■CRUZ DAS ALMA&: A BRAZILIAN VILLAGE^ — ^PIERSON 



171 



Soon the space in front of the chapel began to 

 fill with townspeople and farmers who were arriv- 

 ing singly and in groups. The proprietors of the 

 harraquinhas had laid out their wares. By this 

 time, the sky had cleared and the stars were 

 shining. 



About 8 o'clock, a huge bonfire was lighted, the 

 heat of which was pleasant, since the night was 

 chilly, and it was soon surrounded by a large 

 crowd. Shortly thereafter, the rezm began. Two 

 capeldes -*- entered the chapel and, kneeling side 

 by side, in front of the cross, began to lead the 

 prayers. The chapel was soon filled with women 

 and girls and the men and boys clustered about the 

 entrance. Most of the women and girls and sev- 

 eral of the men and boys repeated the prayers along 

 with the capeldes, the phtases "Santa Cruz," "Ave 

 Maria," and "Jesus" being occasionally heard in 

 the murmur of voices. A few men outside, how- 

 ever, continued drinking quentdo and conversing 

 with each other, an occasional loud laugh indi- 

 cating the theme of conversation was not in keep- 

 ing with the prayers being said inside. 



The reza terminated about 9 o'clock. The 

 auctioneer then took up a position in front of a 

 small booth erected for this purpose and began 

 to auction off the prendas to pay for the festa. 

 About a half hour later, the auction was temporar- 

 ily suspended while the mastro was set up. The 

 principal festelro, assisted by several men, picked 

 up the heavy pole where it was resting behind the 

 chapel and carried it to the appointed place. 

 After attaching to the smaller end of the pole a 

 square wooden frame containing a white "flag" 

 on which a cross cut from dark paper had been 

 pasted, the mastro was put into position for rais- 

 ing. While the other men held it ready to be set 

 up, the principal festeiro went to get a couple of 

 rockets.-*^ When he retui-ned, he gave the order 

 to raise the mastro and immediately lighted one of 

 the rockets, which climbed into the air with a 

 hissing noise, followed by a loud "boom," just as 

 the men dropped the mustro into place. The space 

 aroimd the pole was then filled in and tamped 

 down tightly, after which another rocket was set 

 off, as someone shouted, ^''Viva Santa Crm!" and 

 other voices responded with a loud '"'Viva!^' 



The auctioneer then returned to his task. About 

 midnight, with the auction still continuing, the 

 samba began. Three men took a large drum, a 

 smaller drum, and a chocalho -** and made their 

 way to the swept space in front of the chapel, near 

 the newly raised mastro, and began to play the 

 samha rhythm, agitating the upper portion of 

 their bodies in keeping with the music. Soon 

 Zeca began to sing, in a strident voice: 



A meia noite sai o dia 

 E bamo ve o Z^ Maria 

 A meia noite sai o dia 

 E bamo ve o Z6 Maria 



(At midnight, [wlien] tlie day begins, 

 We'll see Z6 Maria ; 

 At midiiiglit, [when] tlie day begins. 

 We'll see Z4 Maria.) 



The words were picked up by one spectator after 

 another as he began to dance, until about 15 men 

 were dancing. This verse was repeated, over and 

 over, without alteration, for approximately an 

 hour, when Zeca stopped playing momentarily be- 

 fore beginning another and similar verse. No 

 women at any time participated in the dance. 



The auction terminated shortly before 2 o'clock 

 in the morning. The principal festeiro then 

 cleared away the objects from the booth where 

 the auction had been held and spread over the 

 counter a black cloth with numbers from 1 to 6. 

 Taking a die from his pocket, he placed it in a 

 glass and began shaking the glass, as he called 

 out, '■'■Bamo, rapaziada, oia o jogo da canequinha, 

 cum duzento reis ganha deistdo^'' (Come on, 

 fellows! Here's a game of cane^w/nAa.' For 200 

 reis, you can win 10 tostoes -*°). A group of men 

 began to cluster around. After six players had 

 each laid a coin on one of the six numbers, the 

 festeiro shook the die in the glass and spilled it 

 out. The number on the die which had fallen up- 

 right was the winning number and the winner 

 received five times the amount he had "bet." 



By 2 o'clock, all the women and girls had left. 

 Around 50 men still remained. The samba and 

 the playing of canequinha continued until day- 

 break. Shortly thereafter, most of the village was 

 asleep. The only persons to be seen in the streets 

 were a few farmers who, following the festa, had 



'■^- See Snored Functionaries, p. 146. 

 ^ See Making of Fireworks, p. 83. 



=»* The chocalho is a metal tube, closed at both ends, into which 

 small pebbles or hard seeds have been put. 

 2» See footnote 236. 



