The Gueguence A Comedy Ballet in the Nahuatl-Spanish Dialect of Nicaragua Part 3

The _Ollita_, or Little Jar, is an instrument still remembered in Nicaragua, and the drama, in the Mangue dialect, to which I have referred, bearing this name, proves that it was familiarly known at Managua early in this century. Its sound is described as grave and suitable to serious emotions. The identical _ollita_ which was used in this drama was preserved long after the last performance of the play (about 1822), in the chest of the _cofradia_ of San Jose, in Managua; but like so many other valuable relics, it disappeared in the disturbances of the republic.

From the name, and from what was told of its powers, it was evidently not merely a whistle, but a sort of earthenware flute.

Such were known in Peru, and precisely in Nicaragua, on the island of Ometepec, inhabited at the Conquest by the Nahuas, such a musical jar was discovered of late years, and was examined and its musical capacity described by Dr. Berendt in the following words:--

"Held with the two hands, the lower side turned upward, and the four holes managed with two fingers on each side, blowing in the mouth piece yields six different notes. Any two holes covered give the tonica, one only covered the secunda, all open the tertia, and by hard blowing a forced quarta; while all closed produces the dominant (quint) in the underlying octave. Three holes closed yield notes not in concordance with the others, varying between an imperfect s.e.xt and a diminished septima of the lower octave. But those mentioned as in accordance permit the playing of many varied tunes."

The shape of this jar is shown in the following cut, which was prepared for an interesting article on Indian Music by Mr. Edwin A.

Barber, in the _American Naturalist_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: EARTHENWARE MUSICAL JAR FROM NICARAGUA.]

It was capable of rendering various simple tunes. (See page x.x.xiv.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: EARTHENWARE WHISTLE FROM NICARAGUA.]

The _Pito_, or Whistle, was a simpler instrument than the _Ollita_.

It, also, was frequently made of baked clay, and in odd shapes. The one shown in the following cut was found on the Island del Zapatero, in Lake Nicaragua, which was also a possession of the Nahuas. Two apertures lead into the cavity of the instrument. When they are closed with the fingers, a higher note is produced than when they are open.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NATIVE FLUTE MELODIES.]

In the investigations prosecuted in Nicaragua by Dr. J. F.

Bransford, he discovered many of these whistles in ancient burial mounds. Indeed, in the district of Nicoya, inhabited at the period of the Conquest by the Mangues, he states that "every body appeared to have been interred with a small earthen vessel and a whistle."[38]

The latter are usually of odd shapes, representing some animal.

The following cuts are taken from his report:--

[Ill.u.s.tration: WHISTLES FROM NICARAGUAN BURIAL MOUNDS.]

The long _Flute_, either of cane, or of earthenware, was found in common use by the early explorers in Central America, Mexico and Florida. The Nahuas of Nicaragua do not seem to have made so much use of it as their relatives in Mexico.

The _Juco_ is employed in the noisier dances, such as the _Baile de Diablitos_. It is a drinking gourd (_nambira_), or jar, over the aperture of which is stretched a skin. This is crossed by a cord, to which is attached a small piece of wood, which serves as a clapper when the instrument is shaken.

The _Quijongo_ is a stringed instrument, made by fastening a wooden bow with a stretched cord over the mouth of a jar. A hollow reed, about five feet long and an inch and a half thick, is bent by a wire attached to the ends. This wire is then tied to the reed at one-third the distance from one end, and at the same point, on the convex surface of the reed, a gourd, or thin earthen jar, is fastened, with its mouth downward. The notes are produced by striking the two sections of wire with a light stick, and at the same time the opening of the jar is more or less closed by the palm of the left hand, thus producing a limited number of notes, which are varied by changing the intervals.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE QUIJONGO OF NICARAGUA.]

Among the Nahuatl tribes of the Balsam coast, this is called the _Carimba_. It appears to have been an aboriginal invention, although some writers have a.s.serted that the Aztecs had no knowledge of any stringed instrument. Something like a harp, however, is represented in the following cut, from the Aztec funerary ritual, where a priest or hired mourner is shown, chanting the praise of the departed, and accompanying his words with music, on what appears to be a rude stringed instrument. (See page x.x.xvii.)

The _Chilchil_ is a small bell, a number of which are strung together and shaken. This is an ancient Aztec instrument, the term for it in Nahuatl being _Ayacachtli_.

The _Cacho_ is a sort of trumpet, constructed of a horn. A blast upon it can be heard a long distance, and it has thus become a measure of length, a _legua de cacho_ being the distance at which one can hear the horn when l.u.s.tily blown. It is said to be rather longer than a Spanish league.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AZTEC MOURNER SINGING AND PLAYING.]

As to the value of the music which was obtained from these instruments, it is difficult to arrive at an opinion from capable judges. Nearly all who have been in a position to study the subject have lacked acquaintance with the scientific principles and developmental history of music as an art.

Hence it has usually been stated, and accepted without inquiry, that the aborigines of America were exceedingly deficient in musical ability, and that their best efforts rarely went beyond creating discordant noise. Late investigations by competent critics have disproved this opinion, and show that the melodies of the natives are in accordance with a recognized scale, though not that to which we are accustomed. For a parallel we must go back to the ancient Phrygian and Lydian measures, where we shall find a development of the art in a similar direction to that among the natives of this continent.[39] As is remarked by Mr. A. S. Gatschet, "Although the Indian uses all the seven notes of our musical scales, he avoids many of our melodial sequences; the majority of his tunes follow the _dur_ or _sharp_ scales, and the two-eighths or two-fourths measure."[40]

In Central America, the native race has a keen musical sense. Von Tempsky found that they learned by ear, with great ease, the compositions of Bellini; and in Vera Paz and among the Lacandons, Morelet heard upon the _Chirimoya_, an aboriginal wind instrument, an air which he characterizes as "very remarkable" and "extremely touching." What brings this air into relation to my present theme is the singular fact that it was known as _la Malinche_, but Morelet could not learn from what connection.[41] Quite possibly it was from the character of that name in the play of _Gueguence_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MALINCHE.]

In the public _bailes_ in ancient times, as we are informed by both Oviedo and Benzoni, the musicians were separated from the singers and other performers, forming an actual orchestra, and this is also intimated in the Gueguence. Having thus the position of a cla.s.s by themselves, it may fairly be presumed that they cultivated with a.s.siduity their peculiar art.

In later days, the _cofradias_, the brotherhoods and sisterhoods organized in connection with the churches, made it part of their business to learn singing and music, so as to take part in the celebration of church festivals. It was through these _cofradias_ that the art of playing on the ancient instruments was preserved. By the loss of influence of the church at the separation of the colonies from the mother country, the _cofradias_ were mostly dissolved.[42]

The music which accompanies the ballets in the Gueguence has been written down, and is familiar to many in Nicaragua. I have obtained a portion of it, through the obliging efforts of Dr. Earl Flint, of Rivas, an earnest cultivator in the field of archaeological research. The score appears, however, on examination by competent persons, to be probably of Spanish origin, and it would not be worth while to give more than a specimen of it. (See p. xl.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: MELODIES FROM GUEGUENCE.]

-- 4. _History of the_ "_Baile del Gueguence._"

Among the scenic representations which have been preserved by the descendants of the Mangues, in the ancient province of Masaya, the only one of length which has been committed to writing is the _Baile del Gueguence, o Macho-Raton_. Several copies of this exist in ma.n.u.script, and from a comparison of two of them the late Dr. C. H.

Berendt obtained, in 1874, the text which is printed in this volume.

But he did not obtain, nor did he attempt himself, any translation of any portion of it. He states, positively, that the Nahuatl parts are not understood by the natives themselves at the present day. Its antiquity and authorship are alike unknown. It is certain that it was acted before the beginning of the present century, but with this single fact its external history ceases.

Within the memory of those now living, this _Baile_ has occasionally been acted in fulfillment of a religious vow p.r.o.nounced in some emergency of life or affairs. The period selected for its performance is, usually, at the festival of St. Jerome, September 30th. The preparations for it are elaborate and expensive. In former times the rehearsals took place daily, sometimes for as much as six or eight months before the public performance. The actors provided their own costumes, which required a considerable outlay. There were, however, always plenty of applicants, as it was not only considered an honor to take part, but also, the patron or patroness of the festival, who had pledged himself to give the drama, was expected to furnish refreshments, in the way of food and drink, at each rehearsal. As the appet.i.tes were usually keen, and the libations liberal, it was almost ruinous for one of moderate means to undertake it. For that reason, as Dr. Earl Flint writes me, it has now been dropped, and will probably not again be brought out, at least, in full.

How far beyond the close of the last century we should place the composition of the Gueguence is a difficult question. Dr. Berendt, basing his opinion on what he could learn by local tradition, on the archaisms of the Spanish construction, and on other internal evidence, referred it in general terms to the first periods (_los primeros siglos_) of the Spanish occupation. It is probable that we may a.s.sign the early portion of the eighteenth century as the latest date for its composition, and there is some evidence, which I shall refer to in the notes to the text, that a more remote period is not improbable. Of course, it does not contradict this that a few modern expressions have crept into the text. Nothing else could be expected.

No hint as to the author is anywhere found. There are, however, reasons which I consider weighty ones, to believe that it is the production either of a native Indian or a half-caste. Several of them are of a negative character, and I will give these first.

All the dramas, so far as I know, which were introduced by the Spanish priests as subst.i.tutes for the native _bailes_, are either religious or instructive in aim. As the Germans say, they are strongly _tendencios_. Such are the _Baile de St. Martin_, which gives scenes from the life of the saint, and in which a wheel, called the _horquilla_, covered with feathers and flowers, is drawn along; the _Baile de los Cinco Pares de Francia_, which sets forth the conquest of the infidel Moors by the Christians, both of which plays have been popular in Nicaragua; among the Kekchis, of Coban, the _Baile de Moros y Cristianos_, similar to the last mentioned; the _Zaki-Koxol, o Baile de Cortes_, in Kiche, a copy of which I have, and the like. But in the _Gueguence_ there is absolutely no moral purpose nor religious tone; so much, indeed, of the reverse, that we cannot conceive of its introduction by a priest.

On the other hand, had it been composed by a secular Spanish writer, we should hardly fail to find it, in a general way, modeled after the stock Spanish comedy. It differs, however, in several striking and fundamental features, from the Spanish models, and these differences are precisely those which would flow from the native habits of thought. I would note, first, that while females are introduced, they are strictly _mutae personae_, even the heroine not speaking a word; that there are no monologues nor soliloquies; that there is no separation into scenes, the action being continuous throughout; that there is neither prologue, epilogue nor chorus; and especially that the wearisome repet.i.tion of the same phrases, and by one speaker of what a previous one has said--a marked characteristic of the native scenic orations[43]--are all traits which we can scarcely believe any Spaniard sufficiently cultivated to write at all, would exhibit.

Furthermore, the "business" of the play is strictly within the range of the native thought and emotion. The admiration of the coa.r.s.e cunning and impudent knavery of Gueguence is precisely what we see in the modern camp-fire tales of Michabo among the Algonkins, of Tezcatlipoca among the Aztecs, and of a score of other heroes. It is of a piece with the delight which our own ancestors derived from the trickeries of Reynard the Fox.

The devices for exciting laughter are scarcely more than three in number; one the a.s.sumed deafness of the Gueguence, the second, a consequence of this, that he misunderstands, or pretends to, the words of the other actors, thus giving rise to amusing quid-pro-quos, and third, the introduction of obscene references. Of course, I am aware that these are the stock resources of many European low comedians; but I also consider it a fact of very considerable importance in deciding the probable authorship of the play, that all of these, especially the first two, are prominently mentioned by old authors, as leading devices of the native Nahuatl comedies. Thus, Benzoni and Coreal tell us that in the _bailes_ in Nicaragua, which they witnessed, some of the actors pretended to be deaf, and others to be blind, so as to excite laughter by their mistakes.[44] And Father Diego Duran tells us of a native Mexican comedy, upon which this of Gueguence may, perhaps, have been founded, full of songs and coa.r.s.e jests,[45] in which the clown pretends to understand at cross purposes what his master orders, transforming his words into others like them. As to the general leaning to indecent gestures and jokes, it is frequently commented on by the missionaries, and given as a reason for discountenancing these exhibitions.

The absence of all reference to the emotions of love, and the naive coa.r.s.eness indicated in the pa.s.sages about women, point rather to a native than a European hand. They are in remarkable contrast to the Spanish school of comedy.[46] The neglect of common rules of Spanish construction seems to arise from the ignorance of one imperfectly acquainted with the language, rather than of deliberate purpose. It must also be remembered that this piece was one acted altogether by the native Indians, and not by the Spanish population.

Nor are we without examples of persons of native lineage preparing comedies for their fellows. About 1625, Bartholome de Alva, a descendant of the native kings of Tezcuco, wrote three comedies, in Nahuatl, drawing his plots from Lope de Vega. It is quite as likely that another Alva rose from the Nahuas of Nicaragua, and prepared for their amus.e.m.e.nt the production I now present.

For these various reasons I cla.s.s it among aboriginal productions.

-- 5. _The Dramatis Personae of The Gueguence._

The central figure of the drama, and the personage from whom it derives its name, is _The Gueguence._ This is a Nahuatl word, from the root _hue_, old; _huehue_ is "old man;" to this is added what grammarians call the "reverencial" termination _tzin_, denoting reverence or affection, and we have, intercalating the euphonic _n_, _huehuentzin_, which, in the vocative, becomes _huehuentze_. It means, therefore, "the honored elder," or "the dear old man," and may be used, as it is in the play, either as a proper name or as a common noun. In his description of the Nahuas of Nicaragua, Oviedo gives the word _huehue_, and tells us that it was applied to certain old men of influential position, who were elected by the natives as rulers of the villages, and that they in turn selected the war-chief, whose duty it was to look to the defence of the community. The name was, therefore, one familiar to the Nicaraguans, though the character would seem to be drawn as a burlesque or satire.

He is, in fact, anything but a respectable person. His indifference to truth, his cynical impudence, his licentious jokes about and before his sons, and the unscrupulous tricks of which he boasts, are calculated to detract from the element of the comic in his portraiture, for those who have been accustomed to the higher productions of humor. But it would be an error to allow this sentiment to affect much our estimate of the influence of the play.

As Lessing very well observes, the true value of comedy is to train us to see the ridiculous and the absurd, wherever it is, in flagitious as well as in merely inconsiderate actions, as thus the observer is prompted to morality as well as forethought.[47]

As I have said, his character is a marked type of the peculiar form of humor which the native mind preferred, and of the cla.s.s of actions in which it especially found amus.e.m.e.nt, to wit, in that jocularity which is a.s.sumed to deceive and get the better of one's neighbor. This is strikingly shown by the number of words in the Nicaraguan patois which express such actions. Thus, _chamarrear_ is to take advantage of some one by a joke; _trisca_ is a conversation in which some one is made ridiculous; _fefere_ is an idle tale with which a hearer is cajoled; _dar un caritazo_ is to deceive a person by a trick, etc. This is the humor in the Gueguence. The old man nearly always has a selfish aim to gain by his jokes and his stories; they are intended to further his own interests, and, at the close of the play, he, on the whole, comes out victorious by these questionable measures.

As the drama was formerly represented, the Gueguence wore the most magnificent apparel of any of the actors. Chains of gold, strings of silver coins, and ornaments of steel draped his person. Indeed, all the partic.i.p.ants vied with each other in extravagant costumes. Their garments were fantastically adorned with feathers and flowers, and set off with sashes and handkerchiefs of brilliant colors.