El parto de Juan Rana (1653-58?)

El parto de Juan Rana written by Francisco Pedro Lanini y Sagredo 1 puts into

question gender and identity roles within a patriarchal context and goes one step

further into the realm of a gender-bending fantasy. Here Juan Rana is an

entrapped spouse who histrionically endures labour pains in the act of giving

birth on stage. With this entremés we enter into questions of biological difference

between men and women and the legal ramifications of crossing the biological

and gender line. This could easily be one of the most outrageous of the many

Juan Rana entremeses. See Velasco for an engaging study of the performance

of male pregnancy (28-49).

1

? La Barrera y Leirado notes that the first bibliographical mention of Francisco

Lanini y Sagredo dates from the late 1660s. “Provocative entremeses” written by

the playwright appear in La Ociosidad entretenida. El Ramillete de sainetes

(1672) and Flor de entremeses (1676) also includes works by this author. His

play Juana de Jesus María was banned in its entirety by the Inquisition (200). In

1685 Lanini was a play censor and documentation shows that he continued to

exercise this privilege up to 1706. El parto de Juan Rana exists only in

manuscript form and does not carry a date. It is not mentioned in La Barrera y

Leirado’s list of Lanini’s works due perhaps to the nature of the play. See also

Won.

Jesús, María, José

El parto de Juan Rana

de [Francisco Pedro] Lanini [y] Sagredo

Interlocutores

Juan Rana Un Portero

Cosme Berrueco2 Seis Alcaldes

Un Escribano Juan Ranilla3

Una Mujer

2

? Cosme Berrueco does not seem to refer to a particular actor or person. The

last name does, however, have several connotations. Berrueco is used to

describe to a rude, rough rocky area. This topographical reference could

symbolize his manner and place of origin. The adjective also refers to an

imperfect pearl with an irregular surface and thus considered of little value. This

too could refer to his coarse and humble background. This adjective could also

refer to the skin of this particular mayor who had suffered the skin-deforming

disease smallpox, common in this era (DA). Taking all the connotations into

account, as the head judge, he epitomizes the simple rustic background and

limited intelligence of the other five mayors who will soon arrive on the scene.

2

Salen, un escribano y Cosme Berrueco, con sayo y vara de Alcalde.

Escribano. A vos, Cosme Berrueco

(insigne Alcalde del lugar de Meco)4,

a vos os han nombrado

los concejos, por juez tan afamado,

para que presidáis en esta Audiencia,

en que a tomar se viene residencia

4

? Meco is a small town located on the outskirts of Madrid. (Velasco 178 n.1)

3 According to Cotarelo y Mori (Colección cclxxii) it was Manuela de Escamilla

when she was a young girl who played the part of Juan Rana’s newborn son

Juan Ranilla. Manuela Escamilla was born in 1648, the daughter of Antonio de

Escamilla and Francisa Díaz. She began her stage career in the provinces at the

age of 7 as a supporting actor in interludes but later she came to Madrid with her

father to play the part of Juan Ranilla in various interludes. Manuela must have

been between seven and ten years old when she performed in El parto de Juan

Rana. She became famous as a supporting actor and in the opinion of many she

was also an excellent principal actor. Amoung her many talents, she was best

known for her musical abilities. She played principal parts from 1667 to 1694 (SV

421, 561).

3

al Alcalde Juan Rana,

que preso tienen por la más liviana,

Jesus, Mary and Joseph

Juan Rana Gives Birth

[Francisco Pedro] Lanini [y] Sagredo

Characters

Juan Rana Doorman

Cosme Berrueco Six Mayors

Scribe Juan Ranilla

Woman

Enter a scribe and Cosme Berrueco who is wearing a tunic and carrying a staff

of a mayor.

Scribe. Cosme Berrueco,

(the illustrious Mayor of Meco),

you have been chosen

by the council, as you are such a distinguished judge,

to preside over this Audience,

4

to pass judgment on Mayor Juan Rana,

who is detained for the most wanton

fea culpa que Alcalde ha cometido

después que Alcaldes en concejo ha habido:

su cargo es enormísimo.

Berrueco. Escribano,

no seáis vos inormísimo5; a la mano

os id; ¿es más la culpa encreminada,

enormísima, fea y ponderada,

el que Juan Rana (por que a nadie asombre)

para hembra es mejor que para hombre?

Escribano. ¿Luego no es feo delito y mal notado,

que un Alcalde en persona esté preñado?

Berrueco. Alcalde siendo, aun más delito era,

siendo fecundo, que hoy estéril fuera.

5 Inormísmo is using a legal term that refers to price-gouging where the mark-up

is more than 50% of the merchandise's value. Berrueco, the head judge, is

therefore telling the scribe not to exaggerate when speaking of this particular

crime. There is, of course, a humourous element to this use, as this term is also

similar to the term enormísimo, the superlative of enorme or enormous, a

reference to Juan Rana’s full-term and showing pregnancy.

5

Escribano. ¡Necedad es bien rara!

¿Fecundo queréis sea?

Berrueco. Pues la vara6

a un Alcalde absoluto,

¿de qué provecho le es, si no da fruto?7

and heinous crime that any mayor has ever committed

6

? Here, as in the many entremeses where Juan Rana plays a mayor, the vara or

staff is an integral part of his character’s costume. It serves as the theatrical prop

to symbolize his mayoral position and status. However, when Berrueco equates

the vara to the phallus, he identifies it, quite literally, as a quintessential symbol

of phallocentric power. The analogy between vara and phallus that in other

entremeses would be considered tentative and covert becomes here a definite

and overt double symbol. At the same time, Camilo José Cela indicates that

vara de alcalde functions as a metaphor for the penis: “la pija ‘que manda y

gobierna’ semeja una vara de alcalde y como tal se comporta” (II 579) ("the

penis, that governs men's behaviour, looks like a mayor's rod and acts like it

too"). Accordingly, the vara takes on a greater level of symbology affecting the

meaning of all of Juan Rana’s mayoral entremeses. In El parto, however, Juan

Rana’s pregnancy and symbolic vara are conceptually combined to form the

basis of a debate on power.

6

since mayors have been in office.

Your responsibility is enormous.

Berrueco. Scribe,

don’t exaggerate. Stop

right there. Isn't the greater,

more abhorrent and more unthinkable crime

that Juan Rana (let no one be taken by surprise)

is better suited to being a woman than a man?

Scribe. But isn’t it an appalling crime and inappropriate

that a mayor himself be pregnant?

Berrueco. Being mayor, wouldn’t it be a worse crime

that having been fertile, he now be sterile?

Scribe. That's an odd and ridiculous idea!

You want him to be fruitful?

Berrueco. The staff

of an omnipotent mayor,

what good is it to him, if it does not bear fruit?

7

Escribano. ¿La vara comparáis agora al sexo?

Berrueco. Vos, Escribano, no entendéis bien de eso.

Una vara concibe dos mil cosas,

luego puede parirlas prodigiosas.

Mas haced relación.8

Escribano. La haré en llegando

a la junta otros jueces.

Berrueco. Pues sentando

entretanto me voy pero al Portero

me llamad al instante.

8 In Berrueco’s final words in this passage, haced relacion, he could be telling the

scribe to make the link between vara, fecund mayoral productivity and

reproduction. However, the scribe has understood relación in a strictly juridical

sense, a written or oral statement made to a judge in a trial (DA).

7 In Juan Rana’s defense, Berrueco exploits both the metaphorical and literal

meanings of dar fruto. In the metaphorical sense, Berrueco applauds the

productivity and ability of an all-powerful mayor to give life to many prodigious

projects. However, Berrueco would seem to praise Juan Rana’s power to bear

fruit or, in other words, to reproduce.

8

Escribano. ¡Ah! ¡Juan Ollero!

que os llama el seor Alcalde.

Sale el Portero

Portero. ¿Qué me mandáis?

Berrueco. Que a nadie entrar en balde9

Scribe. So now you're comparing the staff to the penis?

Berrueco. You, Scribe, don't understand.

A staff can conceive thousands of things

and can later bear them abundantly.

But I digress. Summarize your case.

Scribe. I’ll do it

when the other judges arrive.

Berrueco. So me it.

But in the meantime

9 The last word in this line is difficult to decipher in the hand-written original copy.

Won has transcribed this last word as “evitalde.”

9

call the Doorman for me.

Scribe. Hey, Juan Ollero!

The honourable mayor would like to see you.

Enter Doorman.

Doorman. How may I be of service?

Berrueco. Don’t let anyone enter

dejéis, sin que primero

digáis quién es.

Portero. Lo haré. [Vase.]

Berrueco. ¡Gentil Portero!

Escribano. (Aparte) El tal Alcalde es gran simplón.

Berrueco. Pregunto,

Escribano ¿en la causa habéis unto10?

Escribano. Nunca yo me torcí; ni lo imagino

10

Berrueco. Hacéis bien, pues el hombre que es buen vino,

por más que se le fuerce

se volverá vinagre si se tuerce.11

Sale el Portero con el primer Alcalde y luego se va.

Portero. A la junta el Alcalde de Pozuelo12

es el que llega. [Vase.]

without first

announcing them.

Doorman. As you wish. [Exit Doorman]

Berrueco. Noble Doorman!

Scribe. (Aside) This mayor is a great simpleton.

Berrueco. I ask myself,

Scribe, have you ever taken a bribe?

Scribe. I’ve never been tempted nor have I thought of taking one.

11

Berrueco. You act wisely;

Man is like a good wine,

the more you press him the more likely he’ll go bad.

Enter Doorman with the first Mayor.

Doorman. I present to you

the Mayor of Pozuelo, the reservoir town. (Exit Doorman)

Berrueco. ¡Qué famoso anzuelo

de pescar! ¿Pues tan tarde?

Alcalde 1. Por la posta13,

en mi burro he venido a toda costa.

Berrueco. A correrla en vos mismo, yo discurro,

que era lo propio que correrla en burro

pero tomad asiento.

Alcalde 1. Junto a vos, por estar con mi jumento.

Sale el Portero con el segundo Alcalde.

12

Portero. El alcalde de Parla.14

Berrueco. Saldrá de sus lagunas.15

Alcalde 2. ¿Qué se garla?16

Berrueco. Si allá sois renacuajo17

o Alcalde en las lagunas.

Berrueco. Such a famous watering hole!

But tell me, why so late?

Mayor 1. I came as fast as

my donkey could carry me.

Berrueco. You could have

run it faster on foot

but take a seat.

Mayor 1. Well, thanks to my donkey, I made it.

Enter the Doorman with the second Mayor.

13

Doorman. Here is the Mayor of Parla.

Berrueco. So you’ve jumped out of the pan and into the fire, I see.

Mayor 2. What are you blabbering about?

Berrueco. In Parla you have the status of a tadpole,

simply the mayor of the lagoons but here you are.

Alcalde 2. A destajo

Allá soy mi poquito,

más vos en Meco sólo sois mosquito18

Berrueco. Nuestro asiento ocupad.

Alcalde 2. De los primeros.

Sale el Portero con el tercer Alcalde.

Portero. El Alcalde ha llegado de los Güeros19.

Berrueco. Decid de los capones

14

que esos los güeros son.

Alcalde 3. ¡Oh! ¡Cicerones!

¡Eruditos!

Berrueco. Sentando

os id, que vendréis güero

y será en blando.

Mayor 2. I may be a nobody

but in Meco

you’re a mere mosquito.

Berrueco. Take your seat.

Mayor 2. It looks like I’m one of the first to arrive.

Enter the Doorman with the third Mayor.

Doorman. This mayor has arrived from Güeros, a barren place if there

ever was one.

15

Berrueco. As fertile as a flock of capons.

Mayor 3. Oh! Such wise men!

Erudites!

Berrueco. Sit down

before you wear yourself out,

He sits on top of the first Mayor.

Siéntase sobre el primer Alcalde.

Alcalde 1. ¿Alcalde sois albarda?20

Alcalde 3. No imagino,

más pues vos la sentís seréis pollino.

Alcalde 1. Pero vos sois en todo albarda viva.

Sale el Portero y el cuarto Alcalde.

Portero. ¿El Alcalde de abajo y el de arriba?

Berrueco. Decid Caramancheles.21

16

Alcalde 4. Brava turba hay de alcaldes moscateles.22

Alcalde 2. ¿Falta en la junta aun más?

Escribano. Sólo uno falta.

Sale el Portero con el quinto Alcalde.

for no reason.

Mayor 1. My dear mayor, are you an idiot?

Mayor 3. I don’t think so but it rather it would seem that

you are the ass under me.

Mayor 1. But you are a heavy burden to bear.

Enter the Doorman and the fourth Mayor.

Doorman. Ah, the mayor covered from top to bottom?

Berrueco. From Caramancheles, tarp town.

17

Mayor 4. What a lively troupe of dense mayors.

Mayor 2. Is anyone yet to arrive?

Scribe. Only one person is missing.

Enter the Doorman with the fifth Mayor.

Portero. ¡El Alcalde de Ambroz!23

Alcalde 1. Miren si salta.

Berrueco. ¿Cómo a esta junta, vos venís postrero?

Alcalde 5. Ambroz en Cortes, siempre fue primero.

Los 5. ¿Qué es primero?

Berrueco. Dejad los alborotos

y pues estamos ya bastantes votos,

la Audiencia se prosiga.

18

Empiezan a hablar los Alcaldes unos con otros y Berrueco toca la campanilla.

Portero. ¿Qué mandáis?

Berrueco. Despejad.

Portero. Aquí una hormiga

no hay siquiera.

Doorman. The Mayor of Ambroz!

Mayor 1. Make sure he doesn’t cut in line.

Mayor 5. Why are you always the last to arrive?

Mayor 5. Well, it doesn’t matter as Ambroz was always first at the

Royal Court.

The 5 Mayors. First for what though?

Berrueco. Enough bickering!

Let’s start the hearing

19

as there is now enough of us to vote.

The Mayors speak amongst themselves and Berrueco sounds the bell.

Doorman. You rang?

Berrueco. Clear the room.

Doorman. There isn’t even

an ant here.

Berrueco. ¡Qué sean respondones

siempre aquestos porteros! Los moscones

despejad.

Portero. No discurro,

que aquí los hay.

Berrueco. ¿No oís este susurro?

Portero. Ya los aviento.

Con el sombrero avienta a los Alcaldes.

20

Berrueco. Empieza Escribano

a hacernos relación en canto llano

del cargo de Juan Rana soldemente24.

Están los Alcaldes volviendo a hablar.

Portero. Oíos pues hay.

Tomando el Escribano unos papeles como que por ellos hace relación.

Berrueco. These doormen always talkback!

Idiots.

Clear out.

Doorman. There’s no lack of idiots

around here.

Berrueco. Do you hear that whispering?

Doorman. Don’t worry, I’m fanning them out.

With the waving of his hat, he dismisses the Mayors.

21

Berrueco. Scribe announce

for all to hear, the charges

against Juan Rana.

The Mayors begin to speak again.

Doorman. Let the charges be heard.

The Scribe picks up a document as if to read the charges from it.

Escribano. Primeramente,

el que siendo casado

Juan Rana con Aldonza, nunca ha dado

indicios de ser hombre, pues Aldonza

(al susodicho) siendo una persona

era quien le mandaba,

le reñía y a veces le pegaba

logrando en sus contiendas

que él hiciese de casa las haciendas,

que barriese, fregase y que pusiese

la olla, y aun a sus mandados fuese.

22

Berrueco. La probanza está llana

del delito, que imputan a Juan Rana,

del preñado, supuesto

que si él permitió que los calzones

su mujer se pusiese en ocasiones,

ser el preñado él, no es demasía

pues hizo lo que ella hacer debía.

Alcalde 1. La consecuencia es clara,

más pues él se lo quiso, que lo para.25

Scribe. Firstly,

while being married to Aldonza,

Juan Rana has never given

any indication of being a man, given that Aldonza

(towards the accused) was a shrew,

ordered him about,

scolded him, and occasionally beat him,

managing through their squabbles

in making him do the household chores,

sweep, mop, wash up and

see to the meals, and be at her beck and call.

23

Berrueco. The pregnant evidence against Juan Rana,

in the alleged crime,

is damning, given that,

if he allowed his wife

to wear the pants,

it's not too inconceivable that he be the pregnant one,

since he did what she was supposed to do.

Mayor 1. He must face the consequences of his actions,

if that's the way he wanted it, let him give birth.

Alcalde 2. Pasad más adelante.

Escribano. Es público, es notorio y muy constante

que de tiempo a esta parte, al contraído

Juan Rana, le ha crecido

el vientre de manera

que una cuba parece26.

Alcalde 3. Antes lo era

de vino.

Escribano. Y le han faltado

24

las ganas de comer, que en un penado27

son las señas fatales.

Alcalde 4. Y en él, que es un glotón, son más señales.

Alcalde 5. Clara probanza del delito es esa.

27

? The word penado has three levels of meaning here. Firstly, it means one who is

aggrieved. In slang it also refers to a criminal who has received a sentence.

Finally, it is a drinking vessel with a narrow spout that doles out but with great

effort a meager quantity of liquid. By extension penado refers to any great effort

needed to supply a small quantity of any substance. All three meanings are in

play here (RAE).

10

? Hacer unto or to use grease is the equivalent of “greasing one’s palms” or, in

other words, taking a bride (DA).

11

? It would seem to be common viniculture knowledge that even a good wine can

turn to vinegar if over pressed. Similarly, even a good man when pressed or

pressured can also turn bad. Torcer or to twist also means to deviate from the

path of righteousness (DA) and can also refer specifically to unjust judges.

12 This refers to a small town on the outskirts of Madrid, either Pozuelo de Alarcón

or Pozuelo del Rey (Velasco 178 n.4). Especifically, the word pozuelo means a

25

Berrueco. ¿Y reo del preñado él le confiesa?

Escribano. Está en un juramento negativo.

Mayor 2. Continue.

water reservoir. Berrueco’s joke that this town must be a good place to hook a

fish rests on the specific meaing of pozuelo.

13

? Posta refers to a type of pony express and consequently, swift delivery.

Comically, the mayor has arrived on the back of the slow moving donkey.

14

? Parla is a small town located south of Madrid known it would seem for its

lagoons.

15

? Salir de sus lagunas y entrar en mojadas or salir del lodo y caer en el arroyo

(escape the lagoon and enter into the marsh or get out of the mud and fall into

the stream) is a popular expression that describes a situation where a person in

their efforts to avoid danger encounters a greater one (Campos and Barella 257).

The English equivalent would be “out of the pan and into the fire.”

16

? Garlar means to talk incessantly and without pause. This connects with the

name of that town Parla which means talk. Parla is the third-person singular of

the verb parlar, to speak.

26

Scribe. It’s public knowledge, well-known and certain

that from the beginning until now, that the belly

of the accused Juan Rana

has grown in such a way

that it resembles a barrel.

17

? Renacuajo or tadpole can also describe a poorly-built squat man known for his

bad temper (DA).

18

? Apart from a reference to the pesky mosquito, mosquito also refers to the

drunkard who frequents taverns much like the fruit fly infests wine (DA).

19 Los Güeros is actually Los Hueros, a small town close to Alcalá de Henares.

The homonymic use of the town’s name will allow for a series of insulting double

entendres in the lines that refer to this particular mayor and his town. Güero is an

archaic synonym for güevo/huevo or egg (COV) and in Spanish

güeros/güevos/huevos is a euphemism for testicles. In colloguial use güero also

means sterile, empty and without substance (TDV). Hence from the onset, it is

implied that the men of this town lack virility and substance or in other words

“have no balls” like capons. Furthermore, there is a semantic connection made

between huevo guero (an unfertilized egg) (DA), capones (castrated roosters)

and blando (weak) and the town in question. Together, they imply unmanliness,

and general physical, mental and sexual weakness and once again the

27

Mayor 3. It used to be full

of wine.

Scribe. And he’s lost his appetite

which in his case

is a foreboding sign.

metaphorical absence of “balls.”

20

? An albarda is a saddlebag but also refers to someone who is an idiot (DA). In

this way, the reference is simultaneously literal, metaphorical and visual.

21

? Carabanchel is a town close to Madrid but it is mispronounced here as

Caramancheles which refers to a tarp or covering (RAE). In the prior parlance,

this mayor is sized up from head to toe. A tarp usually covers an object in the

same manner.

22

? Apart from moscatel being a grape and the dessert wine made from it, it also

refers to someone who is simple, dull and tedious (DA).

23

? Ambroz was the original name of Plasencia, a town in Extremadura founded by

Alfonso VIII in 1159. It could also refer to Mazarambroz, a small town close to

Toledo a (COV).

24

? Soldemente is an archaic and popular form of solamente or only.

28

Mayor 4. And as he is a glutton, this is a calamitous sign.

Mayor 5. This is a clear proof of his guilt.

Berrueco. Does the guilty party confess to his pregnant state?

Scribe. He denies

the accusation.

Berrueco. Pues désele tormento.

25

? It would seem that giving birth itself is a type of punishment for Juan Rana. After

deliberations, the tribunal unanimously finds Juan Rana guilty. While if at the

beginning it seemed that Juan Rana was on trial for his unnatural condition, it is

now clear that he has been found guilty not for being pregnant but rather for

allowing himself to be domineered by his wife. His pregnancy is but the visual

and growing proof of the extreme to which he has become unmanly. Giving birth

would seem to be considered a part of the punishment for his crime.

26

? The enlarged belly of the pregnant Juan Rana resembles a cuba or barrel and

more precisely as Mayor 3 indicates, one that was used to store wine. It also

infers that the belly of the gluttonous Juan Rana is usually full of wine like a

barrel.

29

Escribano. ¿Cómo, estando preñado?

Que la ley de tormento le ha excusado.

Berrueco. Para todo hay remedio,

dese tormento a su mujer.

Alcalde 2. ¿Qué medio

es ése, que mi juicio le condena?

Berrueco. Tormento es darle en cabeza ajena,

pues su parte contraria, es advertido,

es cualquier mujer propia, del marido.

Escribano. El tormento excusado

es, cuando el delito está probado

y consta por lo escrito

en sumaria y plenaria.

Alcalde 2. Si el delito

se comprueba en plenaria

Berrueco. Well, torture him.

30

Scribe. How can we seeing he’s pregnant?

The rules of torture don’t allow it.

Berrueco. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Torture his wife.

Mayor 2. How can I convict her

without a trial?

Berrueco. We’ll get him by torturing her.

A wife is, after all,

a husband’s better half.

Scribe. Torture is not necessary

when the crime is established

and appears in

the presentation of the case and the trial.

Mayor 2. If the crime

can be established by the trial

votémosle nosotros en sumaria.

31

Hablan unos con otros como en secreto.

Berrueco. Eso apruebo

Alcalde 3. Mi parecer es este.

Alcalde 4. Y éste el mío.

Alcalde 5. Y el mío.

Berrueco. Muy conteste

el juicio se ve en todos elegante.

Alcalde 1. Nemine discrepante,28

se mira la sentencia.

Escribano. ¿Habéis ya sentenciado?

Alcalde 2. Y en conciencia.

Berrueco. Decid pues que fallamos,

28

? Nemime discrepante is an adverbial Latin phrase used during the period to

mean without contradiction, disagreement or opposition (DA).

32

let’s vote on proceeding with the accusations.

All parties deliberate among themselves as if in secret.

Berrueco. I approve the motion.

Mayor 3. That is my opinion

Mayor 4. Mine as well.

Mayor 5. I agree.

Berrueco. I see that

we all wisely agree.

Mayor 1. As there is no opposition,

let’s look at sentencing.

Scribe. Have you already decided on a sentence?

Mayor 2. And in consensus.

Berrueco. We have decided to pronounce sentence.

33

debemos condenar y condenamos,

que a voz de Pregonero,

que cantado lo expresa al mundo entero,

que a la vergüenza saquen a Juan Rana

vestido de mujer (y muy profana)

donde todos le vean

y públicos. Testigos fieles sean

de que es su culpa clara

y si la da allí el parto, que allí para

y que aquesto mandamos

que se ejecute luego, y no firmamos

por no saberlo hacer.

Escribano. Del mismo modo,

al punto a ejecutarlo, parto todo.29

Vase

Alcalde 3. La ley se le echó a cuestas.

Alcalde 4. En razón se ha votado.

29

? The idea of giving birth on the part of the Scribe reflects here the idea that he is

the one who is ultimately responsible for reproducing the orders of the mayors.

34

Alcalde 5. Siempre en estas

We must find guilty and have him convicted.

Let our decision be announced by the town crier,

so that all can hear.

Let Juan Rana be placed on disgraceful display

dressed as a woman (a shameless hussy)

so that all may see him,

and the public bear faithful witness

to his evident guilt,

and if he gives birth there, so be it,

and we command

that this be carried out, and we’d sign

the order if we knew how to write.

Scribe. By executing the sentence,

I give birth to it.

Exit Scribe.

Mayor 3. The law makes it difficult for him.

Mayor 4. That’s why we voted.

35

Mayor 5. That’s the way it always is

sentencias fui muy dicho.

Berrueco. En mi vida, jamás las erré mucho.

Más según el bullicio

a Juan Rana le sacan al suplicio.

Alcalde 1. Pues desde aquí veamos

si se ejecuta bien lo que mandamos.

Sacan a Juan Rana vestido de mujer y con una barriga muy grande y a Juan

Ranilla debajo de las faldas y delante salen el Escribano y una mujer que viene

cantando en tono de pregón.

Cantando mujer. Venga a noticia de todos

como por no ser Juan Rana

hombre en nada, de mujer

a la vergüenza le sacan.

Pues si por el ordinario

la naturaleza humana

escribió a Juan Rana antes,

ya le faltaron las cartas.

36

Sus faltas ha descubierto,

y viéndose en nueve faltas,

in these cases.

Berrueco. This is the way it’s been all my life.

But listen to all the commotion. I think

Juan Rana is being escorted into the public square.

Mayor 1. Let’s see if our orders

are being carried out.

Juan Rana is brought in dressed as a woman with a very large belly and with

Juan Ranilla under his skirts. Before them go the Scribe and a woman singing at

the top of her lungs.

Singing Woman. Let it be known to all that

for not being a man in any way,

Juan Rana is being shamefully

paraded as a woman.

If human nature wrote to Juan Rana

regularly in the past,

he's no longer

getting the mail.

37

His faults have been revealed,

and since he has nine of them,

cuantas palabras pronuncia

son ya palabras preñadas.30

Canta Juan Rana. ¡Ay! desdichada

de quien es su embarazo31

su desgracia.

Y pues no vale ¡Oh! jueces,

razón a la fuerza valga

31

? Juan Rana’s use of embarazo refers both literally to his cumbersome

pregnancy and metaphorically to his burdensome predicament.

30

? There is a series of word associations between ordinario, faltar, cartas and

faltas. As ordinario refers to menstruation as well as regular mail delivery, by

association faltar las cartas also means to miss menstrual periods. Therefore, the

cartas that are gone missing, the monthly letters written by nature, are the

menstruations that did not occur due to pregnancy. This analogy is further

strengthened by the subsequent lines, which refer to having gone nine months

without a period, or, having incurred nine faltas in the sense explained earlier.

Furthermore, the words used in this declaration are ironically considered to be

“impregnated” with truth.

38

razón, para que a la fuerza

lo que he concebido, para

valga decir que no sé

si dormida, si descuidada

sonando en mí, hallé en mi propio

vientre, con mi semejanza.

Valga también confesaros

que no soy culpada en nada,

que este chichón32 viviente

ningún tropezón33 le causa

Y por fin, valga advertiros

que si en las yeguas se halla

concebir del viento, pueden

lo mismo hacer los Juan Ranas34

¡Ay! desdichada.

any words he says now

are pregnant ones.

Juan Rana (Sings) Oh, I’m a miserable wretch

whose predicament is

34

? According to ancient mythology, mares were frequently impregnated by the

wind. See Zirkle.

39

her disgrace! Oh judges!

Reason is not prevailing.

Make reason triumph

so that I may give birth to

what I conceived by force.

Let the record show that I do not know

whether while sleeping or daydreaming,

I found my own likeness

in my own belly.

Let it also show

that I am innocent

and this living bump doesn't change that.

And anyway, if mares can be impregnated

by the wind the same

can happen to Juan Ranas

Oh, I’m a miserable wretch!

Alcalde 2. Su lamento a dolor mueve.

Alcalde 3. Y a risa mueve su cara.

Juan Rana. Más aquí que ha llegado el parto.

40

¡Ay! ¡Qué se me desencajan

las caderas! ¡Qué dolores,

qué penas, cielos, qué ansias!

¿No hay quién me ayude siquiera

a parir, que muero en tanta

fatiga? Más un temblor

me hiela toda, y me pasma.

¡Señores, piedad! ¡Qué rota

tengo ya la fuente! ¡Qué haya

de parir yo sin comadre35

habiendo tenido tantas!

Tienen de los brazos dos de ellos.

Escribano. Ayudémosle a parir.

Juan Rana. Ténganme bien.

Mayor 2. Her lament is moving.

Mayor 3. But her face makes me laugh.

41

Juan Rana. The birth is starting!

Ay! My hips are

dislocating. What pain,

what grief, heavens, what anguish!

Isn't there somebody who can help me

give birth? The effort is

killing me. I'm trembling.

An icy chill has come over me. I’m going to faint.

Gentlemen, have pity. My

water has broken!

Why should I give birth alone

having had so many girlfriends?

Two mayors hold him down by the arms.

Scribe. We must help him give birth.

Juan Rana. Hold me steady.

Los dos. ¡Qué nos mata!

Juan Rana. Tengan, que del parto está

la cabeza coronada.

42

Más ya parir con mil diablos

no me haré otra vez preñada.

No más en mi vida.

Sale por debajo de las faldas Juan Ranilla con sayo.

Todos. ¡Cielos!

¡Qué ha parido!

Juan Rana. ¿Qué se pasman?

Berrueco. Su retrato es el muchacho

en talla y en rostro.

Juan Ranilla. Mamá,

¿No abraza a su Juan Ranilla?

Juan Rana. ¡Ay! ¡Parto de mis entrañas!

The Mayors. He's going to kill us!

Juan Rana. Look,

the baby’s head is crowning.

43

After this hellish birth,

I'll never get pregnant again,

never in my life.

A miniature Juan Rana in a smock comes out from underneath Juan Rana's

skirts.

Everyone. Heavens!

He’s given birth!

Juan Rana. Are you surprised?

Berrueco. The boy is an exact copy of you

in figure and face.

Juan Ranilla. Mama!

Aren't you going to hug your little Juan Rana?

Juan Rana. Oh, fruit of my loins

¡Ay! ¡Prenda mía!

Alcalde 1. No niega

en nada a su padre.

44

Juan Rana. Aun falta

el saber si es mi hijo, pues

puede ser que otro le haya

hecho en mi ausencia.

Alcalde 2. ¿Pues cómo

hacer la experiencia tratas?

Juan Rana. Viendo si es que un zarambeque

también como yo le baila.36

Juan Ranilla. Pues la música le anime

y tóquele la guitarra.

Canta la música y los dos bailan el zarambeque.

Música. Los hijos al padre

en las semejanzas

Oh, my precious!

Mayor 1. He looks

exactly like his father.

45

Juan Rana. I still need proof

that he's my son,

since someone else might have

made him in my absence.

Mayor 2. How are you going

to test that?

Juan Rana. I’ll see if he dances

the zarambeque like I do.

Juan Ranilla. Music would help me dance. Play the

guitar.

The song is sung and the two dance the zarambeque

Musician. Sons always take after

their fathers in looks

como en las mudanzas

se retratan siempre.37

Teque, teque, teque

Cantando Juan Rana. ¡Qué se me parece!

46

¡Ay, mi Juan Ranilla

en el zarambeque!

Escribano. ¿Qué hacéis Alcaldes?

Vuelven a hacer otra mudanza y los seis Alcaldes dejan las varas y bailan

también.

Alcalde 1. Querer

parecer hoy, de Juan Rana

también retratos al vivo.

Juan Rana. Vaya unas muecas.

Juan Ranilla. Vayan.

Hacen los dos las muecas y el Escribano los imita.

and in the way

they move.

Tickaty tack, Tickaty tack , Tickaty tack.

Juan Rana (Singing). Ay! He looks and

47

moves like me when he dances

the zarambeque!

Scribe. Mayors, what are you doing?

Juan Rana and Juan Ranillla continue to dance and the six Mayors drop

their staffs and join in.

Mayor 1. Today

we all want to be

live replicas of Juan Rana.

Juan Rana. What funny faces they make!

Juan Ranilla. Really!

The two make faces and the Scribe imitates them.

Alcalde 2. ¿Qué hacéis Escribano?

Escribano. Ser

de Juan Rana semejanza.

48

Juan Rana. Digo que en todo es mi hijo

sin faltarle una migaja.

Todos. Pues el natal se celebre

de Juan Ranilla en Juan Rana.

Escribano. ¿Con qué?

Juan Rana. Con la conterilla

con que un entremés se acaba.

Cantando mujer. Si los hombres parieran

fuera gran cosa

pues tuvieran por ciertas

todas sus obras.

Juan Rana. No hay duda pues que muchas

mujeres vimos,

Mayor 2. Scribe, what are you doing?

Scribe. I want to be

like Juan Rana, too.

49

Juan Rana. I’d say that in every single way

my son is like me.

All. Let Juan Rana's birth to Juan Ranilla

be celebrated.

Scribe. How?

Juan Rana. With the moral of the story

that ends an entremés.

Singing Woman. If men gave birth,

it would be a great thing

as they'd know for sure

that all their works were theirs.

Juan Rana. That's for sure, because

there are many women who

que a mamar a otros padres

los dan los hijos.

50

32

? His use of chichón to describe that which is living within him is quite significant.

Chichón, or the swelling that occurs after being violently hit (DA), reminds us that

Juan Rana, in the context of this entremés, is the victim of spousal abuse.

33

? Here a tropezón means a wrong but it can also mean “amorío ilegítimo” or illicit

love affair (Alemán n.91 161).

35

? Comadre means midwife (DA) but in the plural also refers to the close knit

relationship that often exists between female neighbours and friends.

Considering the tone of the play, there could also be an allusion to comadrero or

the man who only has women friends and only likes to talk with women. These

men are usually old, passive or homosexual (COV). Today these women friends

are what are unflatteringly called “fag hags.” Cartagena-Calderón in his

disscusion of the urbanized nobleman notes that “(e)l hombre que recurre a las

palabras y no a la espada para defenderse es, por lo tanto, desmasculinizado,

ya que actúa como las ‘malas mujeres’ quienes se resguardan con la lengua,

pues su supuesta debilidad corporal no les permite hacerlo con la fuerza del

51

brazo o de la espada (Masculinidades en obras: el drama de la hombría en la

España imperial, 264) (The man who resorts to words and not the sword to

defend himself is for all intents and purposes, emasculated given that he acts like

‘evil women’ who use their tongue to protect themselves; supposedly their lack of

physical strength does not allow them to protect themselves by force or use of

the sword).

36

? A zarembeque is a joyful and lively dance and the playing of an instrument of

percussion that signals the end of an entremés. It is of Black-African origin (DA).

37

? In a general sense, this words states that sons are like their fathers in their

appearance and actions. In a sense more specific to Juan Rana’s profession,

mudanzas also refers to dance moves.

52

give their husbands

other men's sons.

53