Such as the Queen of Spain
cannot boast of, and wash our feet in ewers of silver, fashioned
and wrought before the Americas were discovered, though our
garments are at all times coarse, and our food for the most part of
the plainest description.
Myself. - Are there more of you than yourself and your two wives?
Abarbenel. - There are my two servants, who are likewise of us; the
one is a youth, and is about to leave, being betrothed to one at
some distance; the other is old; he is now upon the road, following
me with a mule and car.
Myself. - And whither are you bound at present?
Abarbenel. - To Toledo, where I ply my trade occasionally of
longanizero. I love to wander about, though I seldom stray far
from home. Since I left the Englishman my feet have never once
stepped beyond the bounds of New Castile. I love to visit Toledo,
and to think of the times which have long since departed; I should
establish myself there, were there not so many accursed ones, who
look upon me with an evil eye.
Myself. - Are you known for what you are? Do the authorities molest
you?
Abarbenel. - People of course suspect me to be what I am; but as I
conform outwardly in most respects to their ways, they do not
interfere with me.
