Puerto Rico is a meeting ground for Sp3nis h- :ind Ang /o-Americ :in

craditions. Scc what result5 whcn 5.a.nfA CJ.a us runs into che
fesa·va1 of T1><: Threc W ~ Mcn, cdcbrate d on l3nUEry 6.

"Sant a Oo" Come s to La Cuchilla

A p iece of red bunting on a bamboo pole
marked the locatioo o( Peyo Mercé's 1 one-room
schoolho use . A !)élrtition down the middk divid -
ed the tiny school into two dassroom s; o ver one
o( them a new tcac her-Mis ter Johnny Rosas
2 o~ day Johnny Rosa.s saJd to Pe yo, ' To.is
-oow prcsided.
Becaus e o( a lamentab le incident in which
Peyo Mercé had made thc supcrintc ndent appear
io an unfavora ble light. thc laner thought it wise
to appoint a sccond tcacher to the district of La
CuchilJ~' so he couJd instruct Peyo in tJ-.e newest
education al methods and bring the lamp o( prog-
ress to illuminat e that unenlight ened district.
He caJJed the young teacher to his office.
Johnny Rosas . a receot graduate . h.ad spent a
short time in the U nited States. Solemnly the
superin tendent said to him: · into dull-v.itte d little animals. Once che fox. said
"Listen , Johnny ; I'm going to send you to the
district of La Cuchilla so you can take them the
most up-to-dat e techniqu es you learned in your
Educatio n courses . Tñat Peyo doesn•t know a
thing about it; he 's forty years bchind the times
in the subject. Try to change their ways, and
above ali you mus t teach a greac deaJ of English
. . . a Jot of English. •·
One d.iy Peyo Mer¿ saw thc ",:dgljpg tcach-
er coming up the h ill toward the school on an old
horse . He e ven fe lt a litlle sorry for him, and said
to himseJf: ºLife is probably cutting furrows in
him already, justas a plough docs in the earth ."
And he told sorne farm childrcn to take the
~ off thc horsc aod put it out to pasture.
P eyo knew that Jife was going to be very hard
for the yo ung man. Out in lhe country living
co nditio ns are bad. and -meaJs are poor: rice .
beans, codfish. and plcnty of water. Toe roads
are almost impassablc. and aJways f ull of .pud.:_
dles. Baths had to be takcn in mounuin streams ,
a nd che onl y drinking >w-ater was rain water . Peyo
M.ercé had to make h is lessoo plans by the
flickeriog light of an oil ump.
disaict is very backwar d; wc bavc to make it
over. lt is imperativ e to bring in ncw things,
replace wbat is traditioo al. Remcmbe r what the
superinte ndent said: Tiown with tradition. • We
have to teach a grca.t de.al of Eng)ish, and copy
the customs of the AmeriClO.S."
And Peyo, not very entbusias tic, managed to
squceze out thcse words:
..True, English is good, and we need it. But
good Hcavens ! We don't cven know how to
speak Spanish well ! And bungry children turn
to thc snails : 'You have to learn how to walk
be fare yo u can run.' "
But Johnny didn 't understan d what Peyo
meant.
The tobacco region took on a somewhat
livclier mood: the Christma s bolidays were ap-
proachin g. Peyo had alrcady obscrved with af.
fection tfiat sorne of his pupils wcrc fashionin g
rustic guitars out of ced:u wood. These fiestas
aJways brought him happy mcmories o{ times
gonc by. and he seemed to hear thc Christm as
caro! tha! gocs:
~ oiaz AJ/aro (a be ljr'd6 ~as i1 ,~•r6).
- ·5anu 0o· Comes lo La Cuchill.&- from TERRAZO by Abe{ar • .
do Diat Albro. Repnnted by penTIISS,IOC\ .
1. P.ro~· •~"fóm .w~.
2. Rosu (ró'sá:s).
1.u ~ (ti kü ~ - • ~ ru,,.i dcstric t 1n
PuertoR-co.

662 NEW FRONTIERS: SHORT STORIES

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lt -shows a gaalJc:maD ¡.G mgG~ .
tende n L. Mutet- kogc lfo J¼coo a
In tbe midd lc oí ~ cW"YOOUJ l1 ,,_yJ , n
Jobm y Rosa s c:odc d Pc-¡o·s pk:u2n1 r:cvcri,e
artificial ~ lJee. P.ed sl 'Un1t 11 wc,,.
-..i th iliese wonl s: stre l~ f1om oac book c~ to ~ . . . t, :m,J
ibis ycar Smu Chu s will aw:c bis debu t ín !rom tbe walli hobg littk " re;1du with t, tt11
La Ox:!ñ na Al dJ3f busin ess ~ t the gifu of
lcavc s md red bari~ . In f,o;te d wW!.t ku~, ;
t'.bc 1brc c W"asc Mcn oo ham zy lhe sixth is
was a sign thal said in E.nglí ~1. ""Mer ry Otn; 1
gro,a.ing old-fasNnord: it•s D O ~ done to ~Y
~ . . ArtifJciaJ s:oow wa., sprínkJ,...d 0•0 !1 IIJe
c:xtc nt in San .hrm..4 ibal bc:longs. •o th_c past..... l "'D
m"'-i:.e wbol c displ ay.
dk ·s:u¡,c::, iot c::>dr::>t. ~ Rcgc lio 8o-
Toe ~ o r s looke d in :u:nazuol!JJ t al aJJ
~ s lo (he partr . be "ll tike th2l a lot.-
this, wbic h tbey bad oc·, er ~un b-Ji-;1'!. t.fr,l "r
Peyo ~ hís bea.d ~ s.úd quidf y.
Rogclio Esca lera wa; grcal ly plu.:.,..d
10? icst a comm y {c!lo w who' s n~c::r le!t tbese
Some ol lbe child reo wcn t up rm an ímpr• >-
bilis. so thc s:ory of 1k lmc : Wis.e M=n is right
vised platf orm and-a rrang ~ lhem sdvCj r.rJ tll.al
he:-e m my be2n _ We cown ry folk are se:nsi tive
to lk-~ ~ ro the ~ aroun d us. justa
tbcy spelled out --santa
ClaLJ !i .. Onc tol<l aJ.JOUI
s tbc lile o! Fa.th a Qirir ;tm;c, , and a cluJd/1! n 'r.
w~ can smeO o xfi:<h cooking...
chotu s sang "'Tmg le Bcfü •• in E.agli lh &. tbey
Jcl..t my. by mc:m:s of dass proje cu. set to
~-otk prep2ri:ng thc atmn spba c for wb.al be shoo k some t:my bclls. The parc nu Jooke.d at c,ac
~ the ..gala premie.re- anoth er in astoo:is:bment..
of Santa Oaus in La
Cucl illb- H e ~ bis pcpils a picture of Santa Miste f' Rosa s wc:nt outmde a momcnL Supe r•
Oan s ñtfm g in a slcig h pu)lc d by mnd ea. And inren dmr Escale.r:a spok e to t.be paren ll and
P,eyo. wbo l:::ad scopp ed f M a mo:n cnt at tbe childr cn.. He cong raiula Led the dis:trict upoo sucb
tbr:sh oSó of the door bctw crn the two clas.s- a Jovel y Ouis1ma.s pan y, and upon havín g auch a
room s. saw in bis mmd "s eyc anothcr pi.c:tme: an progr essiv e tc:a.c ha as Misf cr Rosa.s4 A.ad Lbco
old fMm U po.lle d along co a palm -leaf sledg e by Mistc r Esc:alcr.a asked lhe audje ncc to be vcry
quic.t.. bcca, •se sooo they wc:re goíng to mec t a
~~ Rosa s ask.ed lhe farm chiJ<lr en. ~ o stran ge and myst cñou s pcuo n.
is this impo rwll perso n"!- A tiny choru s imme diate ly bW'>t into ¡ong :
.
A:ld ~ an.sv .eec. -Mi.ste.r. tb2.! is th~
Old Y car. pzint cd Te(!. - Sana ·s comin ¡ in bis sló¡:b .
Jcim ny v.-as amaz erl at tite i:gnoranc:e of t.hose Pjdio g slowly ali th~ v.ay.
child rm. aod at ~ s:ame tim.e angr;· at Peyo Clip, clop! Clip. clop!
• Mc:c é's ~ - _ .
Chris mras cam~ . and the pacen ~ w~c '"""11- Sudd euly thcrc appe ared al thc cwsr oom
cd hyo bd.d a typic al lime 6esu m his room . door thc figure o! Santa Claus. c:any ing a pack
~ b:rm cl:wdrec s:mg Puert o Rican songs an_d over bis shoul dcr. His decp voi,;c boomed out I.II
Qm.sr.mas c:arols 00 dw'. ac.compani.men1 of rusnc Engli sh : ..Hcrc is Santa~ Mcrr y Chri.stmas to you
al]~
• 10 cood udc thc perfo nn.nc c th~
.& _ ,.
gun:us. rua'- A screa m of terro r 1hoo k lhc cwsr oom .
Wisc Mc::3 zppea...-ed. whik an o Id. smgc .
r
Thrt t ""_:_•___, CL Somc !arm en thrcw them scJ·: cs out thc win-
~.... d Sim6c T ímpr ov= u verse s uL~ =· _. .L:- .
dows ; the small cst childr.cn begao to cry. and
clang to tbeir moth crs• skirts u thcy fted in wiJd
aDC ~ {rom w_ ~ ocv:
Tllc)• c:.ome
" 1c cocmtrY foA juSt staf , . bcrc .

ffldcd out tndit iooal ñcc swect .s md • · S - .JtMlf (dt-1 hwin') . ltle largas! aty .,.,
Roc:o. c:apttal al PUWla
Peyo h c:h&ldren c,:c:hangod fiftk p,-es- s.. ,a.,,,_ ..c.c
...,.
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c.and ies. ad ~~ ~;.. childrcD ~- t '11 1'6~e skal e',tJ. &ahra " ' ~
c:nts- The:a be ._. ~ 10 fiJe mto tbe .... ai6'16,.
room --:- - L --..1
oif Mist a Jolsm ,y R.osa .i. wbo - • suc- 7.Sla Ñfaft a6n'l .

ASELAR DO OtAZ A.LfAAO 663

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d i ~ - Evcryooc lookcd Cor a way to escape. In thc dist.ance the shouts of the flcring
Mistcr Rosas l'2D aftcr them lo cxplai n that he people coold be heard. Mister Esca)~ obscrv-
"'-as· lhe on~
wbo had drcssed up so strangely. ing that Peyo Me.rcé h.ad bccn standing tbere
But this onJy increascd tbc screaming and made uncoocerned, vented a11 his anger upon him. and
the panic worse. An old woman crosscd herself shouted at the top of his voioe:
a.nd said= ít's your fault, Peyo Mere~ that such stu-
"Heavco bclp us! lt's the Devtl himself talk- pidity should c.xist here in the auddle of the
in¡ American!"" twentieth centuryf'
Thc supcriotcndent made useless cfforts to Peyo Merct answered, without changing his
calm thc peo ple and shouted: expression:
..Don "t run away ! Don "t act like a bunch of ..Mister Escalera, it is not my fault that Santa
Pucrt o RiC3ll hillbilli es! San ta Clau s is human, Claus is not listed arnong the Puerto Rican
and a good man!.. saints.- DO

Abelardo Oíaz Alfaro

Oi sc ussion 1920 •

l . This story involvcs a con- Abelardo Díaz Alfaro came cr. the situation has improved
t\ict betwceo two thcorics of lo know thc customs and pr~ bccausc Spanish is used for
cducation-thc traditional ap- lcms of thc Puerto Rican farm- most instruction while English
proacb o( Pcyo Merc:é and thc er wcll as a young social wod- is studied as a separate subjcct.
progrcssive mcthod f avo red by cr in thc rural arcas. He drew Díaz Alfaro has hclped to
the supcrintcndent. 0n which ·on these expcriences for his preserve the Hispanic influeoce
side does thc author scem to first book, Terrazo, a series of on the island by producing a
be? Cite passagcs early in che sketches that won first prize radio series about thc problems
story where lhc author's tone from thc Institute of Puerto of the Puerto Rican farmer. He
and dictioa indicate his attitude. Rican Literaturc in 1947. is also a frequent contributor to
2. (a) Describe Peyo Mcrcé ·s .. •Santo Clo • Comes :o La · Puerto Rican magazines.
attitude toward the new teach- Cuchilla·· is from this collec-
er, Joihnny Rosas. (b) What is tion.
Pcyo Mcrcé's opimon of thc Díaz Alfaro has claim~ that
superintcndenCs accusation the Spanish culture of Puerto
that he, Peyo, and ~s tcaching Rico is in danger of cxúnction
are ·'backward ..? bccause of growing Amcricani-
3. (a) Wby is Peyo's portion zation. In the past, compromis-
of the Christmas fcstivity so cs between the tcaching of
mucb more succcssful than the Spanish and of English in
sccond hall? (b) Explain thc schools often mcant that stu-
rcasons for the féar and aston- dents lcamed both languagcs
ishment of thc spcctators. inadequatcly. Rcccnúy, howcv-

664 NEW FAOHTIERS: SHORT STORIES