"Thought and affliction, passion, hell itself,
She turns to favor and to prettiness."
--SHAKESPEARE: _Hamlet_.
On one of my last afternoons in Madrid, I visited again my early
haunts in the _Buen Retiro_, for a farewell sight of the children
there at play. After all, it is one of the prettiest things to be seen
in Spain, these graceful, passionate, dramatic little creatures
dancing in tireless circles, and piping those songs that every _nina_
knows, without being able to tell when or where or from whom she
learned them. Only very small boys, as a rule, join the girls in these
fairy rings, though occasionally I found a troop of urchins marching
to a lusty chorus of their own. One, which I heard in Madrid, but
whose parrots are more suggestive of Seville, runs something like
this:--
"In the street they call Toledo
Is a famous school for boys,
Chundarata, chundarata,
Chundarata, chun-chun;
Where all we lads are going
With a most heroic noise,
Chundarata, chundarata,
Chundarata, chun-chun.
"And the parrots on their perches,
They mock us as we go,
Chundarata, chundarata,
Chundarata, chun-chun.
'I hate my school,' whines Polly,
'For my master beats me so,'
Chundarata, chundarata,
Chundarata, chun-chun."
Another, which came to me in fragments, is sung in playing soldier.
"The Catalans are coming,
Marching two by two.
All who hear the drumming
Tiptoe for a view.
Ay, ay!
Tiptoe for a view.
Red and yellow banners,
Pennies very few.
Ay, ay!
Pennies very few.
"Red and yellow banners!
The Moon comes out to see.
If moons had better manners,
She'd take me on her knee.
Ay, ay!
Take me on her knee.
She peeps through purple shutters,
Would I were tall as she!
Ay, ay!
Would I were tall as she!
"Soldiers need not learn letters,
Nor any schooly thing,
But unless they mind their betters,
In golden chains they'll swing.
Ay, ay!
In golden chains they'll swing.
Or sit in silver fetters,
Presents from the King.
Ay, ay!
Presents from the King."
This ironic touch, so characteristically Spanish, reappears in many of
the games, as in _A La Limon_, known throughout the Peninsula and the
Antilles. I should expect to find it, too, in corners of Mexico, South
America, the Philippines, wherever the Spanish oppressor has trod and
the oppressor's children have sported in the sun. The little players,
ranged in two rows, each row hand in hand, dance the one toward the
other and retreat, singing responsively. With their last couplet, the
children of the first line raise their arms, forming arches, and the
children of the second line, letting go hands, dance under these
arches as they respond.
1. "_A la limon, a la limon!_
All broken is our bright fountain.
2. "_A la limon, a la limon!_
Give orders to have it mended.
1. "_A la limon, a la limon!_
We haven't a bit of money.
2. "_A la limon, a la limon!_
But we have money in plenty.
1. "_A la limon, a la limon!_
What kind of money may yours be?
2. "_A la limon, a la limon!_
Oh, ours is money of eggshells.
1. "_A la limon, a la limon!_
An arch for the lords and ladies.
2. "_A la limon, a la limon!_
Right merrily we pass under."
Another lyric dialogue, whose fun is spent on the lean purses of
students and the happy-go-lucky life of Andalusia, must have
originated since the overthrow, in 1892, of the leaning tower of
Saragossa. The stanzas are sung alternately by two rows of children,
advancing toward each other and retreating with a dancing step.
1. "In Saragossa
--Oh, what a pity!--
Has fallen the tower,
Pride of the city.
2. "Fell it by tempest,
Fairies or witches,
The students will raise it,
For students have riches.
1. "Call on the students,
Call louder and louder!
They've only two coppers
To buy them a chowder.
2. "Chowder of students
Is sweeter than honey,
But the gay Andalusians
Have plenty of money.
1. "The gay Andalusians
Have fiddle and ballad,
But only two coppers
To buy them a salad.
2. "In Saragossa
--Oh, what a pity!--
Has fallen the tower,
Pride of the city."
Unchildlike innuendoes pervade that curious game of many variants in
which the priest and abbess play a leading part. Two children are
chosen for these dignitaries, while the others call out the names of
such flowers, fruits, or vegetables as each may decide to personate.
"I'm a cabbage." "I'm a jasmine." "I'm a cherry." Then the little
sinners kneel in a circle, crying:--
"Through the door, up the stairs,
On the floor, say your prayers!"
and chant some childish gibberish, during which no one must laugh on
pain of a forfeit. After this, all sing:--
"The house of the priest it cracked like a cup.
Half fell down and half stood up.
Sir Priest, Sir Priest, now tell us aright,
In whose house did you sleep last night?
_Priest._ With the rose slept I.
_Rose._ Fie, O fie!
I never saw your tonsured head.
_Priest._ Then with whom did you make your bed?
_Rose._ With the Pink.
_Pink._ I should think!
I never saw your petals red.
_Rose._ Then with whom did you make your bed?
_Pink._ With the lily.
_Lily._ Don't be silly!
I never heard your fragrant tread.
_Pink._ Then with whom did you make your bed?
_Lily._ With the priest.
_Priest._ Little beast!
If I went near you, may I fall dead!
_Lily._ Then with whom did you make your bed?
_Priest._ With the abbess, I.
_Abbess._ Oh, you lie!"
But this seems to be the conclusion of the game.
The most of these choral songs, however, are sweet and innocent,
concerned with the natural interests of childhood, as this:--
"The shepherdess rose lightly
Laran--laran--larito,
The shepherdess rose lightly
From off her heather seat--O.
"Her goats went leaping homeward,
Laran--laran--larito,
Her goats went leaping homeward
On nimble little feet--O.
"With strong young hands she milked them,
Laran--laran--larito,
With strong young hands she milked them
And made a cheese for treat--O.
"The kitty watched and wondered,
Laran--laran--larito,
The kitty crept and pondered
If it were good to eat--O.
"The kitty sprang upon it,
Laran--laran--larito,
The kitty sprang upon it
And made a wreck complete--O.
"Scat, scat, you naughty kitty!
Laran--laran--larito,
Scat, scat, you naughty kitty!
Are stolen cheeses sweet--O?"
The baby girls have a song of their own, which, as a blending of
doll-play, gymnastics, music, mathematics, and religion, leaves little
to be desired.
"Oh, I have a dolly, and she is dressed in blue,
With a fluff of satin on her white silk shoe,
And a lace mantilla to make my dolly gay,
When I take her dancing this way, this way, this way.
[_Dances Dolly in time to the music._
"2 and 2 are 4, 4 and 2 are 6,
6 and 2 are 8, and 8 is 16,
And 8 is 24, and 8 is 32!
Thirty-two! Thirty-two!
Blessed souls, I kneel to you. [_Kneels._
"When she goes out walking in her Manila shawl,
My Andalusian dolly is quite the queen of all.
Gypsies, dukes, and candy-men bow down in a row,
While my dolly fans herself so and so and so.
[_Fans Dolly in time to the music._
"2 and 2 are 4, 4 and 2 are 6,
6 and 2 are 8, and 8 is 16,
And 8 is 24, and 8 is 24!
Twenty-four! Twenty-four!
Blessed souls, I rise once more."
They have a number of bird-games, through which they flit and flutter
with an airy grace that wings could hardly better. In one, the
children form a circle, with "the little bird Pinta" in the centre.
The chorus, dancing lightly around her, sings the first stanza, and
Pinta, while passing about the circle to make her choice, sings the
rest, with the suggested action. The child chosen becomes Pinta in
turn.
_Chorus._ "The little bird Pinta was poising
On a scented green lemon-tree spray.
She picked the leaf and the blossom,
And chanted a roundelay.
_Pinta._ "Song in the land!
While April is yet a newcomer,
O mate of my summer,
Give to me a hand now,
Both hands I seek, O!
Take a Spanish kiss, now,
On the rosy cheek, O!"
Equally pretty and simple is the Andalusian play of "Little White
Pigeons." The children form in two rows, which face each other some
ten or twelve yards apart. One row sings the first stanza, dancing
forward and slipping under the "golden arches" made by the lifted arms
of the second row. The second row sings and dances in turn, passing
under the "silver arches" to Granada.
1. "Little white pigeons
Are dreaming of Seville,
Sun in the palm tree,
Roses and revel.
Lift up the arches,
Gold as the weather.
Little white pigeons
Come flying together.
2. "Little white pigeons
Dream of Granada,
Glistening snows on
Sierra Nevada.
Lift up the arches,
Silver as fountains.
Little white pigeons
Fly to the mountains."
The Spanish form of "Blindman's Buff" begins with "giving the pebble"
to determine who shall be the Blind Hen. A child shuts in one hand the
pebble and then presents both little fists to the other children
passing in file. Each, while all sing the first stanza given below,
softly touches first one of the hands, then the other, and finally
slaps the one chosen. If this is empty, she passes on. If it holds the
pebble, she must take it and be the one to offer the hands. The child
who finally remains with the pebble in her possession, after all have
passed, is the Blind Hen. As the game goes on, the children tease the
Blind Hen, who, of course, is trying to catch them, by singing the
second stanza given below.
1
"Pebble, O pebble!
Where may it be?
Pebble, O pebble!
Come not to me!
Tell me, my mother,
Which hand to choose.
This or the other?
That I refuse,
This hand I choose."
2
"She's lost her thimble,
Little Blind Hen.
Better be nimble!
Try it again!
Who'll bring a taper
For the Blind Hen?
Scamper and caper!
Try it again!
Try it again!"
Other games as well known to American children as "Blindman's Buff"
are played by little Spaniards. They understand how to make the
"hand-chair" and "drop the button," only their button is usually a
ring. "Hide the Handkerchief" carries with it the familiar cries of
_hot_ and _cold_, but our "Puss in the Corner" becomes "A Cottage to
Rent."
"'Cottage to rent?'
'Try the other side,
You see that this
Is occupied.'"