The Stub Book
- Pedro Antonio de Alarcon
Summary of the Essay The Stub Book
Rota was a small town where farmers grew fruits and vegetables. The quality of its tomatoes and pumpkins was famous. The soil of the Rota was not soil but pure and clean sand cast up by the ocean, blown by the wind. Farmers were very laborious. There was not even a tiny stream flowing through the field. Farmers had made wells from which they drew the precious liquid for their vegetables. They watered tomatoes seeds or pumpkin pip by hand like a father who gives water to his child.
They loved their vegetables like their children. They even kissed, blessed and even gave names to the plants and vegetables. Uncle Buscabeatas was one of those farmers. He was sixty years old. He had spent 40 years tilling his field near the shore. He had grown some enormous pumpkins that they were turning yellow. He knew them by colour, shape and even by name. He planned to sell them the next day. He was sad because he was going to be separated from the pumpkin the following day.
But he was astonished, angry and sad when he found his forty pumpkins stolen in the night. He thought his pumpkins could not be sold in Rota. They must have been taken to Cadiz to sell. He went in Cadiz and saw that his pumpkins were kept for sale. He told the police to catch the vendor. The Vendor told them that he bought the pumpkins from Uncle fulano.
The Inspector of the public market told uncle Buscabeatas to prove that those pumpkins were from his garden not of others. Uncle Buscabeatas threw a sack on the ground. He kneeled down. Everyone was curious to know what he was doing. Uncle Fulano also came there to see what was going on there. He was caught but he also asked to prove the accusation.
Uncle Bascabeatas looked out at green stems and told them that they were stolen. He fitted the stems to pumpkins one by one. The spectators were surprised to see that the stems really fitted the pumpkins exactly which proved that uncle Buscabetas was right and uncle Fulano was a thief. Uncle Fulano was compelled to return 15 duros to the vendor and the vendor gave it to Uncle Buscabeatas. Uncle Buscabeatas happily returned to his village but Uncle Fulano was arrested and sent to jail.
This is a story of a village situated at the bay Cadiz. This is the place which was liked even by the duke of Osuna. He had made a beautiful castle because of his fascination with this place. The writer claims that he could describe this castle's brick by brick but he admits that his intention was not to describe any duke or castle but his purpose is to describe the hard labour of the people who are living on the same island.
The essayist writes that the soil of this village is not so much fertile which consists of sand but the farmers here are so hardworking that they have been referred to as pumpkin and tomato growers. All the farmers accept this title with a certain pride. Alarcon writes that the farmers dig well to supply the water which he calls lifeblood to the plants they grow. He makes terraces on the land, digs, and tills and sows the seed of pumpkin and tomatoes. Then, he provides water, fertilizer and love similar to the parents love to their children.
In the second section of the essay, the essayist talks about a farmer named Uncle Buscabeatas. In that year, he had grown up with many pumpkins that were perfect in colour, shape and were turned yellow to indicate that they had ripened. The farmer had given the name and could recognize them by their names. He had dreamt to sell those pumpkins and thought the person who would cook and eat them would be luckier. He had expected that the price of the fifteen duros. But contrary to his expectation, his all daughters (pumpkins) were stolen last night at nine or ten.
The ground under his feet sank down but he determined that he would catch the thief and recover the daughters of toil. Uncle Busabeatas went to Cadiz vegetable market to find out his daughters and punish the thief. He took policeman. Pointing out a shop, he said to the policeman, '' These are my pumpkins, arrest him.'' The shopkeeper replied that he had bought those pumpkins and they belonged to him and suggested he go to the court if he liked. People had started to gather around them. Stopping their debate, the policeman inquired the shopkeeper with whom he had bought those pumpkins.
The shopkeeper replies that he had bought them from Uncle Fulano. Uncle Busabeatas becomes sure that Fulano must be a thief because his garden had not produced anything this year. The policeman questions him about how he could recognize that those pumpkins really belonged to him. He replies that he could be as intimate with them as a father becomes with his daughter because he had nourished them with his own hands. At the same time, Uncle Fulano arrives there. As he sees Uncle Busabeatas and the police, he tries to escape but the policeman stopped him. Recovering his consciousness, Uncle Fulano challenges him to prove the blame. Then he brings the stems of those pumpkins and started to fill them with pumpkins.
All the people were amazed when they saw that whichever pumpkin he picked claimed to fit on the stems, fitted exactly. The astonished crowd began to shout that the pumpkins really belonged to Uncle Buscabeatas. Certainly, Uncle Fulano had to pay fifteen duros before going to jail. Uncle Busabeatas returned pleased with himself but the images of pumpkins were still there in his mind. Indeed, they looked very beautiful in the market. He still doubted whether he did well by selling them in the market. Instead, he could have eaten himself and kept the seeds for the next cultivation.