I Could Scarcely Believe
That I Was In Spain, In General So Brown, So Arid And Cheerless,
And I Almost Fancied Myself In Greece, In That Land Of Ancient
Glory, Whose Mountain And Forest Scenery Theocritus Has So Well
Described.
At the bottom of the valley we entered a small village, washed by
the brook, which had now swelled almost to a stream.
A more
romantic situation I had never witnessed. It was surrounded, and
almost overhung by mountains, and embowered in trees of various
kinds; waters sounded, nightingales sang, and the cuckoo's full
note boomed from the distant branches, but the village was
miserable. The huts were built of slate stones, of which the
neighbouring hills seemed to be principally composed, and roofed
with the same, but not in the neat tidy manner of English houses,
for the slates were of all sizes, and seemed to be flung on in
confusion. We were spent with heat and thirst, and sitting down on
a stone bench, I entreated a woman to give me a little water. The
woman said she would, but added that she expected to be paid for
it. Antonio, on hearing this, became highly incensed, and speaking
Greek, Turkish, and Spanish, invoked the vengeance of the Panhagia
on the heartless woman, saying, "If I were to offer a Mahometan
gold for a draught of water he would dash it in my face; and you
are a Catholic, with the stream running at your door." I told him
to be silent, and giving the woman two cuartos, repeated my
request, whereupon she took a pitcher, and going to the stream
filled it with water.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 338 of 809
Words from 93776 to 94051
of 222596
