Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - IX. A Morning’s Journey
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
190 DAYS IN THE SUN
provided with a piece of iron pipe in which a tongue
produced a ringing sound. His caparison was adorned
with colored tassels. The thick-voiced bell had a
modest and comfortable sound. In one place a donkey
had left the line, in another a mule, in order to eat the
flowers growing by the way. A well-aimed stone soon
restored them to their places. At the end of the cara-
van came the arrieros, the drivers, sitting comfortably
on their donkeys’ backs and droning their monotonous
coplas of unrequited love.
This donkey-path was joined by two others and the
triangular plot at their intersection was crowned by a
crucifix bearing the crucified. Right next to it was a
saloon, in which the peasant might rest on his outward
journey as well as on his return. The crucifix prac-
tically obliged him to dismount, and he obeyed this
obvious command from heaven and took a little re-
freshment. He paid three cents a glass for the same
wine that he would not drink at home. In fact, he had
sold this wine to mine host, for half the price.
I usually took my breakfast here: ham and eggs,
last year’s grapes, and a very good wine. The whole
meal cost a few cents. The table was set under the
bright green vine-leaves outside the house, and a
Madonna of a girl served me. In fact, if she could
have recovered her two front teeth and acquired some
cleanliness, she would have been quite heavenly. I
took my seat and minded my p’s and q’s, for I was now
in a land that had a very definite sense of form, and
among people who didn’t like foreigners anyway. I
invited every man that halted at the place to have a
cup of wine or share my meal with me. It was a de-
light to note their astonishment at this foreigner who
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
