The Reader Occasionally Called Upon Me To Explain
Passages Which, As They Referred To Particular Texts Of Scripture,
He Did Not Exactly Understand, For Not One Of The Party Had Ever
Seen Either The Old Or New Testament.
He continued reading for upwards of an hour, until he had finished
the tract; and, at its conclusion, the whole party were clamorous
for similar ones, with which I was happy to be able to supply them.
Most of these men spoke of priestcraft and the monkish system with
the utmost abhorrence, and said that they should prefer death to
submitting again to the yoke which had formerly galled their necks.
I questioned them very particularly respecting the opinion of their
neighbours and acquaintances on this point, and they assured me
that in their part of the Spanish frontier all were of the same
mind, and that they cared as little for the Pope and his monks as
they did for Don Carlos; for the latter was a dwarf (chicotito) and
a tyrant, and the others were plunderers and robbers. I told them
they must beware of confounding religion with priestcraft, and that
in their abhorrence of the latter they must not forget that there
is a God and a Christ to whom they must look for salvation, and
whose word it was incumbent upon them to study on every occasion;
whereupon they all expressed a devout belief in Christ and the
Virgin.
These men, though in many respects more enlightened than the
surrounding peasantry, were in others as much in the dark; they
believed in witchcraft and in the efficacy of particular charms.
The night was very stormy, and at about nine we heard a galloping
towards the door, and then a loud knocking; it was opened, and in
rushed a wild-looking man mounted on a donkey; he wore a ragged
jacket of sheepskin, called in Spanish zamarra, with breeches of
the same as far down as his knees; his legs were bare. Around his
sombrero, or shadowy hat, was tied a large quantity of the herb
which in English is called rosemary, in Spanish romero, and in the
rustic language of Portugal, alecrim; which last is a word of
Scandinavian origin (ellegren), signifying the elfin plant, and was
probably carried into the south by the Vandals. The man seemed
frantic with terror, and said that the witches had been pursuing
him and hovering over his head for the last two leagues. He came
from the Spanish frontier with meal and other articles; he said
that his wife was following him and would soon arrive, and in about
a quarter of an hour she made her appearance, dripping with rain,
and also mounted on a donkey.
I asked my friends the contrabandistas why he wore the rosemary in
his hat; whereupon they told me that it was good against witches
and the mischances on the road. I had no time to argue against
this superstition, for, as the chaise was to be ready at five the
next morning, I wished to make the most of the short time which I
could devote to sleep.
CHAPTER IV
Vexatious Delays - Drunken Driver - The Murdered Mule - The
Lamentation - Adventure on the Heath - Fear of Darkness - Portuguese
Fidalgo - The Escort - Return to Lisbon.
I rose at four, and after having taken some refreshment, I
descended and found the strange man and his wife sleeping in the
chimney corner by the fire, which was still burning; they soon
awoke and began preparing their breakfast, which consisted of salt
sardinhas, broiled upon the embers. In the meantime the woman sang
snatches of the beautiful hymn, very common in Spain, which
commences thus:-
"Once of old upon a mountain, shepherds overcome with sleep,
Near to Bethlem's holy tower, kept at dead of night their sheep;
Round about the trunk they nodded of a huge ignited oak,
Whence the crackling flame ascending bright and clear the darkness
broke."
On hearing that I was about to depart, she said, "You shall have
some of my husband's rosemary, which will keep you from danger, and
prevent any misfortune occurring." I was foolish enough to permit
her to put some of it in my hat; and the man having by this time
arrived with his mules, I bade farewell to my friendly hostesses,
and entered the chaise with my servant.
I remarked at the time, that the mules which drew us were the
finest I had ever seen; the largest could be little short of
sixteen hands high; and the fellow told me in his bad French that
he loved them better than his wife and children. We turned round
the corner of the convent and proceeded down the street which leads
to the south-western gate. The driver now stopped before the door
of a large house, and having alighted, said that it was yet very
early, and that he was afraid to venture forth, as it was very
probable we should be robbed, and himself murdered, as the robbers
who resided in the town would be apprehensive of his discovering
them, but that the family who lived in this house were going to
Lisbon, and would depart in about a quarter of an hour, when we
might avail ourselves of an escort of soldiers which they would
take with them, and in their company we should run no danger. I
told him I had no fear, and commanded him to drive on; but he said
he would not, and left us in the street. We waited an hour, when
two carriages came to the door of the house, but it seems the
family were not yet ready, whereupon the coachman likewise got down
and went away. At the expiration of about half an hour the family
came out, and when their luggage had been arranged they called for
the coachman, but he was nowhere to be found. Search was made for
him, but ineffectually, and an hour more was spent before another
driver could be procured; but the escort had not yet made its
appearance, and it was not before a servant had been twice
despatched to the barracks that it arrived.
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