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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 1 2 



"This isn't to pay you, my friend ! it's only a little 

 present for you." 



Tlie face of his friend blanched. He indignantly 

 grabbed the arm of the storekeeper and said, "Stop 

 that, Sebastiao ! What are you doing ? I offer 

 you a dinner, as a friend, and you come to me with 

 money ! If some day I need money, I'll come to 

 you for a loan !" 



The storekeeper, however, insisted, "I'm not 

 paying for the meal, my friend ; I'm only making 

 you a little present. A dinner like this can't be 

 paid for in money." And with these words he 

 made a second effort to stuff the bills into his 

 friend's pocket. Whereupon his friend arose and 

 with an air of finality, as if he would admit of no 

 further discussion, shouted, "'Sebastiao, if you 

 leave that money there, I'll have nothing more 

 to do with you. Our friendship will be over." 



At this remark, the storekeeper at once desisted 

 and began profusely to beg the pardon of his 

 friend, saying, "I meant no harm. Don't be angry 

 with me. Deus Ihe pague for the dinner, Deus 

 Ihe faqueP^ Cordiality was once more restored 

 and the friends parted in peace. 



THE CAFEZINHO 



The offering of a cafezinho to a visitor is a cus- 

 tom which is deeply embedded in local habits and 

 follows a prescribed ritual. The term "ca/e- 

 s^nAo" is the diminutive and, in this case, the dep- 

 recatory form of cafeP'^ Its use thus belittles, 

 as a courteous gesture to the guest, the size of the 

 host's offering. It may, in fact, be far from a 

 "little" serving ; although the size will vary with 

 the accommodations of the house, the cup offered 

 may hold as much as half a pint. The cafezinho 

 is served at any hour of the day or night when, for 

 any reason, a visitor comes to the house. If he is 

 in a hurry and makes a move to leave befoi-e he 

 has been served, the host will usually say, "But you 

 haven't had your cafezinho yet. Wliy are you 

 in such a hurry?" 



The guest is never asked if he wants a cafe- 

 zinho; it is always assumed that he does. It is 

 served by the wife or daughters of the host whom 

 the visitor, if he be a man and unless he is inti- 

 mately acquainted with the family, usually does 

 not see until the host calls to them to bring the 



-^' God reward you. 



^- See Pinga, Tobacco, ami Cafe. p. 41. 



cafe. It must be served in the best vessels the 

 host possesses. These may be teacups, demitasse, 

 or tin cans either in good condition or chipped, 

 cracked, or dented; but they must be the best he 

 owns. The cafe is served as the host is accus- 

 tomed to take it, weak or strong, hot or lukewarm, 

 unless the preference of the guest is known, when 

 the host may say, for instance, as a mark of spe- 

 cial courtesy, "I had more coffee put in than I 

 usually do because you like it strong." 



Wlien the guest has finished his cup, the host 

 will say, "Take more ! If you like it, take more !" 

 Courtesty demands that he insist upon this point 

 and, if the guest desires especially to please his 

 host, he will accept a second cup. At the same 

 time, if the guest, upon taking a swallow from a 

 first or subsequent cup should remark, "This cafe 

 is very good; it is just to my taste," the implica- 

 tion is that he desires another cup. Otherwise, 

 he will reply to the insistence of his host, "Thank 

 you. The cafe is very good but I am satisfied." 



The cafezinho symbolizes the hospitality of the 

 host. It is a form of satisfying the obligation 

 laid upon a man to give food and shelter to every 

 guest whom he receives within his house. The 

 cafezinho consequently is offered even upon the 

 occasion of a brief visit, so that no one actually 

 leaves the host's home without having partaken 

 of at least something which has been given him 

 with pleasure. 



Offering a cafezinho may also serve to sound 

 out the attitudes and intentions of a guest whom 

 the host does not know. He puts the guest in 

 contact with his cafe, his utensils, and the services 

 of his family. By carefully noting the way in 

 which the guest accepts the cafezinho and drinks 

 the first and subsequent cups, he is able to obtain 

 some conception of his intent. 



If a person is received into a house and is not 

 offered a cafezinho, it is clear that either he is a 

 persona non grata in that house or that his host 

 is "a crude boor" or a miser. So symbolic of a 

 host's courtesy is the offering of a cafezinho that 

 a common way to refer disrespectfully to a person 

 is to say of him, "He wouldn't even give you a 

 cafezinho.'''' 



Failure to show this courtesy, however, is rare. 

 Even though a person may be extremely poor, 

 he is almost never so lacking in good manners as 

 to omit the cafezinho, except under special cir- 



