would be sufficient if each had a small porter's bag of linen, either
new or second-hand, so it was but clean, with three palm-baskets, two
large and one small, wherein to carry the meat, fish, and fruit
purchased by their employers, while the bag was to be used for carrying
the bread. He took them to where all these things were sold; they
supplied themselves out of the plunder of the Frenchman, and in less
than two hours they might have been taken for regular graduates in their
new profession, so deftly did they manage their baskets, and so jauntily
carry their bags. Their instructor furthermore informed them of the
different places at which they were to make their appearance daily: in
the morning at the shambles, and at the market of St. Salvador; on
fast-days at the fish-market; every afternoon on the quay, and on
Thursdays at the fair.
All these lessons the two friends carefully stored in their memory, and
the following morning both repaired in good time to the market of St.
Salvador. Scarcely had they arrived before they were remarked by numbers
of young fellows of the trade, who soon perceived, by the shining
brightness of their bags and baskets, that they were new beginners. They
were assailed with a thousand questions, to all which they replied with
great presence of mind and discretion. Presently up came two customers,
one of whom had the appearance of a Student, the other was a Soldier;
both were attracted by the clean and new appearance of their baskets;
and he who seemed to be a student beckoned Cortado, while the soldier
engaged Rincon. "In God's name be it!"[13] exclaimed both the novices in
a breath--Rincon adding, "It is a good beginning of the trade, master,
since it is your worship that is giving me my hansel." "The hansel shall
not be a bad one," replied the soldier, "seeing that I have been lucky
at cards of late, and am in love. I propose this day to regale the
friends of my lady with a feast, and am come to buy the materials."
"Load away, then, your worship," replied Rincon, "and lay on me as much
as you please, for I feel courage enough to carry off the whole market;
nay, if you should desire me to aid in cooking what I carry, it shall be
done with all my heart."
[13] This is a formula used in Spain by those who do a thing for the
first time.--_Viardot_.
The soldier was pleased with the boy's ready good-will, and told him
that if he felt disposed to enter his service he would relieve him from
the degrading office he then bore; but Rincon declared, that since this
was the first day on which he had tried it, he was not willing to
abandon the work so soon, or at least until he had seen what profit
there was to be made of it; but if it did not suit him, he gave the
gentleman his word that he would prefer the service offered him even to
that of a Canon.
The soldier laughed, loaded him well, and showed him the house of his
lady, bidding him observe it well that he might know it another time, so
that he might be able to send him there again without being obliged to
accompany him. Rincon promised fidelity and good conduct; the soldier
gave him three quartos,[14] and the lad returned like a shot to the
market, that he might lose no opportunity by delay. Besides, he had been
well advised in respect of diligence by the Asturian, who had likewise
told him that when he was employed to carry small fish, such as sprats,
sardines, or flounders, he might very well take a few for himself and
have the first taste of them, were it only to diminish his expenses of
the day, but that he must do this with infinite caution and prudence,
lest the confidence of the employers should be disturbed; for to
maintain confidence was above all things important in their trade.
[14] The Quarto contains four Maravedis.
But whatever haste Rincon had made to return, he found Cortado at his
post before him. The latter instantly inquired how he had got on. Rincon
opened his hand and showed the three quartos; when Cortado, thrusting
his arm into his bosom, drew forth a little purse which appeared to have
once been of amber-coloured silk, and was not badly filled. "It was with
this," said he, "that my service to his reverence the Student has been
rewarded--with this and two quartos besides. Do you take it, Rincon, for
fear of what may follow."
Cortado had scarcely given the purse in secret to his companion, before
the Student returned in a great heat, and looking in mortal alarm. He no
sooner set eyes on Cortado, than, hastening towards him, he inquired if
he had by chance seen a purse with such and such marks and tokens, and
which had disappeared, together with fifteen crowns in gold pieces,
three double reals, and a certain number of maravedis in quartos and
octavos. "Did you take it from me yourself," he added, "while I was
buying in the market, with you standing beside me?"
To this Cortado replied with perfect composure, "All I can tell you of
your purse is, that it cannot be lost, unless, indeed, your worship has
left it in bad hands."
"That is the very thing, sinner that I am," returned the Student. "To a
certainty I must have left it in bad hands, since it has been stolen
from me." "I say the same," rejoined Cortado, "but there is a remedy for
every misfortune excepting death. The best thing your worship can do
now is to have patience, for after all it is God who has made us, and
after one day there comes another. If one hour gives us wealth, another
takes it away; but it may happen that the man who has stolen your purse
may in time repent, and may return it to your worship, with all the
interest due on the loan."
"The interest I will forgive him," exclaimed the Student; and Cortado
resumed:--"There are, besides, those letters of excommunication, the
Paulinas;[15] and there is also good diligence in seeking for the thief,
which is the mother of success. Of a truth, Sir, I would not willingly
be in the place of him who has stolen your purse; for if your worship
have received any of the sacred orders, I should feel as if I had been
guilty of some great crime--nay of sacrilege--in stealing from your
person."
[15] _Paulinas_ are the letters of excommunication despatched by the
ecclesiastical courts for the discovery of such things as are supposed
to be stolen or maliciously concealed.
"Most certainly the thief has committed a sacrilege," replied the
Student, in pitiable tones; "for although I am not in orders, but am
only a Sacristan of certain nuns, yet the money in my purse was the
third of the income due from a chapelry, which I had been commissioned
to receive by a priest, who is one of my friends, so that the purse
does, in fact, contain blessed and sacred money."
"Let him eat his sin with his bread," exclaimed Rincon at that moment;
"I should be sorry to become bail for the profit he will obtain from it.
There will be a day of judgment at the last, when all things will have
to pass, as they say, through the holes of the colander, and it will
then be known who was the scoundrel that has had the audacity to plunder
and make off with the whole third of the revenue of a chapelry! But tell
me, Mr. Sacristan, on your life, what is the amount of the whole yearly
income?"
"Income to the devil, and you with it,[16]" replied the Sacristan, with
more rage than was becoming; "am I in a humour to talk to you about
income? Tell me, brother, if you know anything of the purse; if not, God
be with you--I must go and have it cried."
[16] (This footnote is missing from the printed edition.)
"That does not seem to me so bad a remedy," remarked Cortado; "but I
warn your worship not to forget the precise description of the purse,
nor the exact sum that it contains; for if you commit the error of a
single mite, the money will never be suffered to appear again while the
world is a world, and that you may take for a prophecy."
"I am not afraid of committing any mistake in describing the purse,"
returned the Sacristan, "for I remember it better than I do the ringing
of my bells, and I shall not commit the error of an atom." Saying this,
he drew a laced handkerchief from his pocket to wipe away the
perspiration which rained down his face as from an alembic; but no
sooner had Cortado set eyes on the handkerchief, than he marked it for
his own.
When the Sacristan had got to a certain distance, therefore, Cortado
followed, and having overtaken him as he was mounting the steps of a
church, he took him apart, and poured forth so interminable a string of
rigmarole, all about the theft of the purse, and the prospect of
recovering it, that the poor Sacristan could do nothing but listen with
open mouth, unable to make head or tail of what he said, although he
made him repeat it two or three times.
Cortado meanwhile continued to look fixedly into the eyes of the
Sacristan, whose own were rivetted on the face of the boy, and seemed to
hang, as it were, on his words. This gave Cortado an opportunity to
finish his job, and having cleverly whipped the handkerchief out of the
pocket, he took leave of the Sacristan, appointing to meet him in the
evening at the same place, for he suspected that a certain lad of his
own height and the same occupation, who was a bit of a thief, had stolen
the purse, and he should be able to ascertain the fact in a few days,
more or less.
Somewhat consoled by this promise, the Sacristan took his leave of
Cortado, who then returned to the place where Rincon had privily
witnessed all that had passed. But a little behind him stood another
basket-boy, who had also seen the whole transaction; and at the moment
when Cortado passed the handkerchief to Rincon, the stranger accosted
the pair.
"Tell me, gallant gentlemen," said he, "are you admitted to the Mala
Entrada,[17] or not?"
[17] _Mala Entrada_, the evil way.
"We do not understand your meaning, noble Sir," replied Rincon.
"How! not entered, brave Murcians?" replied the other.
"We are neither of Murcia[18] nor of Thebes," replied Cortado. "If you
have anything else to say to us, speak; if not, go your ways, and God be
with you."
[18] In the slang dialect of Spain, _Murcian_ and _Murcia_, mean thief,
and the land of thieves.
"Oh, your worships do not understand, don't you?" said the porter; "but
I will soon make you understand, and even sup up my meaning with a
silver spoon. I mean to ask you, gentlemen, are your worships thieves?
But why put the question, since I see well that you are thieves; and it
is rather for you to tell me how it is that you have not presented
yourselves at the custom-house of the Señor Monipodio."
"Do they then pay duty on the right of thieving in this country, gallant
Sir?" exclaimed Rincon.
"If they do not pay duty, at least they make them register themselves
with the Señor Monipodio, who is the father, master, and protector of
thieves; and I recommend you to come with me and pay your respects to
him forthwith, or, if you refuse to do that, make no attempt to exercise
your trade without his mark and pass-word, or it will cost you dearly."
"I thought, for my part," remarked Cortado, "that the profession of
thieving was a free one, exempt from all taxes and port dues; or, at
least, that if we must pay, it is something to be levied in the lump,
for which we give a mortgage upon our shoulders and our necks; but since
it is as you say, and every land has its customs, let us pay due respect
to this of yours; we are now in the first country of the world, and
without doubt the customs of the place must be in the highest degree
judicious. Wherefore your worship may be pleased to conduct us to the
place where this gentleman of whom you have spoken is to be found. I
cannot but suppose, from what you say, that he is much honoured, of
great power and influence, of very generous nature, and, above all,
highly accomplished in the profession."
"Honoured, generous, and accomplished! do you say?" replied the boy:
"aye, that he is; so much so, that during the four years that he has
held the seat of our chief and father, only four of us have suffered at
Finibusterry;[19] some thirty or so, and not more, have lost leather;
and but sixty-two have been lagged."
[19] _In finibus terræ_, that is to say, at the gallows, or garotte,
which to the thief is the end of the earth and all things.
"Truly, Sir," rejoined Rincon, "all this is Hebrew to us; we know no
more about it than we do of flying."
"Let us be jogging, then," replied the new-comer, "and on the way I will
explain to you these and other things, which it is requisite you should
know as pat as bread to mouth;" and, accordingly, he explained to them a
whole vocabulary of that thieves' Latin which they call Germanesco, or
Gerigonza, and which their guide used in the course of his lecture,--by
no means a short one, for the distance they had to traverse was of
considerable length.
On the road, Rincon said to his new acquaintance, "Does your worship
happen to be a Thief?"
"Yes," replied the lad, "I have that honour, for the service of God and
of all good people; but I cannot boast of being among the most
distinguished, since I am as yet but in the year of my novitiate."
"It is news to me," remarked Cortado, "that there are thieves for the
service of God and of good people."
"Señor," the other replied, "I don't meddle with theology; but this I
know, that every one may serve God in his vocation, the more so as daddy
Monipodio keeps such good order in that respect among all his children."
"His must needs be a holy and edifying command," rejoined Rincon, "since
it enjoins thieves to serve God."
"It is so holy and edifying," exclaimed the stranger, "that I don't
believe a better will ever be known in our trade. His orders are that we
give something by way of alms out of all we steal, to buy oil for the
lamp of a highly venerated image, well known in this city; and we have
really seen great things result from that good work. Not many days ago,
one of our _cuatreros_ had to take three _ansias_ for having come the
Murcian over a couple of _roznos_, and although he was but a poor weak
fellow, and ill of the fever to boot, he bore them all without singing
out, as though they had been mere trifles. This we of the profession
attribute to his particular devotion to the Virgin of the Lamp, for he
was so weak, that, of his own strength, he could not have endured the
first _desconcierto_ of the hangman's wrist. But now, as I guess, you
will want to know the meaning of certain words just used; I will take
physic before I am sick--that is to say, give you the explanation before
you ask for it.
"Be pleased to know then, gentlemen, that a _cuatrero_ is a stealer of
cattle, the _ansia_ is the question or torture. _Roznos_--saving your
presence--are asses, and the first _desconcierto_ is the first turn of
the cord which is given by the executioner when we are on the rack. But
we do more than burn oil to the Virgin. There is not one of us who does
not recite his rosary carefully, dividing it into portions for each day
of the week. Many will not steal at all on a Friday, and on Saturdays we
never speak to any woman who is called Mary."
"All these things fill me with admiration," replied Cortado; "but may I
trouble your worship to tell me, have you no other penance than this to
perform? Is there no restitution to make?"
"As to restitution," returned the other, "it is a thing not to be
mentioned; besides, it would be wholly impossible, on account of the
numerous portions into which things stolen have to be divided before
each one of the agents and contractors has received the part due to him.
When all these have had their share, the original thief would find it
difficult to make restitution. Moreover, there is no one to bid us do
anything of that kind, seeing that we do not go to confession. And if
letters of excommunication are out against us, they rarely come to our
knowledge, because we take care not to go into the churches while the
priests are reading them, unless, indeed, it be on the days of Jubilee,
for then we do go, on account of the vast profits we make from the
crowds of people assembled on that occasion."
"And proceeding in this manner," observed Cortado, "your worships think
that your lives are good and holy?"
"Certainly! for what is there bad in them?" replied the other lad! "Is
it not worse to be a heretic or a renegade? or to kill your father or
mother?"
"Without doubt," admitted Cortado; "but now, since our fate has decided
that we are to enter this brotherhood, will your worship be pleased to
step out a little, for I am dying to behold this Señor Monipodio, of
whose virtues you relate such fine things."
"That wish shall soon be gratified," replied the stranger, "nay even
from this place we can perceive his house: but your worships must remain
at the door until I have gone in to see if he be disengaged, since these
are the hours at which he gives audience."
"So be it," replied Rincon; and the thief preceding them for a short
distance, they saw him enter a house which, so far from being handsome,
had a very mean and wretched appearance. The two friends remained at the
door to await their guide, who soon reappeared, and called to them to
come in. He then bade them remain for the present in a little paved
court, or patio,[20] so clean and carefully rubbed that the red bricks
shone as if covered with the finest vermilion. On one side of the court
was a three-legged stool, before which stood a large pitcher with the
lip broken off, and on the top of the pitcher was placed a small jug
equally dilapidated. On the other side lay a rush mat, and in the middle
was a fragment of crockery which did service as the recipient of some
sweet basil.
[20] The _Patio_, familiar to all who have visited Seville, as forming
the centre of the houses, and which serves in summer as the general
sitting-room, so to speak, of the family.
The two boys examined these moveables attentively while awaiting the
descent of the Señor Monipodio, but finding that he delayed his
appearance, Rincon ventured to put his head into one of two small rooms
which opened on the court. There he saw two fencing foils, and two
bucklers of cork hung upon four nails; there was also a great chest, but
without a lid or anything to cover it, with three rush mats extended on
the floor. On the wall in face of him was pasted a figure of Our
Lady--one of the coarsest of prints--and beneath it was a small basket
of straw, with a little vessel of white earthenware sunk into the wall.
The basket Rincon took to be a poor box, for receiving alms, and the
little basin he supposed to be a receptacle for holy water, as in truth
they were.
While the friends thus waited, there came into the court two young men
of some twenty years each; they were clothed as students, and were
followed soon afterwards by two of the basket boys or porters, and a
blind man. Neither spoke a word to the other, but all began to walk up
and down in the court. No long time elapsed before there also came in
two old men clothed in black serge, and with spectacles on their noses,
which gave them an air of much gravity, and made them look highly
respectable: each held in his hand a rosary, the beads of which made a
ringing sound. Behind these men came an old woman wearing a long and
ample gown, who, without uttering a word, proceeded at once to the room
wherein was the figure of Our Lady. She then took holy water with the
greatest devotion, placed herself on her knees before the Virgin, and
after remaining there a considerable time, first kissed the soil thrice,
and then rising, lifted her arms and eyes towards heaven, in which
attitude she remained a certain time longer. She then dropped her alms
into the little wicker case--and that done, she issued forth among the
company in the patio.
Finally there were assembled in the court as many as fourteen persons of
various costumes and different professions. Among the latest arrivals
were two dashing and elegant youths with long moustachios, hats of
immense brims, broad collars, stiffly starched, coloured stockings,
garters with great bows and fringed ends, swords of a length beyond that
permitted by law, and each having a pistol in his belt, with a buckler
hanging on his arm. No sooner had these men entered, than they began to
look askance at Rincon and Cortado, whom they were evidently surprised
to see there, as persons unknown to themselves. At length the new-comers
accosted the two friends, asking if they were of the brotherhood. "We
are so," replied Rincon, "and the very humble servants of your worships
besides."
At this moment the Señor Monipodio honoured the respectable assembly
with his welcome presence. He appeared to be about five or six-and-forty
years old, tall, and of dark complexion; his eyebrows met on his
forehead, his black beard was very thick, and his eyes were deeply sunk
in his head. He had come down in his shirt, through the opening of which
was seen a hairy bosom, as rough and thick set as a forest of brushwood.
Over his shoulders was thrown a serge cloak, reaching nearly to his
feet, which were cased in old shoes, cut down to make slippers; his legs
were covered with a kind of linen gaiters, wide and ample, which fell
low upon his ankles. His hat was that worn by those of the Hampa,
bell-formed in the crown, and very wide in the brim.[21] Across his
breast was a leather baldric, supporting a broad, short sword of the
_perrillo_ fashion.[22] His hands were short and coarse, the fingers
thick, and the nails much flattened: his legs were concealed by the
gaiters, but his feet were of immoderate size, and the most clumsy form.
In short, he was the coarsest and most repulsive barbarian ever beheld.
With him came the conductor of the two friends; who, taking Rincon and
Cortado each by a hand, presented them to Monipodio, saying, "These are
the two good boys of whom I spoke to your worship, Señor Monipodio. May
it please your worship to examine them, and you will see how well they
are prepared to enter our brotherhood." "That I will do willingly,"
replied Monipodio.
[21] The Braves of the Hampa were a horde of ruffians principally
Andalusians; they formed a society ready to commit every species of
wrong and violence.
[22] The _perrillo_, or "little dog," was the mark of Julian del Rey, a
noted armourer of Toledo, by birth a Morisco.
But I had forgotten to say, that when Monipodio had first appeared, all
those who were waiting for him, made a deep and long reverence, the two
dashing cavaliers alone excepted, who did but just touch their hats, and
then continued their walk up and down the court.
Monipodio also began to pace up and down the patio, and, as he did so,
he questioned the new disciples as to their trade, their birthplace, and
their parents. To this Rincon replied, "Our trade is sufficiently
obvious, since we are here before your worship; as to our country, it
does not appear to me essential to the matter in hand that we should
declare it, any more than the names of our parents, since we are not now
stating our qualifications for admission into some noble order of
knighthood."
"What you say, my son, is true, as well as discreet," replied Monipodio;
"and it is, without doubt, highly prudent to conceal those
circumstances; for if things should turn out badly, there is no need to
have placed upon the books of register, and under the sign manual of the
justice-clerk, 'So and so, native of such a place, was hanged, or made
to dance at the whipping-post, on such a day,' with other announcements
of the like kind, which, to say the least of them, do not sound
agreeable in respectable ears. Thus, I repeat, that to conceal the name
and abode of your parents, and even to change your own proper
appellation, are prudent measures. Between ourselves there must,
nevertheless, be no concealment: for the present I will ask your names
only, but these you must give me."
Rincon then told his name, and so did Cortado: whereupon Monipodio said,
"Henceforward I request and desire that you, Rincon, call yourself
Rinconete, and you, Cortado, Cortadillo; these being names which accord,
as though made in a mould, with your age and circumstances, as well as
with our ordinances, which make it needful that we should also know the
names of the parents of our comrades, because it is our custom to have a
certain number of masses said every year for the souls of our dead, and
of the benefactors of our society; and we provide for the payment of the
priests who say them, by setting apart a share of our swag for that
purpose.