Singers and Storytellers Page: 7
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STORYTELLERS I HAVE KNOWN
frioles for dinner, and nacionales for supper. Our waiter had
time to tell a story about a coyote and a cricket-a story that
years later I put into my coyote book. Imagine a waiter in a
wholesale eating place having enough time to tell you a long
cuento and to pass the time of day besides that. The diners
were so sparse in this hotel of repose that two of them, entire
strangers, upon finishing their meal and passing near our table
on the way out, murmured politely, "Buen provecho!" (May
it, the food, benefit you!) Tales belong with such courtesy
and leisure.
The last time we were in Saltillo, which was in 1954 during
the big drouth, we stayed again at the Saenz Hotel, all rebuilt,
modernized, with lots of business. In front of it the afternoon
we arrived, I was accosted by a young man who said he was
a guide, and would I accept his services? "No," I said, "I
don't want a guide. I want a story. I've been guided too
much already."
"What do you want a story about?" he asked.
"It doesn't make any difference what - about a rattlesnake,
a coyote, a woman without any head who keeps crying, a
bear-whatever you wish."
"Oh," he said, "my grandfather has a story that's true
about a bear."
"Well," I said, "guide me to your grandfather."
He said, "Maiana."
"You'll find me here at this hotel maiana," I said.
Late the next day we met on a street and I asked, "Why
did you not come to take me to your grandfather?"
"My grandfather's sick and can't see you," he replied.
"How am I going to learn that story about a bear?"
"I know it. I'll tell it to you."
"When?"
"I've got some people to guide now. Maiiana."
The next day when we met I gave him five pesos and said,
"I want to hear that story about the bear."
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Singers and Storytellers (Book)
Collection of popular folklore of Texas, including personal anecdotes about storytellers and singers, as well as folk songs, myths, and ghost stories. The index begins on page 295.
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Boatright, Mody C. Singers and Storytellers, book, 1961; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc67655/m1/13/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Press.