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THE BULLFIGHT 263
applaud and get excited quite as they would at a real
corridas. ‘The animal is adorned with garlands of
flowers from head to tail; he is the recipient of much
abuse and many beatings; and he is pricked by the long
goads of the ox-drivers. But they do not kill him.
They cannot afford to; he is too valuable. Plenty of
those present would be glad to kill him and would be
able to do it too! Besides the professional bullfighters
there are thousands of men in Spain—and not a few
women—who can manipulate a sword well enough to
kill a steer; and there are many amateurs—young
noblemen, bankers, and others, who do not suffer by
comparison with the professionals themselves.
The bullfight, which was a game of chivalry among
the Moors, a tournament, has now become a handi-
craft whose practitioners travel in groups (bandas)
from arena to arena, sometimes even going off on tours
to France, Portugal, or South America. Such a troupe
or quadrille consists of ten or twelve persons, with
four different functions: los picadores (the lance.
bearers), los chulos or las capas (the players of the
cape), Jos banderilleros (the bearers of the darts) and
las espadas (the blades, the fighters). It is the latter
who organizes the quadrille and pays them; it is in his
power to cover the whole band with glory or disgrace
by a single turn of his wrist.
The picadores, successors to the knights of the
Moors, ride wretched mares worth not as much as
fifteen dollars each. ‘These men are supplied with
lances, each held in its lance-rest; this they plunge into
the bull’s chest to arouse his rage. They wear iron
greaves about their calves to protect them from the
horns of the bull. Their sole function is to manage so
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