[Note: A number of the words in this section, used in “Eyes of Zapata,” are from Nahuatl, a Native American language indigenous to central and western Mexico.]
fanfarrón a braggart; a showoff.
carnitas barbequed pork.
paletas slices.
mundo sin fin, amen world without end, amen.
Malinche (also Malinalli, Malintzin, “Doña Marina” ) historically, an Aztec woman, sold by her people as a slave to the Maya and later given as a gift to the conquistador Hernando Cortés; as Cortés’ mistress, she played a huge role in the defeat of the Aztec empire by the Spanish, acting as interpreter and convincing the ruler Moteczoma (Montezuma II) to surrender. Malinche has been regarded as a traitor to her own people, although it is suggested that she acted out of revenge for their having sold her into slavery and also that by persuading the emperor to surrender she saved many lives; here (in “Never Marry a Mexican”) Clemencia and her lover use her name playfully apparently in reference to their different skin colors, but the name has a cutting edge when one recalls that Malinalli’s other name, Malinche, is used to mean a betrayer of her people.
mi doradita my little brown girl.
mi trigueño, … chulito … my dark one, … cute one … .
jaripeos shows similar to rodeos, with demonstrations of horsemanship.
barrancas deep gorges, precipices.
tan chistoso. Muy bonachón, muy bromista so funny. Very good-natured, a real jokester.
“Tres vicios … y enamorado … .” “Three vices I have, and they are deep-rooted in me: being a drunk, a gambler, and a lover.” (Lyrics from El Abandonado [“The Abandoned One”], a popular song; see the Glossary for Part Four, later.)
petate sleeping mat.
campesino a small farmer; a peasant.
chachalaca a pheasant (any bird flying into a house is an omen of death).
ayúdame Help me.
“Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente” Literally, “Eyes that don’t see, heart that doesn’t feel”; i.e., better not to know.
milpas cornfields.
jacales small farm houses.
el porvenir the future.
caciques landowners; the political bosses or leaders.
metate grinding stone.
huipil a traditional hand-embroidered blouse.
guacamaya macaw.
mujeriego womanizer.
La madre tierra que nos mantiene y cuida Mother earth who watches over us and supports us.
solteronas unmarried women.
pulqueria a pulque bar (pulque is a fermented drink made from cactus juice).
cielito de mi corazón an affectionate phrase; literally, “little sky of my heart.”
