On a day like today you have to take a look at the Car of the Kings MagiConsidered the first dramatic text in Spanish of which we know It is also usually represented by these Christmas dates. So let's dust off the memory with this review as a gift.
Car of the Magi
Its origin and importance
It is a work dated more or less in the XII century found in Toledo in the XNUMXth century, in a codex in the library of the Cathedral Chapter of Toledo, by the canon don Felipe Fernández Vallejo. Written in medieval Castilian, it was an incomplete and untitled text to which Ramon Menendez Pidal he gave it to him in 1900 and also took it upon himself to publish it to make it known. It tells us about the arrival of the Magi in Bethlehem to adore the newborn baby Jesus, so it is also known as Adoration of the Magi. Today it is preserved in the National Library of Spain. It is believed that it was also composed after the Sing of Mío Cid by the language and style used.
Its importance is more than relevant because it is the first piece de drama of a religious tone written in our language. So studying him is essential to know what our oldest theater was like.
Author
With no identity discovered, speculation and various studies by critics and experts in Spanish literature indicate that whoever wrote the Auto de los Reyes Magos may It wasn't even Spanish. The reason is found in the fact of the diversity of cultures and confessions that coexisted in the Toledo of the twelfth century. There is also a commitment to an author of French origin due to the linguistic features appreciated in the text and for the many clerics of that nationality who were then in the city.
Features
I only know they conserve 147 verses from the original text, verses with different types of metrics, but written continuously, without marks or separation as if they were prose. Characters such as the three Wise Men, King Herod and the angel that guides them to the portal of Bethlehem appear in them.
Fonts. The source is believed to be the genus known as ordo stellae, whose main text is a French codex from 1060 and therefore older. In it popular romance was mixed with Latin, which is also a sign of the evolution of the language. Also, his theme was similar and the popular tone prevails over the cult.
Toledo text. So called because it was written in Toledo, with the heterogeneous style and mixed that still occurred in the city. Thus, we can find a Mozarabic vocabulary when it was barely used at that time, but it was used there.
Forma. Due to this absence of marks or separations between the different parliaments of the characters, we find ourselves with one of the main problems of this work: that we difficult to follow and interpret, since it is not clear who is speaking at each moment. However, names or references appear that help to intuit it.
Theme. The arrival of the Kings of the East in Bethlehem to adore Jesus. Melchior Caspar and Balthazar, more in the capacity of astronomers, they embark on a journey following a special star in the sky. After They talk to each other, King Herod and a group of wise men. It is also important to highlight that the anonymous author wanted to reflect the time and secondary characters also appear in trades typical of that time.
Structure. The Car consists, first, of some monologues of the three Kings, who wonder about the sense of the new star that has appeared and, later, the dialogue between the three and the decision to go visit Herod. Following the interview, Herod brings his wise men to whom he will ask for the truth, but they cannot answer him because they do not know it.
Metric. Very varied. But within all types we find a strong presence of alexandrines, heptasyllabic and eneasyllabic. In addition, there are rhymes typical of the state of evolution of the language at that time.
Fragment of the Car of the Magi
GASPAR
God creator! Wonderful!
What star will that shine?;
so far I have not warned her;
it's been a while since he was born.
Pause. Gasper meditates.
Will the Creator have been born;
of all people sir?
It's not true, I don't know what I'm telling myself;
all this is not worth a fig.
I'll look at her another night
And if it's true, I'll know
But he has not succeeded: the idea is still there. Brief.
Great truth is what I say!
I don't insist on it at all.
New hesitation.
Couldn't it be another sign?
And new expiration.
This is it, and it is nothing else!
God -it is certain- was born female
in the month of December.
Wherever it is I will go, I will adore it,
By God of all I will have it.
Source: A teacher