quiet, and do all
your business quietly. Drink quietly, talk quietly, sing quietly. And
do not fight, because if in the fight you kill somebody, what will
you have afterward? Nothing but sorrow and sadness! The One who
is above us bids me to tell you, to say to all of you, men, women,
and children, that this water, this tesvino that we are drinking is
what makes us lose our heads. You know it all, and the One Above
knows that this is the truth that I am telling you. Don't fight,
don't pull each other's hair, don't beat anyone in the face until he
bleeds. For the blood and the hair belong to Tata Dios, and you pull
his hair and shed his blood. Drink tesvino to your hearts' content,
get much drunk, but then lie down and sleep, and in the morning you
return to your homes without coming to blows with anyone.

All the time the speech is punctuated with expressions of approval,
and at the end they all say: "Matetrava! Matetrava! Kalahupo!" (Thank
you! Thank your It is all right!)

A speech is also often made in the beginning of the feast, when much
the same sentiments are expressed. The orator tells the people to
follow the good example of the host, that sacrificing and dancing may
go on here, there, and everywhere, so that the gods will get plenty to
eat and grant the prayers of the Tarahumares. He strongly admonishes
them to keep away from women, as otherwise the value of the feast
would be lost. This day belongs to Tara Dios, and nothing else is to
be thought of. If anyone transgresses this command, he will have to
give an ox or a sheep and tesvino, to make the feast all over again.

While the dancing and singing, sacrificing and speechmaking, are going
on, the people behave with decorous solemnity and formality. The
ceremonies are never interrupted by unseemly conduct; everybody
deports himself with grave sobriety, and refrains from loud talking and
laughing and from making any disrespectful noise. But after the gods
have been given their share, the people go in, no less energetically,
for enjoying themselves.

Food and tesvino are never distributed by the same man, nor are men
and women waited on by the same functionary; in other words, one man
is appointed for each sex, to dispense the tesvino, and two others
to serve the food.

They eat but little of the solids, as it is customary for the
guests to take home their portions, the women bringing jars and
baskets along for the purpose. Little or nothing of the tes