''But I have to stay in the patio all day,'' complains Antonio. ''I want to go out into the street. Won't you take me with you today?''
Pablo shakes his head. ''You are too little,'' he says.
Antonio, like the other small children, is kept in the yard, or patio, unless his mother or older brothers and sisters will take him out. It is very boring, he thinks. He tries to amuse himself by playing marbles like the big boys.
Nearby his little sister Felicite is playing house with her rag doll. ''Mama,'' she begs, ''may I please have just a little bit of corn to grind so I can make my doll a tortilla?''
Antonio, Felicite, and their brothers and sisters have very few toys. They play with sticks and stones and corncobs and are very good at make-believe.
Antonio is tired of the marbles and throws them to one side. ''Let's play we are going to the fiesta,'' he says. ''There is going to be one at Santa Catarina and we are going to it. Make a circle now and we will dance. See, I am a man on horseback.'' He does a skipping step like the dancers of Santo Domingo who performed at the last fiesta.
There is a bustle in the patio as Pablo leaves to do his farm chores before school. Antonio and Felicite watch enviously. Little Felicite will be six next month and then she can go to school too. Last year her parents wouldn't let her start for fear too much learning would ''hurtt her head.'' Most of the children in the town start school, but many drop out each year until by sixth grade there are few left.
Maria, Pablo's older sister, was very sad when she had to stop school and stay at home. She cried a great deal. But Pablo couldn't understand. He would rather roam the country or even work in the fields. He doesn't like school.
''I have to work all the time when I am home,'' Maria explained. ''I haven't a minute to myself. In school I was away from hard work for six whole hours and I could play with girls of my own age as well as study. I loved it.''
Pablo and the boys have more freedom than the girls. They like to play hooky and sneak away for games or a walk to another town. During fiesta season, many stay out of school to enjoy the excitement. Then there is time lost in helping with the chores, bringing home water from the fountain, or helping on the farm. Every day Pablo drives the cattle to pasture and afterwards he likes to loiter along and play a game or two. His parents have never minded if he was late to school. ''Farm duties come first,'' they always said. ''All the children need to learn is a little reading and writing.''
But the teachers think differently. When they saw that no one paid attention to the clock in the town hall striking the hour, they decided that the bell in the great church in the central plaza should be rung every morning and afternoon to let everyone know that school had begun. They even set up a game between the different grades to see whose record of attendance and promptness was the best. Though people in Tepoztlan still feel one hour of daylight is as good as another, Pablo and his friends have found it is best to get to school on time.
School Days in Modern Rural Mexico:
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