Page:Face to Face With the Mexicans.djvu/398

392

At these reunions the versatility of talent of Mexican writers is remarkable. One of them delivers a eulogy in prose upon some prominent person. The enthusiasm runs so high, knowing the genius of the speaker, that he is called upon, amid storms of applause, to transpose the speech into poetry, which is done upon the spot, without a moment's preparation. In the theatrical entertainments, each one takes a part, and they often play to crowded houses of friends.

Among her women writers, Mexico may well be proud of such poets as Esther Tapia de Castellanos, Señora Castro, Isabel Prieto de Landazuri, Laura Klinehaus, Refugio V. de Ortiz, and of such prose writers as Señora Flaquer, all of whose productions are an honor to their sex.

Señora Castro writes under the name of Mariposa Indiana (Indian Butterfly). She is of pure Indian origin, which fact is suggested in her nom de plume. On the eve of my departure from the capital, I was made the recipient of the following graceful little poem, written in memory of our meeting. Of course it loses much in the translation, but the sweet sentiments remain intact. The poem was accompanied