nobly born, who, like another prodigal son, went about various parts of
Spain, Italy, and Flanders, squandering his years and his wealth. At
last, after long peregrinations, his parents being dead and his fortune
spent, he made his appearance in the great city of Seville, where he
found abundant opportunity to get rid of the little he had left. Finding
himself then so bare of money, and not better provided with friends, he
adopted the remedy to which many a spendthrift in that city has
recourse; that is, to betake themselves to the Indies, the refuge of the
despairing sons of Spain, the church of the homeless, the asylum of
homicides, the haven of gamblers and cheats, the general receptacle for
loose women, the common centre of attraction for many, but effectual
resource of very few. A fleet being about to sail for Tierrafirma, he
agreed with the admiral for a passage, got ready his sea-stores and his
shroud of Spanish grass cloth, and embarking at Cadiz, gave his
benediction to Spain, intending never to see it again. The fleet slipped
from its moorings, and, amidst the general glee of its living freight,
the sails were spread to the soft and prosperous gale, which soon wafted
them out of sight of land into the wide domains of the great father of
waters, the ocean.
Our passenger now became very thoughtful, revolving in his memory the
many and various dangers he had passed in the years of his
peregrinations, and the thriftless conduct he had pursued all his life
long. The result of the account to which he thus called himself was a
firm resolution to change his way of life, to keep a much better hold of
whatever wealth God might yet be pleased to bestow upon him, and to
behave with more reserve towards women than he had hitherto done.
The fleet was nearly becalmed whilst the mind of Felipe de Carrizales
was actuated by these reflections. The wind soon after rose and became
so boisterous that Carrizales had enough to do to keep on his legs, and
was obliged to leave off his meditations, and concern himself only with
the affairs of his voyage. It was so prosperous that they arrived
without check or accident at the port of Cartagena. To shorten the
introduction of my narrative and avoid all irrelevant matter, I content
myself with saying that Felipe was about eight-and-forty years of age
when he went to the Indies, and that in the twenty years he remained
there he succeeded, by dint of industry and thrift, in amassing more
than a hundred and fifty thousand crowns. Seeing himself once more rich
and prosperous, he was moved by the natural desire, which all men
experience, to return to his native country. Rejecting therefore great
opportunities for profit which presented themselves to him, he quitted
Peru, where he had amassed his wealth, turned all his money into ingots,
and putting it on board a registered ship, to avoid accidents, returned
to Spain, landed at San Lucar, and arrived at Seville, loaded alike with
years and riches.
Having placed his property in safety, he went in search of his friends,
and found they were all dead. He then thought of retiring to his native
place, and ending his days there, although he had ascertained that death
had not left him one survivor of his kindred; and if, when he went to
the Indies poor and needy, he had no rest from the thoughts that
distracted him in the midst of the wide ocean, he was now no less
assailed by care, but from a different cause. Formerly his poverty would
not let him sleep, and now his wealth disturbed his rest; for riches are
as heavy a burden to one who is not used to them, or knows not how to
employ them, as indigence to one who is continually under its pressure.
Money and the want of it alike bring care; but in the one case the
acquisition of a moderate quantity affords a remedy; the other case
grows worse by further acquisition. Carrizales contemplated his ingots
with anxiety, not as a miser, for, during the few years he had been a
soldier, he had learned to be liberal; but from not knowing what to do
with them; for to hoard them was unprofitable, and keeping them in his
house was offering a temptation to thieves. On the other hand, all
inclination for resuming the anxious life of traffic had died out in
him, and at his time of life his actual wealth was more than enough for
the rest of his days. He would fain have spent them in his native place,
put out his money there to interest, and passed his old age in peace and
quiet, giving what he could to God, since he had given more than he
ought to the world. He considered, however, that the penury of his
native place was great, the inhabitants very needy, and that to go and
live there would be to offer himself as a mark for all the importunities
with which the poor usually harass a rich neighbour, especially when
there is only one in the place to whom they can have recourse in their
distress.
He wanted some one to whom he might leave his property after his death,
and with that view, taking measure of the vigour of his constitution, he
concluded that he was not yet too old to bear the burthen of matrimony.
But immediately on conceiving this notion, he was seized with such a
terrible fear as scattered it like a mist before the wind. He was
naturally the most jealous man in the world, even without being married,
and the mere thought of taking a wife called up such horrible spectres
before his imagination that he resolved by all means to remain a
bachelor.
That point was settled; but it was not yet settled what he should do
with the rest of his life, when it chanced that, passing one day through
a street, he looked up and saw at a window a young girl apparently about
thirteen or fourteen, with a face so very handsome and so very pleasing
in its expression, that poor old Carrizales was vanquished at once, and
surrendered without an effort to the charms of the beautiful Leonora,
for that was the girl's name. Without more ado, he began to string
together a long train of arguments to the following effect:--"This girl
is very handsome, and to judge from the appearance of the house, her
parents cannot be rich. She is almost a child too; assuredly a wife of
her age could not give a husband any uneasiness. Let me see: say that I
marry her; I will keep her close at home, I will train her up to my own
hand, and so fashion her to my wishes that she will never have a thought
beyond them! I am not so old but that I may yet hope to have children to
inherit my wealth. Whether she brings me any dower or not is a matter of
no consideration, since Heaven has given me enough for both, and rich
people should not look for money with a wife, but for enjoyment, for
that prolongs life, whereas jarring discontent between married people
makes it wear out faster than it would do otherwise. So be it then; the
die is cast, and this is the wife whom heaven destines me to have."
Having thus soliloquised, not once but a hundred times on that day, and
the two or three following, Carrizales had an interview with Leonora's
parents, and found that, although poor, they were persons of good birth.
He made known his intention to them, acquainted them with his condition
and fortune, and begged them very earnestly to bestow their daughter
upon him in marriage. They required time to consider his proposal, and
to give him also an opportunity to satisfy himself that their birth and
quality was such as they had stated.
The parties took leave of each other, made the necessary inquiries,
found them satisfactory on both sides, and finally Leonora was betrothed
to Carrizales, who settled upon her twenty thousand ducats, so hotly
enamoured was the jealous old bridegroom. But no sooner had he
pronounced the conjugal "yes," than he was all at once assailed by a
host of rabid fancies; he began to tremble without cause and to find his
cares and anxieties come thicker and faster upon him than ever. The
first proof he gave of his jealous temper was, in resolving that no
tailor should take measure of his betrothed for any of the many wedding
garments he intended to present her. Accordingly, he went about looking
for some other woman, who might be nearly of the same height and figure
as Leonora. He found a poor woman, who seemed suitable for his purpose,
and having had a gown made to her measure, he tried it on his betrothed,
found that it fitted well, and gave orders that it should serve as a
pattern for all the other dresses, which were so many and so rich that
the bride's parents thought themselves fortunate beyond measure, in
having obtained for themselves and their daughter a son-in-law and a
husband so nobly munificent. As for Leonora, she was at her wit's end
with amazement at the sight of such gorgeous finery, for the best she
had ever worn in her life had been but a serge petticoat and a silk
jacket.
The second proof of jealousy given by Felipe was, that he would not
consummate his marriage until he had provided a house after his own
fancy, which he arranged in this singular manner. He bought one for
twelve thousand ducats, in one of the best wards of the city, with a
fountain and pond, and a garden well stocked with orange trees. He put
screens before all the windows that looked towards the street, leaving
them no other prospect than the sky, and did much the same with all the
others in the house. In the gateway next the street, he erected a stable
for a mule, and over it a straw loft, and a room for an old black
eunuch, who was to take care of the mule. He raised the parapets round
the flat roof of the house so high, that nothing could be seen above
them but the sky, and that only by turning one's face upwards. In the
inner door, opening from the gateway upon the quadrangle, he fixed a
turning box like that of a convent, by means of which articles were to
be received from without. He furnished the house in a sumptuous style,
such as would have become the mansion of a great lord; and he bought
four white slave girls, whom he branded in the face, and two negresses.
For the daily supplies of his establishment he engaged a purveyor, who
was to make all the necessary purchases, but was not to sleep in the
house or ever enter it further than to the second door, where he was to
deposit what he had brought in the turning box. Having made these
arrangements, Carrizales invested part of his money in sundry good
securities; part he placed in the bank, and the rest he kept by him to
meet any emergencies that might arise. He also had a master key made for
his whole house; and he laid up a whole year's store of all such things
as it is usual to purchase in bulk at their respective seasons; and
everything being now ready to his mind, he went to his father-in-law's
house and claimed his bride, whom her parents delivered up to him with
no few tears, for it seemed to them as if they were giving her up for
burial.
Leonora knew not, poor young creature, what was before her, but she shed
tears because she saw her parents weep, and taking leave of them with
their blessing, she went to her new home, her husband leading her by the
hand, and her slaves and servants attending her. On their arrival
Carrizales harangued all his domestics, enjoining them to keep careful
watch over Leonora, and by no means, on any pretence whatsoever, to
allow anybody to enter within the second gate, not even the black
eunuch. But the person whom above all others he charged with the safe
keeping and due entertainment of his wife was a dueña of much prudence
and gravity, whom he had taken to be Leonora's monitress, and
superintendent of the whole house, and to command the slaves and two
other maidens of Leonora's age whom he had also added to his family,
that his wife might not be without companions of her own years. He
promised them all that he would treat them so well, and take such care
for their comfort and gratification, that they should not feel their
confinement, and that on holidays they should every one of them without
exception be allowed to go to mass; but so early in the morning that
daylight itself should scarcely have a chance of seeing them. The
servant maids and the slaves promised to obey all his orders cheerfully
and with prompt alacrity and the bride, with a timid shrinking of her
shoulders, bowed her head, and said that she had no other will than that
of her lord and spouse, to whom she always owed obedience.
Having thus laid down the law for the government of his household, the
worthy Estramaduran began to enjoy, as well as he could, the fruits of
matrimony, which, to Leonora's inexperienced taste, were neither
sweet-flavoured nor insipid. Her days were spent with her dueña, her
damsels, and her slaves, who, to make the time pass more agreeably, took
to pampering their palates, and few days passed in which they did not
make lots of things in which they consumed a great deal of honey and
sugar. Their master gladly supplied them with all they could wish for in
that way without stint, for by that means he expected to keep them
occupied and amused, so that they should have no time to think of their
confinement and seclusion. Leonora lived on a footing of equality with
her domestics, amused herself as they did, and even in her simplicity
took pleasure in dressing dolls and other childish pastime. All this
afforded infinite satisfaction to the jealous husband; it seemed to him
that he had chosen the best way of life imaginable, and that it was not
within the compass of human art or malice to trouble his repose:
accordingly his whole care was devoted to anticipating his wife's wishes
by all sorts of presents, and encouraging her to ask for whatever came
into her head, for in everything it should be his pleasure to gratify
her.
On the days she went to mass, which as we have said was before daylight,
her parents attended at church and talked with their daughter in
presence of her husband, who made them such liberal gifts as mitigated
the keenness of their compassion for the secluded life led by their
daughter. Carrizales used to get up in the morning and watch for the
arrival of the purveyor, who was always made aware of what was wanted
for the day by means of a note placed over-night in the turning box.
After the purveyor had come and gone, Carrizales used to go abroad,
generally on foot, locking both entrance doors behind him--that next the
street, and that which opened on the quadrangle,--and leaving the negro
shut up between them. Having despatched his business, which was not
much, he speedily returned, shut himself up in his house, and occupied
himself in making much of his wife and her handmaids, who all liked him
for his placid and agreeable humour, and above all for his great
liberality towards them. In this way they passed a year of novitiate,
and made profession of that manner of life, resolved every one of them
to continue in it to the end of their days; and so it would have been,
if the crafty perturber of the human race had not brought their chaste
purposes to nought, as you shall presently hear.
Now, I ask the most long-headed and wary of my readers, what more could
old Felipe have done in the way of taking precautions for his security,
since he would not even allow that there should be any male animal
within his dwelling? No tom-cat ever persecuted its rats, nor was the
barking of a dog ever heard within its walls; all creatures belonging to
it were of the feminine gender. He took thought by day, and by night he
did not sleep; he was himself the patrol and sentinel of his house, and
the Argus of what he held dear. Never did a man set foot within the
quadrangle; he transacted his business with his friends in the street;
the pictures that adorned his rooms were all female figures, flowers, or
landscapes; his whole dwelling breathed an odour of propriety,
seclusion, and circumspection; the very tales which the maid servants
told by the fireside in the long winter nights, being told in his
presence, were perfectly free from the least tinge of wantonness. Her
aged spouse's silver hairs seemed in Leonora's eyes locks of pure gold;
for the first love known by maidens imprints itself on their hearts like
a seal on melted wax. His inordinate watchfulness seemed to her no more
than the due caution of an experienced and judicious man. She was fully
persuaded that the life she led was the same as that led by all married
women. Her thoughts never wandered beyond the walls of her dwelling, nor
had she a wish that was not the same as her husband's. It was only on
the days she went to mass that she set eyes on the streets, and that was
so early in the morning, that except on the way home she had not light
to look about her. Never was there seen a convent more closely barred
and bolted; never were nuns kept more recluse, or golden apples better
guarded; and yet for all his precautions poor Felipe could not help
falling into the pit he dreaded,--or at least believing that he had so
fallen.
There is in Seville an idle pleasure-seeking class of people who are
commonly called men on town,[80] a sauntering, sprucely dressed,
mellifluous race, always finding means to make, themselves welcome at
rich men's feasts. Of these people, their manners and customs, and the
laws they observe among themselves, I should have much to say, but
abstain from it for good reasons. One of these gallants, a bachelor,--or
a _virote_, as such persons are called in their jargon, the newly
married being styled _matones_,--took notice of the house of Carrizales,
and seeing it always shut close, he was curious to know who lived there.
He set about this inquiry with such ardour and ingenuity, that he failed
not to obtain all the information he desired. He learned the character
and habits of the old man, the beauty of Leonora, and the singular
method adopted by her husband in order to keep her safe. All this
inflamed him with desire to see if it would not be possible, by force or
stratagem, to effect the reduction of so well-guarded a fortress. He
imparted his thoughts to three of his friends, and they all agreed that
he should go to work, for in such an enterprise no one lacks counsellors
to aid and abet him. At first they were at a loss how to set about so
difficult an exploit; but after many consultations they agreed upon the
following plan:--Loaysa (so the virote was named) disappeared from
among his friends, giving out that he was leaving Seville for some time.
Then drawing on a pair of linen drawers and a clean shirt, he put over
them a suit of clothes so torn and patched, that the poorest beggar in
the city would have disdained to wear such rags. He shaved off the
little beard he had, covered one of his eyes with a plaster, tied up one
of his legs, and hobbling along on two crutches, appeared so completely
metamorphosed into a lame beggar, that no real cripple could have looked
less of a counterfeit than he.
[80] "Men on town," _gente de barrio_, literally, people of the ward or
quarter.
In this guise he posted himself closely at the hour of evening prayer
before the door of Carrizales' house, which was fast shut, and Luis the
negro locked up between the two doors. Having taken up his position
there, Loaysa produced a greasy guitar, wanting some of its strings, and
as he was something of a musician, he began to play a few lovely airs,
and to sing Moorish ballads in a feigned voice, with so much expression
that all who were passing through the street stopped to listen. The boys
all made a ring round him when he sang, and Luis the negro, enchanted by
the virote's music, would have given one of his hands to be able to open
the door, and listen to him more at his ease, such is the fondness for
music inherent in the negro race. When Loaysa wanted to get rid of his
audience, he had only to cease singing, put up his guitar, and hobble
away on his crutches.
Loaysa four or five times repeated this serenade to the negro, for whose
sake alone he played and sang, thinking that the way to succeed in his
sap and siege was to begin by making sure of old Luis; nor was his
expectation disappointed. One night when he had taken his place as usual
before the door, and had begun to time his guitar, perceiving that the
negro was already on the alert, he put his lips to the key-hole and
whispered, "Can you give me a drop of water, Luis? I am dying with
thirst, and can't sing."
"No," said the negro, "for I have not the key of this door, and there is
no hole through which I can give you drink."
"Who keeps the key, then?"
"My master, who is the most jealous man in the world; and if he knew
that I was now talking here with any one, it were pity of my life. But
who are you who ask me for water?"
"I am a poor cripple, who get my bread by asking alms of all good people
in God's name; besides which I teach the guitar to some moriscoes, and
other poor people. Among my pupils I have three negroes, slaves to three
aldermen, whom I have taught so well that they are fit to sing and play
at dance or in any tavern, and they have paid me for it very well
indeed."
"A deal better would I pay you to have the opportunity of taking
lessons; but it is not possible, for when my master goes out in the
morning he locks the door behind him, and he does the same when he comes
in, leaving me shut up between two doors."
"I vow to God, Luis, if you would only contrive to let me in a few
nights to give you lessons, in less than a fortnight I would make you
such a dabster at the guitar, that you need not be ashamed to play at
any street corner; for I would have you to know that I have an
extraordinary knack in teaching; moreover, I have heard tell that you
have a very promising capacity, and from what I can judge from the tone
of your voice, you must sing very well."
"I don't sing; badly; but what good is that since I don't know any
tunes, except the 'Star of Venus,' or, 'In the green meadow,' or the
tune that is now so much in vogue, 'Clinging to her grated window, with
a trembling hand?'"
"All these are moonshine to what I could teach you, for I know all the
ballads of the Moor Abendaraez, with those of his lady Xarifa, and all
those comprising the history of the grand sofi Tomunibeyo, and the
divine sarabands which enchant the souls of the Portuguese themselves,
among whom they are most in vogue; and all these I teach by such methods
and with such facility, that almost before you have swallowed three or
four bushels of salt, you will find yourself an out-and-out performer in
every kind of guitar music."
"What's the good of all that," (here the negro sighed heavily,) "since I
can't get you into the house?"
"There's a remedy for all things: contrive to take the keys from your
master, and I will give you a piece of wax, with which you may take an
impression of the wards, for I have taken such a liking to you, I will
get a locksmith, a friend of mine, to make new keys, and then I can come
in at night and teach you to play better than Prester John in the
Indies. It is a thousand pities that a voice like yours should be lost
for want of the accompaniment of the guitar; for I would have you to
know, brother Luis, that the finest voice in the world loses its
perfection when it is not accompanied by some instrument, be it guitar
or harpsichord, organ or harp; but the instrument that will suit your
voice best is the guitar, because it is the handiest and the least
costly of all."
"All that is very good; but the thing can't be done, for I never get
hold of the keys, nor does my master ever let them out of his keeping;
day and night they sleep under his pillow."
"Well, then, there's another thing you may do, if so be you have made up
a mind to be a first-rate musician; if you haven't, I need not bother
myself with advising you."
"Have a mind, do you say? Ay, and to that degree that there is nothing I
wouldn't do, if it were possible anyhow, for sake of being able to play
music."
"Well, if that's the case, you have only to scrape away a little mortar
from the gate-post near the hinge, and I will give you, through that
opening, a pair of pincers and a hammer, with which you may by night
draw out the nails of the staple, and we can easily put that to rights
again, so that no one will ever suspect that the lock was opened. Once
shut up with you in your loft, or wherever you sleep, I will go to work
in such style that you will turn out even better than I said, to my own
personal advantage, and to the increase of your accomplishments. You
need not give yourself any concern about what we shall have to eat. I
will bring enough to last us both for more than a week, for I have
pupils who will not let me be pinched."
"As for that matter we are all right; for with what my master allows me,
and the leavings brought me by the slave-girls, we should have enough
for two more besides ourselves. Only bring the hammer and pincers, and I
will make an opening close to the hinge, through which you may pass them
in, and I will stop it up again with mud. I will take the fastenings out
of the lock, and even should it be necessary to give some loud knocks,
my master sleeps so far off from this gate, that it must be either a
miracle or our extraordinary ill luck if he hears them."