Ruben Cobos, recorder, 1974
File — Box: 3, CD: 229
Scope and Contents
Epifanio Gutierrez, b. 1885, Cuba, NM. 1. Chiste, los santos (a man stops at house looking for a place to stay, residents let him in, when he leaves he says - quedense con dios que yo me voy con los santos - a common Spanish saying, go with God, I'll go with the saints, man steals all their santo statues, trickster); 2. Rodestrado (description of old guest house, hospitality, cuarto de recibo, separate house connected to main house, divided by curtain called damasco and a floor divider called a zaneja, one yard wide); 3. Los maestros de la escuela y la plebe (teachers and students, plain people, back then one teacher per school, made about $30 dollars a month, school started right after harvest, children walked to school in snow, wore overshoes or snow boots called guangoches, chopos de zalea, undressed sheepskin slippers, made by parents, or zapatos de hula, rubber, bought from store. Went to school at 9 am, his teacher was superintendant of county. Learned alphabet, reading, one book for each grade level. Was taught in Spanish language but after World War I, or once New Mexico became a state 1912, they began to teach only in English. Girls and boys together, about 30 students in class, school started in November and lasted two or three months. He went to school in Albuquerque, but benefited from education in Cuba, New Mexico, in Spanish. He worked as a teacher for two terms in Cuba, for $30 month. After he worked there, started to be female teachers in schools. Teachers would hit bad children, children were required to obey and respect, discipline, he had good students, scared children into behaving with a handful of jara branches, manojo de jaras, como escarmento); 4. Juan Padilla (man lived in Cuba, had a son named Ezequiel?, with one woman, and Lueventino? with a second woman, Cobos inquires about others but Gutierrez is unsure); 5. Decima, De ayer a hoy (recites rhyming lyrics of song, From Yesterday to Today, All that I have today is to have lived yesterday, I shouldn't say that tomorrow I will have today because I could die right now, muerte, death); 6. Decima, Tristes los dos estaremos (recites rhyming lyrics of love song, Sad we will both be, I will stop seeing you but not stop loving you, carnation of minerva, I see shining, clear, beautiful star of the East, and I love you will all my soul, If we are not together we will both be sad, beautiful Serafin, beloved treasure of my soul, rose from the best garden, jazmine); 7. Entriega de novios (sung after wedding, in morning, marriage customs, Mass, padrinos, violin and accordian music, use of wagons or buggies); 8. Prendorio (wedding customs, announcement, celebration, engagement, marriage promise); 9. Dicho de casamiento (said by Father Camilo - Camillo?, joke, language, te casaste, te fregaste, you marry yourself, you ruin yourself); (At this point five people in the room are talking, two women, a man named Rudy, Epifanio and Cobos); 10. Las donas (gifts, dowry, wedding, marriage, groom pays for everything, dress, crown); 11. Conversacion (about education, school books made of cloth bath then); 12. Fabula (fable, La mona y el nogal, female monkey gets a green nut, throws it, easily defeated, lesson, persistence); 13. Conversacion (moral teachings, children, Ruben Cobos tells a story about forgiveness); 14. El pavorreal (cuento, story of a peacock, father teaches his daughter about vanity, jealousy and pride); 11. Federico (moral story, Federico is vane, yet scared by a dog) 15. Conversacion (ensenanzas morales, book of morals, education, school has to show children right way, leading and teaching to them); 16. Navidad (1895, speaker was 10 years old, now Christmas is celebrated on December 25th, before the Anglo Americans came it was celebrated on January 6, Dia de los Reyes, Three Kings Day, there was no Santa Claus); 17. El Alba (sung at a funeral, muerte, death, velorio, at dawn, birth of Jesus, Christmas, Navidad); 18. Los aguelos (abuelos, grandfathers, masked person seeks out bad, misbehaving children on Christmas Eve, Navidad, with whips to punish, not hurt them butg scare them into behaving, family, parents, discipline); 19. Bunuelos (Noche Buena, Christmas Eve, Navidad, bunuelos are big round sopaipillas, Spanish fry bread, fried flour tortillas, sweet, empanadas, food, cooking, women, made once by accident with wool, bunuelos now mistakenly called Indian Fry Bread, Navajo, Native American Indians adopt flour tortillas from Spanish, origin of word sopaipilla, Andalucia, Spain); 20. Rudy (conversation mixture of language, Navajo and English words); 21. (Rudy, anecdote (humor, story, man that loses his teeth and advertises reward, has a cigar as proof that they match up). (See Cobos notes for Mr. Gutierrez in folder).
Dates
- 1974
Language of Materials
From the Collection:
English, Spanish
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Extent
From the Collection: 13 boxes (12.25 cu. ft.)
Creator
- From the Collection: Cobos, Rubén (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections Repository
Contact:
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451