Part 18 (1/2)
The _matador_ of to-day is the idol of the populace; but he is not so honoured by persons of n.o.ble birth as in the earlier times of bull-fighting. Luis Mazzantini is perhaps the greatest living _torero_.
Guerrita has retired. Antonio Fuentes and Reverte are accomplished bull-fighters. Montes died of injuries received in the ring, in the year 1850, at the age of forty-six.
To show the favour formerly extended to the _torero_, we may quote the story of Lavi and Queen Isabel II. Lavi was a Romany by birth, and a bold _matador_ of his day. During a royal _corrida_, the gipsy pluckily tore out the _mona_, or bunch of ribbons in the bull's neck, and advanced towards the Queen. 'Here,' he cried, 'this is the first _mona_ your majesty has had the honour of receiving at my hands!'
The retinue of the _matador_ consists of the _picadores_, or mounted spearmen, the _banderilleros_, or dart throwers, and the _monos sabios_, who repair the damages to the wretched horses and thrash them to their feet. The _matador_ is clad in silk and gold, with a spangled cloak, which he wears in the parade of the fighters previous to the display. It is stated by one writer that a bull fight in Seville cost from 1100 to 1200. The value of each bull killed is about 70. The _matador's_ fee is from 120 to 200; but this includes the fees paid by him to his _cuadrilla_, or troupe. The horses are valued at from 120 to 200, according to the number killed by the bull. The cost of the seats is from a _peseta_ to three _duros_. Guerrita could 'command all over Spain and in the South of France almost any remuneration.' The _banderilleros_ receive about fifty dollars, and the _picadores_ something less than that for their share in the performance.
The glory that surrounds the _matador_ induces a large number of Spanish youths to adopt the profession of bull-fighting. In consequence, there is a surplus of indifferent _toreros_ and novices, who are awaiting their chance for promotion and for an appearance in the arena.
These hangers-on of the sport are to be seen in the Puerta del Sol of Madrid, and in the _paseos_ and streets of Seville. They have a 'horsey'
air, and are proficient at lounging, and chaffing the women who pa.s.s by.
A little pigtail hangs from the brims of their hats, and they are fond of frilled s.h.i.+rts, in which they display paste studs. Every city and provincial town of Spain has its _aficionados_ of bull-fighting. These amateurs talk learnedly upon _encierros_, _suertes_, and _pases por alto_. They are vain of their acquaintance with popular _toreros_, and they read all the literature of the beloved sport. The _Historia del Toreo_ is better known among these 'sports' than the poems of 'Herrera the divine.' At the _cafes_ they pore over the bull-fighting journals, _El Toreo_, _El Enano_, and _La Lidia_.
Mr. H. T. Finck describes the bull fight as 'the most unsportsmanlike and cowardly spectacle I have ever seen.' This author does not believe that bull-fighting is highly dangerous. 'No man,' he writes, 'who has a sense of true sport would engage with a dozen other men against a brute that is so stupid as to expend its fury a hundred times in succession on a piece of red cloth, ignoring the man who holds it.'
The bull fight not dangerous! I can imagine the indignation of the devotees of the sport at such a suggestion. Personally, I am not in a position to affirm how great or how small is the peril to the man who finds himself alone in a ring, face to face with a savage Andalusian bull. I have, however, been told by a Spaniard, living in Madrid, that the fluttering of the red cloth certainly distracts the bull's attention from its combatant, and that the animal invariably closes its eyes when the _muleta_ is whisked in its face. This 'fact,' given on the authority of my Spanish friend, may throw a side-light on the art of the _matador_. But I am certainly not prepared to say that bull-fighting is without danger to the human performers in the tournament. Many lives have been lost in the arena, and injuries are of comparatively common occurrence. On October 7, 1900, Dominguin was killed at Barcelona; two novices were wounded at Carabanchel; Parrao was injured at Granada, Telilas had his collar-bone broken at Madrid, and Bombita was wounded at the same place. Such was one day's list of mishaps in the amphitheatres of Spain.
Until infuriated by the lances and darts, many of the bulls are far from savage. There is the story of a bull in the arena, that recognised the voice of a lad, who had tended it on the plains, and came towards its friend with apparent pleasure at the re-meeting. On the other hand, there is the account of the bull of Muruve, who fought at Seville, in 1898, and carried a horse and a _picador_ upon its horns from the barrier to the centre of the ring. A strong bull will sometimes toss a _picador's_ saddle high in the air; yet Mr. Williams tells us that two men are required to carry the saddle. Bulls frequently leap the _barrera_ of the arena, although the height is over five feet. 'At Malaga, some six years ago, a bull leaped over the barrier at precisely the same spot _fourteen_ times in swift succession. At Madrid, in 1898, another cleared _both_ barriers,' writes Mr. Williams, 'landing with his head among the spectators, but falling back into the _callejon_. On April 30, 1896, at Madrid, Ermitano, the second bull of the _corrida_, cleared the barrier four times, jamming a carpenter between a pair of doors and severely injuring him. All the above I have myself witnessed; but other feats, perfectly authenticated, are even more remarkable.'
The Plaza de Toros at Seville is a handsome building. It was constructed to seat fourteen thousand spectators. The chief fights take place on Domingo de Resurreccion, and during the week of the _feria_, in April.
The seats are arranged in boxes (_palcos_), the _asientos de barrera_ (barrier seats) and the _asientos de grada_. A higher price is charged for seats in the _sombra_, or shade; while the cheaper positions, occupied by the poorer cla.s.ses, are in the _sol_, or suns.h.i.+ne.
It is fas.h.i.+onable to drive to the _corrida_ behind four or six horses or mules, with gay trappings and jangling bells. Hawkers, thieves, programme vendors and beggars throng around the _plaza_. The half-hour of waiting, preliminary to the first combat, is enlivened by the arrival of smart people and notabilities of the city, while the orchestra plays a selection of pieces.
Reverte or Fuentes arrives, and is acclaimed by his admirers. The knowing _aficionados_, who have seen the doomed bulls in their enclosure, promise an excellent show. The seats gradually fill; there is a loud hum of conversation and a waving of fans by the _senoras_ in the _palcos_. At a signal from the President of the _corridas_, the ring is cleared of the groups of _toreros_ and their friends. Then the band strikes up, and the bull-fighters march out, with the _matadores_ in front of their attendants. They salute the President. The key of the bull enclosure is thrown down, an official unlocks the door, and into the arena canters the first bull, to encounter a charge from the _picador_. Sometimes the bull refuses to fight. The beast is lazy, good-tempered, or dazed. Not even the darts will enrage the creature. It gazes upon its tormentors with benign amazement. This poor sport; _toro_ must be worried into a pa.s.sion. An explosive dart is thrown at the bull.
The fire burns into its nerves. It is more than the most placid bull nature can endure with patience. _Toro_ lowers its horns and rushes upon its a.s.sailants.
The spectators, men, women and children, closely watch every move and double of the fighters. A _picador_ is thrown. The horse, with a ghastly dripping wound in its flank, rushes around the ring. It is met by the bull, gored, and tossed in the air. The wounded nag cannot regain its feet. Again and again the infuriated _toro_ vents its rage on the struggling horse. Presently, the bull's attention is drawn from the steed, and it turns to face the gaudy _matador_. A thrust of a dagger ends the convulsive kicking of the dying horse.
With scientific precision, the swordsman flutters his _muleta_ in the bull's face. At each charge the _matador_ bounds aside, and the beast worries the red rag. At length, _toro_ stands snorting and pawing the ground. The magnificent brute surveys his enemy with hatred, and makes another rush. Again it is thwarted. Finally, the sword is plunged deftly into the creature's viscera. _Toro_ trembles, falls, and lies p.r.o.ne. The _coup de grace_ is administered with a big knife. There is deafening applause, the strains of the band, and the dead bull is dragged from the ring by a team of mules.
'When I see children at the _corrida_, I sigh and think of the future of Spain,' said my Spanish friend. Such expression of opinion is almost treasonable. Long live the bull fight! Humanitarian cant is not to be taken seriously. It is not only the Spanish people who love the sport.
'There are no more enthusiastic patrons of the bull ring in Madrid,'
writes Mr. H. C. Chatfield Taylor, author of _The Land of the Castanet_, 'than many of the foreign diplomats, and one remembers clearly the Secretary of the United States Legation, stationed in Madrid at the time of a former visit, saying that he was an annual subscriber, and had not missed a _corrida_ during his entire term of office.'
THE LIFE OF THE FIGHTING BULL.
In Great Britain our n.o.bility and gentle-folk breed racehorses. In Spain the aristocracy and grandees rear bulls for the ring. The breeders of bulls are termed _ganaderos_. Around Seville, Jerez, Huelva and Valladolid are born the _toros bravos_. At the age of one year the bulls selected for the arena are branded, and sent on to the plains to graze, in charge of a _conocedor_, who is a.s.sisted by an _ayudante_. When the bulls are two years of age, they are tried for the first time to prove their pluck and pugnacity. At four years old they are put into huge enclosures of good pasturage, and in time of scarcity they are fed upon vetches, maize and wheat. From five to seven _toro_ is warrantable for the _lidia_. At his trial, at the age of two years, the owner of the herd invites a number of friends to the ranche. Young and clever hors.e.m.e.n attend these trials, and vie with one another in courage. The _caballeros_ are armed with the _garrochas_, lances about twelve feet in length, with short steel points. Visitors to Seville may often see parties of mounted sportsmen returning from these _tentadores_, or trials.
A bull is separated from its companions. The horseman, carrying the _garrocha_, pursues the brute, and attempts to overturn it by a powerful thrust on the flank, delivered at full gallop. The horseman must be a bold rider, possessed of coolness and strong in the arm. If the charge is successful, _toro_ tumbles with its feet in the air. Another rider now takes up the attack. He has a sharper spear, and is called _el tentador_. Should the young bull refuse to charge, it is discarded as a _toro bravo_, and the slaughter-house or the life of labour awaits it.
The chosen bulls are then christened, and entered upon the breeder's list of warrantable animals. In due time their names appear on the brilliant placards advertising the _corridas_ of Seville or Cadiz.
'The _tentadero_ at the present day,' writes the authors of _Wild Spain_, 'affords opportunity for aristocratic gatherings, that recall the tauromachian tournaments of old. Even the Infantas of Spain enter into the spirit of the sport, and have been known themselves to wield the _garrocha_ with good effect, as was, a few months ago, the case at a brilliant _fete champetre_ on the Sevillian _vegas_, when the Condesa de Paris and her daughter, Princess Elena, each overthrew a st.u.r.dy two-year-old; the Infanta Eulalia riding _a ancas_, or pillion-fas.h.i.+on, with an Andalucian n.o.bleman, among the merriest of a merry party.'
Travelling by rail across the wide and lonely plains of Southern and Central Spain, the stranger often sees large herds of bulls, quietly grazing in charge of an attendant, who leans upon a long wooden staff, and wears a plaid upon his shoulder. The Spanish travellers crowd to the window at the magical words _los toros_, and in an animated manner the points of the herd are discussed. This pleasant pastoral life lasts for five years of the bull's life, though during that time it has to endure the trial with the _garrocha_. The bulls are divided into three cla.s.ses after the _tientas_, or trials, _i.e._, those of the first rank, the 'brave bulls'; those of the second order, the _novillos_, which are used by second-rate _matadores_ and beginners, and those sentenced to death, or a life of toil. Amongst the most eminent strains of Andalusian bulls used for the ring are those of Camara, Miura, Muruve, Perez de la Concha, Conradi, Adalid, Ibarra, Saltillo, and Anastasio Martin.
The animals are sold from four to eight at a time, according to the status of the _corrida_ for which they are purchased. If the distance to the ring is short, the bulls are driven by night through the country, and pastured in the daytime. They are led by peaceable cattle with bells hung from their necks. 'These intelligent beasts keep the wild ones together and out of mischief,' says Mr. Leonard Williams, 'with the same unerring watchfulness as a collie controlling a flock of sheep, and lightening to an incalculable extent the labours of the accompanying hors.e.m.e.n.' At night the bulls are driven into the town, the sides of the streets being barricaded. When the beasts are consigned to buyers at a long distance from the ranche, they are conveyed by rail in strong boxes.