spiritual substance only will have
been carried away by the soul.
All the decorations of altar and
room are white, the color of
mourning for adults. Bright colors
are for mourning for children.
Black is not used at all. An extra
candle is always lit for those un–
known souls who, forgotten by
their near ones, have trouble find–
ing the path from this earth. The
soul which is not remembered by
any living person exists in obscur–
ity. These candles are to light the
way of such forgotten spirits.
The town orchestra goes from
house to house playing solemn
airs. Yesterday, the day on which
children's souls arrived, the or–
chestra played popular songs all
night, couples danced gaily before
the altar. A child dying without
sin becomes an angel and his
happy eyes need not be saddened
by a display of grief.
The church bells will ring al–
most continuously until dawn. This
is to call the souls and guide them
back to their own village. The
motifs are infinitely varied and
light as filigree work. Before dawn,
everybody meets at the cemetery
where the souls also gather to
begin their return journey to–
gether.
I visited the cemetery the fol–
lowing day, under a bright sun.
Not a single large monument, not
a tree. All the tombs are of white–
washed brick, topped with a simple
wooden cross. This is rather cur-
767
ious in a town whose most striking
feature is that its streets are paved
with gleaming white marble. One
also notices, in this austere place,
that not a single name appears
anywhere. It is anonymity, total
and definitive.
Almost as soon as I arrived in
the town, I was appproached by
a man who asked me if I had
come to visit the tomb of their
king and if I too thought that
the people of Ichcateopan were
liars. The same Question, in al–
most the same words, was put to
me several times later on. I de–
cided, after surprising a look that
passed between two men in a little
restaurant where I was dining
when I tried feebly to justify the
report of the scholars, that it was
wiser not to discuss the question.
I was impressed by the religious
devotion I found at the church.
Its nave is divided in two by a
white curtain that creates a Catho–
lic area and a pagan area. On one
side of the curtain, in the sha–
dows, a priest in the confessional
and some kneeling women. On
the other, a blaze of light, music,
and heaps of flowers offered to the
soul of the Aztec king. Also, on
an altar, the usual glasses of wine
and water as well as a fine big
horse made of bread. An orchestra
played loudly some slow and grave
melody.
In the sanctuary, behind an
iron railing, two glass caskets con–
tain the famous bones. Soldiers
