"Yes, He Speaks Well," Said The Bulky Alavese; "There Is No Denying
It."
"I never heard any one speak better," cried the blacksmith,
starting up from a stool on which he was seated.
"Vaya! he is a
big man and a fair complexioned like myself. I like him, and have
a horse that will just suit him; one that is the flower of Spain,
and is eight inches above the mark."
I then, with another bow, presented my passport to the alcalde,
who, with a gentle motion of his hand, appeared to decline taking
it, at the same time saying, "It is not necessary." "Oh, not at
all," exclaimed the surgeon. "The housekeepers of Villa Seca know
how to comport themselves with formality," observed the blacksmith.
"They would be very loth to harbour any suspicion against a
cavalier so courteous and well spoken." Knowing, however, that
this refusal amounted to nothing, and that it merely formed part of
a polite ceremonial, I proffered the passport a second time,
whereupon it was instantly taken, and in a moment the eyes of all
present were bent upon it with intense curiosity. It was examined
from top to bottom, and turned round repeatedly, and though it is
not probable that an individual present understood a word of it, it
being written in French, it gave nevertheless universal
satisfaction; and when the alcalde, carefully folding it up,
returned it to me, they all observed that they had never seen a
better passport in their lives, or one which spake in higher terms
of the bearer.
Who was it said that "Cervantes sneered Spain's chivalry away?" I
know not; and the author of such a line scarcely deserves to be
remembered. How the rage for scribbling tempts people at the
present day to write about lands and nations of which they know
nothing, or worse than nothing. Vaya! It is not from having seen
a bull-fight at Seville or Madrid, or having spent a handful of
ounces at a posada in either of those places, kept perhaps by a
Genoese or a Frenchman, that you are competent to write about such
a people as the Spaniards, and to tell the world how they think,
how they speak, and how they act! Spain's chivalry sneered away!
Why, there is every probability that the great body of the Spanish
nation speak, think, and live precisely as their forefathers did
six centuries ago.
In the evening the blacksmith, or, as he would be called in
Spanish, El Herrador, made his appearance at the door of Lopez on
horseback. "Vamos, Don Jorge," he shouted. "Come with me, if your
worship is disposed for a ride. I am going to bathe my horse in
the Tagus by the bridge of Azeca." I instantly saddled my jaca
Cordovesa, and joining him, we rode out of the village, directing
our course across the plain towards the river. "Did you ever see
such a horse as this of mine, Don Jorge?" he demanded.
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