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A BULL-FIGHT.
The August sun shines brightly,
with its golden splendour inundating
immense plains and fertile acres.
Away on the horizon the hazy sierra
overtops scattered villages, from
which wind a stream of countryfolk
along the dusty roads. There are
mules, their bridles decked with
worsted balls of red and yellow ;
big Spanish donkeys, carrying long
legged, sun-burnt Castileans and
their voluminously skirted women
folk. Here and there is a horseman
with his wide-brimmed Cardova hat.
Laughter and banter accompany the
tinkle of bells. For this is a merry
crowd, coming through heat and
'dust to the popular national specta
cle of an evening bull-fight. .
Before the booking office in the
town 3 long queue has from early
morning been waiting. On adjacent
walls large posters depict the "tor
ero" of the moment and scenes con
nected with his past fights. What
perhaps most strikes the foreigner
in looking upon such a gathering of
prospective spectators is the number
of girls and women of all classes
forming such a considerable part of
it. Their presence at such a scene
seems so startlingly ' incongruous
when one considers the exaggerated
care with which these women are al
most invariably brought up in isola
tion ! Nor docs the mere passive
role of spectator suffice for all of
them.
To day every vehicle has been
requisitioned and the better to show
themselves some of the town girls
sit on the backs of the seats. All
wear the high comb and a- black man
tilla is "the more popular, though
many a white one is to be seen. The
"county" turns out* in' luxurious
cars and the latest of Paris fashions.
Everywhere are carnations, bright
shawls, gay fans.
Outside the large amphitheatre
where the show is to be held gather
the hawkers, who pester one to buy
little bran-filled paper cushions ; no
luxuries these, but necessities on the
wooden seats within. Raucous voices
cry such wares as paper fans and
coloured handkerchiefs illustrative
of the sport. Armed and mounted
guards ride into one from time to
tijnc, ruthlessly pushing one between
bonnets of motors and among the
hind legs of mules. It is a veritalde
Spanish medley !
Finally the wide doors open, and
a wild rush upstairs gains one a tier
"in the shade," where all the more
prosperous go. The "sun side" is
cheaper and for the ordinary public.
A royal princess is to preside, mayor
and corporation are in attendance;
there is a military band and refresh
ments. Talk is loud and chiefly con
cerning the breed of bulls ; from
whose farm tbey came ; their pedi
gree. The chances of the torero are
•also discussed. It is said that there
are really no good fneo left, and one
catches sighs for the return of some
departed favourite.
A door opens and a man comes
forth to rake over the sand. The
m"sic starts and the fighting four
(the Cuadrilio) emerge, clad in their
brilliant and fantastic garments.
Then come the mounted picadors.
All advance and salute, retiring after
^ turn in the arena. Deep silence
follows.
Again a door opens. This time a
huge bull rushes out, snorts, paws
the sand and finding the place empty
looks around in a dazed way at tbc
sea of faces. Noiselessly the men
approach. One swishes a cape before
the bull's muzzle and is away in a
flash. Another follows up with a
repetition, of this gesture, and yet a
third leads the bull off in similar
fashion in another direction. Infuri
ated by the dangling capes the ani
mal bellows, ducking his huge head
in preparation to attack. His last
opponent runs it so fine he must
needs seek safety by leaping into the
ranks of the spectators. :
Whereupon, cries of "Fool!" and.
"Good Bull !:" ensue,. (It is observ
able that nobody considers the men.
"They ought hot to come if they
don't know how to fight !" is the
careless and pitiless pronouncement.)
The bull now turns away with an
air of contempt and immediately
there waltzes up to him a figure of
arresting poise. Here if anywhere in
this gruesome spectacle does beauty
lurk. Wonderful graceful are the
movements of . the - bandero, the
thrower, as he lances the barbed,
sticks between the bull's shoulders.
The horror is 'temporarily forgotten,
the blood unheeded, as one watches
this superb human agility. Several
barbs are now sticking in fan-like
erection and the bull is turning* a
vivid red and evidently tiring.
And now horsemen on skeleton
like mounts, blindfolded on the off
side, arrive; each man with .heavy
padding and carrying a long spear.
It is obvious these unfortunate,
doomed animals suspect something
evil; doubtless from the subtle
odour assailing their nostrils. A
ripping sound ! Horse and man rise
up, the hull under them, only his
hind quarters visible. Crash ! They
are down again. The horse is led
out, to he stitched up for another
round or, perhaps, continues in a
state too nauseous for description.
(At every ring there is always a vet.
in attendance, and there is also the
ominous provision of a chapel—
where the dead toreros are laid.)
All the five or six horses being
maimed or killed, the moment of in
tensest excitement arrives, when the
torero must kill with the short
sword. A good man does his job
quickly. To-day we have no cele
brity, and he misses several times.
Little does this remorseless public
think of his courage and endurance,
but boos and hisses him, flings rot
ten melons and fruit peel; bellowing
wrathfully :
"Senor . President, give us back
our money !"
Virgin! He can't fight!"
"Go home, lad !" ^
"God of my life, was there ever
such an imbecile !"
The royal princess, who has been
dozing, awakens. The President tries
to quell the pandemonium. The tor
ero, looking very glum, calls for a
fresh sword and makes yet another
attempti. This time the bull falls on
its knees and belching forth its life
blood sinks to fight no more. A
pair of gaily caparisoned horses car
ry off the carcass and another bull
takes his stand.
The greater the feast to be cele
brated, the finer and more numerous
are the bulls. If the torero of the
day is a popular celebrity shouts of
joy greet him after his kill, purses
cigars, and flowers are bestowed on
him, and like a gladiator in ancient
Rome he bows his thanks to the fair
lady who presents him with the
ears of his victim. Many of these
men are amateur gentlemen toreros.
Bull-fighting has its own language,
and to some of the heroes who have
been killed large public funerals have
been accorded, famous sculptors car
ving monuments to their, memory.
In country lanes it is no unusual
sight to see a youth practising the
excitation to madness of an imagin
ary bull, with an old coat doing
duty for the orthodox cape of the
torero. Indeed, after school of a
summer evening, the joy of young
Spain is to be allowed to hold a
mock hull-fight in the streets. One
boy wears a bull's head formed of
straw, the rest are the fighters. Nor
is a highly critical audience wanting.
Neighbours, whom the heat has
driven out. of doors, sit and sew
along the pavement until far into
the night.
So one cannot observe a waning
tendency in the popularity of this
to the foreigner's thinking, intensely
gruesome spectacle.
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