New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1897-05-05
BY WAYS OF Sc \ Ill i.
THUMB MAIL SKETCHES OF A WITTY
AND GRACIOUS PEOPLE

THUMB NAIL SKETCHES OF. a WITTY
AND GRACIOUS PEOPLE.
The Lazy and Picturesque Lite Of the - /
dalusians- Making Love Through Barred
Wtndows-A Taberna Where the Dark
or Side Of Life Il Displayed.
Wandering homo through the dark, |
winding byWays, You pass cloaked fig
ures, whispering at the iron bound WIN
dows. They are the lovers Of Seville,
pelando Ia pava (plucking the turkey |
as they call it. With the lattice slightly
open, the fair Sevillana sits in her dark
ened chamber talking in Whispered
tones to the gallant without. The old
folks, weary Of the task Of chap
after locking the daughter in q room
barred like prison cell, have gone to
bed, and for hours, sometimes the en-
tire night, the affianced lovers look
through the grating into each others
eyes and whisper the nothings Of love.
It would seem cold comfort to a north
ern swain, but the Spaniards say the
iron bars are a necessary evil there in
Spain. In Spain there are life and color
and picturesquene everywhere, and
you think the Spaniard was born to be
an artists model.
In the maze Of tortuous streets about
the market one sees something OF the
life Of the people. There the white
washed houses are outlined against the
brilliant sky, in rambling perspective,
and the graceful tower of some parish
church, it's brown walls moss grown, it's
bright tiles shining, rise sharp and clear
into the blue above. Dark maidens with
glossy hair and warm color in their
cheeks gaze idly from the miradores
above upon the countless people in the
streets below.
The cobbler hammers and stitches in
his smoky little shop without window
Or door, glasses click in the bodega,
sleek cows with mournful eyes and
tinkling bells stand silently chewing
their cuds in the milkman 8 stalls. and
the dainty feet Of shaggy donkeys patter
on the cobble stones as the patient lit
tie beasts, beneath their panniers OF
straw or charcoal, thread their way
|
picking your way through the good ma
tured assemblage, until you reach some
little plaza with it's CHURCH, where beg
gars sun themselves upon the f1agstones,
and the puestos, or booths Of the street
peddlers, with graceful, colored avn
ings, are scattered picturesquely about
the pavement. There the dazzling sun
light casts fantastic shadows on the vel
low and blue walls of the houses, null
ticolored pots or festoons of cotton
prints hang in the dingy shops, gallar.
dos-dandies of the street-gossip II
groups or ogle tie passing naidens
rdogs snooze in sunny spots and crowds
of idlers cluster about some barrel or
gan or blind guitarist There is bootl
near by where bronze skinned gyps.
is cooking molletes calentitos, a sort O
greasy. flour cake fried in oil, and a win
puesto with it's earthen jars, and hug
bottles of red and yellow wine, AM
there vagos loiter to eat and drink.
= One can linger for hours in the street
of Seville, watching the people an
r talking with them, too, for the Anda
lusian of the lower classes is the best {
fellows. There is democratic freedom
:. in his manner, at once respectful an
J.. cordial, which is unlike the obsequiout
q ness or boorishness of the common pei
h pie of other countries. He is slow an
4 even lazy, but he commands respect, an
nowhere can one meet such civility an
heartiness as is shown by the Andalt
sian peasant. But you must unbend an
meet him half way. He does not lii
y Saxon stiffness, and a cordial word
the offer of cigarette will accomplis
10 more than handful of silver.
10 When you go into bodega of tt
70 70 people where aguardiente is sold at
~ cent a glass, the habitues all greet ye
- with a word of welcome, and the ba
~ keeper serves his liquor with COURT
~ ness which is Chesterfeldian. They a
% rough places, those common tavern
10 There is one III particular, across tt
- river in Triana, where the toughs of S
&c ville-the matones, they are called.
), gather to drink and quarrel They S;
J, that every Sevillian who is spelling f
as fight goes there, and many are t
ne cutting ARRAYS in which navajos q
e drawn. With mantas wrapped about t
left arm, the duellists crouch and slo'
~ follow each other around, watchi1
the opportunity for the fatal sprin
just as they do in Carmen. This taber
ell Of the DULLES is a low. dingy .plat
spanned by high teams blackened
e. ages Of cigarettes and dirt. It is open
y, the street on two sides, and snpporti
ISL the corner beams is an old Roman c,
~ umn which looks as though it may ha
lus been standing since the time Of Traia
~ The floor is Of dirt, and in one corner .
NV a S1nxu fa1s1c and fbrco ~. fs1,r ,,aun co.