José María Obregón, Mexican
“We Offer These Gifts in Humble Tribute, Your Imperial Highness. But If You’d Rather Have Cash, We Could Always Just Venmo You,” 1869
Oil on canvas
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Info, or perhaps links that point to more info, about this artist can be found here, and here, perhaps in addition to what’s in his Google translated Spanish Wikipedia page (Google translated French Wikipedia page has more).
/// To the throne of a great Toltec King,
a young girl and her two parents bring
a new drink which they’d poured
into Xóchitl’s gourd.
It’s called “Pulque,” a liquor with zing.
/// Legend says young Xóchitl is who
had discovered the white viscous brew.
From agave fermented,
to the King it’s presented,
and, to him, alcohol drinks were new.
/// King of Tula was smitten, tales said.
She, (or something), had gone to his head.
Alcohol, we suppose,
is what made him propose,
but her beauty is why they were wed.
/// Some historians fault this depiction,
claiming that it is based on a fiction.
Pulque really appears twenty-five hundred years
ago. This is a huge contradiction.
/// In nine hundred A.D. this scene’s set.
(That’s when Xóchitl and the King met.)
Her “new” drink, they agreed
was sweet honey-based mead;
still unknown to the Toltecs as yet.
/// We’ve no records upon which to call,
(if this scene even happened at all),
to determine just which
beverage made the King switch
what he drank, and for Xóchi to fall.
/// It will probably never be clear
whether liquor, wine, spirits or beer.
Chocolate? Pick of the litter!
(But those folks loved it bitter.)
To try all of them, I’d volunteer.