Little Joe & the Bull

In Mexico City, it was still the novillada (young bullfighters' season)--but the brand-new, 48,000-seat Plaza Mexico (world's largest bull ring) was jammed with aficionados. Never had they seen a novice like Joselillo (Little Joe) Rodriguez.

Two years ago Little Joe was just a grocery clerk. He made his bullfighting debut as a novillero (apprentice) last August. Said the dean of Mexico City's bullfight critics, "Here is the novillero of the season--of all seasons." After his first kill, the crowds shouted that he should be given both ears and the tail--the highest mark of approval.

He was a wonder with the cape and the muleta, standing immovable, close to the bull, forcing the bull to charge between him and the barrier--a very dangerous trick. Because of his daring the bulls have ripped his skintight pants in every fight so far, have often tossed him in the air though never gored him. (He thriftily rents his suits for $50 for each performance instead of buying them for $600.) His greatest flaw: he was not clean or quick enough at the kill.

Last week Mexico City finished its novillada with a special benefit fight for 21-year-old Joselillo, which brought him $12,660. Few days later, he was wounded by a bull, got stitched up, returned to fight a second bull, got wounded again. This winter, if his health lasts, he will become a full matador, fit to join the really tough company of the great Spanish past masters, Manolete and Ortega. Say the Mexicans of immovable Little Joe: "His future is either five million pesos--or the mausoleum."

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