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BAS4IUE TROUBADOURS The Basque song reaches its highest stage with the troubadour , or bertsolari. To be a bertsolari, one must have an agile mind as well as a good voice. The troubadours are not only singers but on-the-spot improvisers ofverse who compete with each other in song. In these encounters, the bertsolariak will argue any given subject-the good life ofthe sailor as compared to that ofthe mountaineer, the bachelor's life against that of the married man, the Basque who has stayed in his homeland and the Basque who has gone abroad. I watched two ofmy favorites, Xalbador and Martin, dispute in song at a village feast in Saint-Etienne-deBaigorry in France. Xalbador is a lean-faced Basque who affects in contest the pose ofsomeone slightly tipsy. His beret is pushed back on his head, so that his lank hair faIls over his forehead. His forte is an attitude ofdroll cynicism toward life. Martin is his opposite in every way. Short and round, he reminded me ofFriar Tuck. But behind his jolly grin is a rapier mind. It was an incredible performance. For nearly an hour, they exchanged quatrains with dizzying speed. At the end, it was impossible to know who had won out. But 31 one thing was certain. The villagers who listened to them would have many delicate turns ofphrase in the nuancerich Basque language to relish for weeks afterward. ...

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