In A Word, The Andalusians, In All Estimable Traits Of Character,
Are As Far Below The Other Spaniards As The Country Which They
Inhabit Is Superior In Beauty And Fertility To The Other Provinces
Of Spain.
Yet let it not for a moment be supposed that I have any intention
of asserting, that excellent and
Estimable individuals are not to
be found amongst the Andalusians; it was amongst THEM that I myself
discovered one, whom I have no hesitation in asserting to be the
most extraordinary character that has ever come within my sphere of
knowledge; but this was no scion of a noble or knightly house, "no
wearer of soft clothing," no sleek highly-perfumed personage, none
of the romanticos who walk in languishing attitudes about the
streets of Seville, with long black hair hanging upon their
shoulders in luxuriant curls; but one of those whom the proud and
unfeeling style the dregs of the populace, a haggard, houseless,
penniless man, in rags and tatters: I allude to Manuel, the - what
shall I call him? - seller of lottery tickets, driver of death
carts, or poet laureate in Gypsy songs? I wonder whether thou art
still living, my friend Manuel; thou gentleman of Nature's forming-
-honest, pure-minded, humble, yet dignified being! Art thou still
wandering through the courts of beautiful Safacoro, or on the banks
of the Len Baro, thine eyes fixed in vacancy, and thy mind striving
to recall some half-forgotten couplet of Luis Lobo; or art thou
gone to thy long rest, out beyond the Xeres gate within the wall of
the Campo Santo, to which in times of pest and sickness thou wast
wont to carry so many, Gypsy and Gentile, in thy cart of the
tinkling bell? Oft in the reunions of the lettered and learned in
this land of universal literature, when weary of the display of
pedantry and egotism, have I recurred with yearning to our Gypsy
recitations at the old house in the Pila Seca. Oft, when sickened
by the high-wrought professions of those who bear the cross in
gilded chariots, have I thought on thee, thy calm faith, without
pretence, - thy patience in poverty, and fortitude in affliction;
and as oft, when thinking of my speedily approaching end, have I
wished that I might meet thee once again, and that thy hands might
help to bear me to "the dead man's acre" yonder on the sunny plain,
O Manuel!
My principal visitor was Dionysius, who seldom failed to make his
appearance every forenoon: the poor fellow came for sympathy and
conversation. It is difficult to imagine a situation more forlorn
and isolated than that of this man, - a Greek at Seville, with
scarcely a single acquaintance, and depending for subsistence on
the miserable pittance to be derived from selling a few books, for
the most part hawked about from door to door. "What could have
first induced you to commence bookselling in Seville?" said I to
him, as he arrived one sultry day, heated and fatigued, with a
small bundle of books secured together by a leather strap.
Dionysius. - For want of a better employment, Kyrie, I have adopted
this most unprofitable and despised one. Oft have I regretted not
having been bred up as a shoe-maker, or having learnt in my youth
some other useful handicraft, for gladly would I follow it now.
Such, at least, would procure me the respect of my fellow-creatures
inasmuch as they needed me; but now all avoid me and look upon me
with contempt; for what have I to offer in this place that any one
cares about? Books in Seville! where no one reads, or at least
nothing but new romances, translated from the French, and
obscenity. Books! Would I were a Gypsy and could trim donkeys,
for then I were at least independent and were more respected than I
am at present.
Myself. - Of what kind of books does your stock in trade consist?
Dionysius. - Of those not likely to suit the Seville market, Kyrie;
books of sterling and intrinsic value; many of them in ancient
Greek, which I picked up upon the dissolution of the convents, when
the contents of the libraries were hurled into the courtyards, and
there sold by the arrobe. I thought at first that I was about to
make a fortune, and in fact my books would be so in any other
place; but here I have offered an Elzevir for half a dollar in
vain. I should starve were it not for the strangers who
occasionally purchase of me.
Myself. - Seville is a large cathedral city, abounding with priests
and canons; surely one of these occasionally visit you to make
purchases of classic works, and books connected with ecclesiastical
literature.
Dionysius. - If you think so, Kyrie, you know little respecting the
ecclesiastics of Seville. I am acquainted with many of them, and
can assure you that a tribe of beings can scarcely be found with a
more confirmed aversion to intellectual pursuits of every kind.
Their reading is confined to newspapers, which they take up in the
hope of seeing that their friend Don Carlos is at length reinstated
at Madrid; but they prefer their chocolate and biscuits, and nap
before dinner, to the wisdom of Plato and the eloquence of Tully.
They occasionally visit me, but it is only to pass away a heavy
hour in chattering nonsense. Once on a time, three of them came,
in the hope of making me a convert to their Latin superstition.
"Signior Donatio," said they, (for so they called me,) "how is it
that an unprejudiced person like yourself, a man really with some
pretension to knowledge, can still cling to this absurd religion of
yours? Surely, after having resided so many years in a civilised
country like this of Spain, it is high time to abandon your half-
pagan form of worship, and to enter the bosom of the church; now
pray be advised, and you shall be none the worse for it." "Thank
you, gentlemen," I replied, "for the interest you take in my
welfare; I am always open to conviction; let us proceed to discuss
the subject.
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