The bullfighter from La Puebla signs the task of the Seville Fair wearing a fitted Garcigrande hat
Morante loaded the bullfight of the fourth of the six Torrestrella bulls onto his banderilleros. The heavyweight, who is in charge of the oldest of the gang, Antonio Jiménez, ‘Lili’. The bull’s bad style was felt on the way out and even more so on the horse: bravado air in a hard bar from which he stumbled and dragged his hindquarters out. The run came out crooked, elusive, and bland. The first of Morante’s turn, cinqueño, weak and defensive, was barely saved from the return. It was now in Morante’s hands to send this room to the kraal, a black botinero pronghorn of fine board. A second punch of much punishment and immediately three or four sets of punishments to Morante’s own face to prove the undeniable: invalid bull, and the corral already bleeding profusely.
It was Morante who suggested killing Torrestrella’s bullfight at the fair and suddenly seemed repentant. Except, led by El Juli, two of the nine Garcigrande and Domingo Hernández bulls that had landed last Monday had come in as hats. The six from Wednesday’s lantern run and three more. One of them, the first hat in this trick. A bull in pure Juan Pedro Domecq, fine ends, with his jaws and all, black chestnut, serious gesture, handsome attitude. Pure ‘juampedro’ and now pure garcigrande. The most complete bull of the fair was in the muleta. The one with the most delivery. The one with the deepest and most reserved: coming soon, repeater and more in each of the reruns.
A sustained rhythm, all thrusts to the tracing from the moment it broke. Bravo for attacking when he started doing it and not before. And brave to die when the very last moment, empty but whole, seemed to point to a draw. His name was ‘Ballestero’, cinqueño, from the iron of the G, 550 kilos. With that he took an honour: the best work of the fair. The most resounding, of canonical perfection, the most bountiful, almost a stream of luminous water. A simply sublime work by Morante. It was not a matter of looping the loop, not even the work of great doodles and surprising improvisations or theatrical blows. Nor to delight Morante to sleep. Embedded and slung from the shoulders, placed on the precise point, no rectification, pulse and power in harmony, Morante had the bull in his hand after no more than ten muletazos.
He’d had it taken from the sun boards, almost to the gate for the stables and gangs, to the shadow barrier next to the trawl door where he waited for a long time while lying down for ‘Lili’ and Juan José Trujillo to take the bull out of ghost. The bull scratched and then sniffed. Morante opened the edge of the lines through high, he must have seen it very clearly, for he had already been stretched and put on the return journey, aided by good luck loaded, two naturals and the chest.
Very suspicious and cold from the start, the bull had squeezed Morante into the tables in the cape salute. Morante would then take note of his sudden greed. It didn’t matter that the bull scratched in an aggressive gesture before giving himself. And to find out how, Morante didn’t open or pause in an orbit of authentic madness because of the abundance: batches of five, six, seven and eight muletazos, linked or chained, not a single hitch. The auctions, chest. Nothing to play. Serious. Willy-nilly. A continuous thread. Before squaring, and with patient care, one last round of naturals, the only one in which Morante was torn. A hit. People got up a few times. roar.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
