longer a poor strolling student, thrumming his way with a guitar; but an
ambassador from the shadowy world, with enchanted treasures to bestow. No
particulars are told of his negotiation, excepting that the zeal of the
worthy priest was easily kindled at the idea of rescuing an old soldier of
the faith and a strong-box of King Chico from the very clutches of Satan;
and then what alms might be dispensed, what churches built, and how many
poor relatives enriched with the Moorish treasure!
As to the immaculate handmaid, she was ready to lend her hand, which was
all that was required, to the pious work; and if a shy glance now and then
might be believed, the ambassador began to find favour in her modest eyes.
The greatest difficulty, however, was the fast to which the good Padre had
to subject himself. Twice he attempted it, and twice the flesh was too
strong for the spirit. It was only on the third day that he was enabled
to withstand the temptations of the cupboard; but it was still a question
whether he would hold out until the spell was broken.
At a late hour of the night the party groped their way up the ravine
by the light of a lantern, and bearing a basket with provisions for
exorcising the demon of hunger so soon as the other demons should be laid
in the Red Sea.
The seal of Solomon opened their way into the tower. They found the
soldier seated on the enchanted strong-box, awaiting their arrival. The
exorcism was performed in due style. The damsel advanced and touched the
locks of the coffer with the seal of Solomon. The lid flew open; and such
treasures of gold and jewels and precious stones as flashed upon the eye!
"Here's cut and come again!" cried the student exultingly, as he proceeded
to cram his pockets.
"Fairly and softly," exclaimed the soldier. "Let us get the coffer out
entire, and then divide."
They accordingly went to work with might and main; but it was a difficult
task; the chest was enormously heavy, and had been imbedded there for
centuries. While they were thus employed the good _dominie_ drew on one
side and made a vigorous onslaught on the basket, by way of exorcising
the demon of hunger which was raging in his entrails. In a little while
a fat capon was devoured, and washed down by a deep potation of _Val de
peñas_; and, by way of grace after meat, he gave a kind-hearted kiss to
the pet-lamb who waited on him. It was quietly done in a corner, but the
tell-tale walls babbled it forth as if in triumph. Never was chaste salute
more awful in its effects. At the sound the soldier gave a great cry of
despair; the coffer, which was half raised, fell back in its place and was
locked once more. Priest, student, and damsel, found themselves outside
of the tower, the wall of which closed with a thundering jar. Alas! the
good _Padre_ has broken his fast too soon!
When recovered from his surprise, the student would have re-entered the
tower, but learnt to his dismay that the damsel, in her fright, had let
fall the seal of Solomon; it remained within the vault.
In a word, the cathedral bell tolled midnight; the spell was renewed; the
soldier was doomed to mount guard for another hundred years, and there
he and the treasure remain to this day--and all because the kind-hearted
_Padre_ kissed his handmaid. "Ah father! father!" said the student,
shaking his head ruefully, as they returned down the ravine, "I fear there
was less of the saint than the sinner in that kiss!"
* * * * *
Thus ends the legend as far as it has been authenticated. There is a
tradition, however, that the student had brought off treasure enough in
his pocket to set him up in the world; that he prospered in his affairs,
that the worthy _Padre_ gave him the pet-lamb in marriage, by way of
amends for the blunder in the vault; that the immaculate damsel proved a
pattern for wives as she had been for handmaids, and bore her husband a
numerous progeny; that the first was a wonder; it was born seven months
after her marriage, and though a seven-month's boy, was the sturdiest of
the flock. The rest were all born in the ordinary course of time.
The story of the enchanted soldier remains one of the popular traditions
of Granada, though told in a variety of ways; the common people affirm
that he still mounts guard on midsummer eve, beside the gigantic stone
pomegranate on the Bridge of the Darro; but remains invisible excepting
to such lucky mortals as may possess the seal of Solomon.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE AUTHOR'S FAREWELL TO GRANADA
My serene and happy reign in the Alhambra was suddenly brought to a close
by letters which reached me, while indulging in oriental luxury in the
cool hall of the baths, summoning me away from my Moslem elysium, to
mingle once more in the bustle and business of the dusty world. How was
I to encounter its toils and turmoils, after such a life of repose and
reverie! How was I to endure its commonplace, after the poetry of the
Alhambra!
But little preparation was necessary for my departure. A two-wheeled
vehicle, called a _tartana_, very much resembling a covered cart, was
to be the travelling equipage of a young Englishman and myself through
Murcia, to Alicant and Valencia, on our way to France; and a long-limbed
varlet, who had been a _contrabandista_, and, for aught I knew, a robber,
was to be our guide and guard. The preparations were soon made, but the
departure was the difficulty. Day after day was it postponed; day after
day was spent in lingering about my favourite haunts, and day after day
they appeared more delightful in my eyes.
The social and domestic little world also, in which I had been moving, had
become singularly endeared to me; and the concern evinced by them at my
intended departure, convinced me that my kind feelings were reciprocated.
Indeed, when at length the day arrived, I did not dare venture upon a
leave-taking at the good dame Antonia's; I saw the soft heart of little
Dolores, at least, was brim full and ready for an overflow. So I bade a
silent adieu to the palace and its inmates, and descended into the city as
if intending to return. There, however, the _tartana_ and the guide were
ready; so, after taking a noon-day's repast with my fellow-traveller at
the _Posada_, I set out with him on our journey.
Humble was the cortège and melancholy the departure of _El Rey Chico_
the Second! Manuel, the nephew of _Tia Antonia_, Mateo, my officious but
now disconsolate squire, and two or three old invalids of the Alhambra
with whom I had grown into gossiping companionship, had come down to see
me off; for it is one of the good old customs of Spain to sally forth
several miles to meet a coming friend, and to accompany him as far on his
departure. Thus then we set out, our long-legged guard striding ahead,
with his _escopeta_ on his shoulder; Manuel and Mateo on each side of the
_tartana_, and the old invalids behind.
At some little distance to the north of Granada, the road gradually
ascends the hills; here I alighted and walked up slowly with Manuel, who
took this occasion to confide to me the secret of his heart and of all
those tender concerns between himself and Dolores, with which I had been
already informed by the all-knowing and all-revealing Mateo Ximenes.
His doctor's diploma had prepared the way for their union, and nothing
more was wanting but the dispensation of the Pope, on account of their
consanguinity. Then, if he could get the post of Medico of the fortress,
his happiness would be complete! I congratulated him on the judgment and
good taste he had shown in his choice of a helpmate; invoked all possible
felicity on their union, and trusted that the abundant affections of the
kind-hearted little Dolores would in time have more stable objects to
occupy them than recreant cats and truant pigeons.
[Illustration]
It was indeed a sorrowful parting when I took leave of these good people
and saw them slowly descend the hills; now and then turning round to wave
me a last adieu. Manuel, it is true, had cheerful prospects to console
him, but poor Mateo seemed perfectly cast down. It was to him a grievous
fall from the station of prime minister and historiographer, to his old
brown cloak and his starveling mystery of ribbon-weaving; and the poor
devil, notwithstanding his occasional officiousness, had, somehow or
other, acquired a stronger hold on my sympathies than I was aware of. It
would have really been a consolation in parting, could I have anticipated
the good fortune in store for him, and to which I had contributed; for
the importance I had appeared to give to his tales and gossip and local
knowledge, and the frequent companionship in which I had indulged him in
the course of my strolls, had elevated his idea of his own qualifications
and opened a new career to him; and the son of the Alhambra has since
become its regular and well-paid cicerone; insomuch that I am told he has
never been obliged to resume the ragged old brown cloak in which I first
found him.
Towards sunset I came to where the road wound into the mountains, and
here I paused to take a last look at Granada. The hill on which I stood
commanded a glorious view of the city, the Vega, and the surrounding
mountains. It was at an opposite point of the compass from _La cuesta de
las lagrimas_ (the hill of tears) noted for the "last sigh of the Moor."
I now could realize something of the feelings of poor Boabdil when he
bade adieu to the paradise he was leaving behind, and beheld before him
a rugged and sterile road conducting him to exile.
The setting sun as usual shed a melancholy effulgence on the ruddy towers
of the Alhambra. I could faintly discern the balconied window of the
tower of Comares, where I had indulged in so many delightful reveries.
The bosky groves and gardens about the city were richly gilded with the
sunshine, the purple haze of a summer evening was gathering over the Vega;
everything was lovely, but tenderly and sadly so, to my parting gaze.
"I will hasten from this prospect," thought I, "before the sun is set. I
will carry away a recollection of it clothed in all its beauty."
With these thoughts I pursued my way among the mountains. A little further
and Granada, the Vega, and the Alhambra, were shut from my view; and thus
ended one of the pleasantest dreams of a life, which the reader perhaps
may think has been but too much made up of dreams.
THE END.
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