CHERAN: A SIERRA TARASCAN VILLAGE — BEALS 



153 



Child. The performer with the latter lines 

 was the only one who managed to make the 

 crowd laugh. The remainder were greeted in 

 silence or by asides criticizing their perform- 

 ance, especially several who had not learned 

 their lines very well. 



The dancers practiced at the house of the 

 carguero of the Three Kings on Thursday, 

 Friday, and Saturday. The carguero provided 

 food for all the performers. The ceremonies 

 proper began on Sunday in the late afternoon. 

 The following is the account of the proceedings 

 as written by Agustin Rangel. 



January 5, 1941. On Suniiay we started for the 

 Calvary from the house of the carguero at about 5 p. m. 

 The Three Kings went on horseback. At the Calvary 

 the Three Kings took the star (a star on the end of 

 the pole). The King in the middle took the star and 

 the Kings on either side took hold of a ribbon tied on 

 each side. Then we started for the carguero's house 

 where we were supposed to take the saint to the church. 

 At the church we left the saint where a vesper.'; was 

 given for it. Then we started for the carguero's house 

 where we danced. Then supper was served. Before 

 we left, the carguero told us that on the next morning 

 we had to be at his house about 6:30 a.m. [Accord- 

 ing to one infoi-mant, customarily the group should have 

 danced at the church.] 



Januai-y 6. I arrived at the cargttcro's house about 

 6:00 a.m. After a little, they told me to go around 

 on some of the sti-eets with the musicians and tell the 

 other guys to hurry up and get over to the carguero's 

 house. When the bell rang for the long Mass we all 

 left for church. After the long Mass the priest told 

 us we could not dance until after the Rosary. We then 

 left for the carguero's- house where we ate breakfast. 

 After breakfast we danced at the carguero's house. We 

 did nothing all day until after the Rosary. We went 

 to the Rosary; after we came out we danced in the 

 priest's house, then we danced in front of the church. 

 After that we danced in front of the municipal building. 

 Prom there we went to the house of the new carguero 

 of the Holy Child where we danced and we wei'e given 

 oranges after we danced. Then we went home (to the 

 carguero's house) where we danced before eating sup- 

 per. Then we went home and were told to be at the 

 carguero's house about 7:00 a.m. 



January 7. On this morning we went to the church 

 after the Mass. We were to take the Holy Kings to 

 the house of the new carguero. We started from the 

 church and we headed for the new carguero's house where 

 we arrived and left it [the images] there. They told 

 us to sit down and we were given atole de cacao (tlack 

 atole). We danced before the atole was served and 

 after that we left for the carguero's house to eat break- 

 fast. After breafast we headed for the Calvary where 

 we danced. Then we headed for Bruno Caspar's house 



where we danced and were given oranges. We then 

 went to the house of [the carguero of] San Antonio, 

 where we danced and were not given anything. From 

 there we went to the store of Victoriano Turja where 

 we danced and were given 1 liter of aguardiente. Then 

 we left for the meat market of one of the cargueros of 

 the Holy Kings [he means one of the principals], Don 

 Ygnacio Duran, where we danced and recited the relato, 

 the whole works, and were given oranges. Prom there 

 we left for the house of [the carguero of] Santa Nieves, 

 where we danced and were given money, 1 centavo 

 apiece. From there we went to the house [of the 

 carguero of] Our Lady of Guadalupe where we danced 

 and were given limes. From there we came dancing 

 what they call a carnival through the streets to the 

 store of Don Hilario (Xhembe) where we were given 

 sugarcane. Then we left for the carguero's house to 

 eat supper. We were told to be early at his house the 

 next morning. 



January 8. The next morning we started to dance 

 about 9 a. m. from the carguero's house. We went to 

 the house of Rosalio [reprcsentante or representative 

 of the town], where we danced and were given oranges. 

 From there we went to the house of Crescendo 

 Hernandez where they gave us a 50-centavo piece be- 

 cause she said [the mistress of the house] that they 

 had not expected us to come and dance at the house. 

 Then we went to a house on Galeana and Allende where 

 we danced and where we were not given anything be- 

 cause he [the house owner] said he wasn't expecting us. 

 Then we danced to one of the carguero's of the Holy 

 Kings [meaning principal again] where we were given 

 oranges. Prom there we went to the house of [the 

 carguero of] San Isidro where we danced and were 

 given oranges. Then we went to [the harno of] 

 Paricutin to the place of the Virgin Inez; there we 

 danced and were given oranges. Then from there we 

 went to the house of the carguero of some saint near 

 the barranca of Paricutin where we danced and were 

 not given anything. Then we went to the house on the 

 corner of Rayon and Comercio streets where we danced 

 and were given oranges. Then we headed for the 

 carguero's house to eat dinner. After dinner, we then 

 went to the house of the Miraculous Holy Christ where 

 we danced and were not given anything because we 

 started to grab the oranges from the basket and the 

 woman got sore and didn't give us anything. Then 

 we left for the house of Don Jesus Velasquez (the main 

 marriage manager), where we danced and were given 

 oranges. He had invited us to go over to his house and 

 dance. Prom there we went to Ricardo Queriapa 

 where the saint of San Anselmo is. There we danced 

 and were given oranges. But this time some of the 

 viejos had separated and some of them had gone to 

 the plaza. After we finished dancing at that lady's 

 house we then danced at the store of Alberto Murioz 

 where we were not given anything. Th-en the Doctor 

 invited us over to dance in front of his office. After 

 we got through, the Doctor flipped a peso to see who 

 would get it. One of the viejos got it and got drunk 



