Shitters

Traditional handpainted figurines, quaint custom: two phrases guaranteed to set the acquisitive traveler's feet pointing in the direction of the nearest crafts market in some picturesque Medieval square.

Then, on arrival in the square, the traveler gradually notices that all of the quaint figures are squatting, buttocks bared, over a neat pile of - well, shit.

"Shitters," you see, is the literal translation of "caganers," handpainted Catalan figurines seen during the Christmas season that traditionally look like the little man above.

Perhaps these little figures of fun are not quite the thing for Aunt Ethel back home - unless she happens to be Catalan. Then she will want one for her nativity scene, perhaps making the little man peer mischievously from behind a fake fir tree, but taking care not to place him too close to the center so as to befoul the area surrounding the baby Jesus.

What explains this phenomenon? Or a related Catalan custom in which an animal constructed of a hollow log and covered with a red cloth is beaten with sticks until it "poops" candy and other treats?

It is suggested that the shitting little figure in the creche represents the earth's fertility, but I am skeptical. Isn't fertility usually a springtime theme? And, why choose poop to symbolize fertility? How about a nice, non-scatological symbol, like the egg? Also, modern-day caganers are made up to represent politicians and famous figures (even the Buddha) captured in undignified post-poo crouch with buttocks bared. They are meant to be "honored" by their inclusion in the holy nativity scene. Pardon me, but I wonder if Presidents Bush and Sarkozy are laughing at this.

I guess the caganer is "earthy." I can concede that much.

Meanwhile, if anyone wants a Bush caganer, I can probably hook you up.