From Hell to Breakfast Page: 51
viii, 214 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this book.
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MEXICAN MONCHAUSEN
"It happened then that Dofia Martina, the woman of
the administrator, was seven months gone, and was suffer-
ing from an antojo. Above all things she was oppressed
by a yearning for a chontli,10 a yearning so great that for
days she would sit gazing into space, not answering when
spoken to, and only musing occasionally aloud, 'A chontli
. a chontli . . .'
"So great was her disorder that all those of the hacienda
became exercised, and great efforts were made by various
inept and stupid individuals to snare a chontli for her, but
as you know the chontli is a rare and wary bird, who above
all things abhors captivity, and they caught nothing.
"But I came to feel great pity for the woman who was
wasting away through her longing for so simple a thing
as the possession of a chontli to sit in a cage and sing to
her; and one morning before leaving with my cows I
spoke to the administrator:
"'I see that no one has been able to provide a chontli
for Dofia Martina. If you so desire, I will bring you one
for her.'
" 'But most certainly, muchacho, and I will pay you well
for one. That woman is about to drive me crazy with her
foolish desires. Shall I send another with the cows while
you dedicate yourself to catching it?'
"'That will not be necessary,' I assured him. 'It hap-
pens that I am annoyed by a chontdi who sleeps in the
boughs of the tree under which I have my camp, and
every morning he sings me awake earlier than I like. All
that I shall require is a horse-hair cord, twisted in four
strands as a riata, made from the tail of a yearling colt
and of no more thickness than that of the tail of a rat.'
"And on the following morning the cord, as I had
specified it, was ready for me, and during the day I fabri-
cated a proper noose in it, and finally coiled it at my
OA capricious desire for something, often seemingly illogical and childish.
Antojos often develop into complexes or fixations. The victim suffers phys-
ically and mentally, and all her associates are usually made very uncomfort-
able until the desire has been gratified. In Pennsylvania a woman suffering
from antojos would probably be said to be "hexed."
o0Popular form of tzintzontli, mocking bird.51
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From Hell to Breakfast (Book)
Volume of popular folklore of Texas and Mexico, including religious anecdotes, stories about Native American dances, stories about petroleum and oil fields, folk songs, legends, customs and other miscellaneous folklore. The index begins on page 205.
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Dobie, J. Frank (James Frank), 1888-1964. From Hell to Breakfast, book, 1944; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc67649/m1/59/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Press.