CHERAN: a sierra TARASCAN village — BEALS 



179 



aged 20. The instance is regarded as excep- 

 tional and as undesirable. As a rule, the boy 

 discusses his choice with his parents or with 

 one of his uncles. Although no specific data 

 could be secured on the subject, from the facts 

 that boys at this age seem to be shy with their 

 parents and that the bride is usually taken to 

 the house of an uncle, it seems likely that uncles 

 are consulted on matters of marriage more 

 commonly than are the parents. Some stated 

 there is no preference for maternal or paternal 

 uncles in this connection ; others said the girl is 

 taken to a paternal uncle or, lacking an uncle, 

 a paternal aunt. 



After a girl is stolen, only on rare occasions 

 does the marriage not follow. Her parents, 

 however much opposed they may be, must 

 always give their consent, for it is very difficult 

 for girls to get married if they have been stolen 

 and then returned home. As Agustin put it, 

 "they have to wait for a sucker" in order to 

 get married. A youth marrying such a girl 

 is the butt of teasing by all his age mates, even 

 by persons who do not even know his name. 

 In the one case known of a young man who 

 married a girl who had previously been stolen 

 by someone else, the youth is subjected to so 

 much teasing that he is virtually a recluse, 

 either staying in' his house when home or work- 

 ing by himself in the woods. 



It is generally felt that the municipal authori- 

 ties should force a youth to marry a girl after 

 he has stolen her. If they do not, the authori- 

 ties are always suspected of receiving bribes to 

 overlook the case. Informants best acquainted 

 with customary viewpoints, though, stated that 

 the municipal authorities are not required to 

 act unless the parents of the groom make the 

 first formal visit to the girl's parents. In this 

 case the municipal authorities are expected to 

 force completion of the marriage. In actual 

 fact the municipal authorities bring some pres- 

 sure to bear on youths if the girl's parents 

 lodge a complaint. 



The following accounts of stealing girls give 

 additional light on the procedures. The first 

 account was written by Agustin Rangel. 



When I fa-st met the groom it was about 2 p. m. (on 

 a Sunday) at the corner of Damas Gambe's store. We 

 walked around for a while and when we were coming 

 down the highway he told me he was going to steal a 



girl that afternoon after the Rosario. The corner of 

 Morolos and Galeana was where the boy and girl had 

 the place arranged for the stealing. When we knew 

 that the Rosario was just about to be finished, we came 

 down the highway to the plaza where we sat down at 

 the municipal offices. Then the people began to come 

 out from the Rosario and were called back by the priest 

 to move the rocks in back of the priest's house. The 

 girl's father called us to help move the rocks but in- 

 stead we moved over to the corner of Morelos and 

 Oeampo where we sat and waited until they finished. 



After a little the girl came by and she looked at us. 

 As she turned the corner up Morelos, she got ahead of 

 her folks about 10 feet and just stood there. Then she 

 turned back and looked at us to see if we were going to 

 do anything. She was with five women. Knowing that 

 we were not going to do anything, she evened up with 

 the rest of her folks. Then we followed her; we went 

 straight and she turned the corner of Morelos and 

 Galeana. Then we ran so that we could beat her to 

 the corner of Hidalgo and Arista and we stood there 

 until she came. 



When she came, the groom stood in the middle of the 

 street and two of us stood on each side of the street 

 and the other stood a little ways from the corner. 

 When the girl passed us, the groom grabbed her by the 

 arm and I took the other arm on the other side. The 

 mother just said, "Maria Purisima, where do you take 

 my daughter? Why do you take her and who are you?" 

 We just ran to beat everything. When we were cross- 

 ing the bridge (to Paricutin), one of the kids hollered, 

 "Hurry up, because the father is just in back of you." 



When I turned to look back the girl's father was just 

 about half a block behind us. Then we separated at 

 the street junction across the bridge. The boy and girl 

 took the upper road and we went on the lower road. 

 We just walked a little ways to where it was dark and 

 changed blankets. Then we walked back as if we were 

 innocent bystanders. We saw the girl's father after 

 tlie boy and girl. We just made out we didn't know 

 anything and said, "I wonder who was the kid who took 

 the girl." Then we said, "Let's follow them," and we 

 did. When we reached the corner of Madero and 

 Salazar the girl's father was madder than a wet hen. 

 He was saying, "If I ever catch the guys who did it, I 

 will kill them," swearing to beat anything. Then he 

 left and we followed him up Salazar and past the 

 calvary to his house. 



His wife was v.-aiting for him in the doorway. His 

 wife then said, "Didn't you catch the boys who stole 

 my daughter?" He answered, "No, I didn't catch them. 

 How do you expect me to catch them when I didn't 

 know who they were?" They argued for a while in the 

 doorway and then went inside. We came back to the 

 saloon and when we got back they were already drunk 

 (the groom and another helper). Then we went home. 

 We were just afraid that if the father knew who we 

 were he might call us in at the mayor's office and get us 

 put in jail overnight. 



