|
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento |
During a visit to the
White House as our
Ambasssador in the US,
Mrs. Mary Mann asked
Sarmiento permission
to translate his two
most important works. |
|
|
|
Domingo
Faustino Sarmiento (1811-1888) was the author of Civilization and
Barbarism, also known as Facundo after its principal
character, the nineteenth century caudillo Juan Facundo Quiroga. Sarmiento paid two visits to the U.S., the first time in 1847 after his
European tour and then in 1865 as our Ambassador to the White House.
During his first visit he met Mr Horace Mann who was probably the
greatest figure in education in Massachusetts. The two men had much in
common and they exchanged ideas for two whole days.
When Sarmiento returned to the States in 1865 Mr Mann was dead but Mrs
Mary Mann received him in a most friendly way and she did all she could
to help the great Argentine. Her admiration for him was so deep that she
asked him permission to translate his two most important works. This
translation you are about to read is by her... |
Music too is found among our people. It is
a national taste and recognised by all our neighbours. When an Argentine
is first introduced to a Chilean family, they at once invite him to the
piano, or hand him a guitar, and if he excuses himself
on the ground that he does
not know how to play they express wonder and incredulity saying, "An
Argentine who is not a musician?". This general supposition
bears witness to our
national habits. It is a fact that the young city people of the better
classes play the piano, flute, violin or guitar. The
half breeds
devote themselves almost wholly to music, and many
skilful
composers and
players have
sprung among them. Guitars
are constantly heard at the shop-doors in summer evenings; and late in
the night obe's sleep is pleasantly disturbed by serenades and
peripatetic concerts.
The country people have songs peculiar to themselves. The triste
prevalent among the people of the northern districts is a
fugue melody expressive of
lamentation such as Rousseau consideres natural to man in his primitive
state of barbarism.
The vidalita is a popular song with a chorus accompanied by the
guitar and
tabor, in the
refrain of which the
bystanders join, and the
number and volume of the voices increase. I suppose this melody
originated with the
aborigines, for I once heard
it at an Indian festival at Copiapó, held to celebrate
Candlemas. As a religious
song it must be very old, and the Indians of Chili can hardly have
adopted it from the Spaniards of the Argentine Republic.
The vidalita is the popular measure for songs about the topics of
the day, or war
exploits. The gaucho
composes the words that he sings and leaves it to the associations that
the song
arouses to make them
understood by the people. Thus, then,
amidst the rudeness of the
national customs, two arts which
embellish civilized life and
give vent to many generous
passions are honoured and favoured even by the lowest classes who
exercise their uncultured genius in lyrical and poetical composition.
In 1840, Echeverría, then a young man, lived for some months in the
country where the
fame of his verses about the pampa had already
preceded him; the gauchos surrounded him with respect and affection and
when a new comer showed signs of the
scorn he felt for the litle
minstrel, someone
whispered into his ear, "He
is a poet", and that word
dispelled every prejudice.
It is well known, besides, that the guitar is the popular instrument of
the Spanish race and that it is also common in South America. The
majo or troubadour, the type of a large class of Spaniards, is still
found there and in Buenos Aires especially. He may be recognised in the
gaucho of the country or in the
swaggerer of the town.
The cielito, the dance of the pampas is animated by the same
spirit of the Spanish jaleo; the dancer makes
castanets of his fingers.
All the movements of the city swaggerer disclose the majo; the
action of his shoulders, his
gestures, all his ways from
that in which he puts on his hat, to his style of
spitting through his teeth,
all are of the purest Andalusian type.
From these general customs and tastes are developed remarkable
pecularities which will one day embellish the national dramas and
romances, and give them an original shade of colour. I propose at
present only to notice a few of these special developments in order to
complete the idea of the customs of the country, and so to explain
subsequently the nature,
causes and effects of its civil wars. |
TRANSLATION: Mrs. Mary
Mann
PHOTO: La Calandria,
traditional Argentine dance - Litograph by Aurora de Pietro |
GLOSSARY |
on
the ground that:
saying, with the excuse that
(con la excusa que, con el pretexto que)
bears witness to: gives evidence or testimony (demuestra,
testimonia)
half breed: the child of a white person and an American
Indian (mestizo)
skilful: expert, able, clever, very good at doing something (habilidoso)
composer: one who composes music (compositor)
player: performer (ejecutante)
to spring/sprang/sprung: to come out
suddenly; to appear; to come into being (sobresalir,
destacarse)
peripatetic: walking from place to place (itinerante)
fugue melody: poliphonic composition (melodía
en forma de fuga)
tabor: (tamboril) a small drum (tambor)
often used to accompany the pipe (gaita)
refrain: (refrán) phrase that is repeated at the
end of stanzas (estrofas)
bystanders: people who are watching in a standing
possition; spectators (espectadores de pie)
aborigines: the original inhabitants of a place found
when the first colonists arrived (aborígenes, nativos)
Candlemas: in Spanish "Día de la purificación de la
Virgen de La Candelaria" on February 2nd." (Fiesta
de la Candelaria) |
exploits:
brilliant achievements; great deeds; notable, heroic acts
(hazañas, proezas)
to
arouse/aroused/aroused:
to awaken; to cause to appear (despertar interés, movilizar)
amidst: in the middle of (en medio de)
to embellish: to make more beautiful
(embellecer)
to give vent: to allow one's emotions to be known; to
express them freely (liberar, soltar los sentimientos)
fame: reputation; name; celebrity; glory (fama)
scorn: open contempt; disdain (desprecio, desdén)
to
whisper/whispered/whispered/whispering:
to speak in a soft, low voice; privately, very often in the
ear of the hearer
(susurrar)
to dispel/dispelled/dispelled: to dissipate (dispersar,
disipar, desvanecer)
swaggerer: what is called a compadrito among
Argentine people (compadrito, baladrón, matasiete)
castanets:
a pair or one of a pair, of shells of hard wood held in the hand
and struck together as an accompaniment to music and dancing (castañuelas)
gestures: movements of the body, head, arms, hands, face
expressive of emotion, or of an idea (gestos)
to spit/spat/spat: to eject saliva from the mouth (escupir);
spitting: ejection of saliva (escupida)
subsequently: later on when the right moment comes (a
su debido tiempo) |
|
|
MAS "CUENTOS
CORTOS LATINOAMERICANOS"
FORO
INICIO |
|