Re: Presenting, his most Royal Highness

From: tschibasch <tschibasch_at_yahoo.com_at_hypermail.org>
Date: Tue, 10 Jan 2006 20:04:50 -0000

I have translated the article (into English, of course). Here it is:

Please note that "Wise Men" are called "Reyes Magos" in Spanish, which
 literally means "Magical Kings". In any case, these are the fellows
who came bearing gifts shortly after Jesus was born. Their arrival is
celebrated by some people on January 6th...


PAGE 1:

Wise Men in Los Angeles
The three Wise Men, Melchor, Gaspar, and Baltazar, distributed gifts
yesterday to children during the first Festival of Wise Men in
MacArthur Park in Los Angeles.


PAGE 2:

Preserving the tradition
The popular "Wise Men" handed out gifts yesterday in MacArthur Park

Article by Agustín Durán
Jesús Ceja got no presents for Christmas. The eight-year-old decided
that maybe he had misbehaved and therefore Santa Claus gave him
nothing. Nevertheless, yesterday (January 6th) the young man decided
to bet on the Wise Men, and they did not let him down.

Jesús attends the third grade at a school in Van Nuys. He has four
brothers who are all in the same boat. Had it not been for an aunt and
uncle who gave them some clothes and shoes, they would have remained
empty-handed this season, a season of gift giving for most families.

He had asked for his first-ever bicycle, a play station, a go-cart, or
some other kind of toy, but Santa had let him down. However, Melchor,
Gaspar, and Baltazar, people he didn't know, names he had never heard
before, took charge and caused him and his brothers to smile from ear
to ear.

"I have never seen them before, I didn't know who they were, but you
can see, they are good to kids" said Jesús. He had difficulty
speaking, so then his mother helped him. She said "Anything they can
give my sons is good. This has not been a good year for us, but I
didn't want my sons to know about it."

"My husband had an accident and has not been able to work since 1993.
Now, he is 65 years old, and it is not so easy to find work", related
Mrs. Ceja. "I am a person who thought there would be no poverty in the
United States, but over these last few years our situation has
changed. Despite all our efforts, we have not been able to get out of
the situation we are in."

Mrs. Ceja remembers numerous occasions when the Wise Men handed out
gifts in her native town of Michoacán. "We were so poor, they only
gave little bundles of cookies".

A Celebrated Event
The Ceja family is just one of thousands living in Los Angeles County
who find few occasions to buy something extra for their little ones.
It is for reasons like this that the organization "Cervantes Center of
Arts & Letters" has made efforts to bring this very Hispanic tradition
into the United States and keep it alive.

Alejandra Espasande, coordinator of the event called "The First
Festival of the Wise Men 2006" which took place yesterday in MacArthur
Park, expressed their desire to maintain this tradition, which is well
known in Latin America and Spain.

We want people and their children to know about the Wise Men,
something their parents grew up with" said Espasanade. "But also we
want to promote MacArthur Park as a family place, where both parents
and children can come."

Dozens of families came to this event and participated in different
games, receiving prizes from different groups and businesses that took
part in it. In addition, both parents and children could enjoy "Spiral
of Kings", another of the south-of-the-border traditions that
thousands of immigrants left behind when they came north.

In the end, Jesús Ceja, like dozens of kids, left with hands full of
Spanish books, toys, and donated balls from various organizations that
had contributed to this cause.

Just as Panfílo, the squirrel of Lalo Guerrero said in his Christmas
song: "Santa Claus doesn't bring me anything because I am with the
Wise Men", Jesús could say the very same.
Received on 2006-01-10 12:04:53