Cubatradition.com, Literature, Oscar M. Ramirez, Cuba: Between History and Legend

Oscar Ramirez "Cuba, Between History and Legend"

CUBA, BETWEEN HISTORY AND LEGEND

Outlines of the Stories:

The Mouth of Hell

In the 1600’s, inhabitants of the town of Remedios are told that they must evacuate immediately. Black slave and seer Leonarda has just had a vision that the town sits directly over one of the gaping “Mouths of Hell”.

Kidnapped by Pirates!

The new bishop of Cuba has just arrived from Spain. A French pirate soon decides to kidnap the bishop near Santiago for a princely ransom. But, how? And at what risk?

Isn’t It Romantic?

A great beauty has died in 1800’s Camagüey and mysterious happenings are occurring now over her grave. The town gossips can’t stop talking.

Aimless

Why did Cuban Brother Joseph end up tied to a stake and about to be burned alive in Seville? What secret was he hiding?

The Hardest Thing

A prominent man’s only child has just been killed in Havana. Now the killer appears before the father to tell him about it. In an instant, the father must decide what he must do.

Heaven-sent

A most unusual bird appears at a leper colony in central Cuba in the 1800’s. He can communicate telepathically with humans and can even predict the future. Rumors soon begin to circulate as to what it might be.

Letter to an Unknown Woman

Father Esteban, a Cuban political fugitive, is a man on the run. Near Cienfuegos, he finds his saving angel in the kind words of a mysterious woman. But who, or what, is she?

The Secret

Highly regarded and much loved Bishop Morell dies in Havana during a stormy night on New Year’s Eve in 1768, taking to his grave a life or death secret. The bishop must now face God on the other side.

The Interrogation

Detectives in Oriente Province haul in for questioning Juan, an old black man who has been telling tales and generally “disturbing the peace”, as he claims to have been present during an unbelievable miracle.

Oscar Ramirez "Cuba, I Remember You Cuba, Te Recuerdo"

A collection of 14 short stories, all in Spanish and English, based on the author’s experiences of childhood before and after the Communist revolution. Includes Appendix for educators wishing to use the book in Spanish or English foreign language classes. Lots of nostalgia for those who knew Cuba in the 50’s and 60’s and plenty of humor for readers in general. Includes also many period family photographs that illustrate the stories and bring them vividly to life!

Excerpt:

ENGLISH ------ From Chapter 1: "Italian Opera, Cuban Comedy"
Cuba, I Remember You/Cuba, te recuerdo

        Therefore, while vacationing at the ranch one year, she soon found herself a quiet turn in the river that ran across from the entrance to the ranch, a river that ran deep through a canyon and with acoustics greater than at La Scala or the zaguán at grandma Pastora’s. Accompanied only by her harmonica and a dogged determination to master an especially tricky aria that she had been “preparing” (I believe Bellini’s “Casta Diva”, from his masterpiece, Norma), a selection full of long and sustained notes, she commenced her daily practice in the art of fine singing.

       Well, we must remember that in the fifties--or even today, I’m sure--the land around those parts of Camagüey province was not exactly populated by Cubans of high culture and distinction, the type of people who truly appreciate the intricacies of opera seria or the subtleties of bel canto. These good men and women were, after all, field-hands, share-croppers, or just regular peasants, guajiros. On that fine day, unfortunately, they were all home, sleeping the siesta in the noonday heat. However, no sooner had my dear aunt begun to exercise her vocal prowess on poor signor Bellini, when a panic, an absolute and heart- stopping panic, struck the hearts of all the surrounding peasantry. At first they all thought that some hapless cow had fallen into the river canyon, had been injured, and currently was in the throes of an agonizing death. The others, perhaps more melodramatic or just more acquainted with cows, started suspecting that those sounds were not coming from any animal but from a “Christian”, that is, from a living and suffering human being. In fact, someone was being attacked and chocked. Someone was being killed by the river!

        Roused from their midday siesta, from that tropical stupor that sapped the energy of anyone except aunt Carmita, all the guajiros rushed over to the ranch house, where my dad, the man in charge that day, was preparing things for the afternoon work. The ranch hands immediately assaulted dad with hysterical reports of a dreadful homicide occurring right there, on his land! Dad did not have to hear anything more. He jumped on his horse and called a posse together to follow him. They would put a quick end to this wave of crime that had taken over San José de las Llagas!