252 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 6 



diately, and if it were Fidelia, the mother of 

 the latter should do likewise. Fidelia's mother 

 refused, and then both mothers insulted each 

 other until asked to leave the courtroom. Isaac 

 continued to court Rufina until she suddenly 

 informed him that Miguel R., a widower of 30, 

 had asked for her hand, and she had accepted. 



Isaac was badly upset by the event and be- 

 came very sad, returning daily directly from 

 his work on the highway and going to bed early. 

 Presently he began to court Lucia M., and his 

 affair seemed to be going well until Andres 

 again appeared on the scene with similar ideas. 

 Nevertheless, Isaac's suit seemed to prosper, 

 and for 3 months he worked like a beaver at 

 his job, saving every centavo possible, so as to 

 be able to marry Lucia. Then Lucia turned 

 cold and appeared to have no interest in Isaac, 

 though he continued to come daily, and devoted 

 her attention to Andres. Just as Isaac was about 

 to give up she suddenly changed, said that she 

 was through with Andres, and that Isaac was 

 her only interest. He then proposed that he 

 should "steal" her the next Sunday night, taking 

 advantage of the relative freedom allowed her 

 at the kermes (p. 187), and she accepted. De- 

 lighted, Isaac asked two of his friends to help 

 him, and to fortify their courage they drank 

 freely all Sunday afternoon. Apparently they 

 spoke too freely of their plans. All went well 

 during the kermes, and Isaac and his friends 

 seized Lucia and made off with her to the house 

 of Gildardo, she apparently putting up no more 

 than the formalized protest. But in midroad 

 they were surprised by a large gang of young 

 men who seized Lucia and drove off Isaac and 

 his friends. In the ensuing scuffle the girl broke 

 away and ran home. 



Gildardo, who had been informed of the plan, 

 first learned of the result when he returned 

 home at midnight and asked if the young couple 

 had arrived. His mother, Maria, surprised, was 

 then told of the plan. From here on the succeed- 

 ing events will be told in diary form. 



Monday, April 16. Isaac returned home very late 

 last night. This morning his mother counsels him, 

 though he says nothing in res])onse. "Isaac, you 

 mustn't be such a fool, you mustn't let them take 

 the girl away from you. I like her, and I'll help 

 you all I can. You can give her all my clothes that 

 I don't actually need, and I'll make some pots which 

 you can have at cost to take to sell in another town. 



Lots of young fellows make their living that way, 

 and I don't know why you shouldn't too". Isaac says 

 nothing and in sullen silence goes off to work on 

 the highway. By afternoon the town is alive with 

 rumors. Andres, it seems, has announced that he is 

 going to "steal" the girl that very night. Isaac is 

 j^reoccupied. but can't decide what to do. "If Andres 

 takes her." he says, "I won't be responsible for what 

 happens. She doesn't care for anyone else, and our 

 plans are all made. Last night she saw me standing 

 with my friends in the shadows, and voluntarily left 

 the other girls to come to us. I told her it was the 

 hour of which we had spoken, and she re]ilied, 'You 

 really want to carry me off now?' I said 'Now is 

 the time,' and she came willingly with us, I on one 

 side of her and a friend on the other. At a corner a 

 group of boys came up to us, and while three of 

 them grabbed me the others took her, and when my 

 friends tried to stop them it was too late, because 

 they thought the others were also friends who were 

 going to help". Isaac goes off to keep vigil over Lu- 

 cia's house so that his rival will not be able to steal 

 her unnoticed. Next door, Eleuterio Melchor opines 

 that Andres will carry her away this very night, and 

 Elena Molinero believes that she will go willingly 

 with the first to come, since her parents will be deal- 

 ing harshly with her and her position at home will 

 be desperate. 



Tuesday, April 17. The first news today is that 

 Lucia must have fled last night, since she didn't come 

 to the mill at dawn, as is her custom, with her mo- 

 ther. Carlota P.. Gildardo's wife and Isaac's sister- 

 in-law, says that Isaac and Gildardo had planned to 

 carry her away at that time, but luck was not with 

 them, for only the mother appeared. Isaac again 

 goes off to work in sullen silence, while Gildardo 

 goes to bed to make up for the night. Then the news 

 arrives that Lucia has not been taken, that she is 

 still in her house. This is cheering information, and 

 again a new plan is hatched. Lucia goes to the con- 

 vent each afternoon to reading class, and since she 

 lives on the same street as Gildardo, she can be ex- 

 j)ected to pass the very door of the house. Another 

 attempt is to be made to capture her as she goes by. 

 Isaac says that during all last night Andres and 

 several friends were outside her house, watching him. 

 But Lucia does not go to reading class. Andres' 

 friends jiass the day trailing Isaac's friends, and vice 

 versa. Both groups are very nervous. It now appears 

 that the original attempt miscarried because Isaac's 

 friends are from a nearby ranch, and they did not 

 know all of the youths of Tzintzuntzan. hence the 

 ease with which Lucia was seized by the others. Isaac 

 decides again to pass the night guarding, and all 

 the next day if necessary, in the hope of finding Lu- 

 cia alone. 



Wednesday, April 18. Isaac has asked Ines Cha- 

 vez, a close friend, to go to Lucia and find out what 

 the situation is. Ines is a good go-between, but comes 

 back with bad news. "I asked her if she really 'in- 

 tended to go with Isaac, and she replied that she 

 would never go with that 'mule' who had managed 



