1982 Yearbook
Source URL
Title
1982 Yearbook
Description
drinking tequila while we asked him
more questions. Finally, just as it was
getting dark — when the little ones
were sleeping and the old ladies were
sitting together patting and cooling
tortillas — five of us got together
and pushed Jorge down the street in
front of us to the stranger's place.
"He must have known we were coming, because all the other shops were
closed. But he was still waiting —
sitting there under the sign with the
three pictures. He nodded to Jorge,
and Jorge pretended to be very important and introduced us all by
name. 'This is my amigo, Juan, and
this is Guillermo, and Jose and Luis
and Paco.'
"He nodded to us and asked, 'So you
are all interested in my magic? That
is very good because the more people
who are interested in it, the stronger
the magic is.' He paused before adding, 'My magic will make you young
again! His hand pointed to the pictures. 'Tonight I will start a magic
list. When I leave your pueblo in
three days — on the evening of the
Cinco de Mayo — everyone whose
name is on my list will be as young as
the number of years he wishes to be.'
"While we were still looking at the
pictures and trying to grasp what he
had said, the stranger took a piece of
paper and said, 'Jorge, I will start
with you and then your friends. Because you are so brave, the magic
will be very strong for you.' Some of
us could not write well, so the stranger made out the list very carefully,
and then read it back to us. It read
like this: Name: Juan Garcia Present
age: 58 Age on the 5 de Mayo: 24.
When he finished reading the list, he
added, 'Now, to make the magic
work, you must each give me ten pesos. And each of you must bring in
three more friends. If they are older
than you, the magic will come more
easily.'
"We looked at each other, senor doctor, "Juan continued. "For us, in this
little pueblo, ten pesos was a great
sum of money. I did not know if I
had three friends who could part
with so much at one time. I knew
Jorge and Guillermo and the others
were thinking my thoughts. But the
stranger could see these thoughts in
our eyes, and he said, 'Jovenes
"Senor doctor, do you know what
that means?" Juan searched the
gringo's face eagerly. "It means
YOUNG MEN! We had not been
called that for thirty years. And then
I thought of my Lupe. She had an
old man for a husband. Would she
no like to go to bed once more with a
joven — a young, passionate lover?
Jorge was thinking of his Maria.
And Guillermo — well, he had never
married, so I don't know which one
of his novias brought the light back
into his eyes. We each found ten pesos for the stranger. He carefully put
a mark after our names, and then
turned to Jorge and said, 'You will
keep the money for me until after the
ceremony on the evening of the
Cinco de Mayo. But remember, I
will need to ha ve your friends' names
on my list by tomorrow!!'
"That night, doctor, when we walked
back to the cantina, we knew we
were the six bravest, most intelligent
men in the pueblo. Already we could
feel the magic working. Were we not
clever to have found this stranger, to
ha ve seen the wisdom in his pictures,
to have our names the first on his
list?"
Juan paused. He had not spoken so
many words altogether in a long
time. He could sense the interest in
his audience, so he continued. "The
next evening each of us had, indeed,
found three friends who wanted to be
made younger like us. We did not
think it important to tell them of the
money. Somehow the stranger made
it easy to pay. And by the evening
after that, every man in the village
over forty wanted to be made younger. Some of the men had even
walked ten kilometers down from the
hills. They were not much use to
their women any more, and this was
the first time the stranger had come
to visit us and bring us his magic.
"By the evening of the Cinco de
Mayo, the whole village was in an
uproar. Of course, there had been
much celebrating. There was a parade and fireworks. There was dancing in the plaza, and the cantina sold
more tequila and beer than it ever
had before. Some of the men were
not so brave about becoming younger now that the ceremony was so
close. Others were jealous that their
names were not higher on the list.
They were afraid the stranger's magic might run out. Some of us started
celebrating early, thinking of our
wives and the night ahead. It was a
Cinco de Mayo that everyone will
remember for a long time.
"Then a whisper rippled through the
cantina, out the door and down the
street through the plaza. The stranger was ready to start the ceremony.
We were to meet at the level place
where the road leaves the village and
starts to climb the mountains. Suddenly we were all nervous. We
slapped one another on the back and
made jokes and laughed a little as we
walked to the ceremony.
"When we arrived, the field was already crowded. Every man from the
village was there, and how many had
come from the hills and ranchitos all
around! There had not been so many
men in our pueblito since the days of
Pancho Villa when he was getting his
band together! Everyone said so.
"The stranger had placed his table
on the highest point so that all present could see and hear him. A short
distance from the table he had started a fire. And there was the big black
cauldron we had seen in the picture
with some liquid bubbling and some
smoke curling about it. It had a peculiar odor — not bad — but not like
any soap or drink we make in this
village. We five who were the first on
the list, formed a circle around the
pot as if we were guarding it, but we
really wanted to see what the stranger put in it.
"The stranger stood at the table with
the pictures nailed on the front of it.
He had a long white dress on — like
the padre wears in church — and
Jorge stood right beside him to help.
The men all shuffled a little closer to
each other for company and watched
as the stranger picked up the list of
names.
'"I will read this list once. Pay attention! If I do not have your name or
age correct, interrupt me. Everything must be perfect for the magic
to work.' His voice was strong, so I
knew he was not afraid. Why were
we so nervous? Jorge handed him all
the money he had kept. It was many
times more than the padre gets at
Christmas, so we knew this magic
would be very powerful. Then the
ceremony started. Everyone listened
carefully as his own name and age
was read out. I kept thinking over
and over again, 'Juan Garcia, age 24;
Juan Garcia, age 24.'
"Silence greeted the last name. No
one had interrupted the stranger. He
looked at us all for a moment. Then
he studied the list still in his hand.
'Miguel Vargas,' he read, 'it says
that you are seventy-two. Is that
123
more questions. Finally, just as it was
getting dark — when the little ones
were sleeping and the old ladies were
sitting together patting and cooling
tortillas — five of us got together
and pushed Jorge down the street in
front of us to the stranger's place.
"He must have known we were coming, because all the other shops were
closed. But he was still waiting —
sitting there under the sign with the
three pictures. He nodded to Jorge,
and Jorge pretended to be very important and introduced us all by
name. 'This is my amigo, Juan, and
this is Guillermo, and Jose and Luis
and Paco.'
"He nodded to us and asked, 'So you
are all interested in my magic? That
is very good because the more people
who are interested in it, the stronger
the magic is.' He paused before adding, 'My magic will make you young
again! His hand pointed to the pictures. 'Tonight I will start a magic
list. When I leave your pueblo in
three days — on the evening of the
Cinco de Mayo — everyone whose
name is on my list will be as young as
the number of years he wishes to be.'
"While we were still looking at the
pictures and trying to grasp what he
had said, the stranger took a piece of
paper and said, 'Jorge, I will start
with you and then your friends. Because you are so brave, the magic
will be very strong for you.' Some of
us could not write well, so the stranger made out the list very carefully,
and then read it back to us. It read
like this: Name: Juan Garcia Present
age: 58 Age on the 5 de Mayo: 24.
When he finished reading the list, he
added, 'Now, to make the magic
work, you must each give me ten pesos. And each of you must bring in
three more friends. If they are older
than you, the magic will come more
easily.'
"We looked at each other, senor doctor, "Juan continued. "For us, in this
little pueblo, ten pesos was a great
sum of money. I did not know if I
had three friends who could part
with so much at one time. I knew
Jorge and Guillermo and the others
were thinking my thoughts. But the
stranger could see these thoughts in
our eyes, and he said, 'Jovenes
"Senor doctor, do you know what
that means?" Juan searched the
gringo's face eagerly. "It means
YOUNG MEN! We had not been
called that for thirty years. And then
I thought of my Lupe. She had an
old man for a husband. Would she
no like to go to bed once more with a
joven — a young, passionate lover?
Jorge was thinking of his Maria.
And Guillermo — well, he had never
married, so I don't know which one
of his novias brought the light back
into his eyes. We each found ten pesos for the stranger. He carefully put
a mark after our names, and then
turned to Jorge and said, 'You will
keep the money for me until after the
ceremony on the evening of the
Cinco de Mayo. But remember, I
will need to ha ve your friends' names
on my list by tomorrow!!'
"That night, doctor, when we walked
back to the cantina, we knew we
were the six bravest, most intelligent
men in the pueblo. Already we could
feel the magic working. Were we not
clever to have found this stranger, to
ha ve seen the wisdom in his pictures,
to have our names the first on his
list?"
Juan paused. He had not spoken so
many words altogether in a long
time. He could sense the interest in
his audience, so he continued. "The
next evening each of us had, indeed,
found three friends who wanted to be
made younger like us. We did not
think it important to tell them of the
money. Somehow the stranger made
it easy to pay. And by the evening
after that, every man in the village
over forty wanted to be made younger. Some of the men had even
walked ten kilometers down from the
hills. They were not much use to
their women any more, and this was
the first time the stranger had come
to visit us and bring us his magic.
"By the evening of the Cinco de
Mayo, the whole village was in an
uproar. Of course, there had been
much celebrating. There was a parade and fireworks. There was dancing in the plaza, and the cantina sold
more tequila and beer than it ever
had before. Some of the men were
not so brave about becoming younger now that the ceremony was so
close. Others were jealous that their
names were not higher on the list.
They were afraid the stranger's magic might run out. Some of us started
celebrating early, thinking of our
wives and the night ahead. It was a
Cinco de Mayo that everyone will
remember for a long time.
"Then a whisper rippled through the
cantina, out the door and down the
street through the plaza. The stranger was ready to start the ceremony.
We were to meet at the level place
where the road leaves the village and
starts to climb the mountains. Suddenly we were all nervous. We
slapped one another on the back and
made jokes and laughed a little as we
walked to the ceremony.
"When we arrived, the field was already crowded. Every man from the
village was there, and how many had
come from the hills and ranchitos all
around! There had not been so many
men in our pueblito since the days of
Pancho Villa when he was getting his
band together! Everyone said so.
"The stranger had placed his table
on the highest point so that all present could see and hear him. A short
distance from the table he had started a fire. And there was the big black
cauldron we had seen in the picture
with some liquid bubbling and some
smoke curling about it. It had a peculiar odor — not bad — but not like
any soap or drink we make in this
village. We five who were the first on
the list, formed a circle around the
pot as if we were guarding it, but we
really wanted to see what the stranger put in it.
"The stranger stood at the table with
the pictures nailed on the front of it.
He had a long white dress on — like
the padre wears in church — and
Jorge stood right beside him to help.
The men all shuffled a little closer to
each other for company and watched
as the stranger picked up the list of
names.
'"I will read this list once. Pay attention! If I do not have your name or
age correct, interrupt me. Everything must be perfect for the magic
to work.' His voice was strong, so I
knew he was not afraid. Why were
we so nervous? Jorge handed him all
the money he had kept. It was many
times more than the padre gets at
Christmas, so we knew this magic
would be very powerful. Then the
ceremony started. Everyone listened
carefully as his own name and age
was read out. I kept thinking over
and over again, 'Juan Garcia, age 24;
Juan Garcia, age 24.'
"Silence greeted the last name. No
one had interrupted the stranger. He
looked at us all for a moment. Then
he studied the list still in his hand.
'Miguel Vargas,' he read, 'it says
that you are seventy-two. Is that
123
Rights
St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust St., Davenport, IA 52803
Identifier
http://cdm16810.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16810coll2/id/7098