THE TOREADOR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12569, 5 March 1919, Page 4

THE TOREADOR.

*1 • • ♦ • IDOL OF THE SPANISH, BULLFIGHTER LEADS A SPARTAN LIFE. The cruelty of the bullfight cannot 1)0 denied, and it s impossible T condemn it m uearly 0 1 of S phases Ovrites Vanco Arinstro. g in it New York Tribune ”). Tim I,lst typt' °. t Spaniard decries it. and in many mstances has tried to put a stop to but so ar without avail. Its pernicious and hi utilising effect on the pufflic is » i><limited by tho intelligentsia - ol the country, and yot tbe goes on to tho frenzied dclight'of llm multitude. The bullfight iX Split lard s most powerful intoxication The neh man will put off his most import! ant business appointment, the poor man wil! pawn lm shoe., l„s wife” S dress to buy a ticket for the spectacle A serious, sombre people, any detail connected with the. national sport arouses them to the keenest enthusiusm, * HERO WORSHIP. Naturally it follows that the chief figures in this repellent affair are the idols of the public. Their appearance on the street, in a theatre or restaurant invariably calls forth an ovation, and thoir tastes, their views on religion, politics are aired in all the journals. > The countless details of their technique in the art of tauromachy are set down meticulously in magazines devoted only to this science. Women run after them in a way calculated to upset the equanimity of a. St Anthony, . faultless tight costume*, trilled shirts of the finest linen, fastened often with precious jewels, their fashionable boots and their broadbnmmed sombreros, it must be confessed they make a (lashing appearance, there is something very fetching in , their perfect bodily’- equipose. with every muscle trained to the 'highest precision. To the average American, whose idea of a bullfighter is gained from a performance of “Carmen,” the torero is a bulky individual whose wafetlino is that of two ordinary men and who walks about with heavy pompous tread. The real torero is a slim, supple fellow who suggests the perfection of alertness, agility and grace rather than animal strength. SELF-DENIAL AND CONTROL. The great bullfighters, like the host athletes of other lands, obtain their position and keep it by exercise, selfdenial and control. The sport requires proficiency in countless directions and tho person who dedicates himself to it must keep every faculty at razor keenness. every muscle under lightning obedience. Many a .promising boy from Andalusia, the birthplace of most of these gladiators, lias gone under after his first season as a. professional because he could not resist the hire of the fleshpots: many a veteran has succumbed for tho same reason. The torero knows only too well the inevitable result of foolisli indiscretion, and his life is a continual warfare against temptation. Indeed, it is a herculean job to resist when one has youth, money and the Latin temperament. 1 Tire average bullfighter makes from eight to ten thousand dollars a year, wliile somo of tire more export earn • from fifty to seventy-five thousand. When one realises that he is recruited, as a rule, from the very poorest and often most shiftless class, his light against indulgence is all the more to he .•marvelled at. Tho torero ■■ well understands the value of exercise in keeping himself in. condition. He usually get?up at 7.30 or 8 o’clock (a fantastic hour to ' the average Spaniard, who thinks nothing of turning out of.bed at 11 or 12), takes a cold hath and then spends . about twenty minutes to half ap hour in nibbing himself wit’4 a rough towel or flesh brush. THE DAILY WORK. This is done with magnificent efficiency and vigour, a servant > being called in at the end to administeJ v merciless pummelling. He then goes, into the patio or inner court of tho house or on the roof, if ho is in town, and spends fifteen or twenty minutes with dumbbells or Indian clubs. A breakfast of toast and thick chocolate follows. Afterwards he walks for two or three hours into the country. Returning ho sits down to a luncheon consisting usually of a beefsteak, a disc of rice and tomatoes and a small glass of wine diluted with water. If there is no performance in tho afternoon he takes an hour’s siesta and follows it by another cold bath and more exercise. Then he picks up his capo and makes the many different passes of the ting before ah imaginary bull, leaps from side to side as if tho animal were almosv upon him. After this he saunters out to moot his confreres at some cafe to talk ove. the nows of the profession until dinner time. The evening meal is usually as simple as lunch, hut the bullfighter takes a long time over it, for he, like the rest of the world, has learned the importance of mastication. A Spartan life, hut yet the nrice must be paid. The torero looks forward to a time of more relaxation, but as a rule ho gradually learns the value of a regiihen that makes for character building, and often turns out to be a. useful member of society when he is retired from the ring. The pity is that such a good fellow should bo obliged to use bis gifts in such a. way, hub like liis countrymen ho has the peculiar and distinct qualities which belong to "" all primitive people. As a greater writer has pointed out, the sentiment of sympathy is essentially a modern one. The Spaniard is still the Moor, his ancestor.