Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XII. The Bullfight
<< 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.
THE BULLFIGHT 267
The bustle in the Spanish streets and market-places
is epitomized in this the most national of all their
popular amusements; the innate frivolity of the people,
their passionate and capricious nature, are well ex-
pressed in the high light of the arena, and impress
themselves indelibly upon one’s consciousness.
The Spanish nation is as rich in ideals of liberty as
any other nation; but it succumbs easily to hood-wink-
ing. To-day the elections are being held and the
leaders tell us that the question at stake is one of
freedom or bondage. But are not the Spaniards free
men? The bullfight surely is taking place in response
to the popular desire. Is not the people supreme ruler
of the arena? The bullfighters must obey them. The
gendarmes dare not budge; the Prefect himself is the
submissive servant of the people and must swallow
what they offer him. We have in the arena an appar-
ent realization of the political dream of autonomy,
here in the most important field of all. No doubt it is
only a minor matter that the election returns last Sun-
day were manipulated to the advantage of the reac-
tionary groups, and that to-day, on which another elec-
tion is being held, several thousand voters will be ab-
sent from the polls because of the bullfight. A minor
matter, but it may become quite a serious one if the
bullfight should in addition be a poor one. Then the
people will seek for some object on which to vent their
rage and they will then recall even the minor circum-
stance.
And it is not impossible for a bullfight to fail of its
effect. The bullfighter may be a wretched amateur, so
mediocre that the onlookers tear off their cloaks and
jump down into the arena to show him how a thrust
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
