OSCAR AND TONCHI

Oscar, the youngest of Maria Felix's 8 children, discovers the delight of holding a warm, purring, furry kitten. He had been carrying the animal around by the tail until his older brother Tasai introduced the possibility of gentleness. Over the years of my visits to Tepic, I have watched a whole parade of pets ranging from cats, dogs and chickens throught rats and even a badger (that bit me) pass through. The animals have met with many sad ends: starvation, disease, feral dogs, coyotes, poison from ill willed neighbors. The children have always showed a very philosophical acceptance of the deaths. The difficulty of their own lives precludes any sentimental attachment to their furred and feathered friends.

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