El Maestro Puro

He was a sad figure, but there was something noble about him too. I remember seeing him drunk under a tree or lying in the doorway of the pulpería where they sold guaro (spirits). Later in life, when drinking became a problem for me, I would think of Maestro Puro's son who died before he was thirty.

By Guillermo Yuscarán
Purificación Euceda was a teacher by profession. Until well into his eighties, he worked as Supervisor of Education for the department of Valle, Honduras. He was known by everyone as "Maestro Puro". Purificación walked with a limp. What caused it Toño Velásquez never knew, but it served to identify him as he ambled across the plaza or through the streets of Caridad. Short, nimble, and of medium build. Euceda tended toward slight corpulence, particularly around the middle. His hair was thick and white and poured out from under his straw hat, covering his ears completely. An equally thick white mustache looped out luxuriously from both sides of his straight nose. His eyes, set deeply beneath a high forehead and shaggy eyebrows, reflected what Toño called, "a child's delight".

Though he had once studied formally in Tegucigalpa, Maestro Puro was largely self-taught; his personal library was one of the largest in all of Valle, containing not only many of the classics, but assorted volumes of history, politics, art, and literature. The one subject he enjoyed above all others was theater.

As a youth, he had read the works of several Spanish and French playwrights and some of Shakespeare. His knowledge of Greek mythology was apparently substantial, and he used it liberally when dramatizing one of his classic, quixotic yarns. He was, above all else, perhaps, a storyteller -- a raconteur, para excellence, whose virtuosity with words turned Caridad into a kind of Macondo, a village inhabited by creations of his own mind, brought to life before crowds of listeners in the central plaza, audiences composed primarily of children and old men, who gathered expectantly before the lame professor in the sweltering heat "just to hear him talk".

"To me," Toño said, "he was magical. His voice commanded attention. It seemed like such a large voice for a man so small and delicate. Yet, with it, he became so many things, so many imaginary characters."

Purificación lived on the outskirts of Caridad, but he came daily to the village. His wife had died and most of his children had moved away. Yet there was no home where he was not welcome as an honored guest. "He was the kind of man who commanded respect, Toño said, "but not in any formal way, like a priest. It was merely his personality, his gift of seeing and pointing out the beauty of things. If someone ever had a question that pertained to history or books, they would go to him, just as I did with my art book and the photo of José Cecilio de Valle."

Among Purificación's children was a son, José Antonio, who became an alcoholic before reaching the age of twenty. The boy was also a prolific poet who carried his work with him in a worn, leather-bound book. Like his father, he had a fine voice and the ability to project it while reading, which he often did in the early mornings on the cathedral steps. Purificación, too, took pleasure in reciting his son's verse and he encouraged the boy to take his work to Tegucigalpa to be published. But he never did.

Toño was thirteen when José Antonio Euceda married a girl from Aramecina and moved there to live. "He left one day and never returned. He was a sad figure, but there was something noble about him too. I remember seeing him drunk under a tree or lying in the doorway of the pulpería where they sold guaro (spirits). Later in life, when drinking became a problem for me, I would think of Maestro Puro's son who died before he was thirty."

Death before thirty was not uncommon in Honduras in those days. Malnutrition, violence, alcoholism, and disease claimed many young lives. Nonetheless, when news reached the Velásquez household in 1920 (not long after the death of José Antonio Euceda) that Toño's half-sister, Adela, had died suddenly near Tegucigalpa, the family was shaken.

"By the time word arrived," Toño recalled, "Adela had already been buried in La Venta just outside the capital. Weeks later, we learned that her eight-month-old son, Hector Armando, was still in La Venta being cared for by a family there. Where the boy's father was, no one knew. It was Purificación who arranged to bring the child back to Caridad where he became a part of our family. A few days later, Purificación recruited him for the leading role in the Christmas play."(1/25/12) (painting by José Antonio Velásquez courtesy Internet)

Note: The author is a North American writer and artist in Honduras, living part of the time in the town of Tela and the other in Santa Lucia. He is originally from California. His books include "Beyond Honduras: Tales of Tela, Trujillo, and Other Places", "Blue Pariah: Inside Honduras", "Canto al Mar: Canto to the Sea", "Conociendo a la Gente Garifuna", "El Dia de la Cruz", "Gringos in Honduras: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", "Juan Felix Sanchez: Journey to the Andes", "Northcoast Honduras: Tropical Karma, and Other Stories", "Points of Light: Honduran Short Stories", and "Velasquez, the Man and His Art". His latest book is "Dream Journey". Purchase inquiries can be e-mailed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .