Presently Returned The Catalan, And Without A Word Took His
Seat On The Threshold; Then, As If Nothing Had Occurred, The
Extraordinary Couple Commenced Eating And Drinking, Interlarding
Their Meal With Oaths And Jests.
We spent the night at Medina, and departing early next morning,
passed through much the same country as the
Day before, until about
noon we reached a small venta, distant half a league from the
Duero; here we reposed ourselves during the heat of the day, and
then remounting, crossed the river by a handsome stone bridge, and
directed our course to Valladolid. The banks of the Duero in this
place have much beauty: they abound with trees and brushwood,
amongst which, as we passed along, various birds were singing
melodiously. A delicious coolness proceeded from the water, which
in some parts brawled over stones or rippled fleetly over white
sand, and in others glided softly over blue pools of considerable
depth. By the side of one of these last, sat a woman of about
thirty, neatly dressed as a peasant; she was gazing upon the water
into which she occasionally flung flowers and twigs of trees. I
stopped for a moment to ask a question; she, however, neither
looked up nor answered, but continued gazing at the water as if
lost to consciousness of all beside. "Who is that woman?" said I
to a shepherd, whom I met the moment after. "She is mad, la
pobrecita," said he; "she lost her child about a month ago in that
pool, and she has been mad ever since; they are going to send her
to Valladolid, to the Casa de los Locos.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 301 of 809
Words from 83852 to 84126
of 222596
