Tall Tales of Johnny Mudd
The Christmas Ogres, Part III
After a long battle, Saint Michael vanquishes the Spirit of Evil and he binds him with a chain of a thousand years. Now the shepherds are free to follow the bright star to the manger where the Holy Child has been born. They want to worship him in the arms of Joseph and Mary. The hermit teaches them a lullaby to lull the Baby Jesus. The lazy Bartolo promises to become a better man.
This folk play is one that the people of the desert perform on Christmas Eve in order to welcome the Ancient Ones. When the people come out of the play, they find the Ancient Ones dancing around the bonfires.
While Ole Johnny Mudd was speaking, Santa Claus saw another wonderous thing: 12 masked men adorned with beribboned miters on their heads, were coming toward them.
“W-w-w-who are those creatures?” Santa Claus whispered to Ole Johnny Mudd.
“They,” replied Ole Johnny Mudd, “are Matachines. Every one of them represents one of the 12 days of Christmas. They are preparing to welcome the New Year. A Matachín is a masked dancer,” he continued. “They are known by their miters and their masks. They carry a rattle in their right hand and a three-pronged wand in their left one. They dance nine symbolic parts in the dance.
They leaders are called ‘the Monarch’ and the girl ‘Malinche.’ The Monarch represents the King of the tribes of Mexico at the time of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531. He leads the dancers, who represent the 12 tribes of Mexico. The girl Malinche is a maiden vested in white who follows the Monarch. Every year a new Matachín is born and so is a new Malinche. Every new Malinche represents Our Lady of Guadalupe.”
“Is there something else in the dance?” Santa Claus asked.
“Yes, surely!” said Ole Johnny Mudd. “In one part of the dance, the Matachín dancers weave a mastlike pole with multicolored ribbons. This stands for the idea that they are bidding farewell to the Old Year. When they unweave it they are welcoming the New Year.
“And what happens when they have completed the maypole?” Santa Claus asked him. “Well,” Ole Johnny Mudd replied, “the Ancient Ones have to vanquish a bull just as St. Michael vanquished the Evil Spirit. Then the female ogre gives birth to a baby Agüelito who grows to become the spirit of the New Year. The Baby Agüelito will sleep in his cave for a year and thereafter he will come down to teach us not to forget the Christmas traditions.
“Goodness but how well you celebrate Christmas here in New Mexico!” exclaimed Santa Claus. “It is true that for you, Christmas is a way of life. But you don’t receive any gifts.”
“Ah, but we do receive them,” answered Ole Johnny Mudd. “Many, many more gifts. On the last day of the Christmas season we await the arrival of the Three Wise Men. Those Three Kinds,” said Ole Johnny Mudd, “are three very wise men in another Christmas folk play. Just as with the shepherds, they too have seen a bright star and they follow it until they find the Child in the manger. And just as the Evil Spirit had done, the terrible King Herod also tries to confound them.
The Three Wise Men present three gifts to the Child: With the gold, they proclaim that the Child is a king. With the incense, they proclaim that the Child is a priest. With the myrrh, they proclaim that the Child is a prophet. It was the Three Wise Men that started the tradition of giving gifts throughout the world. When the Ancient Ones see the Three Wise Men coming, it means that it is now their time to return to their yearly sleep in the mountain caves.” Suddenly, Ole Johnny Mudd and Santa Claus found themselves at the beginning of their journey.
Find prior chapters of this story in Spanish and English at taosnews. com.