THE ONE AND ONLY

Since I've arrived I've spent a lot of time learning about this city's history. Seemingly every home, every plaza has a story associated with it, and lately I've enjoyed taking pictures of the sites of some of the more prominent local legends. I'll relay some of them to you now--choc-full o' digital picture goodness, and told with clunky, frank, economic phrases.

El Callejón del Beso (The Alley of the Kiss--pictured above)

The version that I've been told, which is one of a few: Many years ago a woman of rather high social standing fell in love with a man whose social standing was not greater than or equal to her own. The woman's father forbade her from pursuing a relationship with this man, which of course thrust her into dispair, and forced the would-be lovers to conduct their affair through furtive glances from afar.

One night the woman was out on her balcony (the one on the right, I think), and the object of her affection secretly arranged with the owners of the house across the alley to use their balcony. And so while she was standing outside, enveloped in the sadness of her plight, the man whom she loved suddenly appeared right in front of her. They began talking as lovers do, but the woman's father discovered them, and in a fit of rage he stabbed his daughter in the back with a knife right there on the balcony. Legend has it that she fell towards the other balcony, and her lover caught her lifeless hand and gave it a gentle kiss--the only kiss they would ever share.

At this point I'll warn you that it's a common feature of Mexican legends for a woman to die, betray her lover, and generally be the victim or villain. Female protagonists who manage to live are few and far between in the local lore.



Calle Truco (Trick Street)

The above picture is of a restaurant--Truco 7--which I think was the sight of a gambling house where the following took place: A high-roller went in and proceeded to lose just about everything one can lose via gambling: gold, estates, and the like. When he thinks he's all tapped out, the man he's been playing cards with all night is like, "Listen, I'll give you one chance to win back everything that you've lost: If you bet your wife on this next game of cards, you can have it all back. If I win, I keep it all--and your wife." So the guy says okay. They play, and of course it's a close finish, but the man who has been winning all night wins yet again--and it turns out that he's the devil.

You never know when you're going to be playing cards against the devil, which is why when I play high-stakes poker, I only bet other people's wives.

(I swear that there's a Mormon joke in here somewhere, but I just can't put my finger on it.)