MOCHE: A PERUVIAN COASTAL COMMUNITi— GILLIN 



83 



approval or approval of a moralistic type on my part 

 is implied in this description or in other recording 

 of Moche customs. 



(On this afternoon] I was going down the street in the 

 pueblo with one of my Moche friends, looking for an old 

 lady said to be able to give me details about the former 

 customs of the community. As we passed a certain house, 

 my friend R., said "There's C. A. Let's go in and see what's 

 going on." We entered the house and went out toward the 

 back, where we found an old man, named C. A., drinking 

 chicha with some friends, and already in a state of consider- 

 able enthusiasm. The house was that of S. R., a middle-aged 

 woman, who is his compaiiera (mistress). Also present 

 was M. -A. J., viitda de S., who, it turned out, enjoys the 

 distinction of having had, in addition to the late S., three 

 other "husbands," namely P. R., J. R., and Q., whose first 

 name she does not remember. Another guest was one P. N., 

 a protestant (ez'angeUsta) who lives in the campiha. Al- 

 though he was dressed in the usual white suit, straw hat, 

 and bare feet of a Moche man, C. A. insisted jokingly that 

 he was a doctor en derecho (doctor of law). It later ap- 

 peared that instead of being a doctor at law-s, he had 

 actualy finished only the primaria (primary school), but 

 was a serious-minded chap given to reading and to the 

 Seventh Day ."Kdventist doctrine. .Another guest was B. de 

 N., an aunt of S. R., the lady of the house. Also present 

 was a W'Oman named M. .\. and another man whose name I 

 did not catch at the time. 



The affair was taking i)lace in a rather dark back half- 

 room which opened onto a small and mean back yard con- 

 taining a kitchen, but not large enough for an outdoor arbor 

 and garden. As soon as we entered, the lady of the house 

 rushed out to boil a couple of eggs for my companion and 

 me, in place of the causa which the others had already con- 

 sumed. I was welcomed heartily bj- C. .A., whose mind was 

 dominated by the fact that, although he was 75 years of 

 age, he was only awaiting a call to take a rifle and begin 

 operations against the Japs, Germans, and all other at- 

 tackers of La Unidad de las Americas. He and I would go 

 forth to battle together, according to him. In the intervals 

 when C. A. was occupied with drinking or going out to the 

 back yard to relie\ e himself (in plain view of the as- 

 semblage), the talk revolved about two other topics. We 

 discussed colds and the family relationships of those present. 

 I had a bad cough and inquired what to do for it. I was 

 overwhelmed with suggestions. Each woman had her own 

 remedy which was chattered at me at the top of her voice 

 at the same time all the other women were doing likewise. 

 This bedlam was punctuated by C. A.'s giggles, and inter- 

 spersed with his speeches in favor of American unity. Oc- 

 casionally he would lean over to me and say, "Don't pay any 

 attention to this advice. Rub some kerosene on your chest 

 tonight. Tomorrow you will be cured and we'll go out 

 together to shoot Japanese." When the medical topic played 

 itself out, all the guests started telling me at once their 

 genealogies, since they had heard that I was interested in 

 such matters. If one person managed to go along under- 

 standably for as much as a minute, she would be invariably 

 interrupted by someone else who would tell her that so-and- 

 so's grandfather's second mistress was B., not A., etc. ."Kt 



one point the Seventh Day .\d\eutist made a speech in the 

 usual Peruvian flowery style, in favor of the great ideals of 

 North .'\merica. I replied in an imitation of the same style, 

 thanking him profoundly and pointing out that we appre- 

 ciated the confidence of our friends, the Peruvians. This 

 speech was greeted with many cheers and renewed quafiing 

 from the gourd cup. Shortly thereafter a man came in with 

 a guitar and, after a few drinks of chicha, started playing, 

 while some of those present started to sing and dance. 



.\bout 5 p. m., C. A. insisted on taking me and my friend 

 R., wlio had brought me to this house in the first place, out 

 to the salon of Don Juan Olimpico, for a "capita." We took 

 a booth and he ordered a cuarto (quarter of a liter) of 

 cai'taso and some sandwiches made of buns with two black 

 olives in each. His talk continued in the same way, inviting 

 me to come to his chacra whenever convenient, proposing a 

 Jap-hunting ex|)edition on the morrow, etc. He also had a 

 sad period during which he expatiated on being all alone, 

 for his wife had died several years before and his mistress 

 did not take her place. 



Recovering from his melancholy, C. A. insisted on order- 

 ing a second cuarto, which, however, by means of a few 

 winks and whispered words I managed to have the pro- 

 prietor dilute considerably. However, old C. A. was not to 

 be deceived, and complained loudly that he would never come 

 to this place again, because the caiiaso was nothing but water. 

 He sent the bottle back and had a new one brought. After 

 C. .A. had disposed of most of the second bottle, I had to 

 order a third to respond to his hospitality {corres ponder), 

 so that he would not feel insulted. By this time, however, he 

 was very drunk and knew it. He insisted on taking his 

 leave, after having one short drink from the third bottle and 

 effusively thanking me for my hospitality. One of the most 

 comical aspects of the afternoon was the process of getting 

 him out of the place. 



We were sitting in a booth with something like beaver- 

 board walls, around a table covered with oilcloth. C. A. 

 was very polite and still enthusiastic about my proposed visit 

 to his chacra and about inter-American unity, but he was 

 not very well oriented. He put on his straw hat, which had 

 a leather lining, and pushed it back on his head. As he did 

 this, the leather lining came loose and remained as a sort 

 of skullcap down over his eyebrows, while the hat fell off. 

 There was an interval during which C. A. angrily claimed 

 that he had been blinded by the foul liquor purveyed by this 

 place and apologized profusely for having brought his dear 

 ally who was going to hunt Japs with him to such a den. 

 Finally he got his hat on again, but the lining stayed down 

 over liis eyes. We all shook hands as C. A. once more 

 took ceremonious leave, and, turning purposefully, tried to 

 walk through the beaverboard wall. He was quite obstinate 

 about it and attempted to continue nonchalantly with legs 

 working steadily, but face pushed up against the wall. R. 

 would say, "No, man, the exit is over here, man," to which 

 C. A. would reply, "Don't 'tell me that R. I know perfectly 

 well where the door is. Do you think I am drunk?" This 

 dialogue took place several times, with C. A. all the time 

 leaning against the wall with his leather skullcap down over 

 his forehead and the straw hat on the back of his neck, trying 

 to walk through the wall. Finally we got him out through 

 the door, staggering, but still polite. 



