May-2015
Remembering… (Part II)
Dona Joana would leave the house at 4 o’clock in the morning and, walking down the trail with a kerosene lamp, she would see hunters on the way and they would tell her: go on, miss, I won’t do anything. “There was no road then, now we have our boat, every hour.”
It was common for children to die from “the witch.” “Back then the witch would come into the house and bite the children, they would wake up the next day with purple marks on their body. My mother lost two sons. There was a good medicine woman at the Barra, she would bless you like this:
“Bruxa, bruxa,
Aqui tem bruxa
Vassoura na boca
São sofrimento na mão
Não me venha nessa casa
Com essa de marcação
A bruxa deixar comer beber, dormir e se criar
Em nome de Deus, da Virgem Maria
Amém”.
“Witch, witch,
There’s a witch here
Broom in her mouth
And suffering in her hand
Don’t come to this house
With this curse
Witch let us eat, drink, sleep and grow up
In the name of God and the Virgin Mary
Amen.”
She also told a story about werewolves, that when you discovered who it was that became a werewolf they would stop turning into one. And as she tells us, she says many times “thank God.” It really is better to have the grace of God with us.
The suits for Three Kings’ Day still sparkle in her eye, she can still see her young woman’s body among the men that would leave the house at night and only come back in the morning.
“Porta aberta
Luz acesa
Decerto está me esperando
E aqui estou na sua porta
Ai com Terno de Reis cantando
A dar um vivo a Santo Amaro”
“Open door
Light on
Surely you’re waiting for me
And I’m at your door
With my Kings’ Day suit singing
Praising Santo Amaro”
“Then they would open the door, give us cachaça, coffee, money, and we would go on until the morning.”
“Em janeiro tem três ternos
Já lhe digo quais são
É o Reis, Santo Amaro
Também tem Sebastião”
“January has three suits
And I will tell you which
It’s for the Kings, Santo Amaro
And there’s also Sebastião”
“Bread for God,” the children would ask at the houses, and everyone would give what they had. This was back during Three Kings’ season.
When she played house, she said she would “put a little mat on the street, put dolls, clay dishes, make food, this would keep us busy and when we got tired of it we would go back home.”
To hear Dona Joana’s memories, click here.
Text and photos: Renata Meirelles
. 0
Leave a Reply