Basque History of the World (47 page)

They laughed and joked in Euskera and in Spanish. One of the neighbors complained that he could not understand “these Euskaldunberri and their Batua.” He could understand Guipúzcoan or any of the other dialects, “but this Batua, maybe if I listen to something twice I could get it.”

The neighbor’s son, Igor, with his dark hair and black eyes, his long straight nose, his thin face, strong chin, and thick eyebrows, looked like a portrait of a Basque by a romantic painter. Igor had no intention of a life on the farm. He worked in a factory where he made as much money in a month as he could in three months of farm work. But he learned his part at the txarribodas. Julián worried about preparing someone to take his own place so he could be certain that a time would not come when there would be no more txarribodas in the community.

After lunch, the women chopped the greens off twenty leeks, then cooked the chopped whites over a slow fire so that they poached in their own juices. They did the same with five chopped onions. Then they cooked three and a third pounds of rice until it was overboiled porridge. They diced the lard and put it in a basin, mixing it with the cooked and drained ingredients, a pound of chopped parsley, a dozen chopped guindillas, two large handfuls of coarse salt, and they slowly added the pig’s blood until the basin was filled with a bright red mush.

Then the women crossed themselves. They say this is the only insurance against the intestine skins breaking. With the help of an aluminum funnel, they stuffed the skins and tied them off into sausages. They then cooked them for twenty minutes in a pot with the leek greens, which help protect the blood sausage from breaking. Cold water was constantly added to keep the boiling down, since a strong boil also would break the skins.

Meanwhile, with the skillful use of Julián’s knife, the men reduced the former farmyard animal into a series of cuts of meat. The head was removed, and the ears and cheeks were cut off for eating. They had slabs of fatback, slabs of bacon, legs ready to cure into ham, chops, loins. The meat for the chorizo would soak for a day, and then the sausages would dry for another week by wood-burning fires.

They had a week of continuous pork feasting ahead of them. To sell any of this would be a violation of health laws. The entire txarriboda might be illegal; it’s not certain. But they just eat among themselves with their neighbors once a year.

The blood sausages were grilled on a wood-burning hearth in the living room, and when they were done, it was time to sit once again at the long table in the kitchen where the choriceros were drying overhead. The Rioja and bread were distributed again. They joked in Basque about the large behind of Felisa’s sister, Estafanía, who was plump and round and had a contagious laugh.

Estafanía’s husband presented his theory that all Basques go to heaven because they don’t know how to curse, a hypothesis that met with snickers. There are no swear words in Euskera. The only one anyone could come up with was
madarikátue
, which means “damned.” The others thought you could still get to heaven if all you said was madarikátue. But Estafanía said, “No. It won’t work. We Basques swear all the time. It’s just that the words we use are maketos.”

They all laughed. After chorizo, there was the blood sausage, which had a fresh vegetable taste unlike any commercial blood sausage. Next came slices from a cut just above the leg.

Well fed and contented, Estafanía sighed and said, “You see, the best times in life are the first year of marriage and the week you kill the pig.”

T
HE SIXTEENTH-CENTURY
Guipúzcoan Esteban de Garibay, the first scholar of Basque history and the first to attempt to trace the origin of the Basque people and language, told the Castilian crown in the clear simplicity of the ancient language, that which Basques have been saying ever since: “
Garean gareana legez
,” Let us be what we are.

Also by Mark Kurlansky

COD

A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World

A CHOSEN FEW

The Resurrection of European Jewry

A CONTINENT OF ISLANDS

Searching for the Caribbean Destiny

The Basque Thank You

I
AM THAT
rare and fortunate writer, completely convinced that I work with the best people in publishing: my agent, Charlotte Sheedy, who makes me smile while she persuades me, along with everyone else; George Gibson, still my ideal of what a publisher should be; and most especially Nancy Miller, whose skill and wisdom are always there both as an editor and as a most wonderful friend in good and bad times.

I also want to thank the talented and helpful people at Walker & Company who make it the great house it is; Kristine Puopolo for her interest and advice; Matt Spetalnick for his help in Madrid; and Virginia Peters, who a long time ago came with me to fish beautiful streams and bravely stared down back-alley thugs in patent leather hats.

So many great Basques enriched this book with their generosity, interest, knowledge, and experience. I especially want to thank Joseba Zulaika, who did much to improve this book and has been far too helpful to list alphabetically; Teresa Barrenechea for so much generosity and enthusiasm, for sharing her friends, for being a one-woman public relations force in Vizcaya, and for improving my pil pil backhand; Miel Elvstondo for answering so many of my endless questions; Eva Forest for much valuable advice and assistance, and all the great books; Ramón and Clotilde Labayen for their friendship, hospitality, and advice.

Thanks also go to Jose Allendesalazar for his help and interest; Begoña Aretxaga for her thoughts and advice; the Aranzadi Zientzi Elkartea for help with the Elkain cave drawings; Arautza Barandiaran for her help at the San Telmo Museum in San Sebastián; Amaia Basterretxea for her patient assistance at the Euskal Arkeologia, Etnografia eta Kondaira Museum in Bilbao; Itxaro Borda for her help in Mauléon; José Juan Castillo, the great chef, for his kindness and advice; Maïte Faure for her help in Mauléon; Charles-Paul Gaudin for sharing his photo collection; José Gorrotxategi Pikasarri, the great pastry maker of Tolosa, for his thoughts and advice; Maite Idirin for her thoughts and advice; José Luis Iturrieta for his help and many kindnesses; Felisa Madariaga and Julián Gabikaetxebarria for their friendship, hospitality, and advice; Luis Núñez Astrain for his help at Egin; Olivier Ribeton for help at the Basque Museum in Bayonne, Soko Romano Aguirre for her help at the San Sebastián Maritime Museum; Amaia Zabalo for her help at the Kutxa Fototeka.

And to Josefina Aguirre and the late Kattalin Aguirre for first speaking Basque in front of me, for their hospitality, and for teaching and inspiring so many with courage and kindness.

To all the kind and tough people of Euskadi who have helped me through the years:
eskerrik asko
, thank you.

Maps

Basqueland’s Seven Provinces

Basque Border Passes

Basque Coastline

Pilgrim Routes to Santiago

German-Occupied France

Operation Comet

Bibliography

DICTIONARIES

Aulestia, Gorka, and Linda White.
Basque-English/English-Basque Dictionary
. Reno and Las Vegas: University of Nevada Press, 1992.

Egaña, Iñaki.
Diccionario histórico-político de Euskal Herria.
Tafalla, Navarra: Txalaparta, 1996.

Euskera-Frantsesa/Frantsesa-Euskera
. Bayonne and San Sebastián: Elkar, 1997.

King, Alan R., and Begotxu Olaizola Elordi.
Colloquial Basque
. London and New York: Routledge, 1996.

Narbarte Iraola, N.
Diccionario de apellidos Vascos
. San Sebastián: Editorial Txertoa, 1989.

GENERAL SPANISH HISTORY

Callahan, William James.
Church, Politics, and Society in Spain, 1750-1874
. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1984.

Carr, Raymond.
Modern Spain, 1875-1980
. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1980.

Clough, Arthur Hugh, ed.
Plutarch’s Lives
. Trans. John Dryden. New York: Modern Library, 1992.

Jane, Ceci, ed.
The Four Voyages of Columbus
. New York: Dover, 1988.

Kamen, Henry Arthur.
The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision
. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998.

Preston, Paul.
Franco
. New York: Basic Books, 1994. (A thorough and unflinching treatment.)

Thomas, Hugh.
The Spanish Civil War
. New York, Harper and Row, 1977. (The indispensable source on the war.)

IGNATIUS LOYOLA

Lacouture, Jean.
Jesuits: A multibiography
. Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 1995.

Meissner, W. W.
Ignatius of Loyola: The Psychology of a Saint
. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1992.

Olin, John C., ed.
The Autobiography of St. Ignatius Loyola
. New York: Fordham University Press, 1992.

Tellechea Idígoras, José Ignacio.
Ignatius of Loyola: The Pilgrim Saint
. Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1994.

SABINO ARANA

Arana Goiri, Sabino.
Bizkaya por su independencia
. Bilbao: Editorial GEU Argitaldaria, 1980.

Basaldua, Pedro.
El Libertador Vasco: Sabino Arana Goiri
. Bilbao: Editorial GEU Argitaldaria, 1977.

Elorza, Antonio, ed.
Sabino Arana Goiri: La Patria de los Vascos: Antología de escritos políticos
. San Sebastián: R & B Ediciones, 1995.

´´Jemein y Lanbari, Ceferino.
Biografía de Arana-Goiri’ Tar Sabin: E Historia gráfica del nacionalismo
. Bilbao: Editorial Vasca, 1935.

ETA AND BASQUE NATIONALISM

Calleja, José María.
Contra la barbarie: Un Alegato en favor de las victimas de ETA
. Madrid: Ediciones Tema de Hoy, 1997. Cassan, Patrick.
Le Pouvoir Français et la question Basque (1981-1993)
. Paris and Montreal, L’Harmattan, 1997.

Clark, Robert P.
Negotiating with ETA: Obstacles to Peace in the Basque Country, 1975-1988
. Reno and Las Vegas: University of Nevada Press, 1990.

Corcuera Atienza, Javier.
Orígenes, ideología y organización del nacionalismo Vasco: 1876-1904
. Madrid: Siglo Veintiuno de España, 1979. (A valuable detailed study of the roots of modern Basque nationalism.)

Douglass, William A., ed.
Basque Politics: A Case Study in Ethnic Nationalism
. Reno: Associated Faculty Press and Basque Studies Program, 1985.

Forest, Eva (Julen Agirre).
Operación Ogro: Como y por qué ejecutemos a Carrero Blanco
. Hendaye: Ediciones Mugalde, 1974. (The original underground publication, republished by Eva Forest in 1993 under her own name.)

Garmendia, Vincente.
La Ideología Carlista (1868-1876): En los orígenes del nacionalismo Vasco
. Zarautz: Diputación Foral de Guipúzcoa, 1985.

Granja Sainz, José Luis de la.
El Nacionalismo Vasco: Un Siglo de historia
. Madrid: Editoriales Tecnos, 1995.

Letamendia Belzunce, Francisco.
Historia del nacionalismo Vasco y de E.T.A
.. 3 vols. Vol. 1,
E.T.A. en el Franquismo (1951-1976)
, vol. 2,
E.T.A. en la transicion (1976-1982)
, vol. 3, E.T.A y el gobierno de PSOE (1982-1992). San Sebastián: R & B Ediciones, 1994.

Morán, Gregorio.
Los Españoles que dejaron de serlo: Euskadi, 1937-1981
. Barcelona: Planeta, 1982. (Still one of the best discussions of the issues.)

Rubio, Antonio, and Manuel Cerdan.
El Origen del GAL
. Madrid: Ediciones Tema de Hoy, 1997.

Zulaika, Joseba, and William A. Douglas.
Terror and Taboo: The Follies, Fables, and Faces of Terrorism
. New York and London: Routledge, 1996.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Amnesty International.
Spain, the Question of Torture:
Documents Exchanged by Amnesty International and the Government of Spain
. 1985.