THE BRAZILIAN BULL FIGHT
After the calling of “Speech! A speech from Billy Whiskers!” had died
down some, Billy climbed up to a shelf of rock that protruded from the
brow of a hill overlooking the lower stretch of land where the party
was in progress. From this vantage point he could be seen and heard by
all. The moment he stepped forward and began to speak, there was dead
silence and not a horse or cow so much as switched its tail to chase
away the flies.
“My dear friends, it gives me great pleasure to be back in your midst
once more, and to have the opportunity to see and speak to you. My very
dear and old friends, Mr. and Mrs. Spots, who have made it possible for
me to meet you all this evening, have asked me to relate one or two
of the experiences I had while away. I can assure you I have had many
thrilling ones. But instead of telling you about them, I am going to
describe one of the most peculiar sights I saw while in South America.
“As you well know, wherever a country has been settled by the Spanish
or the Portuguese, there bull fights have been introduced, as it is
the national sport of those two countries. Consequently when I was in
Rio de Janeiro and heard people talking about going to the bull fight
on Sunday afternoon (they are always held on Sunday) I decided to see
what they were like, though I did not relish the idea in the least as
I dislike to see any kind of an animal hurt or abused. You see I had
heard that a bull fight is one of the most cruel sports engaged in by
any nation. Still I felt that as long as I was in a country where they
had them, I had better go and see how they are conducted and what the
people who attend these fights look like. If I found it too cruel, I
could come away.
“I followed the crowd going to the bull ring, and succeeded in slipping
in between the people and finding a good place away up on the last tier
of seats from which to witness the fight.
“I had been there only a few minutes when with a blare of trumpets
a pair of double doors was thrown open and out rode a toreador on a
coal-black horse prancing in time to the music as he champed his bit
while his rider bowed low to the audience. Before him as he pranced
around the ring went two trumpeters dressed in red velvet and silver
lace, blaring away on their extra long beribboned trumpets. As for the
toreador, he was costumed in black velvet and gold lace, and wore a
three-cornered hat with a long flowing white ostrich plume, and carried
a long spear held upright. Behind him marched the picadores and
matadores.
“After this company once circles the ring, it is the custom for the
toreador to take his place in the middle of the ring, facing the door
through which the bulls enter the ring from their partially darkened
stalls. The door from the stall into the ring is thrown wide open and
seeing the bright light, the bull rushes for it, so that when he first
enters the ring he is blinded by the sudden glare, and he stands, head
erect, looking in all directions, puzzled which way to turn.
“The first bull to enter on the day I was there was a magnificent jet
black beast with long, pointed horns, though the points had been sawed
off, as that is the law in Brazil. Also no horse or bull may be killed
or injured. The toreador, picadores and matadores are there to protect
the horse and to keep him from being disemboweled or injured in any
way. They are permitted to tease the bull and throw long darts into the
bull but not to injure him.
“When I found this out I was delighted for now I could enjoy watching
the fight and let my nerves quiet down.
“As soon as the bull’s eyes were accustomed to the light, he spied the
toreador on the horse facing him, and with a snort he began to paw the
dirt and switch his tail. He charged on horse and man but he was not
quick enough. The horse jumped to one side and the toreador threw a
dart that sank into the bull’s hind quarter. With a quick turn the
bull was after them again and for some little time they chased each
other here, there and everywhere around the ring until the toreador had
thrown another dart into him.
[Illustration]
“While the toreador was trying to make the darts stick in the bull’s
shoulders or haunches, the picadores teased him by shaking a red cape
in his face or else throwing it in front of him just when he was about
to gore the horse. The bull took after the picadores and they had to
run for safety, jumping over a medium high wall that surrounded the
whole ring, and formed a very narrow passageway. It was built just
high enough for a bull that is a good jumper to get over, but the
passageway was so narrow that if he went over straight, there was not
sufficient room for the bull. This bull hung over the wall until he
could twist himself straight, which delay gave the picadores time to
escape and they returned to the ring. This happened many times that day
and made the audience howl with delight and clap their hands. As soon
as the bull would get himself straightened out, he would run around
the enclosure until he came to an open door, and running through it he
would find himself in the ring once again.
[Illustration]
“This performance continued with each bull until he would have two
darts sticking in him and then another bull was brought on, and this
one was led out by six cream-colored oxen with humps on their backs
like water buffalo have. These oxen were trained to walk over to where
the bull stood and quietly encircle him, so that he walked out in the
midst of friends.
“As many as eight or nine bulls were used in that one afternoon. Some
of them would not fight at all, even though stuck with sharp darts and
annoyed in every imaginable way. When one refused to fight, it was led
out by the cream-colored oxen and another bull brought in.
“The performance was concluded with a kind of burlesque show such as
one might see at a circus. Two men dressed in suits made of thick
rubber like automobile tires came into the ring. They were so clumsy in
their suits they could scarcely waddle, and when a bull knocked them
over, he could not hurt them. When they fell and he rolled them around,
they simply pulled their heads into the suits much as a tortoise pulls
its head into its shell, and let the bull maul them until he was driven
off by the picadores. Then the picadores would help them to their feet
as their suits made them so clumsy they could not get up if once they
fell down.
“These men made the bulls furious. They bellowed and stamped and
swished their tails with anger, all of which tickled the crowd
immensely.
“Another thing they had that greatly pleased the audience was a paper
ship under full sail. Four men got inside the ship and carried it
around. It was a comical sight as the men’s legs showed below the
ship where the water ought to be. They stood where the bull would see
the ship the first thing on entering the ring. At first the bull was
so astonished he simply stood still and stared at them. Then with a
swish of his tail, he made for it at full speed. A single onslaught
shattered it and there was a grand melee of bull, men’s legs, sails
and splinters. The bull was all tangled up in the sails, and while he
was trying to extricate himself, a man on stilts and dressed in a long
Mother Hubbard and wearing a false face of Mother Hubbard and that good
lady’s bonnet walked into the ring. For a while Mother Hubbard dodged
the bull cleverly, but at last she stumbled and fell across the bull’s
back. When the bull finally freed himself of his burden, the false
face with the bonnet was still sticking between his horns, the dress
and stilts trailing across his broad back, while the man impersonating
Mother Hubbard was running for shelter back into the bull shed.
[Illustration]
“This was the last performance of the day and it sent the crowd home
laughing instead of horrified as a real bull fight would have done.
And I for one say that all bull fights should be like this one and no
government should be permitted to hold such cruel and horrible ones as
are given in Spanish countries.”
Billy bowed low in conclusion and was about to leave the jutting rock
he had used as a platform when the crowd of animals below cried, “Tell
us something more! Tell us something more! We never travel nor see
anything of the world, and it will be the greatest treat for us if you
will tell us what you saw and did.”
So Billy walked back to his place and proceeded to relate how he had
personified King Neptune.