Little Flowers Of Spain.
By Fernan Caballero.
"Humble flowers of religious poetry, and derivations of popular expressions and proverbs," is the title given by the authoress to the article headed "Cosas (humildes) de España" —Humble Things of Spain.
If there exists an individual who has read all that we have written—and the case, though not probable, is nevertheless not impossible—he must have noticed that our zeal, our labor, and our specialty is to find out origins and causes, draw inferences and conclusions, and trace things to their why and wherefore. We are really apprehensive lest in this branch we may become too notable.
Our system is the same that is followed nowadays by writers of history. Let it be understood that we do not meddle with such weighty subjects, nor venture into profound depths, and that our employment of the aforesaid modern system is solely in questions of the humble schools. Our information is all obtained from popular traditions, romances, and beliefs. The data which it is our delight to place in relief, all the world has handled as the Indians did gold before their conquerors gave it value; as future generations will give value to the things of which we treat when they lament their loss.
Our explorations in these rich mines have been rewarded. We have ascertained that the first tree that God planted was the white poplar; therefore the white poplar is the most ancient of trees—the vegetable Adam. We have learned that the serpent went straight, erect, and proud of his triumph in Paradise, until the flight into Egypt, when, encountering the Holy Family, he attempted to bite the child Jesus, and the indignant St. Joseph prevented him with these words, "Fall, proud one, and never rise again!" From that good day to this he has crawled. We have learned, moreover, that snakes and toads are permitted to exist solely for the purpose of absorbing the poisons of the earth. We have found out that the evergreen trees are endowed with their privileges of life and beauty in recompense for having given shelter and shade to the Mother and Child whenever they stopped to rest in their flight from the sword of Herod; that the rosemary enjoys its fragrance and always blossoms on Friday, the day of Our Lord's Passion, because the Blessed Virgin, when she washed the little garments of the babe, used to hang them to dry upon its branches; also, that for this very reason it has the gift of attracting peace and good-hap to the dwellings that are perfumed with it on Holy-night. That everybody has sympathy, affection, and even reverence for the swallows, because compassionately and with such sweet charity they pulled out the thorns that were piercing the temples of the divine Martyr. That the red-owl, which, grieved and appalled, witnessed the cruel crucifixion of the God-man, has done nothing ever since but repeat the melancholy cry "Cruz! Cruz!" That the rose of Jericho, which was white before, owes its purple hue to a drop of the wounded Saviour's blood that fell into its cup. That on Mount Calvary, and all along the way of agony, the gentle plants and fresh herbs wilted and died when our Lord passed by bearing his cross, and that these places were presently covered with briers. That the lightning loses its power to hurt in the whole circumference that is reached by the sound of praying. That at High Mass on Ascension-day, at the moment of the elevation, the leaves of the trees incline upon each other, forming crosses, in token of devotion and reverence. When newborn infants smile, in dreams or waking, we know that it is to angels, visible only to them. A murmur in the ears is the noise made by the falling of a leaf from the tree of life. When silence settles all at once upon several persons forming a company, it is not, as the wise ones say, because "the carriage is running upon sand," but because an angel has passed over them, and the air that is moved by his wings communicates to their souls the silence of respect, though their comprehension fails to divine the cause. Likewise, we have ascertained that the tarantula was a woman extravagantly fond of the dance, and so inconsiderate that when, on one occasion, she was dancing, and His Divine Majesty [Footnote 182] passed by, she did not stop, but continued her diversion with the most frightful irreverence. For this she was changed into a spider with the figure of a guitar delineated upon its back, and possessed of a venom that causes those who are bitten by it to dance and dance until, fainting and exhausted, they fall down in a swoon.
[Footnote 182: The Blessed Sacrament.]
In effect, we have learned many other things: some of them we have already written; the rest we mean to write; that is to say, "If the rope does not break, all will go on as usual."
But, among these things, there is one which we are going to communicate immediately, for fear lest we die of cholera, and it descend with us into the tomb; for it barely survives at present, and with it would perish its remembrance.
In times when faith filled hearts to overflowing, offerings and ex-votos were brought by thousands to the house of God. Now that we are enlightened, we have other uses for our gold, our rare objects, and fine arts; for, as the poet says,
"En el sigh diez y nueve
Nadie á tener fé se atreve,
Y no huy que en milagros cred."
[Footnote 183]
[Footnote 183: In the nineteenth century, no one dares to have faith and there is no one who believes in miracles.]
It is well—or, better said, it is ill.
The first ostrich eggs procured by the Spaniards, in their voyages to Africa, were regarded as marvels, and deposited, either as offerings or ex-votos, in the churches, where, bound and tied with gay ribbons, they hung before the altars and were looked upon as ornaments of great value. And even now, before modest altars in humble villages are sometimes seen these enormous eggs; presenting with their worn and faded decorations the appearance of porcelain melons. By whom were they brought? where were they found? who hung them here? are questions that assault the mind of the beholder, and send his thoughts and fancy into the vast field of conjectures impossible to verify, but all sweet, romantic, and holy.
The imagination of the Spanish people is an instinct. They cannot see a material object without attaching to it an ideal. Out of the fervor of their own heart they made a symbol of this.
The belief adapted to the ostrich egg, hung in front of the altar, is one that will be sagely qualified by sanctimonious devotees of literal truth as superstitious and fanatical. We offer it to the Protestant missionaries who favor us with their propaganda, as a killing weapon against the benighted and malignant papists.
It is said that the mother-bird cannot hatch these eggs, which appear to be of marble, because it is impossible for her to cover them, and because there is not heat enough in her body to warm them through; but that she has in her look such fire, kindled by her great desire to free her offspring, that by keeping her eyes continuedly and without distraction fixed upon the eggs, the ardor and concentration of her love penetrates the hard shell and delivers her little ones. And they hung these eggs before the places where the holy sacrifice of the mass is offered, to teach us to keep our eyes fixed upon the altar with equal desire, equal love, and exclusive attention and devotion. O poets! if you would fulfil your mission, which is to move the heart, learn less in palaces, and more from the people who feel and believe.
Among sayings and proverbs that have been accepted everywhere without having to show their parentage, is the well-known expression, Ahi me las den todas: May I get them all there.
One of the creditors of a certain dishonest fellow, that owed all the world and paid nobody, laid his complaint before the judge, who sent an alguacil to suggest to the debtor the necessity of paying at once.
For response to the intimation, the debtor gave the alguacil, who was a very dignified man, a slap on his face. The latter, returning to the tribunal, addressed the magistrate thus: "Sir, when I go to notify an individual on the part of your worship, whom do I represent?" "Me," answered the judge. "Well, sir," proceeded the alguacil, touching his cheek, "to this cheek of your worship they have given a slap." "May I get them all there," replied the judge.
Here is the etymology of another saying, Quien no te conozea te compre: Let some one buy you that don't know you. Three poor students came to a village where there was a fair. "What shall we do to amuse ourselves?" asked one as they were passing a garden in which an ass was drawing water from a well. "I have already hit upon a way," answered another of the three. "Put me into the machine, and you take the ass to the fair and sell him." As it was said, so it was done. When his companions had gone, the student that had remained in the place of the ass stood still. "Arre!" [Footnote 184] shouted the gardener, who was at work not far off.
[Footnote 184: Geho!]
The improvised ass neither started nor shook his bell, and the gardener mounted to the machine, in which, to his great consternation, he found his ass changed into a student. "What is this?" he cried. "My master," said the student, "some ill-natured witches transformed me into an ass, but I have fulfilled the term of my enchantment and returned to my original shape."
The poor gardener was disconsolate, but what could be done? He unharnessed the student, and, bidding him go with God-speed, set out sorrowfully for the fair to buy another beast. The very first that presented itself was his own, which had been bought by a company of gipsies. The moment he cast his eyes upon it, he took to his heels, exclaiming, "Let some one buy you that don't know you."
Yo te cono cí ciruelo—I knew you when you were a plum-tree—is a common saying. The people of a certain village bought a plum-tree of a gardener, for the purpose of having it converted into an effigy of St. Peter. When the image was finished and set up in the church, the gardener went to see it, and, observing the somewhat lavish coloring and gilding of its drapery, exclaimed:
"Gloriosisimo San Pedro,
Yo te cono cí ciruelo,
Y de tu fruta comi;
Los misagros que tu hagas
Que me me los cuelgan á mi!"
"Most glorious Saint Peter!
I knew you when you were a plum-tree,
and ate of your fruit;
the miracles you do,
let them hang upon me."
Ya saco raja—He has got a share—is often said, and we trace it to Estremadura, where the live-oak groves are divided into rajas; raja being the name of an extension yielding acorns enough to feed a given number of hogs. When the rajas are public property, they are distributed at a trifling rent to the poorer householders, who are, as will be supposed, very anxious to have them. But to obtain one is difficult, for the ayuntamientos, or town councils, generally give them to their protégés and hangers-on; and, from this circumstance, "He has got a hog-pasture," has come to be said of any person that by skill, cunning, audacity, or good luck succeeds in obtaining an advantage difficult to get, or of which the getting depends upon some one else.
El que tiene capa escapa—He that wears a cloak escapes—dates from the giving way of the new bridge at Puerto Santa Maria, under the weight of the great crowd that had collected upon it. To prevent thefts and disturbances, Captain-General O'Kelly issued an order to the effect that no person wearing a cloak should be allowed to cross the bridge. In consequence of this order, no one wearing a cloak fell into the river.
It is usual to indicate that a person is poor by saying, El esta á la cuarta pregunta—He is at the fourth question. This assertion is derived from the interrogation of witnesses for the defence in suits when, among other circumstances, that of poverty is wished to be proved. This extreme being comprehended in the fourth question, as follows: "Does the witness know, of his own knowledge, that the party he represents is poor, and possesses neither landed property nor income; so that he has absolutely no means of support except the product of his own labor?"