Blood and Sand

rway in the suburb de la Feria, she wept as disconsolately as was appropriate to the event, but at the same time in t

him in His glory! So good

a Angustias for the maintenance of the house and the family, reserving the other two for the up-keep of his own person, and the expenses of the "representacions."[48] He must respond to the civilities of his friends when they invite

charwoman in the wealthiest houses in the suburb, sewed for the neighbours, mended clothes and laces for a certain pawnbroking friend of hers, made[Pg 60] cigarettes for gen

in remaining at the door, clapping his hands, and chanting doleful love songs in a drivelling voice, all in praise of his voluminous companion. And when at last the door was closed behind him, and the neighbours deprived of a source of amusement, the Se?or Juan, in the fullness of his drunken sentimentality wo

ora Angustias remembered with pride how on the great holidays Juan made her put on her Manila silk shawl, the wedding mantilla, and with the children in front walked by her side in a white Cordovan sombrero, with a silver headed stick, taking a turn through las Del

ut a faded though pleasant recoll

t her husband formerly gave her. Finally he died in the hospital, resigned to his fate, having come to the conclusion that life was worth nothing without bul

of the family. Being a woman of prompt and energetic action, she immediately struck out a line for her children. Encarnacion, who was now seventeen, went to the Tobacco factory, where her mother was able to introduce her, thanks to her relati

nt to read very badly, and at twelve years old he was

bench in the Alameda de Hercules, and for the amusement of shepherds and slaughtermen, would venture to throw a cloak before the oxen, frequently getting knocked over and trampled. The Se?ora Angustias, who watched many nights needle in hand, so that her s

as he could get his poor pittance, "Beat me, but give me something to eat," and with an appetite sharpened by the violent exercise, he would swallow the hard bread, th

after her son, going to his master's shop to enquire about the apprentice's progress. When she returned from the shoemaker's s

agabonds at the entrance of the Calle de las Sierpes, prowling round the groups of toreros without contracts, who assembled in La Campana, dressed

they ogled the women. The idea that each one of those men had in his house a set of silk clothes embroidered with g

. Round his neck he wore a red handkerchief filched from his sister, and from beneath his cap the hair fell over his ears in long locks, which he smoothed with saliva. He wanted to have his drill blouses made short to the w

f a ship-wrecked man, left to his own resources on a desert island, who has to make everything for himself, he cut out a fighting cape from the damp and ravelled linen. Afterwards he boiled in a pipkin a[Pg 64] handful of red aniline which he had bought at a druggists, and dipped the old linen in the dye. Then Juanillo looked at the result of his work. A cape of the most brilliant scarlet which would arouse many envies at the "capeas" in

broken with no apparent result. That cursed one, said she, had the hide of a dog. Accustomed out of the house to the tremendous butting of the calves, the cruel tramplings of the cows, to the sticks of the herdsmen and slaughtermen, who thrashed the tauric aspirants without mercy, his mother's blows seemed

e house, availing himself of the liberty perforce left

ll the great news of the "aficion" circulated, he[Pg 65] got

ere is a corri

ing able to say on their return, that they had spread their cloaks in the celebrated Plazas of Aznalcollar, Bollullos or Mairena. They would begin their journey

the grapes, the melons and the figs they came across on their way in the warm season. Their only anxiety was lest some other party, som

selves before the alcalde, and the boldest among them, who fulfilled the functions of director spoke of the merits of the troup, who thought the

rpetual baiting they were in the secrets of all the possibilities of the fight. The boys of the town pricked these beasts from a safe place, and the people derived more amusement from the "toreros" from Seville even than from the bull. The youngsters spread their cloaks with trembling legs, but their hearts comforted by the weight in their stomachs. There was g

l as he saw no blood, it was only the shock the lad had suffered in being tossed to a distance of several yards, and falling on the ground like a bundle of clothes. At other times it was the agony of being trampled under foot by some enormously heavy

stand asking for some gratuity. Copper money would rain into the red cloth[Pg 67] according to the amusement the strangers had given to the inhabitants, and the corrida being ended they would r

ell of their "veronicas"[54] in El Garrobo, of their "navarras"[55] in Lora, or of a terrible goring in El Pedroso, imitating the airs and attitudes of

illage of Tocino. Dios mio! Where might that village be? How should she get to it?... She made sure her son was dead and wept for him, nevertheless she wish

, and he spoke gratefully of the attentions which had been paid to him in that town, which, according to him, was the finest in all Spain. The richest people there, the aristocracy as one might say, were interested in his mishap, and the alcalde had been to see him, afterwards giving him his re

all her projects of correction, judging them to be useless. She tried to ignore her son's existence. When he arrived home at night, at the time his mother and sister were supping together, they gave him his food in silence,

o young gentlemen whose airs made the women laugh, or grave caballeros to whom slander gave feminine nicknames. Sometimes he would sell newspapers, or during the great festivals of Holy Week he would sell packets

g a foreign figure, as if this professional qualifi

p, letting the pigtail fall down behind, the long lock of ha

, and had wandered about Seville ever since he could remember anything. He exercised over Juanillo all the influence of greater experi

with the young toreros, admired their pig-tails, listened to the stories of their

, and I am alone in the world. He who h

compunction, would allow the other lad to

true; tha

mal existence, only putting in an occasional appearance at Se?ora An

uch as scaling the walls, slipping in among the people unperceived, or even softening the officials by humble prayers. A fiesta taurina,[56] and they who were of the profession not there to see it!... When there were

t in the art of travelling gratuitously and hiding himself cleverly on the trains. The Zapaterin listened with delight

al of money in Bilbao, as toreros did not abound there as they did in Seville. So the two lads undertook the journey with empty purses, and no luggag

figures they cut, with their pig-tails and capes, and finally giving them the remains of their victuals. When any official gave chase at the stations, they would run from carriage to carriage, or try to climb on the[Pg 71] roofs to a

adventurous journey of many days, with long waits and not a few cuffs. In the Calle de Sevilla and the Puerta del Sol, they admired the groups of unemployed toreros, superior beings, from whom they ventured to beg-without any result-a little alms to continue their journey. A

the railway. They travelled to many places of small importance in the different Andalusian provinces, whenever they heard vague rumours of "fiestas" with their corresponding "capeas." In this way they travelled as far as La Mancha, and Es

e hours for a solitary hen to come near them, and having wrung her neck would proceed on their tramp, to light a fire of dry wood in the middle of the day, and swallow the poor bird scorched and half raw with the voracity of little savages. The

e urchins' caps, and finding the hairy appendage of the pig-tail, they would move off laughing, and make no further enquiries. They were not little thieves; they were "aficionados" going to the "capeas." In this tolerance there was a mixture of sympathy for the national pastime, and respect towards the

in a town of Estremadura the

humps on his back and offers of glasses of wine. An exclamation of horror startled him out of this intoxication of triumph. Chiripa was no longer standing on the ground of the Plaza. Nothing remained of him but the banderillas rolling on the ground, one slipper and his cap. The bull was tossing his head as if irritated at some obstacle, carrying impaled on one of his horns a

raw mattress to a room in the Town Hall which usually served as a prison. His companion saw him there with his face as white as plaster, h

sighed. "Adio, Juani

ls. He was afraid. A quiet cow crossing his path would have made him run. He thought of his mother and the wisdom of her advice. Would

a Campana, recalling pitifully the little rascal with the scarred face who had run so many errands for them. Juan, fired by such marks of consideration, gave rein to his powerful imagination, and described how he

ckets he could see court-yards of oriental luxury, with arcades of Moorish tiles; floors of marble and murmuring fountains, which dropped a shower of pearls day and night over basins surrounded by green leaves. His fate was decided. He would kill bulls or die. He would be rich, so that the newspapers should speak of him, and people bow before him, even though it were at the cost of his life. He despised the inferior ranks of the torero. He saw the banderilleros who risked their lives, just like the masters of the p

of loose life attracted by the manly beauty of the Zapaterin, who was now eighteen, and also by the prestige of his pig-tail, quarrelled among themselves in noisy rivalry, as to who should have the care of his comely person. Added to this, he now reckoned on a Godfa

tes looked to the scrupulous whiteness of his collars and shirt fronts, and on great days he wore over his waistcoat a double chain of gold like

s of the famous masters. It was rumoured as true, that certain patrons were working in favour of[Pg 76] this "lad," a

: "Do you dare to put your hand to him?" ... and he did put his hand. Afterwards, emboldened by the facility with which he had come out of the peril,

"aficionados" who wished to amuse themselves fighting his cattle. Juanillo had been there in the days of his poverty with other companions, to eat to the health

will give his ticket to r

cony of his Plaza, whilst the youngsters from Seville fo

derer!" he would cry, reprovi

to get over your fright," ... he would shout when a lad continued ly

atter seated him at his own table, while his comrades remained in the kitchen with

ay, Gacho. You will go far, if your heart

r him, and he cast looks of envy on the enormous grange, with its extensive olive-yards, its mills, its pastures which lost themselves to sight, on which thousands o

ille, attracting the notice of some of the restless and insatiable amateurs, w

ng the Calle de las Sierpes, with a short step swinging his a

9] His protector had acquired for him a gala dress a little used, the cast-off finery of some nameless matador. A corrida of novillos was being organized

would have nothing to do with nicknames, still less with any subordinate employment. He wished to be known by his father's names, he intended

so showed their interest, and all the other workmen's suburbs were roused to the same enthusiasm. A new Sevillian Matador

ned out luckily, provoking immense howls of enthusiasm. Certain amateurs whose opinions were worthy of respect smiled complacently. He still had a great de

s, making use in broad daylight of all the loving words they generally kept for night. One flung her cloak into the arena, another, to go one better, her blouse and her

g

the youngster's courage, and thinking how well the gala dress became him. On seeing him rolled ov

shop; a prudent man, detesting vagrancy, he had fallen in love with the cigarette maker's charms, a

his shop, situated on the outskirts of la Macarena, neither had he ever ceased to use t

nd brother of yours with oranges to make him run,

aniyo, calling him "tu," peacocking with delight when the youngster, attra

ttention of those around him. "I have always thought that youngster would be s

xpansive delight. It was a mercy his brother-in-law was there to restore order, to cover him with his body,[

ike all popular manifestations they were shouting vivas which made the inhabitants run to their doors. The new

t lifted his brother-in-law out in his arms, monopolizing him, shouting and gesticulatin

pushing him towards his wife. "H

t of some far off and confused reading, considered this historic personage as the e

a insinuatingly flattered Se?ora Angustias, a

other who bore s

doubt. Could it be really her Juanillo who was making every

rrows and rages were a dream; as if she were confessing to a shameful error. Her enorm

g

.. If your poor fa

es me luck I will build you a house, and your friends shall see you in a

ered wife, who had not yet got over her surprise at this radical change. "Yes, Encarnacion; this youngs

the people's suburbs, nothi

s the roses! This lad will take off the

the perpetual rivalry with the people of Co

The girls who formerly kept him from hunger, and looked after his adornment found themselves little by little repelled with smiling conte

tain: a bumper house. The[Pg 82] rabble applauded Se?ora Angustias' son with transports, telling tales of his courage. Gallardo's renown soon spread throughout Andalusia, and

ccording to himself, in business, and he

n at his side who will look after his interest. Do you think it would be a bad thing for him to name

of the five children he already had and of the rest which would surely follow, for he was a man of unwearied and

reached Madrid. The amateurs of that town were curious to know the "Sevillian lad" of wh

ick gold chain and his large diamonds, jewels bought with his first earnings and on the credit of those of the future. A matador ought to show by the adornment of his person, and also by his generous treatment[Pg 83] of everyone, that

a party of enthusiasts, anxious for novelty, who also proclaimed him "the torero

," said his brother-in-law. "He will have mill

vel of the days of her poverty. For his own part, he would have liked to move into the best street in the town, but Se?ora Angustias wished to remai

ry of a torero, a powerful sorrel mare, with a Moorish saddle, and a large blanket, adorned with multi-coloured tassels rolled up on the bow. Mounted on her he trotted through the streets, his only object being to receive the homage of his friends who greeted his elegan

" ... he said perpetually, making all his

se his mother; who, poor woman! already frightened by the comfort which had crept s

tiva" arrived, the public reco

killed with one sword thrust the first "formal"[62] bull which was placed before him. The following month this doctorate of tauromachia w

ough the little towns taking part in the "capeas." He remembered having waited for one of them at a station near Cordova to beg a little help from him as he passed with his cuadrilla. That night he had something to

see him. The professional papers popularized his portrait and his life, not without adding romantic episodes

oo rapidly. Just think how he had worked for Juan! How obstinately he had discussed matters with Managers when they were arranging the runs of Novillos!... And now that he was "Maestro" he ha

ll he meet with affection like ours, who have known him since his earliest childho

he laughter of the banderilleros and amateurs who frequented the matador's house,

f the house he was building. He gave him carte-blanche for all expenses, for the espada, bewildered with the ease with which money was pouring into his

g

marble floors, her rooms with furniture like that of the gentry, and servants, a great many servants, to wait on her. Gallardo also felt himself drawn by traditional affection to the suburbs where he had spent his miserable childhood. It pleas

ich should have white walls, the iron work of its windows and balconies painted green, a vestibule with a dado of Moorish tiles, and an iron wicket of fine wor

ompletely at liberty with regard to the direction and pro

ing estocades, and receiving tumultuous applause; but almost every day he wrote to a young girl in the suburb, and during the brief respit

wife and mother-in-law. "A sweetheart, without ever saying a word to his family, which is the only real

ndsome head, pleased on the whole to express what she thought about that brother, whose good

ther raise

e Fabrica. She is as pure as a river of gold, well mannered, good-handsome.... I

provision shop in the suburb. Her father, a former wine mer

she brings something of her own.... And for clothes? Jesus; those little hands are

, the whole pupil[Pg 88] as black as a drop of ink, the whites blueish and the corners pale pink. When she ran, nimbly as a boy, she showed legs like thin reeds, and her hair flew wildly about her he

, in their lace mantillas, pinned to their breasts with bunches of carnations, Gallardo saw a young girl, tall, slim but at the same time strongly built, her waist well poised ab

t Gallardo vainly, most probabl

men, the playmate of his childhood, and he felt confused and delighted at

l the neighbours spoke of the courtship, whic

te those toreros who, when they marry ladies, marry nothing but hats, and feathers and flou

ghted, hastened t

s that would drive anyone

g

se jests if you please. Eh? And the l

of flowers, the waiter from a neighbouring tavern came bearing a tray on which stood two glasses of Manzanilla. It was the messenger

ffering the other to Carmen

in presently; ... tell Monta?es also that he is not to take an

tavern where those who had offered the civility were waiting for him, some of them

nding by the iron grating of Carmen's window, wrapped in his elegant and luxurio

deal," sighed Carmen, pressing h

bliged to return, nothing more. And besides, you see, a torero i

so that you go w

g

knew you. Rascals! Curse them! I should like to know wh

he continued, cutting short her l

to-morrow! That blockhead, my brother-in-law, never gets done

ed, Juaniyo. You will see, everything will go on al

e affair with Se?ora Angustias, whenever they met, but all the same, the torero scarcely ever set foot in Carmen's house, it seemed as

familiar "thou" with a patronizing air. It was necessary for him to preserve his bodily agility by continual exercise,

ily." He lived on his own income, and had no other employment than that of talking perpetually of bulls and toreros. For him there was [Pg 91]nothing interesting in the world beyond corridas, and he divided the nations into

ial and laughter-loving in ordinary life, was fierce and unbending on the benches of a Plaza, if his neighbours expressed opinions differing from his own. He felt himself capable of fighting the whole

is love of war. His stoutness and his enthusiasm for bulls had made him retire

ightest doubt cast on his hero's merits made him crimson with rage, and he generally ended by turning a bull-fighting discussion into a personal qu

so on winter mornings he would go and sit at a sunny corner at the entra

g

self, pretending not to see the people who were approaching. "The first man in

iends chuckling, prete

d it be?"

t Ju

indignation

if there were many Ju

hem, "one would think it was yo

roaching he ignored thei

in the world! If anyone doesn't believe it, l

ugurated, of which the saddler was so proud, that he showed the patio, the c

irds on hundreds of shawls of Chinese design, worn by the bride's friends. A deputy was best man, among the black or white felt hats, shone the tall silk ones of his

ution of alms; many poor people had come even from distant

rls, their arms raised, danced with dainty feet on the marble pavement, and skirts and shawls waved round the pretty figures in the rhythm of Sevillanas. Bottle of rich Andalusian wine were opened by the dozen, glasses of hot Jerez, of heady Montilla, and Manzanilla of San Lucar, pale and perfumed, passed f

Se?ora Angustias. The saddler on leaving made a gesture of despair; tipsy, he was besides furious, for no one

the 'Virgin of Hope,' will be mistress of everything, and there will

osterity that would come to the espada, a posterity sent int

g

s which drew cries of admiration from poorer women; Gallardo displaying all his diamonds, ever ready to take out his purse to treat friends, or to help the beggars who came in swarms. The gitanas, loquacious and copper colou

asure; in vain the espada drew himself up, proud of his work, and ho

carnacion, whom the saddler was careful should spend most of their time in their grandmother's house, doing their best to please their Se?or tio.[66] But she, who wished to compensate for her former u

Carmen has too many anxieties, you should see the p

. Carmen was happy, knowing her husband ran no risks; she laughed at anything, ate, and her face was bright with the hues of health. But as soon as the spring time came round, and Juan left h

intimates of the house, speaking of the espada's

tten in a prayer might influence the fate of the absent one; seventy-two days of pained surprise at living in a great house, seeing the same people, and finding life go on in its usual way; as though nothing extraordinary was going on in the world, hearing her husband's nephews playing

y maker's footsteps, when guitars tinkled, accompanied by hand clappings and songs in the tavern at the corner!... Then Carmen, p

g

ch which had witnessed the happiest day of her life, to kneel before the Virgin de la Macarena. By the light of the numerous tapers she ordered to be lighted, she would gaze at the dark face of that statue with

s that other had wept for her Son. She must confide in stronger powers, so with the egoism of pain, she abandoned la Macarena without scruple, like a useless friend, and went to the church of San Lorenzo in

only listen to her sighs and prayers, repeated hurriedly, with dizzy rapidity, so that the greatest possible number of words should be said in the shortest possible time, she was sure that Juan would come safe and sound out of the arena, where he was at that moment fighting. At ot

h trembling hands. "Nothing new." She could breathe again, and sleep, like the criminal who is freed for the moment from the fe

e had only known what this life was before her marriage!... Now and then, impelled by the community of sufferin

r husband must be quite well as he sent no news. Telegrams were dear, and a banderillero earned little enough. When the newspaper sellers did not shout an accident, it

e chief's wife filled her with[Pg 98] pride, but her anxieties made her laugh. She ought not to be afraid, the men on foot nearly always got clear of the bull, and the Se?or Juan was very lucky in throwing himself on the beast. Bulls killed few people, the terrible things were the falls from horse-back.

ce of fate, against those fine fellows who directly they handled a sword, appropriated all t

g part and parcel of her life. Besides her husband's usual good luck, and the constant conversation in the house on the chances of the fight, ended by familiarizing her with the dang

, she had never been near the Plaza. She felt she should not have the courage to see a corrida, even though Gallardo were

am came at the usual hour, bearing the habitual "nothing new," and it was through the kindness of Don José, who visited Carmen da

join her husband, and nurse him, feeling sure he was neglected. But there was no need, the espada arrived before she could leav

order to salute Gallardo "the first man in the world," who, sitting in a cane arm-chair, with h

mystery for him, in spite of his long practice as a surgeon. The horn, filthy with blood and excrement, very often broken at the ends by blows into small splinters, broke the flesh, lacerat

uch perplexed. "Either these lads have flesh like a dog, or the ho

g

g, his wound, in spite of his enemies' predicti

were going to become landed proprietors-proprietors on a large scale-with lands of which they could not s

way tempt them, and they understand nothing whatever about them. But bulls make them think of the broad plains, and horses remind them of the countr

poverty, when he had wandered on foot, through the cultivated lands and pastures, he had always nourished the fervent desire of possessin

eceiving the money due to him from the different managers, and keep

ignorance. "I only understand how to kill bulls. Do whatever you like, D

g

's rather ineffectual management, thought day and night of the matador's fortu

ame gaily to

ig as the world, and very cheap-a splendid bar

the name and situa

lled La R

wishes wer

with his companions in misery, the room where he had dined with the former owner, the little Plaza where he had killed the ye

TNO

bull-fig

rdens by the Guada

ttle sh

oros c

Olla-

knew all

forefeet. When the animal is in the act of charging he turns it by a pass o

at on the ground, and when the bull is in the act of

-fighting

s, dedicati

s-up to about t

own bulls fought accor

of fortune of t

hen a torero cuts off his pigtail or

the conditions necessary for a large b

use-which is always a garden with foun

ion used of Andalusian lovers who s

rent-something akin

e.