58 



INSTITXriE or SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 1 2 



Although the use of a coat, as has been indicated, 

 is not customary in the village, he always wears 

 a coat when he comes to the church to ring the 

 bells. He is punctual. Near the appointed hour, 

 he may be seen coming along the street, his eyes 

 usually fixed on the ground but occasionally lifted 

 as he greets, with seriousness and circumspection, 

 an acquaintance. At the same time, he is quite 

 modest. "Yes, I ring the bells a little," he says. 

 "Not very well. But there's no one else who 

 wants to ring them and so I go on doing the best 

 I can." 



The church is the principal structure in the vil- 

 lage and, in comparison with the homes of the 

 community, is well jireserved and cared for. One 

 commonly hears expressions of pride on the part 

 of villagers in their church. Consequently, the 

 ringing of the bells has a prominent place in the 

 life and thought of the community and, with it, 

 also the bell ringer. 



The mail carrier brings the mail on foot from 

 the nearest point on the rail line. Although he 

 owns a horse, he rarely uses it for this purpose. 

 He is 56 years old. Kain or shine, through dust 

 and mud, imless the rain is extremely heavy or 

 prolonged, he has made the two-way trip daily, 

 except Mondays, for 24 years. Like the bell ringer, 

 his task has become his name so that to all the com- 

 munity, and to many in it who do not know or can 

 with difficulty recall his actual surname, he is 

 Joao Correlo (John the Letter Carrier) . He also 

 prepares and sets off fireworks for village festi- 

 vals,^^" and if occupied with the latter task may, 

 especially in recent years, let someone else, usually 

 his son-in-law, substitute for the day at carrying 

 the mail. 



Tlie present village grave digger is a white- 

 haired man, 57 years old, who has had this respon- 

 sibility for 12 j'ears (pi. 9, p') . He is also charged 

 with keeping the cemetery cleared of weeds and 

 grass, and the water reservoir clean and function- 

 ing properly. 



On days of religious fesfa, the leiloeiro is an 

 important and essential personage in the commu- 

 nity. He has the task of auctioning the prendas 

 which is ordinarily done sometime between the 

 morning Mass and the afternoon procession. The 

 prertdas are objects which have been donated by 

 parishioners to help those in charge of the festa 



"^ See Making; of Fireworks, p. S3. 



pay expenses. The leiloeiro must possess cer- 

 tain characteristics which are relatively rare 

 among the population : the ability to appear prom- 

 inently in public without self-conciousncss and to 

 engage and to hold the attention of a group of peo- 

 ple over a considerable period of time by speaking 

 freely and without embarrassment. His task 

 is to seek by humorous statement, exaggerated ges- 

 ture, and the use of unusual words, to provoke 

 good-humored and spirited bidding on the part of 

 those present. Upon the ability of the leiloeiro 

 obviously depends the financial success of the 

 fesfa. 



The present leiloeiro is Bicava, a Negro man 

 about 5 feet 4 inches in height, active, energetic, 

 and facile in vocal expression. He is noted for 

 exaggerated body movements and unusual words. 

 He is pleasant in manner and well-liked. 



At the appointed time, during a recent festa, 

 one of the leaders called to the leiloeiro, "Bicava, 

 isn't it time to begin ?" To which he replied, "Yes 

 sir, you should order and not ask. Where is the 

 little hammer? Let's make money for the sanfo/" 

 And taking up his position in the iarraqiiinha, or 

 shelter for this purpose, erected in front of the 

 church (pi. 17, d), he continued to speak as if 

 automatically, saying, "Gentlemen and ladies, let's 

 begin the auction of the fesfa, for Nossa Senhora 

 da Piedade. Let's start with this beautiful water 

 glass. Look, my good people, what a pretty, at- 

 tractive glass it is ! And you can have it for only 

 two cruzeiros ! Who will give me that insignificant 

 sum for so lovely a glass? See, it has flowers 

 painted on it! All you have to do is to put it 

 on top of the table and the house is decorated. 

 You don't even need any flowers." As someone 

 raised a hand, indicating that he would bid two 

 cruzeiros, Bicava speeded up the rhythm of his 

 speech, "My good people, this glass has someone 

 who wants it. Is there no one who will give more ? 

 Only two cruzeiros for a beautiful glass like that ! 

 It is worth much more. You, Dito (addressing 

 himself to a young man who was standing near 

 the girl to whom he was engaged), look at this 

 fine present for the young lady !" At which, 

 the bid was raised to two and a half cruzeiros. 

 "Two and a half cruzeiros is bid for this glass, 

 my good people ! Who will give more?" And the 

 leiloeiro continued until no more bids were forth- 

 coming, when he called out, "Five cruzeiros, I give 



