THE LITTLE TOWN OF THE GRAPE VINES 



ness of the night at Las Uvas as sleeping 

 is for midday. When the moon comes 

 over the mountain wall new-washed from 

 the sea, and the shadows lie like lace on 

 the stamped floors of the patios, from recess 

 to recess of the vine tangle runs the thrum 

 of guitars and the voice of singing. 



At Las Uvas they keep up all the good 

 customs brought out of Old Mexico or 

 bred in a lotus-eating land ; drink, and are 

 merry and look out for something to eat 

 afterward ; have children, nine or ten to a 

 family, have cock-fights, keep the siesta, 

 smoke cigarettes and wait for the sun to 

 go down. And always they dance ; at dusk 

 on the smooth adobe floors, afternoons 

 under the trellises where the earth is damp 

 and has a fruity smell. A betrothal, a 

 wedding, or a christening, or the mere 

 proximity of a guitar is sufficient occasion; 

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