'A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.'
And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
and running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.
Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kiking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory.
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
I grew up in Puerto Rico, where everyone celebrates los tres Reyes--today's feast of the Epiphany.
On the eve of the día de los Reyes, my brother and I would fill a shoe box with grass and a container with water and set it under the Christmas tree for the camels that would bring the Magi to our home that night. In the morning, the grass and water were gone, and in their place we would have gifts, just as the Magi brought gifts to Jesus in Bethlehem.
In Hispanic countries throughout the world, in fact, January 6 is the day that children receive their Christmas gifts, in commemoration of the Magi's visit.
In our own blended family (Cuban and Texan!), Michael and I seriously considered making January 6 our family's sole day for receiving gifts. Ultimately we opted to join in the Santa tradition of December 25, and in addition, to pass on the Puerto Rican style Epiphany celebration--with shoe box and grass, gifts, a special Epiphany meal, and of course, the traditional song de los tres Santos Reyes:
Tuna estudiantina de Cayey singing
los tres Santos Reyes
(see lyrics below)
Los tres Santos Reyes, los tres y los tres, los tres Santos Reyes, los tres y los tres, Los saludaremos con divina fe, los saludaremos con divina fe.
Los tres santos Reyes, yo los sé contar, Los tres santos Reyes, yo los sé contar, Gaspar y Melchor y el Rey Baltazar. Gaspar y Melchor y el Rey Baltazar.
Llegan con cautela, la Estrella los guía Llegan con cautela, la Estrella los guía se sientes sus pasos, en la noche fría se sientes sus pasos, en la noche fría
Señores, adiós . . . doy la despedida al corazón santo, dulce de María Señores, adiós . . . doy la despedida al corazón santo, dulce de María
Señores adiós porque ya nos vamos Señores adiós porque ya nos vamos todos los presentes pasen feliz año todos los presentes pasen feliz año
