CRUZ DAS almas: a BRAZILIAN' VILLAGE' ^PIERSON 



125 



cumstances. In those cases in which the cafezinho 

 is not offered, upon the occasion of a first visit, 

 the caller usually is a person whose looks, dress, or 

 action has evoked suspicion. To such a person, 

 before he has even entered the house, the caipira 

 may say, in a cold tone, '"''Entre pra dentro, bamo 

 cheffd" (Come inside), clearly implying to one 

 who is acquainted with the local expectations, 

 "Go on your way! I have other things to do 

 besides entertaining you !" although the same 

 words, spoken in a different tone of voice and 

 accompanied by different gestures would indi- 

 cate a high degree of favor, in that one's house 

 was being placed at the disposal of the guest. 



On the other hand, for a stranger to refuse a 

 cafezinho that has been offered him is a serious 

 affront. In a community where the drinking of 

 cafe, as has been indicated, is a universal custom, 

 no one is apt to believe that the refusal is due to 

 an actual dislike for coffee. It can only be a 

 gesto de pouco caso (an indication of disrespect). 

 Subsequently, the occurrence will be commented 

 upon all over the community in something like 

 the following words : 



He thinks our cups (or cans) are not good enough to 

 put up to his mouth. 



He is so used to luxurious things that he scorns what 

 we have. 



We offered him the best we had and he turned it down ; 

 he needn't come to our house any more. 



Failure to accept a cafezinho, however, is ex- 

 cused under prescribed circumstances: when, for 

 instance, the host knows the guest has been told 

 by a physician not to take cafe; when the occasion 

 is at night and the guest may say, '■''Cafe takes the 

 sleep away from me"; or when it is known that 

 the guest has recently taken something cold, like 

 water or beer, which as an informant said, "Every- 

 one laiows should not be mixed with a hot drink 

 like cafe.'''' Even in such cases, however, the re- 

 fusal must be made with tact; it must be accom- 

 panied by words and gestures which leave no doubt 

 in the host's mind of the real motive for the refusal. 

 The guest will ordinarily say, "Thank you very 

 much, but * * *; excuse me, next time I 

 will." 



If a fly or other extraneous object gets into the 

 cafezinho, the guest must not by word or other ges- 

 ture call attention to that fact. At all costs he 

 must avoid embarrassment to his host. "If he 

 stops drinking," an informant remarked, "the host 



will ask what is the matter. Then he will examine 

 the cup and discover the cause of the difficulty. 

 And that would place him in a very embarrassing 

 situation." Similar behavior is expected if the 

 guest discovers that the host has forgotten the 

 sugar, the only exceptions being in those cases in 

 which there is a high degree of intimacy between 

 host and guest. 



The behavior expected with reference to the 

 cafezinho, however, varies with certain circum- 

 stances. If the visitor is a relative or close friend, 

 the host may say, "The cafe is there on the stove 

 in the kitchen; when you want some, you know 

 where to find it." If the visit occurs shortly be- 

 fore one of the principal meals of the day, the 

 host will not offer a cafezinho because to do so 

 might be interpreted as meaning that he is seek- 

 ing to avoid inviting his guest to remain for a 

 meal. If the host would like especially to im- 

 press a guest, he may offer him not only a cafe- 

 zinho but also cake or other delicacies, have a 

 tablecloth put on the table and otherwise show 

 him special consideration. This behavior may 

 also be employed, however, as an indirect and 

 subtle means of rebuking a guest for not having 

 treated the host as the host thought he should have 

 been treated when he was a guest in his house. 



JIAKING PURCHASES 



Since storekeeper and customer are almost al- 

 ways intimately acquainted with each other, tran- 

 sactions in village stores tend to be carried on 

 under conditions of primary contact. This rela- 

 tionship is symbolized in one of the vendas, in the 

 bakery, and in the principal hotequim by the fact 

 that there are no physical barriers in the form 

 of closed counters between customer and store- 

 keeper. 



The etiquette of purchasing differs markedly 

 from that ordinarily characteristic of the city. A 

 storekeeper treats his customers much as if they 

 were guests who had come to his house for a visit. 

 After entering a store, a customer may seat him- 

 self on a bench or a sack of beans or similar object 

 and remain for hours conversing with the owner 

 and other men present. At first, the customer 

 and the storekeeper usually ask about the health 

 of the members of each other's family and about 

 how their affairs are getting on, and then give 

 themselves over with obvious satisfaction to dis- 



