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' STAGES OF CONFLICT A Critical Antl;iology of Latin American Theater and Performance

Edited by Diana Taylor and Sarah J. Townsend

Translation coordinator, Margaret Carson • '!

THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PRESS Ann Arbor rt ) ,. ~.. < ;'l I !I

-'I I 1 .~;

To Latin American theater artists, who have long shown us how to ' live and work in troubled times. ~'•

Copyright © by the University of Michigan 2008 All rights reserved Published in the United States of America by The University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America @) Printed on acid-free paper

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•J No pan of this publication may be reproduced, ' stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, I without the written permission of the publisher. I

1 A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the j British Library. ! library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stages of conflict : a critical anthology of Latin American ~i theater and performance I edited by Diana Taylor I and Sarah]. Townsend; translation coordinator, t;, Margaret Carson. { I p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. [238]-253). ISBN-13: 978-0-4 72-07027-5 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-IO: 0-472-07027-4 (cloth: alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-472-05027-7 (pbk.: alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-472-05027-3 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Latin American drama-20th century-Translations into English. l. Carson, Margaret. 11. Taylor, Diana, 1950- lll. Townsend, Sarah]. PQ7087.E5S77 2008 l: 862'.608-dc22 2008011484 l~' J I , .' \\ \ 80 BOLIVIA I ALMAGRO May he perish and with him, all his descendants, MEXICO My noble and only lord, and destroy his house. L__ _ he is surely dead. Nothing shall remain of this infamous soldier. SPAIN Those are my orders. 1f that's true, take him away. The Loafor the Auto Go, put him on the fire. Sacramental of The Divine Narcissus (Sor Juana Ines de la NOTES 9. A sacred precinct or Temple of the Sun. Cruz) 10. A corn husk. All notes to this play are by the translator. 11. The mother of Atau Wallpa. 1. A brightly colored bird. 12. A philosopher. 2. A term applied to all sacred objects or places. 13. Inca Hua.scar was the first-born of Wayna There was nothing ordinary about her person or her 3. A bear. Qhapaj and the brother of Atau Wallpa. He was de- life. She was exceptionally beautiful, and poor. She was 4. Conical tumulus; funerary towers constructed by feated and killed by Atau Wallpa's army in a war of the favorite of a Vicereine and lived at court, courted the Indians for burial. succession. by many; she was loved, and perchance she loved. 5. According to legends, he was the first Inca. 14. A bird with a brown breast and white tail. Abruptly she gives up worldly life and enters a con- 6. One of the three most important Inca gods ac- 15. A red string wrapped around the forehead that vent-yet, far from renouncing the world entirely, she cording to the Spanish chroniclers. indicated royal status. converts her cell into a study filled with books, works 7. The father of Atau Wallpa. 16. The last of the Incan cities and the hiding place of art, and scientific instruments and transforms the 8. A kind of deer. of the last Inca king, Manco Inca. convent locutory into a literary and intellectual salon. She writes love poems, verses for songs and dance tunes, profane comedies, sacred poems, an essay in theology, and an autobiographical defense of the right of women to study and to cultivate their minds. She becomes famous, sees her plays performed, her poems published, and her genius applauded in all the Spanish dominions, half the Western world. Then suddenly she gives up everything, surrenders her library and collections, renounces literature, and finally, during an epidemic, after ministering to stricken sisters in the Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. Portrait attributed to Juan de convent, dies at the age of forty-six. Miranda. (From the Direcci6n General de! Patrimonio, -Octavio Paz, Sor Juana, or the Traps of Faith Universidad Nacional Aut6noma de Mexico, Mexico City.)

Even in her own time, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, born Juana de Asbaje y Ramirez de Santillana, possibly between 1648 and 1651, in the town of San Miguel de Nepantla near Mexico City, was considered to be an extraordinarily brilliant and creative thinker. Most of her learning was self-taught. Minimal instruction was available to girls, and women were not allowed to attend uni- versity. She wrote, "[When I] discovered that in the City of Mexico there was a university with schools where different branches of learning could be stud- ied ... I deluged my mother with urgent and insistent pleas to change my 9 manner of dress and send me to stay with relatives in the City of Mexico so that I might study and take courses."1 As cross-dressing was apparently not an option, she taught herself. Her approach to Latin offers an example of her style of self-instruction: "I used to cut four or five fingers' width from [my hair] ... making it my rule that if by the time it grew back to that point, I did not know such-and-such a thing which I had set out to learn as it grew, I would cut it again as a penalty for my dullness . . . for I did not consider it

I 81 ', t 82 MEXICO The Loa for the Auto Sacramental of The Divine Narcissus 83 right that a head so bare of knowledge should be dressed with hair. "2 Her elements to create spectacles such as medieval mystery plays on carros mother allowed her to go to Mexico City to live with relatives when she was (wheeled carts), Nahuatl versions of biblical stories, tableaux vivants, and about ten years old, and her remarkable intelligence and beauty brought her mock battles between Moors and Christians. Far grimmer examples of to the attention of the court, where she was made a lady-in-waiting to the Church power were performed through the autos-da-fe of the Spanish Inqui- vicereine, the marquise de Mancera, with whom she formed a close bond. It is sition, the public processions and burnings of "heretics" either in the flesh or not clear why she left this position to enter a convent, first in 1666 and then in effigy. Representatives of the Spanish crown rivaled the Church for public permanently when she entered the San Jeronimo Convent in 1669, although, attention with stunning celebrations to commemorate royal marriages, births, given her poor economic circumstances and her self-proclaimed "total disin- deaths, and ascensions to the throne. clination to marriage,"3 it was probably her best option to continue her life of In addition to the intense theatrics that accompanied the emergence of study. Called the "tenth muse" and the "Mexican Phoenix," she attracted visi- New Spain, a lively theater scene sprang up in Mexico in the late sixteenth tors from throughout the viceroyalty of New Spain and Europe who would at- century. The first theater, or casa de farsas, was built in 1587 followed by the tend her regular tertulias (gatherings) in the convent to discuss her work and corral of the Hospital Real de Indios, a permanent theater that contributed to ideas. David Pasto, in the introduction to his translation of her comic cloak- the financial support of the hospital. After the first university of the Americas and-dagger play The House of Trials, states that "the Viceroy and the Vicereine, was founded in Mexico in 1551, university theater became popular, and by as well as other members of the court, visited the convent frequently to attend the seventeenth century plays were regularly staged there. Finally, starting in vespers, hear the musical and dramatic presentations, and chat in the locu- the mid-seventeenth century, the court became another site for theatrical per- tory. "4 Later Sor Juana became even closer with the subsequent viceroy, the formances. Certain conditions were imposed by civil and Church authorities: marquis de la Laguna and his wife, Maria Luisa, the countess of Paredes, with while women were allowed to act, they had to behave in an "honest" manner, whom scholars suggest she had a close, perhaps even passionate relation- and cross-dressing was not allowed. Men and women occupied separate ship. 5 Maria Luisa saw to the publication of a collection of Sor Juana's poetry, spaces in the audience. All texts had to be approved by the archbishop, and Inundaci6n Castdlida, in Madrid in 1689, and Sor Juana dedicated the volume representatives of the law were to attend all performances. 9 It is important to to her. She also wrote work at the request of the vicereine, including The Di- keep in mind, though, for the understanding of Sor Juana's Loa, that two vine Narcissus, whose loa (introductory praise poem) is included here. In spite kinds of performances were prohibited by the Holy Inquisition during this of the protection the court authorities offered her, Sor Juana infuriated strict period: masked dances and festivities by the native populations outside the theologians who attacked her for her love of learning and public profile. 6 realm of the Catholic Church, and performances in the convents (and their After the return of the viceroy and vicereine to Spain in 1688, Sor Juana. was churches). 10 This means t_h_~~_!he na~iye ~ances ~formed in Sor Juanas Loa far more vulnerable to the demands and restrictions imposed on her by would not have been permitted and that she, as a nun who never left her con- highly censorious religious leaders. She was forced to give up her books and v~nt, would have enjoyed few opportunities to either stage or see her plays her scientific and musical instruments and sign a document, in her own performed, although she did teach theater to young girls as part of her duties blood, stating that she renounced "Humane Studies." A few months before as a nun at San Jeronimo. dying, she aske oved sisters the nuns ... to commend me to God, for The Divine Narcissus is an auto sacramental, a long one-act play in honor of I ave been and am the worst among them." The document is signed, "I, the Holy Eucharist that was usually performed during the feast of Corpus worst of all the world uana Ines de la Cruz. "7 --- ' Christi. The Auto, which is not included here, can, as one commentator puts e social values and organization ma e visi e in this brief outline of Sor it, be su~~dup q{iite clearly· :.rl)rone giv~up the pleasure~~ of Juanas life-the strict, male hierarchy, the tension between Church and civil this life (love, sex, honor, rivalry) in favor of the duties of the Church (com- powers, the strict policing of ideas and religious orthodoxy, the exclusion or mandments, sacraments, res onsibilities), one will be r~a~ wit~T!~12.:' control of women-also played out in the broader social spectacles of the pe- ~ty of a society ma!!mercy and try to redeem her victims through evangelization and argumenta- Religion from the figure who initially prods Zeal into violence to another Sor tion. What follows is a brilliant reflection on the colonial predicament. Force Juana-a writer motivated by "obedience," not "arrogance," who becomes al- can vanquish the unarmed America, but it cannot change the hearts and minds most indistinguishable from her seeming coauthor, America, who apologizes A- of people. In Scene Three, Occident responds to Religion: "I must bow to your for these "awkward lines." While part of this transformation has to do with , j aggression I but not before your arguments." America vows resistance: "A the loa form itself, it cannot have escaped the notice of Sor Juana'.s critics that <' \ "f )L weeping captive, I may mourn I for liberty, yet my will grows I beyond these the Loa ends as it began. In an ironic inversion, America and Occident have (\9l TP ,~ bonds; my heart is free I and I will worship my own gods!" Occident reminds converted R~ligion anworth to resilience and inspiration. !'{' us"), Religion needs to win the hearts of her captives. Scene Four, then, is -Diana Taylor ~dGU, about convincing the conquered that what they perceive as "coercion" is really "affection" by finding a system of equivalences that shows that both religions .. ~~t1. ~Od--A, 0A in fact share basic similarities. NOTES prelate" from studying, which she obeyed in the literal , This strategy of finding equivalencies rather than categorical and fixed - sense for three months-though not in the broadest '---ii"< certainties is of course remarkable for various reasons. For one thing, this 1. Sor Juana, Reply to Sor Philothea, in A Sor Juana sense of the word, writing, "I saw nothing without re- strategy characterizes native cosmologies, as suggested in the introduction to Anthology, ed. Alan S. Trueblood (Cambridge: Harvard flecting on it; I heard nothing without wondering at it" this collection. Thus, Sor Juana is turning to the Mexica warldview, rather University Press, 1988), 211. (224). There is so much to be learned from simple, than the European, to find a solution to the impasse Second, Catholics we~ 2. Ibid., 211-12. everyday things such as cooking, she writes with reluctant to acce:e£_the ossibility of any similarity between their religion and 3. Ibid., 212. humor, that "if Aristotle had been a cook, he would 4. David Pasto, introduction to Sor Juana Ines de la have written much more" (226). what they claimed was pagan eV1 . nar iego Duran, w o wrote Cruz, The House of Trials (Los empenos de una casa), 7. Paz, Sor Juana, 464-05. A1.990 film by the Ar- History of the Indies of New Spain around 1581, explains the similarities by trans. David Pasto (New York: Peter Lang, 2002), 4. gentine filmmaker Maria Luisa Bemberg focusing on stating that the Mexica were descended from the Hebrews, thus explaining 5. Octavio Paz notes, "Most of Sor Juana's biogra- the life of Sor Juana is called Yo, la peor de todas (I, The the resemblance of their creation stories to chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis. 13 phers, while aware of her relationship with Maria Luisa Worst of All). Friar Bernardino Sahagun denies the similarities and states that the devil (the Manrique de Lara, have preferred to skirt the issue." 8. See Dalmacio Rodriguez Hernandez, "La rela- Octavio Paz, Sor Juana, or, The Traps of Faith, trans. Mar- ci6n de fiestas como genero hist6rico literario," in Texto Antichrist we see in Final judgment), the master of deception, brought imita- garet Sayers Peden (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap, 1988), y fiesta en la literatura novohispana, 1650-1700 (Mexico tions of Christianity to the native populations, which learned them. Sor Juana 197. Paz states that much of Sor Juana's writing is typi- City: Universidad Nacional Aut6noma de Mexico, offers a radically different version. Religion asks America and Occident about cal of her time, though he notes that when Inundaci6n 1998). their beliefs. Although she, too, rejects their response as the work of the Castalida was published in 1689 a "Warning" preceded 9. See Teatro y censura en el Mexico Virreinal, a mul- "false, sly, and deceitful snake," she does so in an "aside" and continues the di- the poems to the countess of Paredes, addressing the timedia Web cuaderno edited by Martha Toriz, on the alogue until they find points of commonality. The Christian God is not "new" poet's "love utterly pure and ardent for her Excellency" Hemispheric Institute Web site: http://hemi.nyu.edu/ (199). Paz himself puts the passion down to "sublima- cuaderno/censura/index.htm. but rather "unknown" to them; He is boundless and invisible but can para- tion of sexuality," a position that has been parodied by 10. As of 1660, theater performances were prohib- doxically be touched and served by humble and unworthy priests-both artists such as the Mexican performer, director, and ited in the chapels of convents, such as Sor Juana's San Christian and native. The ritual cannibalism (teoqualo, or "eating of the god") writer Jesusa Rodriguez, in her full-blown lesbian ren- Jer6nimo. See Hildburg Schilling, Teatro profano en la that the Spaniards considered an abomination is compared to communion, dition of the relationship in Sor Juana in Jail (See Diana Nueva Espana (Mexi~o City: Imprenta Universitaria, and America is happy to learn that the new God is "lovingly I transformed for Taylor and Roselyn Costantino, Holy Terrors: Latin 1958), 12. American Women Perform (Durham: Duke University 11.. Matthew D. Stroud, "The Desiring Subject and me into a meal." Both identify similar practices around religious obser- Press, 2004). the Promise of Salvation: A Lacanian Study of Sor vance-such as bathing and baptism. And finally, of course, Christ is pre- 6. In Reply to Sor Philothea, Sor Juana mentions that Juana's El divino Narciso," Hispania 76 (May 1993): sented by Religion as a victim of sacrifice. But America and Occident, like all she was prohibited by a "very holy and very ingenious 204. 86 MEXICO

12. Sor Juana, Reply to Sor Philothea, 209 Mexico City: Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana 13. See Fray Diego Duran, History of the Indies of and Fondo de Cultura Econ6mica, 2005. New Spain, trans. Doris Heyden (Norman and London: McKendrick, Melveena. Theatre in Spain, 1490-1700. University of Oklahoma Press, 1994), 9. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. Paz, Octavio. Sor Juana, or, The Traps of Faith. Trans. The Loafor the Auto Sacramental of The Divine Narcissus Margaret Sayers Peden. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap, (Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz) SELECTED REFERENCES 1988. Translated by Patricia A. Peters and Renee Domeier Poot Herrera, Sara, ed. Sor Juana y su mundo, una mirada Arr6niz, Oth6n. Teatro de evangelizaci6n en Nueva Es- actual. Mexico City: Universidad del Claustro de Sor CHARACTERS: pana. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Aut6noma Juana and Fondo de Cultura Econ6mica, 1995. de Mexico, 1979. Rodriguez Hernandez, Dalmacio. Texto y fiesta en Ia lit- OCCIDENT !.;; Arr6niz, Oth6n. Teatros y escenarios del siglo de oro. eratura novohispana, 1650-1700. Mexico City: Uni- AMERICA Madrid: Editorial Gredos, ZEAL 1977. versidad Nacional Aut6noma de Mexico, 1998. 111! Benassy-Berling, Marie-Cecile. "Sor Juana y los indios." Schilling, Hildburg. Teatro profano en la Nueva Espana. RELIGION In Humanismo y religi6n en Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Mexico City: Imprenta Universitaria, 1958. MUSIC 307-24. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Aut6- Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. The House of Trials (Los em- SOLDIERS noma de Mexico, 1983. peiios de una casa). Trans. David Pasto. New York: AZTECS I Checa, Jorge. "El divino Narciso y la redenci6n del Peter Lang, 2002. lenguaje." Nueva revista de filolog[a hispdnica 38 Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. A Sor Juana Anthology. Ed. (1990): 197-217. Alan 5. Trueblood. Cambridge: Harvard University SCENE 1 the first of the new fruits. Glantz, Margo. "Las finezas de Sor Juana: Loa para El Press, 1988. From your own veins, draw out divino Narciso.» In Borrones y borradores. Mexico City: Stroud, Matthew D. "The Desiring Subject and the (Enter OCCIDENT, a gallant-looking Aztec, wearing a and give, without reserve, Ediciones del Equilibrista, 1992. Promise of Salvation: A Lacanian Study of Sor Juana'.s crown. By his side is AMERICA, an Aztec woman of poised the best blood, mixed with seed, 1 Lorenzano, Sandra, ed. Aproximaciones a Sor Juana. El divino Narciso." Hispania 76 (May 1993): 204-12. self-possession. They are dressed in the mantas and huip- so that his cult be served, iles2 worn for singing a tocotfn.3 They seat themselves on and celebrate in festive pomp, two chairs. On each side, Aztec men and women dance with the great God of the Seeds! feathers and rattles in their hands, as is customary for those (OCCIDENT and AMERICA sit, and MUSIC ceases.) doing this dance. While they dance, MUSIC sings.) OCCIDENT MUSIC Of all the deities to whom 0, Noble Mexicans, our rites demand I bend my knee- whose ancient ancestry among two thousand gods or more comes forth from the clear light who dwell within this royal city and brilliance of the Sun, and who require the sacrifice since this, of all the year, of human victims still entreating is your most happy feast for life until their blood is drawn in which you venerate and gushes forth from hearts still beating your greatest deity, and bowels still pulsing-I declare, come and adorn yourselves among all these, (it bears repeating), with vestments of your rank; whose ceremonies we observe, let your holy fervor be the greatest is, surpassing all made one with jubilation; this pantheons immensity and celebrate in festive pomp the great God of the Seeds. the great God of the Seeds! AMERICA MUSIC And you are right, since he alone Since the abundance of daily sustains our monarchy our native fields and farms because our lives depend on his is owed to him alone providing crops abundantly; who gives fertility, and since he gives us graciously then offer him your thanks, the gift from which all gifts proceed, for it is right and just our fields rich with golden maize, to give from what has grown, the source of life through daily bread,

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Mexico, ca. 1688. Translated from Spanish by Patricia A. Peters and Renee Domeier. Originally pub- lished in Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, The Divine Narcissus/El divino Narciso, trans. Patricia A. Peters and Renee Domeier (Albu- querque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998). Copyright© University of New Mexico Press.

87 88 MEXICO The Loa for the Auto Sacramental of The Divine Narcissus 89

we render him our highest praise. for justice must with mercy kiss; and overruns the brim, but see ZEAL Then how will it improve our lives I shall invite them to arise that God will not permit you to Since our initial offering if rich America abounds from superstitious depths to faith. continue drinking down delight, of peaceful terms, you held so cheap, in gold from mines whose smoke deprives ZEAL and I am sent to deal your doom. the dire alternative of war, the fields of their fenility Let us approach while they are still OCCIDENT I guarantee you'll count more dear. and with their clouds of filthy soot absorbed in their lewd rituals. And who are you who frightens all Take up your arms! To war! To war! will not allow the crops to grow MUSIC who only look upon your face? (Drums and trumpets sound.) which blossom now so fruitfully And celebrate in festive pomp, ZEAL OCCIDENT from seeded earth? Moreover, his the great God of the Seeds! I am Zeal. Does that surprise you? What miscarriages of justice protection of our people far (ZEAL and REUGION cross the stage.) Take heed! for when your excesses has heaven sent against me? exceeds our daily food and drink, RELIGION bring disgrace to fair Religion, What are these weapons, blazing fire, the body'.s sustenance. Indeed, Great Occident, most powerful; then will Zeal arise to vengeance; before my unbelieving eyes? he feeds us with his very flesh America, so beautiful for insolence I will chastise you. Get ready, guards! Aim well, my troops, (first purified of every stain). and rich; you live in poverty I am the minister of God, Your arrows at this enemy! We eat his body, drink his blood, amid the treasures of your land. Who growing weary with the sight AMERICA and by this sacred meal are freed Abandon this irreverent cult of overreaching tyrannies What lightning bolts does heaven send and cleansed from all that is profane, with which the demon has waylaid you. so sinful that they reach the height to lay me low? What molten balls and thus, he purifies our soul. Open your eyes! Follow the path of error, practiced many years, of burning lead so fiercely rain? And now, attentive to his rites, that leads straightforwardly to truth, has sent me forth to penalize you. What centaurs crush with monstrous force together let us all proclaim: to which my love yearns to persuade you. And thus, these military hosts and cause my people such great pain? They [OCCIDENT, AMERICA, Dancers] and MUSIC OCCIDENT with flashing thunderbolts of steel, (Within) we celebrate in festive pomp, Who are these unknown people, so the ministers of His great wrath To arms! To arms! War! War! the great God of the Seeds! intrusive in my sight, who dare are sent, His anger to reveal. ([Drums and trumpets] sound.) to stop us in our ecstasy? OCCIDENT Long life to Spain! Long live her king! Heaven forbid such infamy! SCENE 2 What god? What sin? What tyranny? (The battle begins. Indians enter through one door and flee AMERICA What punishment do you foresee? through another with the Spanish pursuing at their heels. (They exit dancing. Enter Christian REUGION as a Span- Who are these nations, never seen, :Your reasons make no sense to me, From backstage, OCCIDENT backs away from REUGION ish lady, ZEAL as a Captain General in annor, and Spanish that wish, by force, to pit themselves nor can I make the slightest guess and AMERICA retreats before ZEAI.s onslaught.) SO WIERS.) against my ancient power supreme? who you might be with your insistence RELIGION OCCIDENT on tolerating no resistance, How, being Zeal, can you suppress Oh, you alien beauty fair; impeding us with rash persistence SCENE 3 the flames of righteous Christian wrath oh, pilgrim woman from afar, from lawful worship as we sing. when here before your very eyes who comes to interrupt my prayer, MUSIC RELIGION idolatry, so blind with pride, please speak and tell me who you are. And celebrate with festive pomp, Give up, arrogant Occident! adores, with superstitious rites RELIGION the great God of the Seeds! OCCIDENT an idol, leaving your own bride, Christian Religion is my name, AMERICA I must bow to your aggression, the holy faith of Christ disgraced? and I intend that all this realm Madman, blind, and barbarous, but not before your arguments. ZEAL will make obeisance unto me. with mystifying messages ZEAL Religion, trouble not your mind OCCIDENT you try to mar our calm and peace, Die, impudent America! or grieve my failure to attack, An impossible concession! destroying the tranquility RELIGION complaining that my love is slack, AMERICA that we enjoy. Your plots must cease, Desist! Do not give her to Death; for now the sword I wear is bared, Yours is but a mad obsession! unless, of course, you wish to be her life is of some worth to us. its hilt in hand, clasped ready and OCCIDENT reduced to ashes, whose existence ZEAL my arm raised high to take revenge. You will meet with swift repression. even the winds will never sense. How can you now defend this maid Please stand aside and deign to wait AMERICA (to OCCIDENT) who has so much offended you? till I requite your grievances. Pay no attention; she is mad! And you, my spouse, and your cohort, RELIGION (Enter OCCIDENT and AMERICA dancing, and accompa- Let us go on with our procession. close off your hearing and your sight America has been subdued f/1 nied by MUSIC, who enters from the other side.) MUSIC and all [AZTECS onstage] to all their words; refuse to heed because your valor won the strife, MUSIC And celebrate in festive pomp, their fantasies of zealous might; but now my mercy intervenes And celebrate in festive pomp, the great God of the Seeds! proceed to carry out your rite. in order to preserve her life. the great God of the Seeds! ZEAL Do not concede to insolence It was your part to conquer her ZEAL How is this, barbarous Occident? from foreigners intent to dull by force with military might; Here they come! I will confront them. Can it be, sightless Idolatry, our ritual's magnificence. mine is to gently make her yield, RELIGION that you insult Religion, MUSIC persuading her by reason's light. And I, in peace, will also go the spouse I cherish tenderly? And celebrate with festive pomp, ZEAL (before your fury lays them low) Abomination fills your cup the great God of the Seeds! But you have seen the stubbornness 90 MEXICO The Loa for the Auto Sacramental of The Divine Narcissus 91

with which these blind ones still abhor of truths most sacred to our Faith nor rains that fertilize the land is verily the offering your creed; is it not better far do these lies seek to imitate? nor warmth that calls life from the tomb most innocent, unstained, and pure that they all die? O false, sly, and deceitful snake! of winter's death can make plants grow; that on the altar of the cross RELIGION O asp, with sting so venomous! for they lack reproductive power was the redemption of the world. · Good Zeal, restrain O hydra, that from seven mouths if Providence does not concur, AMERICA your justice and do not kill them. pours noxious poisons, every one by breathing into each of them Such miracles, unknown to us, My gentle disposition deigns a passage to oblivion! a vegetative soul. make me desire to believe; to forbear vengeance and forgive. To what extent, with this facade AMERICA but would the God that you reveal I want them to convert and live. do you intend maliciously That might be so; offer Himself so lovingly AMERICA to mock the mysteries of God? then tell me, is this God so kind- transformed for me into a meal If your petition for my life Mock on! for with your own deceit, this deity whom you describe- as does the god that I adore? and show of Christian charity if God empowers my mind and tongue, that I might touch Him with my hands, RELIGION are motivated by the hope I'll argue and impose defeat. these very hands that carefully In truth, He does. For this alone that you, at last, will conquer me, AMERICA create the idol, here before you, His Wisdom came upon the earth defeating my integrity Why do you find yourself perplexed? an image made from seeds of earth to dwell among all humankind. with verbal steel where bullets failed, Do you not see there is no god and innocent, pure human blood AMERICA then you are sadly self-deceived. other than ours who verifies shed only for this sacred rite? And so that I can be convinced, A weeping captive, I may mourn with countless blessings his great works? RELIGION may I not see this Deity? for liberty, yet my will grows RELIGION Although the Essence of Divinity OCCIDENT beyond these bonds; my heart is free, In doctrinal disputes, I hold is boundless and invisible, And so that I can be made free and I will worship my own gods! with the apostle Paul, for when because already It has been of old beliefs that shackle me? OCCIDENT he preached to the Athenians eternally united with RELIGION Forced to surrender to your power, and found they had a harsh decree our nature, He resembles us Yes, you will see when you are bathed I have admitted my defeat, imposing death on anyone so much in our humanity in crystal waters from the font but still it must be clearly said who tried to introduce new gods, that He permits unworthy priests of baptism. that violence cannot devour since he had noticed they were free to take Him in their humble hands. OCCIDENT my will, nor force constrain its right. to worship at a certain shrine, AMERICA And well I know, Although in grief, I now lament, an altar to "the Unknown God," In this, at least, we are agreed, in preparation to attend a prisoner, your cruel might he said to them, "This Lord of mine for to my god no human hands a banquet, I must bathe, or else has limits. You cannot prevent is no new god, but one unknown are so unstained that they deserve our ancient custom I offend. my saying here within my heart that you have worshipped in this place, to touch him; nonetheless, he gives ZEAL I worship the great God of Seeds! and it is He, my voice proclaims." this honor graciously to those Your vain ablutions will not do And thusI- who serve him with their priestly lives. the cleansing that your stains require. (OCCIDENT and AMERICA whisper to each other.) No others dare to touch the god, OCCIDENT "I SCENE 4 Listen, Occident! nor in the sanctuary stand. Then what? and hear me, blind Idolatry! ZEAL RELIGION RELIGION for all your happiness depends A reverence most worthily There is a sacrament Wait! What you perceive as force on listening attentively. directed to the one true God! of living waters, which can cleanse is not coercion, but affection. These miracles that you recount, OCCIDENT and purify you of your sins. What god is this that you adore? these prodigies that you suggest, Whatever else you claim, now tell AMERICA OCCIDENT these apparitions and these rays me this: Is yours a God composed Because you deluge my poor mind The great God of the Seeds of light in superstition dressed of human blood, an offering with concepts of theology, who causes fields to bring forth fruit. are glimpsed but darkly through a veil. of sacrifice, and in Himself I've just begun to understand; To him the lofty heavens bow; These portents you exaggerate, does He combine with bloody death there is much more I want to see, to him the rains obedience give; attributing to your false gods the life-sustaining seeds of earth? and my desire to know is now and when, at last, he cleanses us effects that you insinuate, RELIGION by holy inspiration led. from stains of sin, then he invites but wrongly so, for all these works As I have said, His boundless OCCIDENT fl/I us to the meal that he prepares. proceed from our true God alone, Majesty is insubstantial, And I desire more keenly still Consider whether you could find and of His Wisdom come to birth. but in the Holy Sacrifice to know about the life and death a god more generous and good Then if the soil richly yields, of Mass, His blessed humanity of the God you say is in the bread. who blesses more abundantly and if the fields bud and bloom, is placed unbloody under the RELIGION than he whom I describe to you. if fruits increase and multiply, appearances of bread, which comes Then come along with me, and I RELIGION if seeds mature in earth's dark womb, from seeds of wheat and is transformed shall make for you a metaphor, (Aside) if rains pour forth from leaden sky, into His Body and His Blood; a concept clothed in rhetoric ~.I O God, help me! What images, all is the work of His right hand; and this most holy Blood of Christ, so colorful that what I show what dark designs, what shadowings for neither the arm that tills the soil contained within a sacred cup, to you, your eyes will clearly see; 92 MEXICO The Loa for the Auto Sacramental of The Divine Narcissus 93

for now I know that you require RELIGION The Indies know ALL objects of sight instead of words, Is it beyond imagination and do concede Blest be the day by which faith whispers in your ears that something made in one location who is the true when I could see too deaf to hear; I understand, can in another be of use? God of the Seeds. and worship the for you necessity demands Furthermore, my writing it In loving tears great God of Seeds. that through the eyes, faith find her way comes, not of whimsical caprice, which joy prolongs (They all exit, dancing and singing.) to her reception in your hearts. but from my vowed obedience we gladly sing OCCIDENT to do what seems beyond my reach. our happy songs. Exactly so. I do prefer Well, then, this work, however rough to see the things you would impart. and little polished it might be, results from my obedience, NOTES worn by many native women in Mexico and Central and not from any arrogance. America. It is often colorfully embroidered with de- SCENE 5 ZEAL All notes to the play are by the editors of this volume. signs that are representative of the wearer's village and/ Then answer me, Religion, how 1. A manta is either a blanket or, as in this case, a or family history. RELIGION (before you leave the matter now), poncho. 3. A tocotfn was a form of popular Nahuatl poetry Then come. will you respond when you are chid 2. A huipil is a kind of loose blouse traditionally and an accompanying dance. ZEAL for loading the whole Indies on Religion, answer me: a stage to transport to Madrid? what metaphor will you employ RELIGION to represent these mysteries? The purpose of my play can be RELIGION none other than to glorify An auto will make visible the Eucharistic Mystery; through allegory images and since the cast of characters of what America must learn are no more than abstractions which and Occident implores to know depict the theme with clarity, about the questions that now bum then surely no one should object within him so. if they are taken to Madrid; ZEAL distance can never hinder thought What will you call with persons of intelligence, this play in allegory cast? nor seas impede exchange of sense. RELIGION ZEAL Divine Narcissus, let it be, Then, prostrate at his royal feet, because if that unhappy maid beneath whose strength two worlds are joined adored an idol which disguised we beg for pardon of the King; in such strange symbols the attempt RELIGION the demon made to counterfeit and from her eminence, the Queen; the great and lofty mystery AMERICA of the most Blessed Eucharist, whose sovereign and anointed feet then there were also, I surmise, the humble Indies bow to kiss; among more ancient pagans hints ZEAL of such high marvels symbolized. and from the Royal High Council; ZEAL RELIGION Where will your drama be performed? and from the ladies, who bring light RELIGION into their hemisphere; In the crown city of Madrid, AMERICA which is the center of the Faith, and from the seat of Catholic majesty, their poets, I most humbly beg 'II' to whom the Indies owe their best forgiveness for my crude attempt, beneficence, the blessed gift desiring with these awkward lines of Holy Writ, the Gospel light to represent the Mystery. illuminating all the West. OCCIDENT ZEAL Lets go, for anxiously I long to see That you should write in Mexico exactly how this God of yours for royal patrons don't you see will give Himself as food to me. 4 to be an impropriety? (AMERICA, OCCIDENT, and ZEAL sing:)