The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1914-04-25
MEXICAN PEOPLE
AND PASSION PLAY
ANNUAL EASTER PLAY IN MEXICO
ABANDONED TWO YEARS
AGO.
Excited Mexicans Stab s.Thief' on thu
Cross SO Now Hard to Get to
Take the Part.
By William G. Shanherd.

! Press.)
MEXICO CITY, Apr. 23.-Thre
Mexicans were hanging upon crosses
tied with ropes, in a small interio
town, at Easter time, two years ago
1t was the annual passion play of the
village and the citizens were gathered
around the crosses, lamenting over the
dying Christ, who was personified by
the man on the middle cross and ours
| ing in real round oaths the two thieves
who were hung on either side.
One Mexican Excited.
The Mexicans, in the story of the
two thieves, do not understand the
moral of Christ offering redemption to
the outcast pair at the last moment;
instead, they believe that the thieves
were placed beside Christ to make his
death the more ignominious. And SO,
in all village passion plays, the thieves
come in for a vast amount of execra-
ton.
In this particular instance the
crowd, in it's hatred of the thieves, got
into white-hot revival heat against
the thieves and one Mexican, a little
drunken than the rest, suddenly shout
ed:
"Rateros, rateros," meaning thieves,
thieves" and dashed out from the
crowd with stick which he jabbed
into the ribs of the innocent actor on
the cross.
Let me alone" shouted the tied-up
actor. Il am only acting. l am Juan
Lopez and you know me we'll" His
voice could not be heard above the
clamor. The excited crowd only cheer
ed on the man with the stick who gave
he actor another thrust. The other
thief began to shout for the police and |
he actor impersonating Christ Joined
n the declaration of the new-injured |
thief" that they were only acting.
After another thrust or two the
thief tainted and when the crowd
Jaw that he really had been injured
hey quoted down enough so that the
dice of the actor impersonating the
,hrist could be heard:
Christ No Longer.
"Fools!" he shouted. You have
illed him. Let me down. l will not
e the Christ any longer"
He was united and the first thing he
id when he got to the ground was to
i've sound beating to the man with ,
lie stick. In the meantime the I'M ,
)nscious actor was taken down from 3
lie cross and removed to the village +
1ctors office. Two weeks in bed was r
lie penalty he paid for his realistic q
,ting. il
There hasn't been an Easter passion p
ay in this village for the past two
ears, for the simple reason that no
lie is willing to take the part of the
ief Il
Mexican Indians Childish.
The childishness of the Mexican In q,
there are 100000 OF him
Mexico, as against 100000 real :
exicans- is illustrated at Easter
ne, by the manner in which he UNI
rstands the Easter story
His whole idea is not to mourn the
ath of Christ so much as to express i
, hatred of the men who brought it
out. Good Friday, which in other
ids is a day of mourning, is given
er, by the Mexican, to showing his
-red of Judas.
Sell Effigies Today. al
dany thousands of tissue paper fig XII
IS of Judas are sold in the cities er
villages. These effigies are Sc
nched" in village street, with ms
at shouting and jeers. Then, for VIC
IFS afterwards, men and boys throw dis
ks and stones at the effigies until
Y are torn to bits. pre-
4 the camps of all the soldiers Fri ISIS
and Saturday before Easter, ms
ether the soldiers were rebels or for
,rals, it is safe to say that fighting I
forgotten for space of time, in doc
,r to give the Mexican an oppor- wo
ty to give vent to hatred of Judas all
riot noe