Perico paid with his own skin. (Design: Gilberto González)

I wrote in my previous work about a goat, called Perico, who paid with his life, as he was used as an instrument for the protests of the transport workers in San Miguel del Padrón.

In this work, I will talk about another goat whose tragic destiny was due to his bad habits. His name: Perico. The goat never knew why the police beat him to death.

Our new friend, Perico was born and died in Santa Cruz del Sur. Famous for his bad habits which would be inconceivable to human beings. And as the Bola de Nieves’ song goes: “This goat paid with his skin.” The words of the song are based on an old saying, which might be compared, in a certain way with Tailon’s Law: “A goat that tears a drum pays with his skin.” It means: to replace the torn drum, nothing is better than to use the skin to that animal, which tore it. Then, with the humor marked in the songs of that great Guanabacoense1 composer and singer, he points out: “And what is worse, his last end is to be converted into chilindrón” 2

The feeding habits of the goat from Santa Cruz del Norte were uncommon for an animal of that species. Instead of being fond of grass, he would rather eat crackers, bread, sweets.

People say that in the inn Las Brisas, he had his own dish, in which he ate pork and chicharrones 3. In the bar, he also had his jar to drink beer and rum. Some people say, sometimes he with his friends went out on booze. He drank so much that he would return home all drunk. Luckily, he was not married. However, rum was not the main reason that led Perico to a tragedy. The matter is that this animal showed his sexual preferences for the females of the human race. He started running after the women in the town; apparently, peacefully, but with the mischievous intentions of introducing his nose under their skirts.

Many a time he was arrested, and tied in front of the police station. But soon he got free by some passer-by. As time passed, everything grew worse for the owner of the goat. He received different warnings from the police. To top it all off, Perico began to satisfy hisphysiological needs just on the porch of the Town Hall. That was too much for the mayor who gave an ultimatum to Valentín, the owner of the goat. He decided to sell it to a lady who turned him into a delicious stew.

In the annals of Santa Cruz del Norte, the destiny of Perico’s skin is not registered. As it has been demonstrated, his fault was not to have torn any drum. But it might have ended in a drum-head, or perhaps on the bottom of some taburete 4.

Remarks:

1. Guanabacoense: Someone born in Guanabacoa, a municipality of Havana province.
2. Chilindrón: A stew made from a goat.
3. Chicharrón: Fried scrap.
4. Taburete: In Cuba, a sort of wooden chair with a back and bottom, mainly of cowhide.

Translated by Reinaldo Fernández