[Transcriber's Note: Bold text is surrounded by =equal signs= and
italic text is surrounded by _underscores_.]
Our Little Spanish Cousin
The Little Cousin Series
[Illustration]
Each volume illustrated with six or more full-page plates
in tint. Cloth, 12mo, with decorative cover,
per volume, 60 cents.
[Illustration]
LIST OF TITLES
BY MARY HAZELTON WADE (unless otherwise indicated)
=Our Little African Cousin=
=Our Little Armenian Cousin=
=Our Little Brown Cousin=
=Our Little Canadian Cousin=
By Elizabeth R. Macdonald
=Our Little Chinese Cousin=
By Isaac Taylor Headland
=Our Little Cuban Cousin=
=Our Little Dutch Cousin=
By Blanche McManus
=Our Little English Cousin=
By Blanche McManus
=Our Little Eskimo Cousin=
=Our Little French Cousin=
By Blanche McManus
=Our Little German Cousin=
=Our Little Hawaiian Cousin=
=Our Little Indian Cousin=
=Our Little Irish Cousin=
=Our Little Italian Cousin=
=Our Little Japanese Cousin=
=Our Little Jewish Cousin=
=Our Little Korean Cousin=
By H. Lee M. Pike
=Our Little Mexican Cousin=
By Edward C. Butler
=Our Little Norwegian Cousin=
=Our Little Panama Cousin=
By H. Lee M. Pike
=Our Little Philippine Cousin=
=Our Little Porto Rican Cousin=
=Our Little Russian Cousin=
=Our Little Scotch Cousin=
By Blanche McManus
=Our Little Siamese Cousin=
=Our Little Spanish Cousin=
By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet
=Our Little Swedish Cousin=
By Claire M. Coburn
=Our Little Swiss Cousin=
=Our Little Turkish Cousin=
[Illustration]
L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
New England Building, Boston, Mass.
[Illustration: FERNANDO AND HIS DONKEY.
(_See page 60._)]
Our Little Spanish Cousin
By
Mary F. Nixon-Roulet
_Author of "God, the King, My Brother," "With
a Pessimist in Spain," etc._
_Illustrated by_
Blanche McManus
[Illustration: SPE LABOR LEVIS]
Boston
L. C. Page & Company
_MDCCCCVI_
_Copyright, 1906_
BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
_All rights reserved_
First Impression, July, 1906
_COLONIAL PRESS_
_Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co._
_Boston, U. S. A._
=To=
PAUL AND ANTOINETTE
Preface
WASHED by the blue Mediterranean and kissed by the warm southern sun,
the Iberian Peninsula lies at the southwestern corner of Europe. To
this sunny land of Spain we owe much, for, from its hospitable shores,
aided by her generous queen, Columbus sailed to discover that New World
which is to-day our home. We should therefore be very friendly to the
country which helped him, and American boys and girls should welcome
the coming of Our Little Spanish Cousin.
Contents
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE CHRISTENING 1
II. SCHOOL-DAYS 10
III. A VISIT TO A HACIENDA 19
IV. AT THE ALHAMBRA 33
V. ANTONIO'S STORY 43
VI. THE HOLIDAYS 53
VII. EASTER IN SEVILLA 65
VIII. RAINY DAYS 74
IX. TO THE COUNTRY 87
X. GAMES AND SPORTS 96
XI. A TERTULIA 104
XII. VIVA EL REY! 117
List of Illustrations
PAGE
FERNANDO AND HIS DONKEY (_See page 60_) _Frontispiece_
"THE OWNER PULLED IT UP TO HER WINDOW AGAIN" 6
"THEY PLAYED HIDE AND SEEK THROUGH THE MARBLE HALLS" 40
"ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE TOWN WHO HAD SUCH ANIMALS
DROVE THEM DOWN TO THE CHURCH TO BE BLESSED" 60
"THEIR BODIES SWAYED TO AND FRO IN TIME TO THE MUSIC" 71
"THEY WENT TO THE ALCAZAR GARDENS" 84
Our Little Spanish Cousin
CHAPTER I.
THE CHRISTENING
ONE of the first things which Fernando remembered was the christening
of his little sister. He was five years old and had no other brother or
sister to play with, for Pablo, his wonderful big brother, was away at
the Naval School, and his older sister, Augustia, was at school in the
convent.
When Fernando's nurse told him that he had a little sister he was
delighted, and begged to see her; and when all his relatives on both
sides of the house came to see the baby christened, he was still more
pleased.
Fernando was a little Spanish boy, and in his country a great deal
is thought of kinsfolk, for the Spanish are very warm-hearted and
affectionate. So Fernando was glad to see all his aunts and uncles and
cousins and all the friends who happened to be visiting them at the
time.
Fernando's father, the Señor Don Juan de Guzman, was a courtly
gentleman, and he bowed low over the ladies' hands, and said, "The
house is yours, señora!" to each one; so, as boys generally copy their
fathers, Fernando assured his little cousins that he "placed himself at
their feet," and welcomed them just as politely as his father had the
older folk.
What a wonderful time he had that day! First came the christening in
the great Cathedral which towers above Granada, and in which lie buried
the king and queen, Ferdinand and Isabella, in whose reign Columbus
sailed away from Spain to discover America. The Cathedral was so
grand that it always made Fernando feel very strange and quiet, and
he thought it was shocking that the baby cried when the priest poured
water on her and baptized her, Maria Dolores Concepcion Isabel Inez
Juanita. This seems a long name for such a tiny little mite, but there
was a reason for every single name, and not one could be left out.
Nearly all Spanish children are named Maria, whether boys or girls,
because the Spaniards are devoted to the Virgin Mary, and as the baby
was born on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, she was called
Concepcion. Isabel was for her aunt, and Inez was for her godmother,
and Juanita for her father. Her name did not seem at all long to
Fernando, for his name was Fernando Antonio Maria Allegria Francisco
Ruy Guzman y Ximenez. Every one called him Fernando or Nando, and his
long name had troubled him but once in all his gay little life. That
time he had been naughty and had run away from his _aya_, the nurse who
always watches little Spanish children like a faithful dog, and he had
fallen into the deep ditch beside the great aloe hedge.
The aloes are stalwart plants with long leaves, wide-extending and
saw-toothed, and they are often planted close together so as to make
hedgerows through which cattle cannot pass. The leaves of the aloe are
sometimes a yard long, and they are very useful. From them are made
strong cords, and also the _alpagatas_, or sandals, which the peasants
wear; and the fibres of the leaf are separated from the pulp and made
into many things to wear. The central stem of the aloe grows sometimes
twenty feet high, and it has a number of stems on the ends of which
grow yellow flowers. The leaves are a bluish-green in colour, and look
like long blue swords. The long hedgerows look very beautiful against
the soft blue of the Spanish sky, but little Fernando did not see
anything pretty in them as he lay at the bottom of the ditch, roaring
lustily.
"Who's there?" demanded an American gentleman, who was travelling in
Spain, as he came along on the other side of the hedge, and Fernando
replied, "Fernando Antonio Maria Allegria Francisco Ruy Guzman y
Ximenez!"
"If there's so many of you I should think you could help each other
out," said the American, and when he finally extricated one small boy
he laughed heartily, and said, as he took Fernando home:
"I should think a name like that would topple you over." After that
Fernando always called Americans "the people who laugh."
After the baby was christened, they went home through the narrow
streets of the quaint old town. All the horses wore bells, and, as
they trotted along, the tinkle, tinkle sounded like sleighing-time in
America. The reason for this is that in many places the streets are too
narrow for two carriages to pass, and the bells give warning that a
vehicle is coming, so that the one coming from the opposite direction
may find a wide spot in the road, and there wait till the other
carriage has passed.
[Illustration: "THE OWNER PULLED IT UP TO HER WINDOW AGAIN."]
As the christening party went toward the home of Fernando, it passed
a man driving two or three goats, and he stopped in front of a house,
from a window of which was let down a string and a pail. Into this the
man looked, and taking out a piece of money which lay in the bottom, he
milked the pail full from one of the goats, and the owner pulled it up
to her window again. It seems a strange way to get your morning's milk,
but it is sure to be fresh and sweet, right from the goat, and there is
no chance to put water in it, as milkmen sometimes do in America.
The houses Fernando passed were all painted in many soft colours, and
they had charming little iron balconies, to some of which palm branches
were fastened, blessed palms from the church at Holy Week, which the
Spaniards believe will keep lightning from striking the house.
Fernando's house was much larger than the rest, for his father was a
noble of one of the oldest families in Spain, whose ancestors had done
many splendid things for the state in the olden times. The house had
several balconies, from which hung down long sprays of blossoms, for
every balcony railing was filled with flower-pots. There grew vines and
flowers, nasturtiums, hyacinths, wallflowers, pinks and violets, their
sweet scents filling the air.
When the christening party entered the house, the baby was borne off to
the nursery, and Fernando, no longer a baby, but a big boy with a baby
sister, was allowed to go with the rest to the _patio_, where breakfast
was served.
The _patio_ is one of the most charming things about the real Spanish
houses. It is a court in the centre of the house, larger than an
ordinary room, with a marble floor and a huge awning which protects
from the sun, yet leaves the _patio_ open to the fresh air and sweet
scents of the sunny out-of-doors. All the family gather in the _patio_,
and it is the favourite lounging-place for old and young. In the
_patio_ of the Señor Guzman's house were orange-trees and jasmine, and
all colours of violets bloomed around the marble rim of the fountain,
which was in the centre.
What a wonderful thing that christening feast was to Fernando! There
was much laughing and talking, and such good things to eat!
When all were through eating, little Juanita's health was drunk, and
her godfather proposed her health, and recited a poem he had composed
in her honour.
"Queridita Ahijada!
Plague alecielo qui tu vida
Sea feliz y placentera
Cual arroyo cristalino
Qui atra viesa la pradera
Su Padrino, Francesco."[1]
This very much delighted every one, and so with laughter and merriment
the christening feast was over.
FOOTNOTE:
[1]
"Please God, my little godchild,
That your life as pure may be
As the laughing brook which through the valley,
Runneth ever limpidly.
Your Godfather Francesco
Wishes fervently."