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Updated: June 17, 2025
"They are afraid to fight cows," said John Harned. "Yes," said Luis Cervallos, "they are afraid to fight cows. There would be no sport in killing toreadors." "There would be some sport," said John Harned, "if a toreador were killed once in a while. When I become an old man, and mayhap a cripple, and should I need to make a living and be unable to do hard work, then would I become a bull-fighter.
"The man steps, out of the way and the bull rushes by," Harned interrupted. "Yes," said Luis Cervallos; "that is it. The bull shuts his eyes, and the man knows it." "But cows do not shut their eyes," said John Harned. "I know a cow at home that is a Jersey and gives milk, that would whip the whole gang of them." "But the toreadors do not fight cows," said I.
"Yet we Spanish like the bull-fight," said Luis Cervallos; and I swear the devil was whispering then in his ear, telling him to do that which I shall relate. "Then must it be a cultivated taste," John Harned made answer. "We kill bulls by the thousand every day in Chicago, yet no one cares to pay admittance to see." "That is butchery," said I; "but this ah, this is an art. It is delicate.
"I understand now the Spanish Inquisition," said John Harned. "It must have been more delightful than bull-fighting." Luis Cervallos smiled but said nothing. He glanced at Maria Valenzuela, and knew that the bull-fight in the box was won. Never would she have further to do with the Gringo who spoke such words. But neither Luis Cervallos nor I was prepared for the outcome of the day.
"It is a marvel that the poor brute can hold up the weight of the rider," said John Harned. "And now that the horse fights the bull, what weapons has it?" "The horse does not fight the bull," said Luis Cervallos. "Oh," said John Harned, "then is the horse there to be gored? That must be why it is blindfolded, so that it shall not see the bull coming to gore it."
"Not quite so," said I. "The lance of the picador is to keep the bull from goring the horse." "Then are horses rarely gored?" asked John Harned. "No," said Luis Cervallos. "I have seen, at Seville, eighteen horses killed in one day, and the people clamored for more horses." "Were they blindfolded like this horse?" asked John Harned. "Yes," said Luis Cervallos.
It was a pretty thrust, clean and sure; and there was much applause, and many of the common people threw their hats into the ring. Maria Valenzuela clapped her hands with the rest, and John Harned, whose cold heart was not touched by the event, looked at her with curiosity. "You like it?" he asked. "Always," she said, still clapping her hands. "From a little girl," said Luis Cervallos.
"But believe me, it requires a thousand times more skill to avoid the many and quick punches of a prize-fighter who keeps his eyes open and strikes with intelligence. Furthermore, this bull does not want to fight. Behold, he runs away." It was not a good bull, for again it ran around the ring, seeking to find a way out. "Yet these bulls are sometimes the most dangerous," said Luis Cervallos.
If Luis Cervallos married Maria Valenzuela I should have more money very immediately. But John Harned followed Maria Valenzuela to Quito, and it was quickly clear to us to Luis Cervallos and me that she looked upon John Harned with great kindness. It is said that a woman will have her will, but this is a case not in point, for Maria Valenzuela did not have her will at least not with John Harned.
"Are the horses then likewise doomed!" "They are blindfolded so that they may not see the bull," said Luis Cervallos. "I have seen many horses killed. It is a brave sight." "I have seen the bull slaughtered," said John Harned "I will now see the horse slaughtered, so that I may understand more fully the fine points of this noble sport."
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