23rd of April, 1616, in his sixty-ninth year. It is a curious fact, and
one that will not escape the observation of the English reader, that
Cervantes and Shakespeare, two writers whose genius exhibits more than
one trait of resemblance, both died on the same day.[47]
In conformity with his own desire, Cervantes was interred in the
Convent of the Trinitarias, situated in the Calle del León, in Madrid,
in which street he himself resided at the period of his death. The
quiet and unostentatious style of his funeral corresponded with his
humble circumstances, and no monument or even inscription of any kind
marks the spot where the ashes of Cervantes repose.
FOOTNOTES:
[5] That learned Benedictine wrote an essay entitled _Noticias de
la Verdadera patria de Cervantes; y conjectura sobre la insula
Barataria_. (Observations relative to the native place of Cervantes,
and conjectures respecting the Island of Barataria). It has never been
printed, and is very scarce, but the writer of this memoir has recently
had the opportunity of perusing an old MS. copy.
[6] There is some reason to conjecture that this lady was a relative
of Isabel de Urbina, the first wife of Lope de Vega. It is pleasing to
indulge the belief that such was really the fact, and that the two most
eminent writers Spain has produced were allied by family ties, as well
as by kindred genius.
[7]
“Desde mis tiernos años amé el arte
Dulce de la agradable Poesía.”
_Viaje del Parnaso.--Cap. IV._
[8] In _El Licenciado Vidriera_, and in _La Tía fingida_.
[9] “Relacion de la muerte y exequias de la Reyna Doña Isabel de
Valois,”--(Published in Madrid in 1569). It is worthy of notice that
the first poetic essays of Cervantes were dedicated to the memory of
a princess, whose marriage with Phillip II., after having been the
affianced bride of his son, forms a romantic episode in history, and is
the subject of Schiller’s tragedy of _Don Carlos_.
[10] “No había mejores soldados, que los que se transplantaban de la
tierra de los estudios en los campos de la guerra, y ninguno salió de
estudiante para soldado, que no lo fuese por estremo; porque quando se
avienen y se juntan las fuerzas con el ingenio, y el ingenio con las
fuerzas, hacen un compuesto milagroso en quien Marte se alegre.”
[11] At the period here alluded to, the rank of a private soldier was
far from being considered degrading. Young men of birth and fortune, on
entering the army, frequently served for some time as private soldiers,
before they attained a rank which invested them with any authority or
importance.
[12] Cervantes does not here overrate the importance of the Battle of
Lepanto, the consequences of which were for a time very fatal to the
Turks, and threatened to shake to its foundation the throne of Selim
II. When Pope Pius V. heard of the victory, he held up his hands and
exclaimed in Ecstasy,--“There was a man sent from God, and his name was
John,”--alluding to Don John of Austria.
[13]
Arrojóse mi vista a la campaña
Rasa del mar, que trujo a mi memoria
Del heroica Don Juan, la heroica hazaña
Donde con alta de saldados gloria.
I con proprio valor, I curado pecho
Tuve (aunque humilde) parte en la Victoria.
_Viaje del Parnaso, Cap. I._
[14] Piso sus rúas más de un año.
[15] _Prólogo_ to the Novelas Exemplares.
[16] It has been commonly conjectured that Cervantes narrated his own
adventures in the history of the “Captive,” in Don Quixote. With that
story he has doubtless interwoven some of the incidents of his own
life, for example, the particulars relating to the Battle of Lepanto.
As to Captain Viedma’s captivity in Algiers and his elopement with the
Moorish lady Zorayda, if those events are really founded on fact, the
hero of them was probably one of the Spaniards who suffered captivity
in company with Cervantes.
[17] In the year 1581, there was published in Grenada, a _Narrative of
the captivity of 185 Christians in Algiers_, by the Fathers
Juan Gil, and Antonio la Bella. This work is very scarce, but a copy
exists in the Real Biblioteca at Madrid. The narrative contains a list
of captives ransomed; and in this list appears the following entry:
“Miguel de Cervantes, aged thirty, a native of Alcalá de Henares.” This
fact was unknown, until the latter part of the last century, when the
narrative above-mentioned happened to be perused by Don Juan de Yriate,
Librarian to the King of Spain, who announced the fact, and therefore
to him is assigned the honour of having been the discoverer of the
birth place of Cervantes.
[18] In the story of the “Captive,” in _Don Quixote_, there is one
passage in which Cervantes alludes, in a direct manner, to himself. It
occurs in the description given by Captain Viedma of the imprisonment
of himself and his companions in the Bagnios of Algiers, and is as
follows:--“One Spanish soldier only, whose name was something or other
(_un tal_) de Saavedra, Aga Hassan treated with greater consideration
than the rest. This soldier did things which will remain in the memory
of the Algerines for many years to come; all for the sake of recovering
his liberty, and that of his companions. For the least of many things
that he did, we all feared that he would be empaled alive--and he
feared it himself oftener than once.”
[19] Lope de Vega, in his _Cautivos de Argel_, alludes to the plays
acted by the captives in Algiers, and the old Spanish romances which
were sung in those plays.
[20] This sister, who was older than Miguel, was at this time married
to Sanctes Ambrosio or Ambrosi, a native of Florence.
[21] It will be recollected that he was originally the slave of
Dali-Mami; but was forfeited to Aga Hassan, after his capture in the
cave.
[22] The discrepancy observable in the statements of the mother and
son, relative to the age, might be merely the effect of lapse of
memory; or possibly the mother may have reckoned as completed the year
which was only commenced, whilst the son may have counted his age by
the number of years he had actually completed. This latter supposition
would at least account for the difference of one year in the reckoning.
[23] Uno de los mayores contentos, que en esta vida se puede tener,
cual es, llegar despues de luengo cautiverio, salvo y sano à su patria:
porque no hay en la tierra contento que se iguale à alcanzar la
libertad perdida.
[24] Don Antonio, a natural son of the Infante Don Luis, was one of the
claimants of the Crown of Portugal, after the death of Cardinal Henry.
[25]
Inopemque paterni
Et laris et fundi; paupertas impulit audax
Ut versus facerem.--Epist. lib. ii.
[26] Tomando ya la espada, ya la pluma. Lope de Vega’s _Laurel de
Apolo_.
[27] Bouterwek’s “_History of Spanish Literature_.”
[28] A shepherd of the banks of the Tagus.
[29] A shepherdess, born on the margin of that river.
[30] Pellicer is of opinion that Cervantes intended the _Galatea_ as
an homage to the lady of his affections; a sort of literary courtship,
not uncommon among the writers of that age. “Catalina, the name of
the lady in question,” he observes, “might by a slight change, and
the transposition of the letters, be converted into _Galatea_. In
like manner,” he adds, “the fictitious names given to the shepherds
in the romance, bear some resemblance to the real ones of the persons
to whom they are supposed to apply; viz.--_Meliso_ for _Mendoza_ (the
celebrated Don Diego de Mendoza), _Lauso_ for _Luis_ (Luis Barabona de
Soto being the individual referred to).”
[31] Literally _Comedies of the cloak and the sword_. Their subjects
were taken from the sphere of Spanish fashionable life, and they
were pictures of the manners of the age. They were performed in the
prevailing costume of the time, to which circumstance they owe their
specific classification as plays of the _cloak and sword_.
[32] These observations occur in the Adjunta or Appendix to the _Viaje
del Parnaso_, in an imaginary conversation between Cervantes and one
Don Pancrasio de Roncesvalles, who describes himself to be a poet
“by the grace of Apollo.” Don Pancrasio enquires whether Cervantes
has written any plays; to which question our author returns the
following answer--“Si, muchas, i a no ser mias me parecieran dignas
de alabanza, como lo fueron _los tratos de Argel_, _la Numancia_, _la
gran Turquesea_, _la Batalla naval_, _la Gerusalem_, _la Amaranta_, _el
Bosque amoroso_, _la Unica i la Vizarra Arsinda_, i otras muchas de
que no me acuerdo. Mas la que yo más estimo i de la que más me precio,
fué, i es de una llamado _la Confusa_, la qual, con paz sea dicho, de
quantas comedias de capa i espada hasta hoi se han representado, bien
puede tener lugar señalado por buena entre las mejoras.”
[33] Bouterwek’s _History of Spanish Literature_.
[34] Canto de Caliope.
[35] Se acogía al remedio à que otros muchos perdidos en aquella ciudad
(Sevilla) se acogen, que es el al pasarse a las Indias, refugio y
amparo de los desesperados de España.
[36] Some accounts state that whilst in La Mancha, Cervantes got
involved in a street quarrel in the town of Argamasilla, and that in
consequence of that affair he once more became the inmate of a jail.
This, coupled with a hint, though a very vague one, thrown out by
Cervantes himself, in the preface to the second part of _Don Quixote_
has given rise to the conjecture that the first part was written in a
prison.
[37] According to some accounts it was not published till 1605. But
1604 is the date recorded by Don Antonio de Pellicer.
[38] “Salió a la luz del mundo con general aplauso de las
gentes.”--_Don Quixote_, part II.
[39] Everyone who has read _Don Quixote_ in Spanish must be sensible
of the peculiar charm of the diction of Cervantes. On this subject,
the critic above quoted observes, “It is the style of the old romances
of chivalry improved and applied in a totally original way; and only
in the dialogue passages is each person found to speak as he might
be expected really to do, in his own character.” The speech of the
shepherdess Marcella is, by the same high authority, pronounced to be,
“in the true prose style of Cicero, and altogether a composition which
has seldom been equalled in any modern language.”
[40] Mayans y Siscar and Pellicer quote this anecdote on the authority
of Baltasar Porreño, who wrote a work entitled _Sayings and Doings
(Dichos y Hechos) of Philip III_. As the incident, recorded in the
anecdote, is stated to have taken place in Madrid, it must have
occurred after the year 1606, when the Court removed from Valladolid to
the capital.
[41] Cervantes was at this time fifty-seven. The deposition vaguely
says, _más de cincuenta años_ (more than fifty years).
[42] The fac-simile engraved with the portrait which illustrates this
volume, is from the signature affixed to this document.
[43] Yo soy el primero que he novelado en la lengua castellana; las
muchas novelas que en ella andan impresas todas son traducidas de
lenguas extrangeras; y estas son mias propias, no imitadas ni hurtadas:
mi ingenio las engendró, y las parió mi pluma, y van creciendo en los
brazos de la estampa.--_Viaje del Parnaso._
[44] Eight Plays and Interludes.
[45] Biographical and Critical Miscellanies, by W. H. Prescott, Esq.
[46] With one foot already in the stirrup, and in the anguish of death,
noble Señor I write to you.
[47] It must, however, be borne in mind that the Gregorian Calendar had
not at that period been introduced in England.
EL BUSCAPIÉ.
_Wherein is related what befel the author when he travelled to
Toledo, in company with a student whom he met on the road._
It happened, once on a time, that being on my way to Toledo, just
as I was approaching the Toledana Bridge, I descried advancing
towards me a student mounted on a most villainous-looking nag. The
poor animal was blind of one eye, and not much better than blind of
the other; neither was he very sound in the legs, if I might judge
from the numerous reverences he made as he wearily moved onward. The
student gravely saluted me, and I with all due courtesy returned his
greeting. He spurred his poor nag with the intention of advancing more
expeditiously, but the miserable animal was so worn out by old age and
hard usage, that it was piteous even to behold him.
The rider whipped his horse, but the horse, heedless of the blows,
showed no disposition to quicken his pace. He turned a deaf ear to all
the commands of his master, who, in truth, might as well have shouted
down into the depths of the well of Airon, or up to the summit of Mount
Cabra.
This contest between horse and rider had proceeded for some time, to
my no small diversion, when, at length, the descendant of Babieca,[48]
as though suddenly roused by the severe treatment to which he was
subjected, seemed determined not to proceed another foot. In proportion
as he was urged to advance, he appeared resolved to stand stock still,
or, rather, he shewed more disposition to go backward than forward.
Thereupon the rider flew into a furious rage, and began belabouring
the unfortunate horse without mercy, though, as it proved this time,
not without effect. Anticipating a smart stroke of the whip, which the
upraised arm of his master was preparing to inflict, the animal began
to kick and plunge, and after two or three curvets, both horse and
rider came to the ground.
I, seeing this mishap, pressed forward my mule, which, by the bye,
was anything but swift footed. Having reached the spot where the
unlucky student lay rolling in the dust, and uttering a torrent of
imprecations, I quickly dismounted, saying--“Compose yourself, señor,
and let me assist you to rise. These accidents must be expected by
persons who journey on the backs of such crazy animals.”
“Crazy animals!” said he, “your’s appears crazy enough; but I have only
to thank the high spirit and mettle of mine for bringing me to this
strait!”
Restraining my laughter as I best could, and with as grave a face as
I was able to put on, I helped the fallen horseman to rise, which was
no easy matter, for he appeared to be much hurt. Having got him upon
his feet, I beheld before me the strangest figure in the world. He was
short of stature, and on his shoulders there was a graceful hump, which
might be likened to an _estrambote_,[49] tacked to a sonnet, and which
brought to my recollection the stanzas in praise of hunch-backs indited
by the ingenious Licentiate Tamuriz.[A] His legs were curved like two
slices of melon, and his feet were encased in shoes, twelve inches
long; and perhaps, without incurring any mistake, I might assign to
them even greater magnitude.
The student raised his hands to his head, as if to assure himself that
his pericranium had sustained no fracture. Feeling the effects of his
fall, he turned to me, and, in a faint and languid tone of voice, said,
that since I was a doctor (which he must have conjectured from seeing
that I rode on a mule),[50] he begged I would tell him of some remedy
to cure his aching bones.
I returned for answer, that I was not a doctor, but that even if I were
as well skilled in the knowledge of medicine as Juan de Villalobos,[B]
of the bygone time, or as Nicolo Monardes, of the time present,[C] I
could prescribe for him no better physic than rest and sleep; and I
added, that as noontide was advancing, the best cure for his aching
bones would be to recline for a while beneath the shade of some trees
which grew by the road side. There I proposed we should seek shelter
against Apollo’s scorching rays, until, less oppressed by heat and
weariness, we might each pursue our course.
“This is strange,” resumed the student in the same doleful tone in
which he had before spoken. “Who could have imagined that by reason of
the vicious temper of that unruly beast, the whole body of a bachelor
of Salamanca should be thus bruised from head to foot! Mark me! I say
of Salamanca, not of Alcalá, where none but poor miserable fellows
graduate; but by so doing they lose all the privileges and immunities
enjoyed by Spanish hidalgos at Salamanca. Alas! what a disaster has
befallen me. They told me at the inn that I should find this horse
restive and unruly. Nevertheless, he is a fine animal. His smooth sleek
skin denotes his high breeding. How finely shaped are his limbs, how
black and well rounded his hoofs, and so hollow and dry underneath! His
pasterns are short; neither too high nor too low; thereby indicating
strength. His fore-legs are sinewy, and his shins short and well
formed; the knees firm, smooth, and large. How full and fleshy are his
hind quarters, and how round and expanded his chest. His nostrils are
so wide and distended, that one can discern the ruddy tint within them.
His mouth is large, and the dilated veins are visible in every part of
his fine head.”[51]
Perceiving that my friend the bachelor was preparing to extend still
further the catalogue of excellent qualities which were neither
possessed by his horse, nor by any of his horse’s race, I cut the
matter short by saying, very composedly, “Pardon me, señor, if I
cannot descry in your horse any of the beauties and merits which are
so apparent to you. The limbs which you admire, appear to me very ill
formed; the sleek skin you extol to the skies, is covered with marks
and cuts; and as to his full black eyes, I wish I may lose my own eyes
if I see anything in them but the overflowing of the vicious humours
inherent in the nature of the miserable beast.”
To these remarks, which were taken in no ill part, my interlocutor
rejoined with an air of doubt and misgiving,--“Well, probably it
may be as you say, señor, and not as I have fancied; but still you
must admit, that though I may be under a mistake, I have advanced
nothing at variance with reason; and if I think I perceive what you
cannot discern, my error may be occasioned by short-sightedness, a
complaint from which I have suffered from my childhood, and which,
being increased by much reading and no little writing, now afflicts me
severely. You must know, señor, that on my departure from the inn, I
had with me a very handsome pair of spectacles, but this mischievous
animal, instigated, no doubt, by some demon that possesses him, made
five or six capers (I will not be certain about the precise number),
but by one of them I was thrown into the river, from whence I escaped
with a good ducking and the loss of my spectacles.”
So saying, the poor fellow heaved a sigh, which seemed to come from his
inmost soul; then, after a brief pause, he said,--“But without further
delay, let us withdraw from the burning sunshine, to the cool shade of
those broad spreading trees. There I may at least find a truce to the
miseries which have this day beset me. We will tie the horse and mule
to the trunks of the trees, and let them for a while feast on the
grass which, in these parts, affords plentiful pasture for flocks and
herds.”
“Be it so,” said I, “and since fate ordains that I am to have the
happiness of enjoying your company, here we will tarry until the ardour
of Phœbus shall be tempered by the cool breezes of the coming evening.”
“I have,” pursued the bachelor, “brought with me a couple of books
wherewith to divert the weary hours of travelling. Both of them contain
pleasant entertainment. The one consists of spiritual poetry, better
than that of Cepeda.[52] The other is a book of plain prose; and is
written with no great judgment or skill. Now had it so happened that
instead of going from Madrid to Toledo, we had been journeying from
Toledo to Madrid, I could have shewn you two excellent books, which
have been sent to me as a present from Señor Arcediano. These books
are so full of knowledge, and they treat of so many things that are
and may be in the world, that with their help, a man may, without much
trouble, become wonderfully wise.”[D]
Having reached the umbrageous spot, where we proposed to rest, we
tied up the horse and mule, and seated ourselves on mother-earth.
My companion then opened a leathern bag, which contained the books
he had spoken of. The first he drew forth had for its title _Versos
espirituales para la conversión del pecador y para el menosprecio del
mundo_.[53]
“This is very sweet poetry,” observed I, “and it is embued with a truly
Christian spirit. I knew the author of this book--he was a friar of
the order of Santo Domingo de Predicadores, at Huete, and his name was
Pedro de Ezinas.[E] He was a man of genius, and of much knowledge;
qualities manifested in this little work, and in many of his other
writings, which are circulated in manuscript, and are much esteemed by
the learned.”
“Nevertheless,” said the bachelor, “if I may candidly give my opinion,
there is one thing which much offends me in this book. I dislike
to see the graceful and pious language befitting to the Christian
muse, mingled with the profane phraseology of heathenism. Who can be
otherwise than displeased to find the names of God, of the Holy Virgin,
and of the Prophets, in conjunction with those of Apollo and Daphne,
Pan and Syrinx, Jupiter and Europa, Vulcan, Cupid, Venus and Mars?” He
next proceeded to tell me that Father Ezinas, the author of the _Versos
Espirituales_, was himself very fastidious about matters much less
objectionable; and he related how annoyed he was, whilst performing
mass, by an old woman, who, whenever the Padre repeated the words
_Dominus vobiscum_, devoutly muttered in a croaking voice, _Alabado
sea Dios_.[54] Father Ezinas bore with this patiently, during several
days, but at length finding that the venerable Celestina persisted in
her devout contumacy, he turned to her angrily, saying:--‘Truly, my
good woman, you have spent your long life to little purpose, since you
know not how to respond to a _Dominus vobiscum_, except by an _Alabado
sea Dios_. Now do recollect that though these are very good and very
holy words, yet they are unsuitable where you apply them.’
“You are quite right, friend bachelor, in your remarks on the _Versos
Espirituales_ of Ezinas. The fault you have pointed out is very
objectionable; but with the exception of that fault, the work is one of
the best ever written in Castilian verse, and for elevation of style,
it may fairly compete with the most esteemed writings of the poets of
Italy.”
“Well,” resumed the bachelor, “greatly as you admire the verses of
Ezinas, I must confess that they are not so pleasing to me, nor do they
sound so harmoniously to my ear, as the poetry of Aldana, or as that
of an Aragonian writer, named Alonzo de la Sierra.[F] The latter is a
most admirable poet, and his verses seem as if dictated by Apollo and
the Nine. But,” pursued he, closing the volume of Ezinas, and drawing
forth the other book from his leathern bag,--“here now is a work which,
in my judgment, is not worth two _ardites_.[55] It is full of fooleries
and absurdities;--a tissue of extravagant improbabilities:--in short,
one of those works which have an injurious effect on the public taste.”
So saying, he turned over a few leaves of the book, and I, glancing
my eye upon it, spied on one of the pages, the words:--_el ingenioso
hidalgo_. For a moment I felt astounded, and like one, who, by a
sudden surprise, is deprived of the power of utterance; but, soon
recovering my presence of mind, I said:--
“Pardon me, señor, this book which you declare to be full of absurdity
and nonsense, is really very diverting; and instead of being injurious
in its tendency, is perfectly harmless. It is a pleasant relation of
some very amusing adventures, and its author deserves to be commended,
for having hit upon such a device for banishing from the republic of
letters, the absurd books of knight-errantry, with their affected
sentiment and bombastic phraseology. Moreover, the author of this book
is bowed down by misfortunes more than by years; and though he looks
forward with hope to the reward that may possibly hereafter crown
his labours, yet he is nevertheless disheartened to see the world so
pleased with folly and falsehood, and to witness the annoyances and
hindrances thrown in the way of talent. In courts and in palaces,
and among the great and the high-born, it has become the fashion
to disesteem men who follow the noble profession of letters; and no
arguments that can be advanced against this misjudgment, are strong
enough to remove it. The consequence is, that when by chance an author
of talent gains any influence by his writings, he is speedily cried
down, and his life becomes a course of vexation and disappointment.”