La Refalosa
La Refalosa (the full title is: La Refalosa. Amenaza de un mazorquero y degollador de los sitiadores de Montevideo dirigida al gaucho Jacinto Cielo, gacetero y soldado de La Legión Argentina , defensora de aquella plaza , in German roughly: The Refalosa dance Threat made by a supporter of Rosa and butcher among the besiegers of Montevideo against the gaucho Jacinto Cielo, a newspaper seller and soldier of the Argentine Legion , who defends the city ) is a poem directed against Juan Manuel de Rosas by Hilario Ascasubi in 115 verses or 10 verses of different lengths. It was published in the Jacinto Cielo newspaper in 1843 .
content
The title of the poem refers to the siege of Montevideo , which was started in 1843 by the Uruguayan general Manuel Oribe and lasted until 1851 (Guerra Grande 1839-1851). In Montevideo there were, among others, Argentine Unitarians, Rosas's opponents. They formed the so-called Argentine Legion there and provide military support to the besieged. Rosas and his followers in turn supported Manuel Oribe and his people. As the subtitle of the poem reveals, the poem is a threatening speech that one of Rosas' followers gives to a Unitarian. Like Esteban Echeverría in his 1839 story El Matadero (published in 1871), the Unitarian Ascasubi intends to denounce Rosas' regime or the federalist cause as a "barbaric system of sadistic butchers and depraved masses".
Verses 1-9
The follower of Rosas speaks Jacinto Cielo as gaucho salvajón , d. H. wild gaucho . The Unitarians were called savages by the followers of Rosas. He would teach Jacinto the dances Tin tin and Refalosa (see verses 22–33, and verses 88–105). He should listen to him. Like a Good Friday, the singing should give him cause for mourning.
Verses 10-21
If a Unitarian is caught, he will be pulled out by the followers of Rosas or he will be handcuffed from behind while standing so that the elbows will butt together and the Unitarian will be naked in front of everyone. In this way his suffering will begin.
Verses 22-33
Then a three-fold leather strap is put on his feet. The Unitarian would be in a stable position, whining as if tied to a stake. Half-jokingly, they'd poke the Unitarian. If he screamed, they would sing a cappella Refalosa and Tin tin .
Verses 34-51
They would lay the knife on him and feel his throat with their fingers while the cowardly Unitarian would jump in fear. The (in contrast to the federalists) shirt-wearing Unitarian would begin to wallow and moan pitifully, which will give the supporters of Rosas' great joy. Like President Manuel Oribe, he would burst out laughing at this sight and this music.
Verses 52-63
When the time came after the fun, they would cut off the Unitarian's breath as they saw fit. For this purpose, one of them will grab his hair, another will tie his legs like a foal so that he will only be able to move on all fours.
Verses 64-78
While the Unitarian would invoke all the saints of heaven, they would cut the veins of the neck under his ear with a well-hardened and sharpened knife and delight in the blood that would flow out. The Unitarian would roll his eyes in shock.
Verses 79-87
He, according to Rosas' supporter, had seen many such cowardly men (i.e. Unitarians) who bit their lips, gestured, made faces and finally stuck out their tongues. The followers of Rosas 'would kiss him, so the follower of Rosas' sneered, to comfort him a little.
Verses 88-105
With this, as the follower Rosas calls it, noisy cheerfulness, they would laugh a lot and loudly until the Unitarian was frightened. Then they would untie him and raise him up so that he could dance the Refalosa in his own blood until he had a cramp, fell to the ground, kicked and began to tremble terribly. When the Unitarian was dead, they would cut a slice off his body, tan it and make a leather strap.
Verses 106-111
In addition, the Unitarian's ears, beard, sideburns and eyebrows would be cut off, and his body would be left to fatten a pig or a vulture.
Verses 112-115
But if Jacinto Cielo, dubbed the "savage", would: "Long live the Federation!" shout, nothing would happen to him.
expenditure
- Hilario Ascasubi: La Refalosa . In: Ders .: Paulino Lucero ó Los gauchos del Río de la Plata cantando y combatiendo . Paul Dupont, Paris 1872.
- Hilario Ascasubi: La Refalosa . In: Jorge B. Rivera (Ed.): Poesía gauchesca (Biblioteca Ayacucho; Vol. 29). Editorial Ayacucho, Caracas 1987, ISBN 980-276-041-2 (EA Caracas 1977).
- Hilario Ascasubi: La refalosa y otros poemas . Editorial Mate, Buenos Aires 1997, ISBN 98-79-62141-7 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Esteban Echeverría: Et matadero / The slaughterhouse . Amalienpresse, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-939904-11-3 (bilingual).
- ↑ Cf. Dieter Reichardt: Author Lexicon Latin America . Suhrkamp, Frankfurt / M. 1994, p. 42, ISBN 3-518-40485-7 .