About the author

Juan Sauvageau

 

Born in Quebec, Canada, Juan Sauvageau came to the U.S.A to finish his studies. After obtaining a Master in Education and a Doctorate in Romance Languages, he taught at the university level in Mexico, France, Spain, Texas and Idaho.

Because of family relations, business connections, social interests, he always has been attracted by Mexican folklore and culture. Fourteen of his published books are bilingual, Spanish and English. For three years he went from ranch to ranch on both sides of the Rio Grande river, and collected folkloric stories from the old folks and published them in his book Stories that must not die, which is in its 19th edition and is used profusely in schools in the U.S.A. and Mexico.

Ranch hands gathered around a campfire and old folks rocking on the porch were some of the sources for the folkloric tales presented in this selection of traditional tales from the Mexican American people of South Texas. Some of the stories deal with the supernatural. One tells of a young man who picks up a beautiful girl by the side of the road, takes her to a dance, and discovers the next morning he spent the evening dancing with a ghost. Another tale discusses Dolores, a girl so beautiful and vain that she has little regard for the feelings of others. It tells how a handsome stranger at a ball asks Dolores for the last dance of the evening, spins her faster and faster, and at the end of the dance he is gone, leaving smoke and sulphur fumes surrounding the corpse of Dolores. Some tales deal with clever animals, one a coyote and the other a honeybee. Two more tell of the feats of Don Pedro Jaramillo, a faith healer who lived in South Texas around the turn of the century.