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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 6 



number of individuals have never married. 

 Nevertheless, after puberty most persons begin 

 to show a decided interest in members of the 

 opposite sex. This interest usually develops in- 

 to a more or less formal courtship (with or with- 

 out the knowledge and consent of the parents) 

 which culminates in marriage. 



The traditional Tarascan way for young 

 people to talk together is to arrange a tryst when 

 the girl goes to carry water from a spring or 

 well. Installation of running water in Tzintzun- 

 tzan has nearly eliminated this custom, though 

 it is still not uncommon to see a youth talking 

 to a girl standing beside a public water tap, her 

 filled jar on the ground. Coeducation in school 

 brings young people together much more than 

 formerly, though most of them have finished 

 school before a serious interest in the opposite 

 sex has been aroused. Fiestas, when the band 

 plays in the evening and people walk around 

 the plaza, afford an opportunity to salute one's 

 love interest with the slow, provocative adios. 

 Following traditional Mexican custom, rnen and 

 boys walk in a clockwise, and girls in a counter- 

 clockwise direction. Much less frequently than 

 in the larger cities does a boy, after a few 

 rounds, break away from his fellows, join the 

 girl, and walk in a counterclockwise direction. 

 Often, groups of boys gather on moonlight nights 

 to talk and to walk past the homes of their 

 sweethearts, singing in unison the favorite pop- 

 ular song of each girl. 



But above all, young people meet at night 

 at the door or window of the girl's home. A 

 saunter through the village after dark will re- 

 veal many a slightly opened door, with a figure 

 standing in the shadow, and low voices, scarcely 

 more than whispers, reveal that two persons are 

 present. The culture pattern calls for the girl's 

 parents to express great rage should they find 

 their daughter at such a meeting. The boy would 

 be chased away with stones, and the girl not 

 allowed out of the house for several days. Ac- 

 tually, the girl's mother, at least, is often, if not 

 usually, well aware of what is going on, and 

 of the identity of the visitor as well. Not un- 

 commonly she will herself be posted within ear- 

 shot, and if she approves of the boy will make 

 no attempt to disrupt the affair. Only in cases 

 of disapproval will she appear with a light, 

 ostensibly making the rounds to see that every- 



thing is closed up. By no means are all mothers 

 so favorably inclined to tolerate their daughters' 

 meetings, but the percentage is high enough so 

 that the outward pattern of preventing contact 

 at all costs must be considered in part, at least, 

 a social fiction. 



Tzintzuntzan is sufficiently sophisticated so 

 that love letters form a part of the courtship of 

 better educated persons. The following two 

 samples were written by a 20-year-old Mestizo 

 to the girl who subsequently became his wife. 

 The first letter reads as follows: 



My beloved Trine: 



Not for a single instant can you imagine wfiy I 

 write you these few lines. Should they be well re- 

 ceived, how much pleasure it will give me; but 

 what sorrow and deception if the fate of my affection 

 be adverse. How terrible this would be, how intoler- 

 able, for my affection tells me not to leave you. It 

 is only that I love you with a maddened soul ; contin- 

 ually I carry your name engraved in my soul. I 

 think of no other thing, nor do I think I could ever 

 forget you. It is the very truth that I love you, and 

 because of this I have decided to write you with 

 vehement eagerness and longing to show you that I 

 do not forget you and that I will never forget you. 

 Not even in death ^vill I forget you, for while I am 

 in my tomb I will have in my spirit the love which 

 in life you showed me. And this strong love will 

 mean that you will remember me and experience a 

 revelation each day, until you come to the place 

 where you will find me and be reunited with me, 

 as in life, never again to be separated. There you 

 will share with me, as you shared in life, the same 

 joys and sorrows as when we lived together so con- 

 tent, filled with an infinite love. 



Trine, I love you so much I am unable to deny 

 it. I love you greatly; don't deny me your love, 

 don't deny me your caresses, don't deny me your 

 kisses. Believe me, Trine, that I love you; my affec- 

 tion is yours. 



I await your affectionate letters which will come 

 to console me. Adios my Trine, adios my little gUare, 

 adios.^" 



The second letter reads as follows: 



Trine: 



I must speak with you either next Sunday the 14th 

 after the lights are turned out, or early Monday 

 morning at 2 o'oclock. I await your rejily, and if 

 it is possible wait for me in the door so that your 

 sister doesn't see us. We'll see if this letter is accom- 

 panied by good luck, for I have had to tear up three 

 which I have written because I was not able to deliver 

 them to you. 



10 This letter probably was copied from one of the book- 

 lets of etiquette uhich are sold in all Mexican markets. These 

 guides to successful courting are a characteristic part of the 

 culture of the lower strata of towns and cities. 



