. A white umbrella in Mexico. e-looking, large-eyed, straight youngfellow, handsome as a Greek god, withteeth like rows of corn, joined in therhythmic chant. As they stood in the Some Peons at Aguas Calientes yy darkening shadows beating time withtheir sandalled feet, with harp and trian-gle silhouetted against the evening sky,and zarapes hanging in long straight linesfrom their shoulders, the effect was sothoroughly classic that I could not butrecall one of the great friezes of the Par-thenon. I lighted a cigarette, opened thewindow of my balcony, and placing thebits of pottery I had bought i
. A white umbrella in Mexico. e-looking, large-eyed, straight youngfellow, handsome as a Greek god, withteeth like rows of corn, joined in therhythmic chant. As they stood in the Some Peons at Aguas Calientes yy darkening shadows beating time withtheir sandalled feet, with harp and trian-gle silhouetted against the evening sky,and zarapes hanging in long straight linesfrom their shoulders, the effect was sothoroughly classic that I could not butrecall one of the great friezes of the Par-thenon. I lighted a cigarette, opened thewindow of my balcony, and placing thebits of pottery I had bought in the mar-ket in a row on my window-sill, with theold gardeners azaleas in the ! largest jar, lis-tened to themusic, mythoughts full ofthe days workand memorywent back to my three friends of the morning, stand-ing in the sunlight, their sombreros in thedust j to the garrulous old gardener bend-ing over his flowers; to the girl sellingpottery; to the almost tender courtesyand gentleness of these people, their un-. 7S A White Umbrella in Mexico changing serenity of temper, their mar-vellous patience, their innate taste andskill, their hopeless poverty and dailyprivations and sufferings; and finally tothe injustice of it all. Peons and serfs in their own land!Despoiled by Cortez, tricked by his suc-cessors, enslaved by the viceroys, taxed,beaten, defrauded, and despised by almostevery ruler and usurper since the days ofSpanish rule, the whole history of the lifeof the Aztec and his descendants, fromthe initial massacre at Cholula down tothe present day, has been one long list ofcruelty and deceit. The music ceased. The old minstrelapproached the balcony and held up hiswide sombrero. I poured into it all mystock of copper coin. Muchas gracias,senor^^ came back the humble acknowl-edgment. Then they disappeared up thenarrow street and the crowd looked after them long and musingly,and surprised myself repeating the bene-diction of the morning, — Con Dios va
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookpublisherbostonhoughtonmiff
