Christmas curios from Brazil

Abstract

clerk. And days passed and weeks; the eldest girl went to work in the postman's house, where she was content, and the blacksmith's wife unwillingly took over the new baby. The other six, Chomin, Shanti, Martinacho, Joshe, Maru, and Gaspar, ran barefoot about the highway, begging for alms. One morning the gravedigger came to the village with a cart, put the six little ones in it, took the baby in his arms, buying a feeding bottle for it as he passed the chemist's, and took them all to his cottage in the cemetery. Humbug, said the mayor. Idiot, murmured the chemist. The vicar delicately lifted his eyes, averting them from such misfortune. ''He'll abandon them, forecast the clerk. Pachi has not abandoned them and is helping them along and as he has many mouths to fill has given up his brandy but is now filling the cemetery with vegetables to a most regrettable degree. And as there is now a market in the village Pachi arranges with a friend of his, who lives near the cemetery, to sell his cabbages and artichokes in the market square. The cabbages of Pachi's friend, which come from the cemetery, are known for their flavour and are very popular in the village market. What the buyers do not know is that they are cheerfully obtaining sustenance from the bodies of their ancestors.