Excerpts from Cosas de mi pueblo by Ermilo Abreu Gómez
Translated by Colin Gee
Holy Week
During the days of Holy Week you can`t tell lies or say bad words because anything could offend Our Lord. The devils go about freely and angels incognito. The gates of heaven are closed and the gates of hell stand open and next to them burn lamps and dance naked women.
Bell-bottoms
The mestizos dress in the following manner: black sombrero, white shirt, buttonholes of mother-of-pearl, leather sandals, and ´bell-bottom’ pants, white with wide starched legs. When the mestizo walks his pants crunch. It sounds like he´s got a rattle in there. The louder the pants, the more elegant the proprietor.
About dessert
In the old homes it was the custom to read a book after eating. Cloth removed, the maid would light the lamp and set it at the head of the table. Then the man of the house opened the book and began to read aloud. Usually he read an adventure book. Among the favorites were Fernandez and Gonzalez, Alexander Dumas, and Pérez Escritch. After each chapter there was a summary and always many guesses as to the possible outcome of the story. On Sundays instead of a novel they read a passage from the Gospels; and, when that was over, prayed the Pater Noster.
The double-cover pocket watch
When a dandy pulled a double-cover pocket watch from his vest it was something to see. If you opened the front cover you could watch the disks that marked the hour, the day, the month, the year, and the phases of the moon. If you lifted the back cover you could see the clockwork that was brought to life with a little key. The watch always hung from a chain that crossed on top of the vest. At night it was placed in a velvet cover and put away in the bureau.
Scissors and lightning
Every time it rains you have to hide the scissors, since as they are metal and pointy they attract the lightning. Show me the nanny who doesn´t rush to hide the scissors with which she cuts at the clothes at the first flash. They tell so many stories about people who have died of a bolt of lightning because they sallied across the patio like fools with a pair of scissors in the rainy part of the day.
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