Peruvian Traditions (Selections)

Introduction

Over nearly forty years Ricardo Palma wrote the ten volumes of Peruvian Traditions, more than four hundred short, pointed tales. From old archives, convent records and the memories of the elderly he unearthed anecdotes from Inca times through the colonial period and the War of Independence to the early years of the Republic: the love affairs of viceroys and nuns, the miracles of saints, the raids of pirates, the trials of the Inquisition, the wit and cunning of humble townsfolk. He invented the form of the 'tradición', halfway between history and fiction, with historical fact for its skeleton and imagination and folklore for its flesh, told in a lively, humorous style full of the mockery peculiar to Lima and often ending on a witticism. The tales remain the Peruvians' favourite reading and vividly recreate the customs and manners of colonial Lima. This volume translates the finest of them.