Flew open at his will,
And young Hernando followed still
The silent man before;
The clasping doors behind him swung,
And thro’ the aisles and arches rung
The echo of their roar.
Dim tapers, struggling with the gloom,
Sepulchral twilight gave:
And now to St. Isidro’s grave
The old man in grey is come.
The youth that sacred shrine survey’d,
And shook to see no corpse was laid
Within that open tomb.
“Learn thou to pay thy debts aright!”
Severe the old man said,
As in the tomb himself he laid;
“Nor more of vows make light.”
The yearning marble clos’d its womb,
And left Hernando by the tomb,
To pass his Wedding Night.
_Southey’s “Letters from Spain and Portugal.”_
_FATHER COBOS’ HINT._
(LAS INDIRECTAS DE PADRE COBOS.)
A certain Father Superior of, I don’t know where, used to take such
delicious cups of chocolate as only holy friars do. An intimate friend
of the friar, who was extremely fond of chocolate, began visiting him
very frequently, and always at the hour in which his reverence drank
his chocolate, the friar being so courteous as to always order another
cup for his visitor. But as this friend abused the father’s hospitality by
coming day after day, the latter complained of this sponging tendency,
whereupon a lay-friar, whose name was Father Cobos, declared that it
fell to him to give him a hint to drop this habit. To this the Father
Superior agreed. Noticing soon after that his friend no longer came to
the convent, and desirous to know the lay-friar’s hint, he asked him after
a fortnight what he had said to make his friend leave off coming even
to see him.
“I gave him a hint,” replied Father Cobos. “I said, ‘Look you, Don
Fulano, don’t be so disobliging as to take your chocolate at home; for the
Father Superior says you are such a tremendous glutton that it warms
the cockles of his heart every time he sees you.’”
The Father Superior was so amused at this that he divulged the story,
and since then the hints of Padre Cobos have become proverbial
throughout Spain.
_Juan Martinez Villergas._
_POPULAR SONGS._
THE PARSLEY VENDOR.
This morning as the golden sun
Was rising, pretty maid,
I saw you in the garden
Bending o’er the parsley bed.
To see you somewhat nearer
Through the garden gate I strayed,
And found when I went out again
I’d lost my heart, sweet maid.
You must have come across it,
For I lost it there, I say.
“Oh, pretty parsley maiden,
Give back my heart, I pray.”
_A. Trueba_, 1819-1889.
PETENERA.
When He made thee those black lashes
God, no doubt, would give thee warning
That for all the deaths thou causest,
Thou must put thyself in mourning.
(_Trans. A. Strettel._)
* * * * *
Alcaldè măyòr, Alcaldè măyòr,
You sentence poor prisoners for theft,
While your daughter walks out with her black eyes,
And robs all our hearts right and left.
LA GRANADINA.
Some tears, my pretty maiden,
If only two or three,
And the goldsmiths of Granàda
Shall set them as jewels for me.
* * * * *
They tell me that you love me,
But ’tis a falsehood bold;
So circumscribed a bosom
Could never two hearts hold.
* * * * *
As I carelessly opened
Your letter, my dear,
Your heart dropp’d out,
Into my bosom, I fear,
So I took it in; but
As there’s no room for two,
I have taken out mine,
Which I now send to you.
BOLERO.
I saw two stones
Fight in your street
For the joy of being trodden
Under your feet;
And I ponder’d then.
If the stones do this,
Oh, what will men?
BOLERO.
A favour, Blacksmith,
I ask of you;
Pray make me a lover
Of steel so true.
And this is what he replies to me
It can’t be very true
If a man it’s to be.
* * * * *
As we know, God made man first,
And afterwards the womenstock;
First of all the tower is built.
But last of all the weather-cock.
* * * * *
May the Lord God preserve us from evil birds three,
From all friars, and curates, and sparrows that be;
For the sparrows eat up all the corn that we sow,
The friars drink down all the wine that we grow,
Whilst the curates have all the fair dames at their nod:
From these three evil curses preserve us, good God.
(_Trans. G. Borrow._)
_PROVERBS._
The Man is Fire, the Woman tow, the Devil comes the flame to blow.
Choose your Wife on a Saturday, not on a Sunday.
While the tall Maid is stooping the little one hath swept the House.
He who hath a handsome Wife, or a Castle on the Frontier, or a Vineyard
near the Highway, never lacks a quarrel.
He who marries a Widow, will have a dead Man’s Head often thrown in his
Dish.
There’s not a pin’s point between the yes and no of a woman.
Mother, what kind of thing is this Marrying? Daughter, ’tis to spin, to
bear Children, and to cry your eyes out.
The honest woman and the broken leg within doors.
Women and hens soon lost with gadding about.
He who stirs honey must have some stick to him.
In the house of the tambourinist, all dance.
No olla without bacon, no wedding without a tambourine.
A partridge frightened is half cooked.
There’s many a good drinker under a ragged cloak.
God doth the Cure, and the Doctor takes the Money.
When the Devil hies to his Prayers he means to cheat you.
Change of Weather finds Discourse for Fools.
When all Men say you are an Ass, ’tis time to bray.
A Handful of Mother-wit is worth a bushel of Learning.
A Pound of Care will not pay an ounce of Debt.
A broken head never lacked a rag.
As good bread is baked here as in France.
When loaves are lacking, cake will do.
He who sings, scares away sorrow.
The hen lives on even with the pip.
However early you get up, the day won’t break any sooner.
Short cuts, deep ruts.
Patience, and shuffle the cards.
The hare jumps out when you least expect her.
Where you hope to find rashers there are not even spits.
Opportunity is painted bald.
When the heifer’s given you, run quick with the halter.
He who is not Handsome at Twenty, nor Strong at Thirty, nor Rich at
Forty, nor Wise at Fifty, will never be Handsome, Strong, Rich, nor
Wise.
I wept when I was born, and every day shows why.
Buy at a Fair, and sell at home.
Let us be Friends, and put out the Devil’s eye.
Women, Wind, and Fortune are ever changing.
When going up hill
For a mule I sigh,
But I like my own legs
When I downwards hie.
He who will have a Mule without any Fault must keep none.
You should not blame the pannier for the donkey’s fault.
The mule said to the donkey. Gee up, long ears.
There’s a difference between Peter and Peter.
God keep me from him whom I trust, from him whom I trust not I shall
keep myself.
The foot of the Owner is the best manure for his Land.
If your dove-cote never lacks corn, you will never lack pigeons.
Lock your Door, that you may keep your Neighbour honest.
Never mention the rope in the house of a hanged man.
Finger nails come in when wedges are useless.
When the abbot sings out, the acolyte’s not far behind.
At night all cats are grey.
One devil’s like another.
He who sheared me still handles his scissors.
Once bitten by a scorpion, and frightened at its shadow.
Flies don’t enter a closed mouth.
Some have the glory, and others card the wool.
Don’t stretch your leg further than the street is long.
What you have to give to the mouse give to the cat.
Smugglers make better custom-house officers than do carbineers.
Money paid, arms soon tired.
Italy to be born in, France to live in, and Spain to die in.
_ANECDOTES._
An astute Gallegan one day presented himself with the most candid air
at the shop of a tailor, telling him he had come to draw the fifty
reals he had deposited with him two years ago.
The tailor was thunderstruck, and replied that he had no money of
his, whereupon the Gallegan began to cry out and complain loudly and
bitterly, which soon drew a crowd round the shop door.
The tailor was sure of his fact, since there was no document to
attest the imaginary deposit, but fearing the scandal might damage
his business, yet unable to confess to the debt after denying it, had
recourse to a neighbouring tradesman, who promised to settle the affair.
“Look you here, yokel, why are you making such a fuss about a mistake?
Don’t you remember that it was to my shop you brought the fifty reals?”
“Oh, yes,” slyly replied the Gallegan; “but that was another fifty.”
* * * * *
While ascending a steep hill the mayoral opens the door, of the
diligence every now and then, to shut it with a loud bang, without a
word to the passengers.
“Oh, mayoral!” cries one, “why do you open and shut the door like that,
we are freezing.”
“Hush! it’s for the mules; every time the door slams they think somebody
has got out, and pull better.”
A countryman wrote the following letter to his son, a student in the
capital:—
“MY DEAR SON,—This is to tell you that I am very displeased with the
bad conduct which I have been told you observe in Madrid. If a good
thrashing could be sent by post, you would have had several from me.
As for your mother, the good woman spoils you as usual. Enclosed you
will find an order for seventy reals, which she sends you without my
knowledge,
“Your father,
JOHN.”
* * * * *
Horse-dealer, exhibiting a superb animal to probable customer:—
“Take this one, sir. He’s a splendid trotter. Mount him at four in the
morning at Madrid, and you’ll be at Alcalá at five.”
“He won’t suit me.”
“Why not?”
“What should I do at five o’clock in the morning at Alcalá where I know
nobody?”
* * * * *
“The deuce! I do feel bad.”
“What’s the matter.”
“I ate a steak of horse-flesh and it’s going round and round in my
inside.”
“My dear fellow! It must have been a circus-horse!”
* * * * *
A young girl was taken to see a bull-fight for the first time, and one
of the matadors was furiously attacked by a bull.
“Don’t be afraid, dear, don’t be afraid!” exclaimed her father, while the
matador was flying through the air with the impetus of the beast’s horns.
“Oh, no, papa, it’s the bull-fighter who’ll be afraid.”
* * * * *
AT A STATION.
“A peseta for a cup of chocolate! It’s very dear. It would be better to
lower the price, though it should be of an inferior quality.”
“To please you, señor, I will make it three reals, but I can’t make it of
inferior quality.”
* * * * *
IN SCHOOL.
“Now, Pepito, is _huevo_ [egg] masculine or feminine?”
(Pepito, thoughtfully) “It’s very difficult to tell.”
“Difficult? What do you mean?”
“Well, sir, how can one know until the chicken’s hatched?”
* * * * *
An Aragonese carman was unmercifully beating a mule who had fallen down
in one of the chief streets of the capital. The passers-by stopped to
censure the carman’s conduct, exclaiming—
“How cruel!”
“Poor mule!”
“What a beast the man is!”
The carman stopped his blows and going to the mule’s head, said—
“Caramba! Jocky; what a lot of friends you’ve made in Madrid!”
* * * * *
In the porch of a church a beggar’s stool, on the stool a hat, in the hat
a cardboard with the inscription—
“Ladies and gentlemen, do not forget a poor blind man, who has gone to
his breakfast.”
* * * * *
A dying courtier said to the priest that the only favour he asked of
God was to let him live till he had paid his debts.
“That is a good motive, my son, and it is to be hoped that your prayer
will be heard.”
“Alas, father! If it were, I should be sure never to die.”
* * * * *
An Arab of Tetuan asked a Jew, which of the three religions was the
best: the Jewish, the Christian, or the Mahometan?
The Jew replied—“If Messiah really came, the Christian is the best;
if He did not, mine is the best; but whether or no, yours, Mahomet, is
always bad.”
_ECCENTRICITIES OF ENGLISHMEN._
It is not to be wondered at that a country so fecund in heroes and
men of genius as the home of Nelson, Newton, and Byron, should also
produce some very eccentric men. Of no other sons of Adam are such
whimsicalities and oddities related as of those born in England.
At every step on the other side of the Channel one meets with mad
philosophers, who, if they unexpectedly inherit a large fortune,
instead of leading a sybaritic life, order a schooner or brig to be
built, embark straight away without troubling about their destination,
let the wind take them whither it lists, swallow half-a-dozen bottles
of rum, double themselves into a berth, and mingle their snores with
the roaring of the waves until their craft strands on a shoal, when the
dampness of the ocean reminds them it’s time to wake up.
I knew an Englishman poorer than a retired Spanish ensign, and more
miserly than an old clo’man, who, with the help of a clever Newfoundland,
which he loved like a brother, saved the life of a lord’s daughter who
had fallen into the Thames. Ten years later, when he did not even
remember his generous deed, he received from the father of the lord’s
daughter a gift of £200,000 sterling. This stroke of good luck produced
no impression on his mind, to judge by any outward expression of joy;
and the following day when his creditors came to congratulate him,
they found him, to their surprise, bathed in his own blood. Not far
from the corpse lay a letter with the following contents: “Let nobody
be accused of my death, ascribe it still less to bad fortune. I was
happy in the act of suicide; I had good health and money. And yet I
felt inclined to kill myself first, because I felt inclined, secondly,
because from a boy I had always wished for a capital of £100,000, and I
find myself with one hundred thousand more than I wanted. I leave half
my fortune to my Newfoundland dog, to be invested in cat’s-meat, of which
he is very fond, and the other half to whoever undertakes to buy the
cat’s-meat for the dog. Witness my signature....”
Needless to say, that all who knew the last will and testament of the
deceased, wanted to discharge it, with no further philanthropy than
receiving the recompense. As for the dog, which was present at the
reading of his master’s will, that so greatly concerned him, he did not
show the slightest sign of joy. However, the will was declared invalid,
and to avoid all disputes the £200,000 were returned to the chest of
the noble lord.
The latter, finding himself again possessor of funds of which he had
taken leave for ever, desired to use them to satisfy a caprice, which
should give him the fame, throughout the whole country, of a wit. He
laid a wager with a rich tradesman that he would not sell a hundred
thousand sovereigns at a halfpenny each, though he should take his
stand for six hours in one of the most crowded spots of the capital.
This proposition deceived the tradesman as it would have deceived
anybody, and he agreed to take the bet, the stakes being nothing
less than £200,000, convinced that it was impossible he could lose.
There was a Court _levée_ that day, and a tremendous crowd of people
were crossing the Thames over Westminster Bridge towards St. James’s
Palace. The tradesman and the lord took up their post one side of the
bridge, behind a huge open chest, full of sovereigns. “A ha’penny each,
sovereigns a ha’penny each!” cried the tradesman, and the lord at his side
did nothing but laugh; the stipulations being that the lord should only
be allowed to laugh, and the tradesman to say “A ha’penny each, sovereigns
a ha’penny each!” The people passed on, saying: “What a take in! Good
heavens! Sovereigns for a ha’penny. What will they be like?” The tradesman
began to despair. More than one passer-by took up one of the coins,
turned it round and round, and then noticing the laughter which the
lord pretended he could not stifle, put the money back, saying, “They
are well imitated, but nobody can do me.”
“A ha’penny each, sovereigns a ha’penny each!” shouted the tradesman
unceasingly, and the more he exerted himself to cry his ware, the
more clearly did the public think they saw through the trick by
which he hoped to empty their pockets. They stayed thus from nine in
the morning till three in the afternoon, the lord laughing and the
tradesman shouting. The result was that the latter lost the bet. Only
two sovereigns were sold, and these were bought by a medical student,
believing them to be false, but hoping to pass them in a gambling den
or other low place. When he found they were accepted, he returned
post-haste to Westminster Bridge to lay in a new provision, but arrived
too late; the lord and the tradesman had already vanished.
_A. Ribot y Fontserré._
_NEWSPAPER HUMOUR._
IN THE STREET.
Excuse me, I can’t stop. The sermon begins at five, and Padre Macario
preaches to-day. His words are worth their weight in gold, I don’t want to
lose _one_. I thought of going to call on the Zaragatonas to give them
a piece of my mind; deceitful things, they wrote an anonymous letter
to the head of my husband’s department, saying he had the influenza, and
that all the office would catch it, which is a vile story; he is quite
well, and if he had anything the matter with him I should say so at
once.... They may be thankful this is Holy Week or I should teach
them a thing or two, but I don’t want to offend Heaven to-day. The wicked
scandalmongers! ... They shall hear from me sooner or later. ... But
... I can’t stop. What’s the time? Five o’clock. I must run the whole
way. Oh! do you think you could manage to send me some stalls for La
Tubau![19]
IN THE CHURCH.
“Hail, Mary,” ... Madam, you are crushing my mantilla. ... “full of
grace,” ... yes, _you_, Madam! “Blessed are thou amongst.” ... Good
evening, doña Agustina. ... No, the sermon has not commenced yet, but
it must very soon for I saw Padre Macario go into the sacristy....
Yes, isn’t there a crowd, and quite natural too, there are not many
orators _like_ him.... “Our Father which” ... You look rather pale?
What’s the matter? ... Oh, don’t speak to me of husbands, there are
some wretches amongst them? ... What, he wouldn’t let you come to the
sermon? Heavens, what a man! Mine, thank God, is not like that; on the
contrary, so that I might feel quite easy, he has promised to give baby
his food. He’s a very good husband; fancy, this morning I had to go
out to see the dynamiters in court, and he stayed at home to wash out
some baby-clothes.... “Thy kingdom come,” ... but he has his enemies.
Those horrid Zaragatonas; ... they can’t bear me because I’m plump. ...
They’re jealous and I’ve told them so. It’s the will of Heaven, for as
for eating, I eat very little, and some days a little stewed veal, an
omelette, and half-a-dozen oranges satisfy me as much as if I had eaten
an ox. But it’s no good, they dislike me, because they themselves are
so scraggy, and now they’ve started a nasty rumour about my husband.
Suppose he has a little cold in the head, what’s that to do with them?
“Pray for our sins now and” ... _They_ are consumptive, if you like:
you need only look at them, especially the eldest, who dresses her
salad with cod-liver oil. I, of course, respect the sacredness of this
week, or I should go and see them, when they would have to look to
themselves. Besides, I don’t like talking ill of anybody, but they had
a lieutenant-colonel lodging with them, who only slept there, for he
ate with his mess, and paid them ten reals for a tiny bedroom, and was
always making them presents besides; if he had an old pair of trousers,
for instance, he would give them to their mother to make a little
jacket for herself. Now that all means something. In fact, I don’t like
scandal, but that lieutenant-colonel, “the Lord is with thee.”...
What? Padre Macario in the pulpit? So he is, and just going to begin.
“Dear Brethren....”
What eloquence!
“May you in truth be brethren, with your conscience free from the sin
of hatred....”
He’s right. People are so uncharitable, those Zaragatonas, for instance.
“Love one another with the love of brethren. Christ pardoned His
tormentors....”
(_Much moved_) Ah! ah! It seems impossible that people won’t repent. When
I think of those Zaragatonas, I don’t know what’s the matter with me! No,
when Holy Week is over, I shall go and hear what they have to say for
themselves. Horrid creatures!
“_De todo un poco._” _Luis Taboada_ (_Madrid Comico_).
* * * * *
A coiner of false money was confessing that he had made and uttered
dollars (20 reals) which were only worth four reals.
“You must restore the difference,” said the priest.
“But to whom can I restore it, father?” asked the compunctious penitent.
The priest hesitated for a moment, then said—
“Make as many other dollars worth thirty-six reals.”
“_La Ilustracion Española y Americana._”
SPANISH CEREMONY.
A very ceremonious Spaniard, when asked why he was not present at the
funeral of a certain personage, replied—
“Because he owed me a call.”
CHILDREN.
A governess out walking with two children:—
“Look, that’s the white cow that gives us our milk.”
“Does that black one give us the coffee then?”
* * * * *
“Oh, children! what are you doing up that tree?”
“Mama, Pepito wanted to pick some pears.”
“And you?”
“I got up to persuade him not to.”
RURAL SYMPATHY.
“My boy,” said a happy mother, “has won the first prize at school.”
“I can understand your feelings. Oh, how well I remember how pleased I
was when our pig took a prize at the show.”
“_Blanco y Negro._”
IN THE STALLS.
“Do you notice how fat all the chorus are?”
“Yes, the manager is very economical, and the fat ones get the same pay
as the thin but fill the stage better.”
“_Blanco y Negro_”
* * * * *
“Take care they don’t give you mule’s flesh,” said a mistress to her maid,
who was going out marketing.
“And how can I tell, ma’am?”
“I don’t know, but mind you don’t buy any.”
“Good, ma’am; I won’t take any meat until the butcher has shown me the
cow’s horns.”
“_La Ilustracion Española y Americana._”
* * * * *
Furious wife to inflexible husband:—
“My health requires it. The doctor has ordered me a change of air.”
“Very well, my dear, use another fan.”
“_La Ilustracion Española y Americana._”
THE ANARCHIST AGITATION.
Military police to poor wretch found in a miserable garret suspiciously
hiding a paper:—
“Some little preparation for the First of May, eh?”
(_Timidly_) “Only a sonnet dedicated to the victims.”
“_Madrid Comico._”
SUNDAY REST.
The Congress is at present warmly debating the question as to Sunday
rest. As scarcely any of us Spaniards work even on week-days, _why_
should we work on a Sunday?
“_Madrid Comico._”
* * * * *
Woman and Man,
I’ve a specialist’s word,
Are as different quite
As a fish and a bird.
She, like the latter,
Is graceful and sweet,
White feathers, charms many,
Long wings, and short feet.
He, on the contrary,
Sticky as gum.
Has, patent or hidden,
Sharp fins, a fair sum.
They marry each other,
For love possibly,
And the law of their cage
Turns and takes out the key.
Poor things, unaware
Were they, but now larn,
That the well-being of one
Is the other one’s harm.
If she longs for air,
For water he cries;
The bird drowns in water,
In air the fish dies.
But some pairs are happy, to me you reply!
Yes, some few amphibious creatures, I sigh.
“_Los Lunes de el Imparcial._” _Manuel del Palacio._
_HUMOROUS ADVERTISEMENTS._
[Illustration: Perfumes recently arrived from Heaven.—
PERFUMERIA AMERICANA, ESPOZ Y MINA, 26.]
[Illustration: Two elephants pull at a pair of English trousers
(PESQUERA, MAGDALENA, 20) without tearing them.]
[Illustration: Resuscitation of a dead man, thanks to the fine Brandy
of MOGUER, CARMEN, 10.]
[Illustration: I had been shaved at No. 40, ALCALA, when an angel
flying past told me to follow him, since I was ready.]
[Illustration: The athlete, Señor Gomez, has developed his muscles in
a most extraordinary way by dining regularly at the restaurant, LAS
TULLERIAS, MATUTE 6.]
[Illustration: “The earth shook, my sister, the skies were o’ercast, and
the clocks stopped.”
“Then they could not have been bought at BRANAS, MATUTE 12, father!”]
[Illustration:
When Love has the toothache,
He is halting and thin,
So get rid of the tooth
If your fair one you’d win.
(TIRSO PEREZ, MAYOR, 73, DENTIST.)]
_Madrid Comico._
_AT THE THEATRE._
[Illustration: The first thing done by every newcomer is to deposit his
hat on a chair, to show there are no hooks in the hall.]
[Illustration: The startled lover hides himself in a special shelveless
cupboard, kept in all houses exclusively for this object.]
[Illustration: If anyone becomes a corpse at the end of the drama, the
witnesses must all keep the same position until the curtain falls at
least.]
[Illustration: When anything serious happens to the heroine, she must
at once take out her hair-pins, which are incompatible with sentiment.]
[Illustration: The comic tenor can do nothing less than sing smart
couplets to the young ladies, who learn them immediately and repeat
them straight away.]
_Madrid Comico._
NOTES CRITICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.
[_The accent, used in Spanish both for accentuation and pronunciation,
has mostly only been given in the names of persons and places in which
it is necessary for the pronunciation, as José, otherwise Jose._]
ALARCON, PEDRO ANTONIO DE, perhaps the most popular Spanish writer
of the nineteenth century, was born in Guadix in 1833, and was a
member of a noble family of but little means. After studying first
jurisprudence, and afterwards theology, he devoted himself to letters,
for which he had always shown a strong proclivity. Amongst the best
known of his numerous works are “The Three-Cornered Hat,” which
is based on an old Spanish tale, somewhat Boccaccian in flavour;
“The Scandal”; “La Alpujarra,” the records of a delightful trip in
Andalusia; and several collections of short tales, of which many have
been translated into English—notably by Mary J. Serrano (New York).
ALAS, LEOPOLDO, author and critic of the present day.
ALEMAN, MATEO, native of Seville, flourished in the year 1609. He
followed in the steps of Mendoza, by the more ample portraiture of
the life of a rogue than is the former’s Lazarillo, in his “Guzman
de Alfarache,” which appeared in 1553, forty-six years after its
prototype. Little is known of Aleman’s life; he seems to have been long
employed in the Treasury, and at last to have retired, and devoted the
rest of his life to letters. But he claims to be remembered by his
work, “Guzmann de Alfarache,” the popularity of which was so immediate
that, like “Don Quixote,” it provoked a spurious “Second Part” before
the real continuation appeared, and was soon translated into the chief
European tongues, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, and even
Latin, and into excellent English by Mabbe, whose contemporary, Ben
Jonson, thus speaks of it:
“The Spanish Proteus, which, though writ
But in one tongue, was formed with the world’s wit,
And hath the noblest mark of a good booke,
That an ill man doth not securely looke
Upon it; but will loathe or let it passe,
As a deformed face doth a true glasse.”
(Verses prefixed to Mabbe’s translation, and signed by Ben Jonson.)
AYGUALS DE IZCO, WENCESLAO, nineteenth century. This author, now often
held up as a model to avoid, enjoyed, some fifty years ago, no little
popularity as a humorous writer.
“BOOK OF JOKES, THE,” is to be found in the collection of “Spanish
Salt,” edited by A. Paz y Melía, and published in 1890. Señor Paz
believes most of the tales in the “Book of Jokes” should be ascribed
to Hurtado de Mendoza.
CALDERON DE LA BARCA, PEDRO, the great successor and rival of Lope de
Vega, was eminently a poet in the national temper, and had a brilliant
success. He was born at Madrid on January 17, 1600. After serving
as a soldier he was, on the death of Lope, formally attached to the
Court, and was subsequently made a Knight of the Order of Santiago. In
1651 he followed the example of Lope de Vega and other men of letters
by entering the Church. He died in 1681, on the Feast of Pentecost,
when all Spain was ringing with his autos, and was buried in the
splendid church of Atocha. Calderon was remarkable for his personal
beauty, and was endowed with a benevolent and kindly character. Of his
autos, or religious plays, the “Wonder-working Magician” is the most
characteristic of the old Spanish stage (the question has been raised
if Goethe had not read it before he wrote “Faust,” the plot being very
similar). Of the secular dramas, “The Mayor of Zalamea” is in Spain
the most popular, and is still frequently represented, while “Life is
a Dream” is perhaps pre-eminent for its brilliant flowing verse and
philosophic thoughts. “The Mayor of Zalamea,” though boisterous and
jolly in the act given in the text, winds up a tragedy of the first
water.
CAMPOAMOR, RAMON DE, native of Asturias, September 24, 1817, called
by Blanco García the Poet “Philosopher” (a title disputed by other
critics), is one of the few modern Spanish poets whose fame has
crossed the frontier of the Peninsula, his works having been studied
in Italy and France. Like his late fellow-poet, Zorrilla, he has
reached a ripe old age, and his peculiar style (of which “If She could
only Write” is perhaps scarcely typical) has had several imitators.
“CELESTINA; OR, THE TRAGICOMEDY OF CALISTO AND MELIBŒA,” is considered
one of the chief foundations of the Spanish drama. The first act was
probably written by Rodrigo Cota of Toledo, and it may be assumed that
it was produced about 1480. The rest was added by Fernando de Rojas
de Montalvan. Unhappily, large portions of this vigorous work abound
in a shameless libertinism. It was followed by many imitations, and
was soon translated into English, German, Dutch, Latin, Italian, and
French.
CERVANTES DE SAAVEDRA (MIGUEL) was a member of an old noble family,
decayed in fortune, and was born in the month of October in 1547 in
Alcalá de Henares. Here he probably received his early education,
which it has been conjectured he continued at Madrid, and later on at
the University of Salamanca. He discovered a strong predilection for
literature, but his necessities seemed to have forced him to seek for
a livelihood by some other means. Anyway, in 1570 we find him serving
at Rome as chamberlain in the household of Cardinal Aquaviva; and he
subsequently entered the navy, and lost his left hand at the famous
sea-fight of Lepanto, which fight decisively arrested the intrusion of
the Turks into the West of Europe (October 7, 1571). His misfortune
did not prevent him joining the troops of the King of Spain at Naples;
but when returning to Spain by sea, he was made a prisoner by pirates,
who took him to Algiers, where for five years he was kept as a slave.
After this period he was ransomed, when he went to Madrid. He married
in 1584, and soon after began his first literary efforts, which were
for the stage. But after composing some thirty plays with little
pecuniary result, his genius was diverted into a different channel,
and he produced, in 1605, the First Part of the immortal novel of “Don
Quixote.” Inimitable in its wit and humour as this work is, it was at
first received with comparative indifference. Ultimately, however, it
met with the greatest applause, although the author reaped few or
none of the emoluments which might have been expected from it. The
Second Part was not published till 1615, and was even superior to the
first. (Avellaneda’s spurious Second Part appeared in 1614.) Needless to
say, “Don Quixote” soon became known all over the civilised world,
and was translated into a multitude of tongues. The oldest English
translation is by Shenton, 1612, which is followed by a vulgar,
unfaithful, and coarse one by Milton’s nephew, John Philips, 1712; one by
Motteux; one by Jervas (Jarvis), 1742, which Smollet used freely in
his own, 1755; a few others of lesser importance; and finally, in the
eighties of the present century, one by Mr. Ormsby; and Mr. H. E. Watt’s
learned and faithful work, from which the extracts have been drawn for
this volume. The other principal works of Cervantes are “The Journey
to Parnassus,” his Exemplary Novels, “Galatea,” and the unfinished
romance, “The Labours of Persiles and Sigismunda,” his last work.
Cervantes died on the 23rd of April, in the year 1616 (the year of
Shakespeare’s death), at the age of sixty-eight.
CHRONICLE OF THE CID. Southey’s so-called “Chronicle of the Cid” is not a
translation of any single work, but is based upon, i. La Cronica del
Cid; ii. La cronica general (thirteenth century); iii. El Poema del
Cid (twelfth century); and lastly, the ballads of the Cid. The extract
given is, however, a word for word translation from the Cronica del
Cid. The first and only edition of this chronicle was printed in 1552,
but it is impossible to ascertain its age. (The Abbot who published it
absurdly supposed it to have been written during the Cid’s lifetime.)
The incident in the given extract seems to have much amused a mediæval
audience, and it was often enlarged and improved upon by the minstrels
and story-tellers.
CID, THE (ARABIC, SAID = LORD), DON RODRIGO DIAZ DE BIVAR, also styled
_The Campeador_, the national hero of Spain, was born at Burgos about
1040. The facts of his career have been wrapped by his admiring
countrymen in such a haze of glorifying myths, that it is scarcely
possible to detect them. His life, however, appears to have been
entirely spent in fierce warfare with the Moors, then masters of a
great part of Spain. His exploits are set forth in the works given in
the note to the Chronicle of the Cid; and the story of his love for
Ximena is the subject of Corneille’s masterpiece, “Le Cid” (based on a
play by the Spanish dramatist Guillen de Castro). The Campeador’s last
achievement was the capture from the Moors of Valencia, where he died
in 1099.
EPIGRAMS. The names of two famous satirists, of Forner (d. 1797) and
Pitillas, are, for various reasons, lacking in this compilation.
ESTÉBANEZ DE CALDERÓN, SERAFIN (El Solitario), born in Malaga, 1799,
and died in Madrid in 1867, is given the priority of those authors,
akin to the Periodical Essayists in English literature, called in
Spain writers of “_costumbres_” (manners and customs of the people),
who occupy so important a place in the Spanish literature of the
nineteenth century, and amongst whom de Larra (Figaro) is pre-eminent.
Unfortunately El Solitario employs such subtle style and archaic
phrases that the Spaniards themselves complain they have to read his
works with a dictionary.
“ESTEBANILLO GONZALEZ, THE LIFE OF,” which appeared in 1646, is the
autobiography of a buffoon, who was long in the service of Ottavio
Piccolomini, the great general of the Thirty Years’ War, but it is an
autobiography so full of fiction, that Le Sage, sixty years after its
appearance, easily changed it into a mere romance (Ticknor).
“FERNAN CABALLERO” (Cecilia Böhl de Faber, daughter of the Spanish
scholar), was born in 1796, and married three times. She is sometimes
known under her last name, Cecilia Arron (or Arrom) de Azala. Her
numerous works, chiefly novelas, were published under the pseudonym
of Fernan Caballero, the name of a little village in La Mancha. They
give truthful and lively pictures of Spanish (especially Andalusian)
life and manners, are eminently national in tone and spirit, and have
an excellent moral tendency, which combination soon made her one
of the most popular Spanish writers of the nineteenth century. She
also shares with Trueba the honour of collecting Spanish Folk-tales
and popular songs from the mouths of the people, before the days
of Folk-lore societies. Queen Isabella II. made her an offer of a
residence in the Alcazar of Seville, of which she availed herself till
the revolution of 1868, after which she lived in a modest villa, and
devoted herself to charity. She died April 7, 1877.
FOLK-TALES. To a student of Spanish Folk-lore this selection will
be unsatisfactory. The tales from Fernan Caballero and Trueba (see
_Biographical Notes_) are, however, amusing, while Southey’s verses
present a sample of the numerous tales current in Spain about the
saints, and which are more often than not allied to the ridiculous.
_El Padre Cobos_ is the title of a famous periodical produced in the
years 1854-6 (see _Newspaper Humour_).
“GATOMAQUIA.” [Having been unable to find a passage in Lope de Veg
burlesque epic, the “Gatomachia,” comprehensive enough in itself to
form a good extract, I append some lines descriptive of the hero and
heroine, which, though somewhat vulgarised in the English, may give a
notion of its humour.]
On a lofty peak’d ridge of a til’d-roof there sat
Zapaquilda, the prettiest pussy cat,
Enjoying a blow and most busy at work
Cleaning waistcoat and tail with tongue graceful yet perk,
For as jaunty a cat and important is she
As if she belonged to a monastery—
No mirror had she, though a mocking magpie
Had carried a broken potsherd up on high—
Who never found student’s shirt-collar but he
Behind a tile hid it as his property.
When she’d finished her washing, and wetting her paws,
Had drawn two long stripes down her sides with her claws,
She sang a sweet sonnet with such style and grace,
It reminded one of the musician of Thrace,
And made all the hearts of her list’ners rejoice
And say, “I am sure that’s a pussy cat’s voice,”
While some feline solfas and harmonious chromatics
Laid a whole nest of rats low with nervous rheumatics.
’Twas late spring and fair Flora with buskins of gold
Decked the earth with her roses and flowers manifold,
When to Sir Marramaquiz, of fame far and wide,
His squire (of La Mancha, by birth) quickly hied,
To tell how in the sun Zapaquilda, as fair
As the roseate dawn, had been combing her hair,
And now, with a charm and a grace quite her own,
Was singing a trifle of famed Mendelssohn,
That enamoured the air. Marramaquiz’s heart
At this news of his squire of dire love felt the smart;
He called for his charger, a monkey acquired
In the war of the Apes and the Cats, and attired
In breeches and boots, worth many a bright dollar,
And a little girl’s cuff round his neck for a collar,
In cape, cap and feather, and girt with a sword,
(The feather he’d pluck’d from a parrot whose word
Of defiance had vexed him), used both whip and spur,
And found Zapaquilda still taking the air,—
Who on seeing him, modest as nun ‘neath a veil,
Lick’d one paw, droop’d her eyelids and let down her tail,
For of virtuous maidens, ’tis ever the duty
To be more circumspect the greater their beauty.
GUEVARA, LUIS VELEZ DE, born in 1572 or 1574 at Ecija in Andalusia. He
wrote a good deal for the stage (four hundred plays), in which he was
an early follower of Lope de Vega; but the work which established his
fame was the “Diablo Cojuelo,” the “Limping Devil,” which suggested
the idea of Le Sag famous “Diable Boiteux.” Guevara died in the year
1644.
HARTZENBUSCH, JUAN EUGENIO, lived from 1805 to 1880, was born of a
German father and Spanish mother. He is one of the first scholars,
prose writers, and critics of the century, and like his contemporary,
Mesonero Romanos, edited valuable collections of the flower of the old
Spanish drama. His masterpiece is the tragedy, “The Lovers of Teruel,”
which treats upon an old Spanish legend, and is one of the most
popular of modern plays. An opera with the same title and subject, by
a Spanish composer of the day, is also deservedly popular. “Mariquita
la Pelona,” which is taken from a collection of short tales by this
author, is written in old Spanish, and has a sequel in a modern
“Mariquita,” who repairs to a convent for a year to obtain possession
of a sum of money offered her by some unknown person, on condition she
undergoes this temporary confinement, to find at the expiration of the
twelve months that the mysterious donor is a slighted suitor, who had
vowed to humiliate her.
IGLESIAS, born in Salamanca, wrote a number of poems, the lighter of
which have alone retained popularity, the serious and duller ones,
written after he became a priest, being justly neglected. He died in
1791.
ISLA, FATHER, was born in 1703, and died in 1781 at Bologna, where,
being a Jesuit, he had been sent on the general expulsion of his order
from Spain. He was an author possessed of a brilliant and delicate
satire, most thoroughly exemplified in his celebrated work, “The
History of the Famous Preacher, Friar Gerund,” a direct attack on the
bad style of preaching then in vogue. Padre Isla is also prominent
as the translator into Spanish of “Gil Blas,” which, without any
foundation, he maintained had been stolen by Le Sage from Spanish
literature.
JÉRICA (XÉRICA), PABLO DE (he was a young man during the French
revolution), is very severely criticised by Blanco García in his
“History of the Literature of the Nineteenth Century.”
LARRA, MARIANO JOSÉ DE (Figaro), was born in Madrid in the year 1809.
Receiving his first education in France, where his father served as
doctor in Napoleon’s army, he returned to complete it at Madrid, and
afterwards repaired to the University of Valladolid, where he began
to study law. He wrote his first prose essays at the age of twenty,
but it was his later articles, signed “El pobrecito Hablador,” which
first gave him the undisputed reputation of critic and writer of
“_costumbres_,” among the host of which, his Spanish contemporaries
and imitators, he reigns supreme, while what preserve his fame are
the brilliant and satirical articles signed “Figaro,” amongst which
“The Old Castilian,” and “Yo quiero ser comico,” are the best known.
Unfortunately his private life was disturbed by wild love affairs, and
he committed suicide on account of an attachment to a married lady, in
1837, at the age of twenty-eight.
“LIBRO DE LOS EXEMPLOS” (author unknown). This collection of tales
is considered by Don Pascual de Gayangos to be posterior to Don Juan
Manuel. The greater part of the tales are taken from Rabbi Mosch
Sefardi’s “Disciplina Clericalis” (early part of the twelfth century),
probably the Latin translation of an Arabic original, which is drawn
from Oriental sources, and is itself the common well from which drew,
amongst others, the authors of the “Gesta Romanorum,” the “Decameron,”
and the “Canterbury Tales.” The story entitled “The Biter Bit”
figures, for instance, in the “Disciplina Clericalis” and the Gesta
Romanorum. “El Libro de los Gatos” belongs to the same century as the
“Libro de los Exemplos” (or Enxemplos).
LOPE FELIX DE VEGA CARPIO was born on November 25, 1562, at Madrid.
This extraordinary Spanish genius, second only to Cervantes, than whom
he was more popular during the lifetime of both, rose to a degree of
fame reached by few of any country. Epics, serious and humorous (see
“_Gatomaquia_”); novelas; ballads; epigrams; plays—religious, heroic,
of intrigue, or of domestic life; nothing, in fact, came amiss to
his pen. But it is as dramatist that he is best known, and in which
quality his facility was such that at his death it was reckoned he
had composed eighteen hundred plays and four hundred autos (religious
dramas), while it is stated that one of his plays was written and
acted within five days. Lope de Vega’s last days were the prey to a
melancholy fanaticism. He regretted he had ever been engaged in
any occupations but such as were exclusively religious; and on one
occasion he went through with a private discipline so cruel that
the walls of the compartment where it occurred were found sprinkled
with his blood. From this he never recovered, and he died on August
27, 1635, nearly seventy-three years old. His funeral, which immense
crowds thronged to see, lasted nine days; and of the eulogies and
poems written on the occasion, those in Spanish were sufficient to
form one volume, those in Italian another.
MANUEL, PRINCE DON JUAN, born May 5, 1282, at Escalona, died 1349, was
of the blood royal of Castile and Leon, nephew to Alfonso the Wise,
cousin to Sancho IV. He first fought against the Moors when he was
twelve, and the rest of his years were spent in filling great offices
in the State, or in military operations on the Moorish frontier. In
spite of a life full of intrigue and violence he devoted himself
successfully to literature, and is the first great Spanish prose
writer. In “Count Lucanor,” his best and more known work, most of the
tales are of Oriental origin. That Shakespeare knew the tale, here
given the title of his play, is indubitable; while “The Naked King”
will appear familiar to readers of Hans Andersen’s fairy tales (“The
Emperor’s New Clothes” in its turn has given the plot for Ludwig Fulda’s
drama, “The Talisman,” considered the best German play of the last
three years, and recently introduced into England by Mr. Beerbohm Tree
under the title of “Once Upon a Time”).
MENDOZA, DIEGO HURTADO DE, a distinguished Spanish statesman, soldier,
and historian, was born at Granada in 1503. After studying at the
Universities of Granada and Salamanca, he entered the service of the
Emperor Charles V., and was employed in Italy both as diplomatist and
general with equal success. He at last fell under the displeasure
of Philip II. of Spain, and in 1567 was banished. He died at Madrid
in the year 1575. His greatest work is “La guerra de Granada contra
los Moriscos”; he also wrote some fine poetry; and claims the
merit of producing in “Lazarillo de Tormes” the first model of the
_novela picoresca_, peculiar to the literature of Spain. “Lazarillo”
was translated into English as early as 1586 by David Rowland, of
which rendering as many as twenty editions are known, and which was
re-edited in the seventeenth century by James Blakeston, with but
slight alterations. Like other books enjoying a wide reputation, it
produced many imitations, among them a “Second Part” of little merit.
See _Book of Jokes_.
MESONERO ROMANOS, RAMON DE (El Curioso Parlante), born in Madrid,
1803, died in 1882, who appeared in the literary world, almost
simultaneously, with de Larra, and together with him and Estébanez
de Calderón belongs to the writers of “_costumbres_,” seems to an
English reader inferior to these two in style and conception, though
Spaniards consider his “Escenas Matritenses” one of the great works
of the nineteenth century, and they are held by Blanco García to be
invaluable photographs of life in the writer’s days. Mesonero Romanos was
also a composer of light and piquant verses, and distinguished himself
in the critical world by his collections of Spanish dramatists,
published by Rivadeneyra.
MORATIN, LEANDRO FERNANDEZ, died 1828, the more famous son of a famous
father (Nic. Fern. Moratin).
NEWSPAPER HUMOUR. The strictly humorous Spanish periodical literature
of to-day is of no great merit, and often borders upon impropriety.
Of the papers from which cuttings are here given, _La Ilustracion
Española y Americana_ (the Spanish _Illustrated News_), is first-rate
in its class—Fernandez Bremen is a well-known contributor. The daily
paper—_El Imparcial_—devotes a sheet every Monday to lighter and
more amusing literature under the direction of Señor Ortega Munilla.
Manuel Palacio is the comic poet of the day. Taboada, who writes for
_El Madrid Comico_, the nearest approach to our _Punch_, is nothing
if not vulgar. _Blanco y Negro_ is a fairly successful attempt of
humour with propriety. The famous periodical, _El Padre Cobos_, is
not represented here as (it appeared in the years 1854-56) it cannot
be considered to belong to the present day. It is, moreover, purely
political.
OSSORIO Y BERNARD, MANUEL (nineteenth century). A humbler member of
the _Spectator_ school, or “autores de costumbres.”
PALACIO VALDÉS, ARMANDO (nineteenth century). One of the Spanish
novelists of the day, and of great popularity, especially in America,
where nearly all his novels have been translated into English. “Sister
Saint Sulpice” is perhaps his masterpiece. Of his later novels,
“Froth” should be avoided as a disagreeable work, and no true picture
of aristocratic Spanish circles. “El Maestrante,” the last work of
this author, is to be brought out shortly by Mr. Heinemann.
PARDO BAZAN, EMILIA, native of Corunna, September 16, 1851, married in
1868, is one of the most gifted women of the times, and in fame the
Madame de Staël of Spain. She belongs to the Naturalistic school of
novelists; does not, however, lack tinges of idealism. Her critical
power is manifest in the review, _El Teatro Critico_, for three years
the product of her pen alone, and the issuing of which, it is to be
regretted, she has—owing to stress of work—suspended for this year
(1894). She is, furthermore, editor of a series of works of special
reference to women (whether of fiction, or of scientific, historical,
and philosophical interest), for which she has already translated John
Stuart Mill’s “The Subjection of Women,” while she promises, among other
volumes, a Spanish version of “Adam Bede.” The little tale “First
Love” is given here as being suitable for this volume, rather than
as typical of Doña Emilia’s pen. Her works are too numerous to be here
recounted.
“PEDIGREE OF FOOLS.” This was versified at a later date.
PÉREZ GALDOS, BENITO, born in Las Palmas (the Canary Isles) in 1845,
came to Madrid in 1863, where he took his degree in law. His fame
rests upon the “Epistodios Nacionales,” in which, following in the
steps of Erckmann-Chatrian, he illustrates his national history in
a series of romances. The first series, to which the volume “Gerona”
belongs, covers the period from the battle of Trafalgar to the entry
of Ferdinand VII. into Spain (1814). Unlike his French prototypes,
Pérez Galdos is furnished with no small amount of humour. In “Gerona”
the grim horrors of the siege are well contrasted by passages, such as
those given, and a third, in which the two boys Manolet and Badolet
catch rats in the cellars, in danger themselves of being devoured by
the army of famishing rodents, which are led by a huge fat rat, abused
by the boys under the name of Napoleon, and which they finally catch
and propose to sell in the market for at least ten reals (2s.) Pérez
Galdos changes his residence according to the scenes of the subject at
which he is working, and is at present at Santander.
PINEDO, LUIS DE. See _Book of Jokes_.
“POEMA DEL CID.” This grand old poem, unquestionably the oldest in
the Spanish language, is by Sanchez, who first published it in 1779,
given as early a date as the middle of the twelfth century, about
fifty years after the death of the Cid. Some spirited fragmentary
translations by Mr. John Hookham Frere are appended to the early
edition of Southey’s “Chronicle of the Cid,” and the whole laid before
the reader in verse and somewhat epitomised prose by Mr. John Ormsby,
whose work is invaluable to English students of the poem, not only
for its true rendering, but for the fine introduction. An attempt at
old ballad language and style may perhaps be excused in the extract
selected, by reason that this, the most humorous incident in the poem,
had unfortunately not been put into verse by either Mr. Hookham or
Mr. Ormsby, and a fresh departure seemed desirable to avoid invidious
comparison. The passage, alas! is also considerably abridged to suit
the requirements of the present volume. For the rendering of the old
Spanish I have to thank the valuable tuition of Señor Don José Balari
y Jovany, of the University of Barcelona, to whom, as a philologist
of no small merit, attention has already been drawn in England. The
following passage is from Ford’s “Guide to Spain”—Burgos Cathedral. “In
the ante-room of the chapter-house is preserved _El Cofre del Cid_, a
trunk clamped with iron, and now attached to the north wall, which the
Cid filled with sand, and then pledged to the Jews as full of gold,
for a loan of 600 marks, which he afterwards honestly repaid.”
POLO, JACINTO, flourished in 1630, and is known as the composer of
some lyrical poetry and author of prose satires in the style of Quevedo’s
Visions. It has, however, been doubted by Gayangos and other critics
if “The University of Love and School of Interest,” from which Ticknor
gives the extract “Aunts,” was written by Polo.
POPULAR SONGS. Long romances or ballads, like those of the olden
times, are also sung in the streets of Spain by the blind minstrels.
The so-called popular songs are, however, of the kind here given,
which bear a strong family likeness to the _stornelli_ and _rispetti_
of the Italian peasantry, and which, illustrating the origin of the
word _ballad_, are danced to. The verses often embody quaint conceits.
The stones in the pavement quarrelling over which should be trodden
on by a fair maid is not very far-fetched for a Spanish compliment.
A Spanish lover will adore anything that has the remotest connection
to his lady-love, and a record “flor” (flower = sweet saying) which
hails from South America is, “Blessed be even the razor with which
your father shaves himself.” The accompaniment to the songs is in
dancing rhythm thrummed on the ubiquitous guitar, and often marked by
the castanets of the dancers, or, in Oriental fashion, by the clapping
of hands of the bystanders. The air sung consists of three or four
phrases at most, each a combination of nasally intoned, long-sustained
notes ending in odd twists and turns.
PORTUGUESE EPITAPHS. The Castilians always sharpen their wits on
the Portuguese, who, together with the Biscayans, are laughed at
for their simplicity. The Portuguese is also accused of a love of
brag. This joking is carried so far that, to take off the poor
Portuguese, anecdotes and epitaphs (as in those selected) are written
in the Portuguese language by Spaniards. The Andalusian also plays
the braggart, and is a reputed payer of fantastic and exaggerated
compliments (_flores_) to the fair sex. The Gallegan is credited with
the shrewdness of the Yorkshireman.
PROVERBS. Many of these “wise sayings drawn from long experience,” to
which the Spanish people are especially addicted, are given in the
English rendering of an old book on Spanish proverbs in the library of
the British Museum.
QUEVEDO, FRANCISCO GOMEZ DE, the eminent Spanish satirist, was born
of a distinguished family at Madrid, 1580. He was sent early to the
University of Alcalá, where he took his degree at the age of fifteen.
He mixed much in fashionable society, but in consequence of a duel
he was compelled to quit the court and repair to Naples, where he
was received by the Spanish envoy, the Duke of Osuna, who not only
retained him in his service, but procured his pardon at Madrid. On
the fall of his patron Quevedo returned to court; but scarcely had
he arrived there when he was arrested, and confined for three years
to his country seat, upon the charge of being the author of certain
libels against the Government. In 1641 he was again arrested on the
charge of libel, and cast into prison, where he remained for nearly
two years. He died sometime after his release in September, 1645.
Quevedo was undoubtedly one of the best writers of his age, both in
prose and verse. His longest prose satire, “The History and Life of
the Great Sharper, Paul of Segovia,” first printed in 1626, belongs to
the style of fiction invented by Mendoza in his “Lazarillo,” and has
most of the characteristics of its class. His “Sueños,” or Visions,
are equally famous, and are extremely original. His works were
translated into English by Sir Roger L’Estrange, and passed through about
ten editions in forty years, and again by Stevens about the close of
the last century. This most original of Spanish writers (excepting
Cervantes) distinguished himself by his extraordinary versatility of
talent. His poems, collected under the title of “El Parnaso Español,”
consist of lyrical poems, satires, burlesque pieces, and more than a
thousand sonnets of remarkable beauty.
RIBOT Y FONTSERRÉ. The tales current abroad of the eccentricities of
Englishmen are many. A Spaniard will gravely tell a tale of how an
Englishman, after a serious railway accident on the Continent, in
which his valet was killed, gathered together the fragments of the
latter’s body, packed them in the man’s trunk, and despatched this to the
family of the deceased. The tale of the somewhat Dundrearyesque lord
may, however, be based on fact, for the story is known in England. It
is here given from a Spanish humorous publication of the first half
of this century. A veteran in journalism like Mr. Sala would probably
know the origin, and name the hero of the story.
ROJAS, FRANCISCO DE (ROJAS Y ZORRILLA), flourished during the greater
part of Calderon’s life, and may have survived him. He was born in
Toledo, and in 1641 was made a Knight of the Order of Santiago; but
when he died is not known. Unless he began his career too early to be
a mere follower, he certainly belongs to Calderon’s school. He is perhaps
most successful in tragedies, of which the best play is “None below
the King.” This work still maintains a position on the stage, and is
worth reading if only as an example of the extraordinary sense of
honour and allegiance entertained by Spaniards in those past times.
RUEDA, LOPE DE, is the author of four comedias, two pastoral
colloquies (“Timbria” is one), and minor works, all written for
representation, and which were unquestionably acted before public
audiences by the strolling company Lope de Rueda led about. The period
in which he flourished is probably between 1544 and 1567. In spite of
belonging to the then despised and rejected profession of the stage,
he was interred with honour in the great cathedral of Cordova.
SANTOS, FRANCESCO, a native of Madrid, died not far from the year
1700. Between 1663 and 1697 he gave to the world sixteen volumes of
different kinds of works for the popular amusement. The oldest of the
series is “Dia y Noche en Madrid,” the hero of which, a stranger,
falls into the hands of a not over-honest servant, who undertakes to
serve as guide to him in Madrid. “Truth on the Rack; or, the Cid come
to Life again,” is an allegorical work (from it the tale “La Tarasca”
is drawn), and is amusing in that the Cid on his return to earth is
much disgusted with the traditions and ballads about himself.
SEGOVIA, ANTONIO MARIA, who signed his articles with the pseudonym
“The Student,” has the fame of being the most classic in style of the
Spanish periodical essayists of the nineteenth century.
SELGAS Y CARRASCO, JOSÉ, was born in Murcia in 1824, and died at
Madrid, 1882. He was one of the contributors to the famous periodical
_El Padre Cobos_, and exhibits an inimitable serious humour in his
volumes of “Loose Leaves” (“Hojas Sueltas”).
TIMONEDA, JUAN DE, a bookseller, one of the founders of the popular
theatre in Spain, flourished in the year 1590. He was also an early
writer of Spanish tales, his first attempt being “Patrañuelo,” a small
work which drew its material from widely different sources—some being
found in the Gesta Romanorum, others, like the story of Griselda, from
Boccaccio, another, familiar to English readers by the ballad of “King
John and the Abbot of Canterbury,” probably from Sacchetti. Timoneda
was a friend of Lope de Rueda, whose works he edited.
TRUEBA, ANTONIO DE, born Christmas, 1819 (?), of poor and respectable
parents, within the jurisdiction of the province of Biscay, was
sent, at the age of fifteen, to work in a hardware store in Madrid,
where he spent all his spare time and hours, stolen from sleep, in
reading and writing, until he began to publish, and finally dedicated
himself wholly to literature. He is the exponent of humble Spanish
life, especially of the country people, and if he is somewhat too
rose-coloured in his views, it is, perhaps, not an unpardonable fault.
His collection of popular songs was received with enthusiasm, and
though he is now out of vogue as an author, the songs and his prose
works, of which most are based upon folk-tales, will always be of
value for the researches of Folk-lore.
VALERA, JUAN, was born in the province of Cordova on October 18, 1824.
He had aristocratic connections, and was early in life enrolled in
the diplomatic service, to which he owes his great familiarity with
European literature. He subsequently entered politics, and until the
age of forty-two had been able to give up to authorship but his hours
of leisure, to which we owe his critical studies and translations.
“Pepita Jiménez,” his first novel, was produced in 1874, and was a
“success unparalleled in the history of modern Spanish literature.” To
continue in the words of Mr. Edmund Gosse:—“This book still remains,
after the large development of fiction in Spain, the principal, the
typical Spanish novel of our days.... It has become a classic in
the lifetime of its author, and is studied, imitated, analysed as
a book which has passed beyond all danger of the vicissitudes of
fashion, and which will unquestionably survive as one of the glories
of the national literature.... ‘Pepita Jiménez’ is Spain itself in
a microcosm—Spain with its fervour, its sensual piety, its rhetoric
and hyperbole, its superficial passion, its mysticism, its graceful
extravagance.” Later novels are “El Comendador Mendoza,” “Doña Luz,”
and “Doctor Faustino.” Valera occupies a pre-eminent position as
politician, journalist, author, and critic, and is at present at
Vienna as Spanish ambassador to the Austrian Court.
VICENTE, GIL, a Portuguese, but who ranks among Spanish dramatists, as
he wrote ten plays in Castilian. (It was a not uncommon practice for
Portuguese authors to employ Castilian. Saa de Miranda, the pastoral
poet and contemporary of Gil Vicente, wrote six of his eight eclogues
in the more sonorous Castilian.) Gil Vicente flourished as a writer
for the stage from 1506 to 1536; died in 1557.
YRIARTE (IRIARTE), TOMAS DE, born on the island of Tenerife in 1750,
but educated mostly at Madrid, owes his reputation chiefly to his
literary fables, the influence of which was much needed in the age of
bad writing in which they appeared, and in which he showed originality
by adapting the attributes of animals to only one class of men,
namely, authors, and not mankind at large, as had always been done
before. Yriarte died in 1791.
ZAYAS Y SOTOMAYOR, MARIA DE. The only information we can gather
respecting this lady is founded on the authority of the industrious
bibliographer, Nicolas Antonio, who assures us that she was a native
of Madrid, and that she composed two series of novels, under the
titles of “Novelas Amorosas i exemplares,” and “Novelas i Seraos.”
She is also mentioned by Lope de Vega in his “Laurel de Apolo” in
very flattering terms. The style and character of this write novels
exhibit much of the ease and elegance, with no little of the freedom,
of Boccaccio; they abound with incident, both humorous and tragic, and
with chivalric or amorous adventure. With little artifice, however,
in the plot, and less study of character, there are some striking and
effective scenes; while the situations are often well conceived, and
the suspense is maintained throughout so as to please or surprise us.
“The Miser Chastised” is perhaps the only one of her novels in which
the writer wholly adopts a comic tone and spirit, without any touches
of a more sentimental kind. With some humour, this story combines
considerable ease and originality. Under the same title as the
foregoing appeared a drama from the pen of Don Juan de la Hoz Mota, a
Spanish dramatic writer of some celebrity, who succeeded in exposing
the vice of avarice on the stage in strong and natural colours, and
with such bold and happy strokes of ridicule, as almost to merit its
being placed in the same rank with the famous “Avare” of Molière
(Thomas Roscoe). Doña Maria de Zayas, flourished in the year 1637.
ZORRILLA, JOSÉ, born at Valladolid, February 21, 1817, poet _par
excellence_ of traditionary and legendary subjects, has for years been
prime favourite of the Spanish people, and his inexhaustible vein of
poetry showed but scanty signs of diminishing even in the last years
of a hoary old age. His most popular work, “Don Juan Tenorio” (1844),
a drama in verse treating of the notorious Don Juan, hero of Tirso de
Molina’s “Seville Deceiver,” of Byron’s poem, and Mozart’s opera, is
a masterpiece of harmonious and flowing verse, and of fine dramatic
effect. It is played annually in every town where there is a theatre
throughout all Spain on the eve of All Saints’ Day, when the scene in
which the bodies rise from their graves and come to the banquet of Don
Juan and his boon companions upon the former’s blasphemous invitation
is awaited with breathless horror by crowded houses. Other long poems
are the “Legend of the Cid,” and “The Cobbler and the King.” Zorrilla
died the 23rd of January, 1893.
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“Marks a step of some importance in the study of some difficult
physiological and psychological problems which have not yet received
much attention in the scientific world of England.”—_Nature._
X. MANUAL TRAINING. By Dr. C. M. WOODWARD, Director of the Manual
Training School, St. Louis. Illustrated.
“There is no greater authority on the subject than Professor
Woodward.”—_Manchester Guardian._
XI. THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. By E. SIDNEY HARTLAND.
“Mr. Hartland’s book will win the sympathy of all earnest students, both
by the knowledge it displays, and by a thorough love and appreciation
of his subject, which is evident throughout.”—_Spectator._
XII. PRIMITIVE FOLK. By ELIE RECLUS.
“An attractive and useful introduction to the study of some aspects of
ethnography.”—_Nature._
XIII. THE EVOLUTION OF MARRIAGE. By Professor LETOURNEAU.
“Among the distinguished French students of sociology, Professor
Letourneau has long stood in the first rank. He approaches the great
study of man free from bias and shy of generalisations. To collect,
scrutinise, and appraise facts is his chief business. In the volume
before us he shows these qualities in an admirable degree.”—_Science._
XIV. BACTERIA AND THEIR PRODUCTS. By Dr. G. SIMS WOODHEAD.
Illustrated. Second Edition.
“An excellent summary of the present state of knowledge of the
subject.”—_Lancet._
XV. EDUCATION AND HEREDITY. By J. M. GUYAU.
“It is at once a treatise on sociology, ethics, and pedagogics. It
is doubtful whether, among all the ardent evolutionists who have had
their say on the moral and the educational question, any one has
carried forward the new doctrine so boldly to its extreme logical
consequence.”—Professor SULLY in _Mind_.
XVI. THE MAN OF GENIUS. By Prof. LOMBROSO. Illustrated.
“By far the most comprehensive and fascinating collection of facts
and generalisations concerning genius which has yet been brought
together.”—_Journal of Mental Science._
XVII. THE HISTORY OF THE EUROPEAN FAUNA. By R. F. SCHARFF, B.Sc.,
Ph.D., F.Z.S. Illustrated.
XVIII. PROPERTY: ITS ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT. By CH. LETOURNEAU, General
Secretary to the Anthropological Society, Paris, and Professor in the
School of Anthropology, Paris.
“M. Letourneau has read a great deal, and he seems to us to have
selected and interpreted his facts with considerable judgment and
learning.”—_Westminster Review._
XIX. VOLCANOES, PAST AND PRESENT. By Prof. EDWARD HULL, LL.D., F.R.S.
“A very readable account of the phenomena of volcanoes and
earthquakes.”—_Nature._
XX. PUBLIC HEALTH. By Dr. J. F. J. SYKES. With numerous Illustrations.
“Not by any means a mere compilation or a dry record of details
and statistics, but it takes up essential points in evolution,
environment, prophylaxis, and sanitation bearing upon the preservation
of public health.”—_Lancet._
XXI. MODERN METEOROLOGY. AN ACCOUNT OF THE GROWTH AND PRESENT CONDITION
OF SOME BRANCHES OF METEOROLOGICAL SCIENCE. By FRANK WALDO, Ph.D.,
Member of the German and Austrian Meteorological Societies, etc.; late
Junior Professor, Signal Service, U.S.A. With 112 Illustrations.
“The present volume is the best on the subject for general use that we
have seen.”—_Daily Telegraph_ (London).
XXII. THE GERM-PLASM: A THEORY OF HEREDITY. By AUGUST WEISMANN,
Professor in the University of Freiburg-in-Breisgau. With 24
Illustrations. $2.50.
“There has been no work published since Darwin’s own books which has so
thoroughly handled the matter treated by him, or has done so much to
place in order and clearness the immense complexity of the factors
of heredity, or, lastly, has brought to light so many new facts and
considerations bearing on the subject.”—_British Medical Journal._
XXIII. INDUSTRIES OF ANIMALS. By E. F. HOUSSAY. With numerous
Illustrations.
“His accuracy is undoubted, yet his facts out-marvel all romance.
These facts are here made use of as materials wherewith to form the
mighty fabric of evolution.”—_Manchester Guardian._
XXIV. MAN AND WOMAN. By HAVELOCK ELLIS. Illustrated. Fourth and Revised
Edition.
“Mr. Havelock Ellis belongs, in some measure, to the continental
school of anthropologists; but while equally methodical in the
collection of facts, he is far more cautious in the invention of
theories, and he has the further distinction of being not only
able to think, but able to write. His book is a sane and impartial
consideration, from a psychological and anthropological point of view,
of a subject which is certainly of primary interest.”—_Athenæum._
XXV. THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN CAPITALISM. By JOHN A. HOBSON, M.A. (New
and Revised Edition.)
“Every page affords evidence of wide and minute study, a weighing of
facts as conscientious as it is acute, a keen sense of the importance
of certain points as to which economists of all schools have hitherto
been confused and careless, and an impartiality generally so great as
to give no indication of his [Mr. Hobson’s] personal sympathies.”—_Pall
Mall Gazette._
XXVI. APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE. By FRANK PODMORE, M.A.
“A very sober and interesting little book.... That
thought-transference is a real thing, though not perhaps a very common
thing, he certainly shows.”—_Spectator._
XXVII. AN INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY. By Professor C. LLOYD
MORGAN. With Diagrams.
“A strong and complete exposition of Psychology, as it takes shape in
a mind previously informed with biological science.... Well written,
extremely entertaining, and intrinsically valuable.”—_Saturday Review._
XXVIII. THE ORIGINS OF INVENTION: A STUDY OF INDUSTRY AMONG PRIMITIVE
PEOPLES. By OTIS T. MASON, Curator of the Department of Ethnology in
the United States National Museum.
“A valuable history of the development of the inventive
faculty.”—_Nature._
XXIX. THE GROWTH OF THE BRAIN: A STUDY OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM IN
RELATION TO EDUCATION. By HENRY HERBERT DONALDSON, Professor of
Neurology in the University of Chicago.
“We can say with confidence that Professor Donaldson has executed his
work with much care, judgment, and discrimination.”—_The Lancet._
XXX. EVOLUTION IN ART: AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE LIFE-HISTORIES OF
DESIGNS. By Professor ALFRED C. HADDON. With 130 Illustrations.
“It is impossible to speak too highly of this most unassuming and
invaluable book.”—_Journal of Anthropological Institute._
XXXI. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE EMOTIONS. By TH. RIBOT, Professor at the
College of France, Editor of the _Revue Philosophique_.
“Professor Ribot’s treatment is careful, modern, and adequate.”—_Academy._
XXXII. HALLUCINATIONS AND ILLUSIONS: A STUDY OF THE FALLACIES OF
PERCEPTION. By EDMUND PARISH.
“This remarkable little volume.”—_Daily News._
XXXIII. THE NEW PSYCHOLOGY. By E. W. SCRIPTURE, Ph.D. (Leipzig). With
124 Illustrations.
XXXIV. SLEEP: ITS PHYSIOLOGY, PATHOLOGY, HYGIENE, AND PSYCHOLOGY. By
MARIE DE MANACEÏNE (St. Petersburg). Illustrated.
XXXV. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF DIGESTION. By A. LOCKHART GILLESPIE, M.D.,
F.R.C.P. ED., F.R.S. ED. With a large number of Illustrations and
Diagrams.
“Dr. Gillespie’s work is one that has been greatly needed. No
comprehensive collation of this kind exists in recent English
Literature.”—_American Journal of the Medical Sciences._
XXXVI. DEGENERACY: ITS CAUSES, SIGNS, AND RESULTS. By Professor EUGENE
S. TALBOT, M.D., Chicago. With Illustrations.
“The author is bold, original, and suggestive, and his work is a
contribution of real and indeed great value, more so on the whole than
anything that has yet appeared in this country.”—_American Journal of
Psychology._
XXXVII. THE RACES OF MAN: A SKETCH OF ETHNOGRAPHY AND ANTHROPOLOGY. By
J. DENIKER. With 178 Illustrations.
“Dr. Deniker has achieved a success which is well-nigh
phenomenal.”—_British Medical Journal._
XXXVIII. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGION. AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF THE GROWTH
OF RELIGIOUS CONSCIOUSNESS. By EDWIN DILLER STARBUCK Ph.D., Assistant
Professor of Education, Leland Stanford Junior University.
“No one interested in the study of religious life and experience can
afford to neglect this volume.”—_Morning Herald._
XXXIX. THE CHILD: A STUDY IN THE EVOLUTION OF MAN. By Dr. ALEXANDER
FRANCIS CHAMBERLAIN, M.A., Ph.D., Lecturer on Anthropology in Clark
University, Worcester (Mass.). With Illustrations.
“The work contains much curious information, and should be studied by
those who have to do with children.”—_Sheffield Daily Telegraph._
XL. THE MEDITERRANEAN RACE. By Professor SERGI. With over 100
Illustrations.
“M. Sergi has given us a lucid and complete exposition of his views on
a subject of supreme interest.”—_Irish Times._
XLI. THE STUDY OF RELIGION. By MORRIS JASTROW, Jun., Ph.D., Professor
in the University of Pennsylvania.
“This work presents a careful survey of the subject, and forms an
admirable introduction to any particular branch of it.”—_Methodist
Times._
XLII. HISTORY OF GEOLOGY AND PALÆONTOLOGY TO THE END OF THE NINETEENTH
CENTURY. By KARL VON ZITTEL.
“It is a very masterly treatise, written with a wide grasp of recent
discoveries.”—_Publishers’ Circular._
XLIII. THE MAKING OF CITIZENS: A STUDY IN COMPARATIVE EDUCATION. By R.
E. HUGHES, M.A. (Oxon.), B.Sc. (Lond.).
“Mr. Hughes gives a lucid account of the exact position of Education
in England, Germany, France, and the United Stales. The statistics
present a clear and attractive picture of the manner in which one of
the greatest questions now at issue is being solved both at home and
abroad.”—_Standard._
XLIV. MORALS: A TREATISE ON THE PSYCHO-SOCIOLOGICAL BASES OF ETHICS. By
PROFESSOR G. L. DUPRAT. Translated by W. J. GREENSTREET, M.A., F.R.A.S.
“The present work is representative of the modern departure in the
treatment of the theory of morals. The author brings a wide knowledge
to bear on his subject.”—_Education._
XLV. A STUDY OF RECENT EARTHQUAKES. By CHARLES DAVISON, D.SC, F.G.S.
With Illustrations.
“Dr. Davison has done his work well.”—_Westminster Gazette._
* XLVI. MODERN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. By DR. C. A. KEANE, D.SC., PH.D.,
F.I.C. With Diagrams. *
IBSEN’S DRAMAS.
EDITED BY WILLIAM ARCHER.
THREE PLAYS TO THE VOLUME.
12mo, CLOTH, PRICE $1.25 PER VOLUME.
“_We seem at last to be shown men and women as they are; and at first
it is more than we can endure.... All Ibsen’s characters speak and act
as if they were hypnotised, and under their creator’s imperious demand
to reveal themselves. There never was such a mirror held up to nature
before: it is too terrible.... Yet we must return to Ibsen, with his
remorseless surgery, his remorseless electric-light, until we, too,
have grown strong and learned to face the naked—if necessary, the
flayed and bleeding—reality._”—SPEAKER (London).
VOL. I. “A DOLL’S HOUSE,” “THE LEAGUE OF YOUTH,” and “THE PILLARS OF
SOCIETY.” With Portrait of the Author, and Biographical Introduction
by WILLIAM ARCHER.
VOL. II. “GHOSTS,” “AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE,” and “THE WILD DUCK.” With
an Introductory Note.
VOL. III. “LADY INGER OF ÖSTRÅT,” “THE VIKINGS AT HELGELAND,” “THE
PRETENDERS.” With an Introductory Note.
VOL. IV. “EMPEROR AND GALILEAN.” With an Introductory Note by WILLIAM
ARCHER.
VOL. V. “ROSMERSHOLM,” “THE LADY FROM THE SEA,” “HEDDA GABLER.”
Translated by WILLIAM ARCHER. With an Introductory Note.
VOL. VI. “PEER GYNT: A DRAMATIC POEM.” Authorised Translation by
WILLIAM and CHARLES ARCHER.
The sequence of the plays in _each volume_ is chronological; the
complete set of volumes comprising the dramas thus presents them in
chronological order.
“The art of prose translation does not perhaps enjoy a very high
literary status in England, but we have no hesitation in numbering
the present version of Ibsen, so far as it has gone (Vols. I.
and II.), among the very best achievements, in that kind, of our
generation.”—_Academy._
“We have seldom, if ever, met with a translation so absolutely
idiomatic.”—_Glasgow Herald._
* THIS IS THE BEST AND CHEAPEST EDITION OF IBSEN.
NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: See note on _Isla_.]
[Footnote 2: See note on _Newspaper Humour_.]
[Footnote 3: Blanco Garcia, the latest authority upon modern Spanish
literature, ignores the English periodical essayists, and ascribes the
introduction of this style of literature into Spain to the amusing and
humorous work, “Ermite de la Chaussée d’Antin,” of M. de Jouy (d. 1846),
which work, however, was, according to Gustave Masson, written in
imitation of the _Spectator_.]
[Footnote 4: This last edition of 1863, enlarged and corrected by
reference to a German annotated translation and to the Spanish
translation (with ample notes) of his first edition by Don Pascual de
Gayangos and Enrique de Vedia.]
[Footnote 5: That a canoness is a woman who enjoys a prebend, without
being obliged to make any vows, or renounce the world, may be unknown
to some readers.]
[Footnote 6: Meaning, of course, the sun.]
[Footnote 7: Does not appear in this extract.]
[Footnote 8: Don Lope de Figuerroa, who figures also in the _Amar
despues de la Muerte_, was (says Mr. Ticknor) “the commander under whom
Cervantes served in Italy, and probably in Portugal, when he was in the
_Tercio de Flandes_, the Flanders regiment, one of the best bodies of
troops in the armies of Philip II.,” and the very one now advancing,
with perhaps Cervantes in it, to Zalamea.]
[Footnote 9: Count Julian, governor of the provinces on both sides
of the Straits of Gibraltar, to avenge himself on King Roderick for
dishonouring his daughter, the famous La Cava (also called Florinda) of
the Spanish ballads, invited (711 A.D.) the Moors into Spain.]
[Footnote 10: The street singers of Spain are invariably recruited from
the large army of the blind.]
[Footnote 11: A stick about a foot in length, wound round with gay
ribbon or strips of coloured paper, and with a barbed dart at the
point. The great feat is to stick a pair of banderillas, at one and the
same time, one in each side of the bull, just above the shoulder.]
[Footnote 12: San Antonio is the patron saint of animals (St. Anthony
and his pig), and reference to this saint is a favourite Spanish jest.
To tell a youth his saint’s day is St. Anthony is equal to saying, “You
are a donkey.”]
[Footnote 13: Garbanzos—chick-peas.]
[Footnote 14: A generous red wine.]
[Footnote 15: “_La reja._” In Spanish houses the large casements of
the ground floor are all heavily barred, permitting the windows in the
hot weather to be wide open without fear of intrusion. _La reja_ is to
Spain in æsthetic value (with regard to love scenes) what the balcony
is to Italy.]
[Footnote 16: _Solemnisima coquetuela._]
[Footnote 17: The Giralda is the celebrated cathedral tower of Seville,
built by a Moor 1196.]
[Footnote 18: The Cid’s famous charger.]
[Footnote 19: The Spanish Ellen Terry.]