A disquiet has entered my consciousness after learning that in the 16th and 17th century, there was an institutionalized buying and selling of children. Called comprachicos or child-buyers, these people traded with children. But what they traded with were a far cry from what they bought. Children were methodically disfigured. Faces were cut and burned. Joints dislocated. Heads bound and restricted. Limbs cut. And minds permanently incapacitated. These children-monsters provided entertainment for noblemen in palaces, fairs, and other shows. . I have made a cursory research on the subject and found Victor Hugos The Man Who Laughs. It is about a young aristocrat who was abducted and permanently altered to show a menacing smile -- just like the Joker in the Batman comic book series. The passage reads as follows: . The Comprachicos worked on man as the Chinese work on trees. A sort of fantastic stunted thing left their hands; it was ridiculous and wonderful. They could touch up a little being with such skill that its father could not have recognized it. Sometimes they left the spine straight and remade the face. . Children destined for tumblers had their joints dislocated in a masterly manner; thus gymnasts were made. Not only did the Comprachicos take away his face from the child; they also took away his memory. . At least, they took away all they could of it; the child had no consciousness of the mutilation to which he had been subjected. Of burnings by sulphur and incisions by the iron he remembered nothing. . The Comprachicos deadened the little patient by means of a stupefying powder which was thought to be magical and which suppressed all pain. . Of course, in the name of diligence I have also searched for similar instances in other cultures. I am shocked to find out that it is a global phenomenon. In China for example, children are placed in huge vases without tops and bottoms. These vases were shaped in different ways. The children as they grew filled the nooks and crannies of the vase. Thus after puberty, the vases were broken. Here comes the disfigured man - shaped like its container with broken bones, contorted ligaments, and distended muscles. Like in Europe, they were used for side shows. . Foot binding is another example of permanent disfigurement. However, it pertains to status in the community. Those who were not destined to work were permanently made unable to do so. . In meso-America, Africa, Siam, Khrom, and Khmer, childrens heads and necks are altered. But this practice is for aesthetic expression. . After immersing myself in late 19th to early 20th century horrors such as the two world wars, Holocaust, Tuol Sleng, and other atrocities man inflicted on his brothers. By far, this is the most disturbing I have read so far because as opposed to immediate extermination or relatively long torture, these people are made to spend the rest of their lives misshapen, ostracized, and sacrificed to the altar of entertainment. It is human depravity in its most base form.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 03:56:26 +0000
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