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264 DAYS IN THE SUN
that the bull slays their mount as dramatically as pos-
sible. Their trade requires no particular skill, merely
brute strength, contempt for death, and bones of iron.
They must be able to survive a most savage tossing,
which often hurls them to the ground with a tremen-
dous impaċt. They enjoy no extravagant admiration
except among the middle and lower classes; but they
get about one hundred dollars for a single perform-
ance.
The chulos and banderilleros. There are fellows
for you! They are quick of foot and as swift as ar-
rows! They must flit and dart before the bull’s eyes
like unstable shadows; they must tease and torment
him with their red cloths and plant their motley arrows
in his huge neck. The lives of the picador and the
espada often depend on the swiftness and decision of
the chulos and banderilleros. ‘They are uneducated
men, but well trained and sober in their habits. Their
pay is not half as high as that of the picadores. They
do not get more than seventy-five dollars for one per-
formance; but they enjoy greater prestige. The young
men of the nobility associate with them in public. It
is from their midst as a rule that the espada is re-
cruited.
La espada! We may be a priest who suddenly casts
aside his hood and scorns the authority of the Church
Almighty in order to take up the work of bullfighting
as a simple apprentice with a village troupe; or he may
be a student coming from an excellent family with a
splendid career waiting for him. Perhaps he is simply
an apprentice in a slaughterhouse who practices his
new art by striking down the calves with his great
knife while an associate drives them toward him. But
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