Spanish Language Blog

El 28 de Diciembre es un día en que debemos tener cuidado desde que nos levantamos, ya que se celebra el Día de los Santos Inocentes, y es muy probable que algún amigo o conocido intente gastarnos una broma. También debemos estar atentos para no prestar dinero, ya que pueden devolvérnoslo a través de esta cancioncilla:

“Herodes mandó a Pilatos,
Pilatos mandó a su gente,
Y el que presta en este día
Pasará por inocente.”

O la que más se usaba en mi casa: “Que los Santos Inocentes te lo paguen…” Lo que quiere decir que no nos van a devolver ni un duro.

Como para tantas otras fiestas, existen dos orígenes diferentes, uno religioso y otro pagano. El origen religioso recuerda la terrible matanza ordenada por Herodes para intentar asesinar al niño Jesús, al sentir su reinado amenazado. Pero resulta extraño relacionar este trágico acontecimiento con un día en que la broma y la tomadura de pelo imperan, y esto nos lleva a la segunda explicación. Durante la edad media, en los días previos al 31 de Diciembre, la gente dejaba un poco al margen sus labores, y se divertían gastando bromas, y asumiendo el papel de las autoridades políticas y religiosas. Esta fiesta, llamada la “fiesta de los locos”, sí parece más similar a la actual.

Inocentadas tradicionales son las de emitir  noticias en los medios de comunicación que resultan ser falsas; y en casa, cambiar el azúcar por la sal durante el desayuno, dar caramelos o bombones rellenos de ingredientes poco agradables, o andar por la calle o la oficina con un monigote blanco colgado a la espalda si alguno de tus compañeros de trabajo es lo suficientemente hábil para colocarlo sin que se note. Y vosotros, ¿tenéis alguna inocente víctima a quien gastar una broma? Ya me contaréis.

We have to be very careful on the 28^th of December since the moment we get up, because it is Feast of the Holy Innocents, and it is very likely that some friend or acquaintance tries to play a joke on us. We also have to be very careful not to lend money, as they can come back to us with this song:

” Herod sent Pilatus,
Pilatus sent his people,
And the one who lends in this day
Will pass for innocent. “

Or the one which was most used at home: “The Holy Innocents will pay you back…“ which means that they are not going to give you back a single coin.

As for so many other holidays, there are two different origins, the religious and the pagan one. The religious origin commemorates the terrible slaughter ordered by Herod to try to murder baby Jesus, as he felt his reign was threatened. But it seems a bit strange to relate this tragic event with one day in which jokes and the mockery prevail, and this leads us to the second explanation. During the middle ages, in the days before December 31st, people set aside their work, and they enjoyed themselves playing jokes, and assuming the role of the political and religious authorities. This holiday, named the “Feast of Fools”, seems to be more similar to the current one.

Traditional fools’ jokes are news broadcast in the mass media that turn out to be false; and at home, to swap the sugar and salt during breakfast, to give candies or chocolates with slightly unpleasant fillings, or to walk on the street or the office with a white paper doll hanging from your back if one of your workmates is skilful enough to put it there without you noticing it. And you, do you have any innocent victim to play a joke on? I hope you will tell me.

No sé si en España tenemos una fiesta para todo, pero lo que sí es cierto es que tenemos muchas bastante curiosas. Hace pocos días celebramos el Día de la Constitución (6 de Diciembre) y el día de la Inmaculada Concepción (8 de Diciembre). Y en la víspera del 7 al 8, acabo de descubrir dos festividades en Cáceres, Extremadura que han despertado mi curiosidad.

La Noche del 7 de diciembre, se celebra en Jarandilla de la Vera la fiesta de “Los escobazos”. Su origen se remonta al siglo VII, cuando los cabreros bajaban desde la sierra a sus casas para celebrar con sus familias el día a la Virgen. Ya que iniciaban el camino de madrugada, y a través de la sierra, se alumbraban con unas toscas antorchas de retama. Cuando se cruzaban por el camino, y al llegar al pueblo, se saludaban a escobazo limpio para festejar su regreso, incluso con las antorchas aún encendidas. La tradición también cuenta que era una forma más de festejar el fin de la cosecha de otoño. Hoy día se mantiene la tradición de las antorchas, los escobazos y las risas acompañadas de un vasito de vino, justo antes de la procesión de la virgen. Eso sí, ¡no olvidéis llevar puesta vuestra ropa más vieja y guantes!

Y la siguiente me llamó la atención por la sugerencia fantasmal, ahora entenderéis por qué. La Encamisá de Torrejoncillo también se celebra en estas fechas. Cuando comienza la procesión, se pueden ver en la plaza del pueblo jinetes cubiertos con sábanas blancas vitoreando a la virgen. Cuenta la leyenda que durante la batalla de Pavía, los habitantes del pueblo se ocultaron bajo sábanas blancas, lo que les hizo invisibles bajo la nieve y les permitió ganar la contienda. Aunque también hay quienes hablan de unas raíces árabes por las características de la fiesta. Sea cual sea el motivo, no dejan de ser sorprendentes estos jinetes bajo la sábana blanca. ¡Y por hoy eso es todo, amigos!

I don’t know if in Spain we have a holiday for everything, but what is true is that we have too many curious ones. A few days ago we celebrated the Day of the Constitution (December 6) and the day of the Inmaculate Conception (December 8). And in the eve of December 8, I have just discovered two festivities in Caceres, Extremadura that have tickled my curiosity.

The night of December 7th, the holiday of “Los Escobazos” (literally, the hit with a broom holiday)is celebrated in Jarandilla de la Vera. Its origin goes back to the 7th century, when the goatherds returned from the mountains to their houses to celebrate the Virgin’s day with their families. As they started the way down at dawn, and across the mountain, they lit their way with a few crude torches made out of broom. When they passed by each other on their way home, and when arriving to town, they greeted each other by hitting each other with the burning brooms to celebrate their return. Tradition also tells us that it was one way of celebrating the end of the autumn harvest. Today some people maintain the tradition of the torches, the blows, and the laughs, accompanied with a small glass of wine just before the procession of the virgin. But do not forget to wear your oldest clothes and a pair of gloves!

And the next one got my attention because of a ghostly suggestion, you’re about to see see why. La Encamisá de Torrejoncillo is also celebrated in these days. When the procession begins, we can see in the town square horsemen covered in white sheets cheering the virgin. The legend goes that, during the battle of Pavía, the people from the town hid under white sheets, which made them invisible on the snow and allowed them to win the battle. But there are also people who mention Arabic roots because of the characteristics of the holiday. Whatever the reason, these horsemen are quite striking under the white sheets. And that’s all for today, my friends!

DOÑA INÉS:
Callad, por Dios, ¡oh, don Juan!,
que no podré resistir
mucho tiempo sin morir
tan nunca sentido afán.
¡Ah! Callad por compasión,
que oyéndoos me parece
que mi cerebro enloquece
se arde mi corazón.
¡Ah! Me habéis dado a beber
un filtro infernal, sin duda,
que a rendiros os ayuda
la virtud de la mujer.
Tal vez poseéis, don Juan,
un misterioso amuleto
que a vos me atrae en secreto
como irresistible imán.
Tal vez Satán puso en vos:
su vista fascinadora,
su palabra seductora,
y el amor que negó a Dios.
¿Y qué he de hacer ¡ay de mí!
sino caer en vuestros brazos,
si el corazón en pedazos
me vais robando de aquí?
No, don Juan, en poder mío
resistirte no está ya:
yo voy a ti como va
sorbido al mar ese río.
Tu presencia me enajena,
tus palabras me alucinan,
y tus ojos me fascinan,
y tu aliento me envenena.
¡Don Juan! ¡Don Juan!, yo lo imploro
de tu hidalga compasión:
o arráncame el corazón,
o ámame porque te adoro.

DON JUAN:
¿Alma mía! Esa palabra
cambia de modo mi ser,
que alcanzo que puede hacer
hasta que el Edén se me abra.
No es, doña Inés, Satanás
quien pone este amor en mí;
es Dios, que quiere por ti
ganarme para Él quizás.
No, el amor que hoy se atesora
en mi corazón mortal
no es un amor terrenal
como el que sentí hasta ahora;
no es esa chispa fugaz
que cualquier ráfaga apaga;
es incendio que se traga
cuanto ve, inmenso, voraz.
Desecha, pues, tu inquietud,
bellísima doña Inés,
porque me siento a tus pies
capaz aún de la virtud.
Sí, iré mi orgullo a postrar
ante el buen Comendador,
y o habrá de darme tu amor,
o me tendrá que matar.

DOÑA INÉS: ¡Don Juan de mi corazón!

While all the English speaking countries are celebrating Halloween, here in Spain and in most Spanish speaking countries we prepare ourselves to visit our dead ones in their resting place: the cemetery. Maybe you remember our post from last year where we talked about our traditions for All Saints Day.

But we also have a very popular and literary tradition: it has become a custom of Spanish theater to represent José Zorrilla’s masterpiece, Don Juan Tenorio, on All Saints Day. The myth of Don Juan, licentiousness personified, has its origins in the tragic drama El burlador de Sevilla ( The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest), by Tirso de Molina.

Arguably the most well known womanizer in the world is “el Tenorio”. The legend of Don Juan tells how, being a young, cynical and dissolute young swordsman, he seduced Ines, a girl from a noble family who died after he abandoned her. Despite this, and surprisingly, Doña Ines was the owner of his heart. Don Juan also killed her father, who had tried to avenge her, and even mocked on the commemorative effigy over the father’s tomb, inviting it to have dinner. To his surprise, the stone image was his guest in his last night on earth’s dinner… but I’m not going to tell you the whole story!

Some of the more memorable fragments are probably those in which he declares his love to Doña Ines, and she devotedly corresponds. Let me share one with you:

DOÑA INÉS:
Oh God! Silence! How can I stand
to resist, with my sighing,
any longer, without dying,
ah, such longing, Don Juan?
Ah, to silence, for pity’s sake, turn,
for hearing you seems to me
to bring my mind infirmity,
and cause my heart to burn.
Ah! You have doubtless given me
an infernal potion, oh some
charm that helps you overcome
a woman’s purity.
Perhaps, Don Juan, you possess an amulet
a thing of mystery
that draws me secretly
like an irresistible magnet.
Perhaps Satan set in your eyes
his fascinating gaze
his seductive maze,
of words, and the Love he denies
to God. Ah, what am I to do,
but fall into those two
arms, if  you continue to
shatter my heart in two?
Don Juan, it’s no longer in me
to own the power to resist you: no,
I turn to you as the river flows
that runs down to the sea.
Your presence maddens me,
your words hypnotize me,
and your eyes fascinate me,
and your breath envenoms me.
Don Juan! Don Juan, I implore you
in your noble heart, of pity,
either tear my heart from me,
or love me, because I adore you.
DON JUAN: My soul! Those words indeed
change my whole state of being.
and I know perhaps I am seeing
Paradise open to me.
Doña Inés, it is not Satan, in sin,
who creates this love in me:
it is God, who wants, perhaps
through you, to win me to Him.
No, the love that is precious
in my heart, that is mortal,
is not that love, terrestrial,
that up to now I’ve treasured;
nor is it a fleeting spark of need
that a breath of wind defeats:
it is a roaring fire that eats
all it sees, in its vast greed.
Calm then your fears, oh you
my most beautiful Inés,
for at your feet I feel that, yes,
even I am filled with virtue.
Ah, I will swallow my pride
before the good Comendador,
to adore
or death will be my bride.
DOÑA INÉS: My dearest Don Juan!