MEXICAN DANCES AND MUSIC GENIN. 669 



bust of a woman surmounting an enormous crinoline, quite like the 

 table bells that we have in Europe and in the United States. I have 

 several specimens of them which produce a silvery tone, not at all 

 dead as one would suppose. This evidently results from the com- 

 position of the special clay which the makers used. Sometimes these 

 little bells were doubled, that is, coupled together, giving two quite 

 different tones. 



In the balls of the Indians of our time there are frequently intro- 

 duced entirely modern orchestras with wind and stringed instruments, 

 but in that case the ball was not slow in degenerating, although keep- 

 ing its ancient character in movements and rhythms, as we shall see 

 later on, in the ball of the Antiguos, the Matachines, or buffoons ; the 

 polka, the danza, and the boleros made their entrance; the couples 

 were mixed, and it resembled any popular ball, with the usual accom- 

 paniment of cries, libations, disputes, and knife cuts. 



MODERN DANCES. 



Fray Bernardino de Sahagun 12 and Father Acosta 13 mention the 

 theatrical representations and the balls which the ancient Mexicans 

 gave at Cholula in honor of Quetzalcoail. " The Aztecs," they say, 

 " cultivated not only lyric poetry but also the dramatic, Their 

 theater was a platform, square and uncovered, situated ordinarily in 

 the center of the market place or at the foot of some pavilion. This 

 platform was sufficiently raised to enable it to be seen from all sides 

 by the spectators." 



" The theater of Tlaltelolco," writes Cortez in his Relaciones, 

 " was made of stones and lime, 30 feet high and 30 paces on a side." 



They carefully adorned this kind of stage with branches, plants, 

 and flowers. Stuffed birds were placed in the foliage. The actors, 

 ludicrously painted, simulated being deaf, blind, or afflicted with 

 some infirmity, which gave rise to much blundering and jeering. 

 They went to ask of some idol the cure for their ills, and thanked 

 them for hearkening to their prayer. 



Other actors disguised as animals of every kind recounted stories, 

 expressing in pantomime scenes in which the vices and faults of men 

 were ridiculed by the animals, serving as lessons of high morality 

 like the admirable fables of our La Fontaine. They gave also rep- 

 resentations of historic facts, of battles, and the actors put so much 

 feeling into them that often a man was killed. The representation 

 always finished with a ball, in which the different actors took part 

 in the costume of the roles which they had filled, and this did not 

 take place without leading to comic scenes. 



12 Historia general de las cosas de Nueva Espana. 



13 Historia natural y moral de las Indias. 



