Down the Rabbit Hole (7 page)

Together Yolcaut and I hung the heads on the wall in my bedroom: Louis XVI on the right and Marie Antoinette of Austria on the left. Really it was Yolcaut who put the nails in and arranged the heads. I just told him if they were wonky or straight. Then I got up on a chair and tried lots of different hats on them. The ones that look best are the African safari hats. So I left the African safari hats on them, but I’ll only leave them there for a bit. Soon the gold and diamond crowns we ordered to be made for them will get here.

On the day of the coronation, me and my dad will have a party.

p.3 & throughout:
Tochtli – his name means ‘rabbit’ in Nahuatl, Mexico’s main indigenous language (and Usagi is Japanese for rabbit). All the characters, apart from Cinteotl the cook, have Nahuatl names that translate as some sort of animal: Yolcaut means rattlesnake; Mazatzin, deer; Miztli, puma; Quecholli, flamingo; Chichilkuali, red eagle; Itzpapalotl, black butterfly; Itzcuauhtli, white eagle; and Alotl, macaw.

p.14:
pozole – a traditional Mexican soup or stew of pre-Colombian origin, generally prepared with maize, pork and chilli. According to research by Mexican and Spanish academics, the original recipe included the flesh of human sacrifices on special occasions. This was banned after the Spanish conquest.

p.15:
tacos
al pastor
– literally ‘shepherd-style tacos’, this is a very popular Mexican version of the Middle Eastern street snack of spit-roasted meat, probably brought over by Lebanese immigrants. Similar to the Turkish döner kebab, it consists of slices of spit-roasted pork in a tortilla with a garnish of onions, coriander and pineapple.

p.16:
‘The King’ [‘El Rey’] is a well-known
ranchera
(a song sung by one person with a guitar during the Mexican Revolution, associated with mariachi groups), composed and most famously sung by José Alfredo Jiménez. The lyrics in Spanish are ‘No tengo trono ni reina, ni nadie que me comprenda, pero sigo siendo el rey’ [I don’t have a throne or a queen, or anyone who understands me, but I’m still the king]. Villalobos has changed the lyrics slightly (from ‘anyone who understands me’ to ‘anyone to keep me’), as this was how he used to sing it as a child.

p.19:
mole
– a thick Mexican chilli sauce combining complex flavours, or a dish based on this sauce. Ingredients can include black pepper, cumin, cloves, aniseed, tomatoes, onion, bread, garlic, sesame seeds, dried fruit and chocolate.

p.19:
tampiqueña
– marinated steak served with cheese and enchiladas or tortilla chips.

p.25:
charro – a traditional Mexican horseman, somewhat like the North American cowboy. Charros take part in
charreadas
(a little like rodeos), and wear very distinctive colourful clothing, including a wide-brimmed hat.

p.45:
Poza Rica – a medium-sized industrial city in the state of Veracruz. Founded in 1951 and with a skyline dominated by modern buildings and the remnants of the local oil industry, it is not renowned for its beauty.

p.45:
La Chona – the local name for the city of Encarnación de Díaz, a town in the state of Jalisco, also not renowned for its beauty.

54:
naco – a derogatory Mexican term, quite close to the English slang word ‘chav’. It means a vulgar person with no class, style or education, and tends to be used by people from the dominant class to refer to those of the lower class, although it is malleable and can also be used about ‘new money’.

59:
the Cowboy Mouse (
el ratón vaquero
) was a very evocative 1930s Mexican children’s song composed by Francisco Gabilondo Soler, about an English-speaking mouse with a cowboy hat and two pistols.

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Down the Rabbit Hole

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Title:
Down the Rabbit Hole

Author: Juan Pablo Villalobos

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