg, cut off on account of the inflammation caused by a chico and
her family.
But the curious thing about it is that this insect seems to prefer the
toes of white strangers, so that Manuel and Dolores, who were born on
the island, are pretty safe in going barefooted.