A FIESTA
ALTHOUGH Mercedes could not speak English she knew French very well,
and therefore through this medium the girls were able to become well
acquainted. They found this new friend a simple-hearted, gentle Spanish
girl with an eager mind, and such accomplishments as gave a denial
to the impression that Spanish girls must not be expected to be in
the least intellectual. She and her sister had a French governess for
several years and were to have an English one the following year. "So,"
said Mercedes, "the next time you come I shall speak to you in English."
"It makes me quite ashamed of myself to hear how well she speaks
French," said Nan, "and to know that she expects to master English and
German, to say nothing of Italian. I feel now that I must work harder
than ever at languages. What stupid things we are compared to her. She
speaks French like a native, is quite at home with Italian, and has a
reading knowledge of German. When shall I know so much as all that?
Don't you like her, Mary Lee? She has such lovely dark eyes and such
pretty soft hair, then she is so ready to do things for you and to
think of things to please you."
"I think she is a dear," agreed Mary Lee. "I am wild to see her in her
_aldeana_ costume. She is to wear it to-morrow, and she is teaching me
the _jota_. We must both learn it, Nan, and you must get the music for
it. It would be fun to have costumes and do the dance when we go home."
"That would be great," declared Nan. "I wonder why they call them
_aldeana_ costumes?"
"Oh, don't you know? _Aldeana_ simply means peasant, or as we would
say, country costumes. I asked Miss Dolores. Mercedes will wear the
peasant costume of this part of Asturias, you see."
"I understand. There come two of those funny squeaking cow-carts. What
a noise they make. I am glad it is the haying season, for I think
those carts piled up with hay and led by a tall man or a peasant woman
carrying a long pole across the shoulders are such picturesque things."
"Everything is picturesque," agreed Mary Lee. "I love those dear little
soft-nosed burros, only I wish the people treated them better. I saw
a girl on one this morning. She was making it go very fast, and I
wondered why it was going at such a gait till I saw she was sticking a
long pin into it every few steps."
"They are cruel to the donkeys," acknowledged Nan, "but I think they
are very good to the other animals. The poor burros get the worst of
it, and seem to be creatures made only for ridicule and abuse. Oh,
Mary Lee, I do believe that is a band of gipsies coming, real Spanish
gipsies. Aren't they interesting? I suppose they are coming for the
_fiesta_. Look at those two children with scarcely a rag on. Did you
ever see such wild-looking, impish little things? And the man with the
velveteen coat and red sash, do see his big _sombrero_. I hope we shall
see them again." She turned from the window to greet Mercedes who came
in to bid them come down to the _patio_ to practice the _jota_.
Her pretty peasant dress was all ready for the morning, for it was
quite the thing for others than the mere peasants to adopt the local
dress on such occasions. She would wear a short red skirt with bands
of black velvet around it, and smocked at the belt. Her brocade bodice
trimmed with jet would partly cover her white chemisette. Around
her neck she would wear a long chain with a handsome old reliquary
attached to it. Very long filagree earrings would be fastened upon her
ears, and upon her head she would wear a gay silk handkerchief tied in
a peculiar way. A fancy apron of yellow silk completed the costume.
Miss Dolores had consented to wear a _manta de Manila_ or soft shawl
wound gracefully around her, and in her hair a red _clavel_.
"You, too, must wear a _clavel_," said Mercedes, "for you are to dance
the _jota_, and if you will, you can also wear _mantas de Manila_. You
shall have Antonio for a partner and when not him, I will dance with
you."
The little village where the _fiesta_ was to take place was but a
short distance away. The entire Cabrales family, which included Doña
Teresa, her son Antonio, Mercedes and the two younger daughters, Maria
Isabel and Consuelo, went with their guests, so theirs was quite a
large party which arrived in front of the old church in time to hear
the rocket-bombs, and to see the great _ramas_, or pyramids of bread,
carried inside. Then all entered the ancient, low-arched edifice, where
glimmering candles at the altar gave the only light. Upon the bare
floor were many kneeling figures of women wearing black _mantillas_.
The men occupied the gallery above the rear of the church, or stood at
the back near the door.
"Isn't it solemn?" whispered Nan to her sister.
Just then with the chanting of the priests was mingled the song of a
canary, then another chirped up, and a third joined in, so that all
through the service the little songsters did their part.
"You will see the _danza prima_ here," Miss Dolores had told them. "It
is the most ancient and primitive of the Spanish religious dances. It
can hardly be called a dance, in fact. And the _ramas_? They are huge
pyramids on which are hung circular loaves of bread, and which are
adorned with flowers and branches of green; that is why they are called
_ramas_. They indicate the fruits of the harvest."
So when the moment came for the young men of the village to bear forth
the _ramas_, the girls watched eagerly to see the body of maidens, in
_aldeana_ dress, taking a peculiar step backward, always backward, and
beating their tambourines and drums while they sang a monotonous chant.
The figure of the Virgin, in dazzling array, preceded the _ramas_, and
as the procession issued into the open air again the rocket-bombs went
up again. Women carrying tall lighted candles brought up the rear of
the procession which moved around the church. The _ramas_ were set up
again outside while the Virgin was carried back to her shrine and then
the real _fiesta_ began.
"Almost all the _fiestas_ have some special feature, some religious
dance to distinguish them from one another," Miss Dolores told the
girls. "At Llanes they have a very old dance called the _danza
peregrino_, or dance of the pilgrims which is supposed to date back,
no one knows how many centuries, to the days of the pilgrims, and
the cockle-shells and staves are still conspicuous in the dress the
children wear when they give the dance. At Ribadasella they have a
procession of boats upon the water, which is quite pretty."
"I'd like to see that," said Nan.
"Perhaps we shall be able to. Now, we will wander about a while to see
the people and the booths before the dancing begins."
"Why, it's just like a fair," remarked Mary Lee. And indeed, to see the
stands where cakes, beer and wine were offered for sale, to see the
women squatting on the ground in front of baskets of nuts or fruit, to
see the merry-go-round and the merry crowd made one think that it might
be anything but a religious occasion.
"The dancing has begun," cried Mercedes. "You must come." She urged
the girls forward to where upon the grass two lines had formed, the
men opposite the girls. A man with a violin and a woman with a drum
were beginning the music of the _jota_, and presently Nan found herself
opposite Don Antonio while Mary Lee had Mercedes for her _vis-à-vis_.
Don Antonio was a tall, serious-looking lad of nineteen, but when with
arms aloft, he snapped his fingers, and took graceful steps, he seemed
quite a different person from the grave young man who had ventured but
a few remarks to the American girls. Nan soon caught the spirit of the
dance, while Mary Lee, under the teaching of Mercedes, was presently
snapping her fingers and taking her steps with the best. It was
energetic exercise and they were rather tired when the last notes of
the _jota_ ended.
"Now let us go and have some cider and cakes," proposed Mercedes.
"Cider? Do you have cider here?" asked Nan.
"Oh, yes," was the reply. "In Asturias we raise many apples, and cider
is a favorite drink. I see Antonio has supplied us with cakes. We will
go over there under the trees and have our feast and then we will walk
down by the sea."
"I am so glad to see so many in peasant dress. Why don't the men wear
it?" Mary Lee put the question.
"So few young men are here. Most of them have gone away and will come
back _Americanos_ when they have made money."
[Illustration: MARY LEE WAS SNAPPING HER FINGERS AND TAKING HER STEPS.]
"_Americanos?_"
"Yes. They go to Buenos Ayres, to Mexico, to Venezuela, and when they
come back they do not wear any more the _aldeana_ dress, and they are
always called _Americanos_."
"And what are we?" Nan put the question, a little puzzled to know how
she and her sister would be distinguished. If they were not Americans
what could they be?
"Oh, you are _Inglesas_," Mercedes told her.
"Because we speak English, I suppose." Nan was not quite sure that she
liked this method of classification.
"Oh, yes, that is why, certainly," returned Mercedes. "See there is a
man over there wearing the Asturian cap, the old man with a long peaked
cap which hangs down one side."
"And so you don't call us _Americanos_," Mary Lee returned to the
subject, after looking at the man with the peaked cap.
Mercedes smiled and shook her head.
"I always forget there is any America but the United States," said
Mary Lee, "but of course South Americans have just as much right to be
called so as we have. Dear me, do see that poor deformed creature, and
there is another." She stood appalled and again Mercedes smiled.
"They always come to the _fiestas_, and they are not so deformed as
they appear though they must be truly so, and must show that they are
else they might be taken for impostors." She stopped to give each of
the supplicants a copper coin. "The big coppers are _perronos_ or the
big dogs," she explained, "the little ones, _perrinas_, or little
dogs," and each of the Corner girls took a _perrono_ from her purse to
put into the outstretched hands.
"Ah, there are the Gallegos; you will like them." And Mercedes hurried
them forward to join a crowd gathered around two women, one with
a guitar, the other with a tambourine. They were saucy, mirthful
looking creatures who turned knowing eyes upon the strangers and after
whispering to one or two of the nearest bystanders, broke forth into a
fresh song which caused much amusement.
"What are they saying?" asked Nan, as she saw all eyes turned in her
direction.
Mercedes laughed. "They are singing about you. They say you are like
a _clavel_ with your pink cheeks, and that Mary Lee is a golden bird.
They say you should be in the queen's court and that your husbands will
be sure to occupy high places."
"Oh, dear!" Nan looked this way and that, feeling very conscious, to
the delight of the audience. To be made the subject of improvisation
seemed to the girls a very unusual experience, but presently they
realized that it was a very common thing here in Spain, that it was
meant as a compliment, so when the tambourine was passed around each
girl dropped in her offering and the Gallegos smilingly started in a
new direction.
More dancing and more feasting. The grass was trodden into the
dust; the piles of cakes were perceptibly diminished; more people
were arriving. The train brought numbers from the nearest towns and
villages; carriages drove up with occupants dressed in their best.
There were two sets of couples for the next _jota_ in which even small
children in the _aldeana_ dress joined, all being perfectly familiar
with the step.
An Andalusian with a sweet worn voice trolled out his ballads in a
minor key at one end of the grounds; at the other end a blind violinist
drew his bow raspingly and in cracked tones sang a wild Asturian
melody. The lame beggars hopped hither and thither, the paralyzed ones
crawled nearer, the maimed accosted each newcomer.
Soon the bright daylight began to fade. Long shadows crept across
the grass, the ancient church, ten centuries old, grew grayer in
the failing light. "One more look at the sea and then we go," said
Mercedes. So they wandered down to the rocky shore where great crags
rose on every side. Beyond these sparkled the Cantabrian sea which,
softening the air, made it possible for chestnuts and orange trees,
palms and apple trees, to live in neighborly fashion.
"We have flowers in our garden the year around," Mercedes told them,
"and even when there is snow on the mountains it is not so very cold
here."
"I know it is perfectly beautiful now," responded Nan. "August and no
great heat, the sea so near and no sharp winds. It is perfect. The kind
of weather that is just right, and that you don't have to think about
one way or the other."
"What wonderful caves there seem to be about here," said Mary Lee
looking off toward the rocks.
"There are a great many, and the old folks tell you that they are
inhabited by fairy folk, the _inxanos_, we call them, tiny little
people who live underground and build these rocky houses for
themselves."
"Oh, I'd love to hear about them." The subject appealed to Nan's fancy.
"Do people really think there are such fairies?"
"Some of the peasants do, and they have great tales to tell. Then there
are the _xanos_ who are water fairies and live in the streams and
fountains. You must see the great caves near our village. I will take
you to them to-morrow. We must go up the mountain, too, and there is a
place not so very far away, from which you can see a great distance.
We shall drive home to-day and you can see the Peaks of Europe, our
highest peaks anywhere about."
The Corners never did forget the drive home over the best of hard
roads, above mountain streams and green valleys, the great Peaks of
Europe glistening far off, and the nearer mountains bathed in sunset
glory. They encountered a band of gipsies with their donkeys, traveling
along the white road which wound around a high hill, and these seemed
more than ever picturesque, the orange and red of their costumes
showing vividly against the gray background of rock.
There were more _fiestas_ after this, but none that gave the girls
greater enjoyment. They saw later the quaint little town of Ribadasella
decked in the Spanish colors, and they enjoyed the procession of
blossom-adorned boats when Santa Marina took place. They saw, too, the
feast of "Our Lady of the Hay" when the great hay harvest was over and
honor was done to the Virgin of a little chapel in the woods. There
was a long day spent at Llanes which was very gay upon this feast of
San Roque. It ended with a dance which kept up till very late. To this
the girls did not go, though, at different times during the night, they
heard revelers returning home.
Mary Lee and Nan had picked up a little Spanish when they were in
California, and now continued to add constantly to their stock of
words. In consequence they were soon able to carry on conversations,
haltingly, to be sure, with Doña Teresa and Don Antonio, and managed to
understand something of what was said to them.
"I wish you had been here for our day of San Juan," Mercedes said to
them.
"What did you do then?" asked Mary Lee.
"We had a _fiesta_ at the house of our good doctor whose name is Juan.
As it was his feast day we went very early to hang garlands about the
gateway and the windows. We set up a tree in his _patio_, and many
persons from far and near brought presents to him. He provided cakes
and other things for the feast and we danced till dark in front of the
house. From all the neighboring villages the young people came dancing
the dance of San Juan all the way, singing as they came. It was very
pretty."
"Oh, what awfully nice things you do here," said Nan. "I think it is
lovely to celebrate days like that."
Mercedes nodded. "Yes, we think it is. We enjoy our _fiestas_ and we
have many of them. If you were to be here you would see. I think you
should stay a year that you might understand what goes on at every
season. Could you not stay a year?"
"Dear me!" Nan smiled. "What a darling thing you are, Mercedes. We'd
love to stay but we must study. We go to Germany in the fall."
"Oh, you could study here with the English governess and you could
learn Spanish. Would it not do as well as German?"
Nan gave her a hug. "I should love to do it, but we must do as our
mother says."
"Of course. I understand that, but I should like you to stay and so
would mother, my brother also."
"It is perfectly lovely for you to say so, but I suppose we must be
thankful to have as much as a month here, and as we speak French all
the time I am losing none of my knowledge of that language, while I am
also learning a little Spanish. I hope some day you will come to our
country and then you will visit us in our home."
"I should like much to do that. My cousin Dolores says I shall come
if my mother permits, and my mother says when I have learned to speak
English it will be time enough to talk of going, so I shall work very
hard, and when you see me in your country I shall be saying more than
'E ahm very glad to zee you.'" She laughed merrily.
"You will come, of course you will. I shall speak often to Miss Dolores
about it so she will remember to write to your mother so often that she
will not forget about it."
"We shall have to do all we can to have you see our Asturias, as much
as is possible, while you are here for this short month." And with this
intention to be carried out it was to be expected that the days did
not hang heavily. If there was not a _fiesta_ or a _feria_ there was
an excursion to the seashore, or to some neighboring town; there was
maybe a fishing party or a long drive to some mountain village, and
the longer they stayed the more attached did the girls become to sweet
Mercedes, and the more interesting did they find the beautiful province
of Asturias.
[Illustration: CHAPTER VI
SPANISH HOSPITALITY]