He then, in a few strong words, bids a
last farewell to his bow, his shield, his war-club and battle-axe, and
is slain by the warriors of the king.
The love of dramatic performances was not crushed out in the natives by
the Conquest. In fact, in the Spanish countries, it was turned to
account and cultivated by the missionaries as a means of instructing
their converts in religion, by "miracle plays" or _autos
sacramentales_, as they are called. It was even permitted to the more
intelligent natives to compose the text of plays. One such, manifestly,
I think, the work of a native author, in the mixed Nahuatl-Spanish
dialect of Nicaragua, I have prepared for publication. The original was
found by Dr. Berendt in Masaya, and his copy, without note or
translation, came into my hands.
The play is a light comedy, and is called "The Ballet of the Gueegueence
or the Macho-Raton." The characters are a wily old rascal, Gueegueence,
and his two sons, the one a chip of the old block, the other a bitter
commentator on the family failings. They are brought before the Governor
for entering his province without a permit; but by bragging and promises
the foxy old man succeeds both in escaping punishment and in effecting a
marriage between his scapegrace son and the Governor's daughter.
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