It is, indeed, regrettable that this time-honoured form of amusement so suitable to children (and their parents) should have been practically abandoned in this country. Mexico can support several circus troupes, all of which flourish exceedingly. There is a mystery about the circus, a fascination tinged with orange and sawdust, to which no mere theatre can ever hope to attain; and this calls to a similar mystery in the Mexican soul—a mystery of the flamboyant, the glittering, the ostentatious. The music halls in the large towns recall similar places of amusement in Continental cities, and are none too exalted in the type of entertainment they afford.
The Mexican drama has not been wanting in writers of force and brilliance. The authors of opera dialogues and farces are legion, and even the higher drama has had its protagonists like Alfredo Chavero
Mexican
Drama. with his "Quetzalcoatl" and "Xochitl." These dramas abound in thrilling scenes, and I translate a short passage from one of them in order that the reader may have an opportunity of judging the merits of the best type of Mexican play. As it is in verse, I have cast it into blank verse form. Cortés is telling his page, Gonzalo, of the arrangements he has made for the safety of Marina during an uprising.
| Cortés. | Boy, there is talk of rising in the air. |
| It is not meet that you, a tender youth | |
| Should be involved in it; 'tis well to die | |
| In soldiers' strife, but fighting the vile mob | |
| Is not a soldier's task. You and Marina | |
| Shall leave for Orizaba with the dawn. | |
| Gonzalo | And she shall here remain without my aid. |
(aside) | |
| Cortés. | Report yourself to me at dawn, Gonzalo, |
| When I shall give you passports to depart | |
| You and a veilèd lady. | |
| Gonzalo | Veiled, Señor? |
| Cortés. | Yes; 'tis my wish the soldiers should not know |
| Who travels with you. As you leave so early, | |
| Go, take your rest. | |
| ••••• |
