For in the far distant past, the Pope, hearing about the Sevillana, wished to see for himself what sort of dance it was. In those days, it would have been considered shocking for girls to dance before the Pope. So six boys were taught the steps of the Sevillana and taken to the Vatican in Rome.
Here they danced, dressed in their beautiful silken costumes. The Pope was so well pleased that he granted permission to use this dance during certain ceremonies at the cathedral. But the privilege was to last only so long as the boys' costumes lasted.
| DANCE OF THE SIX, SEVILLE CATHEDRAL |
Today these costumes are still in use. But what a deal of patching and mending must have taken place during those hundreds of years!
When the dance was over, Fernando went into his room and pulled off his quaint, plumed hat. The reverent little dancer had changed to a furious, red-faced youth. He threw the hat down on the floor in a fit of anger.
"Never!" he cried. "Never will I dance it again!"
His sister Maria stood trembling at the door.
"Do not say that, Fernando," she begged. "Think of our parents. You would break their hearts were you never to dance in the cathedral again. These past three days have been for them the happiest of their lives."
"I shall never dance again," repeated Fernando firmly. "It is girls' work, and I am a boy. I shall run away and work with men—and be a man!"
Fernando picked up his castanets, which had fallen to the floor.