Previous to being sent to the
press, the version had lain nearly two years in my possession,
during which time, and particularly during my travels, I lost no
opportunity of submitting it to the inspection of those who were
considered competent scholars in the Euscarra. It did not entirely
please me; but it was in vain to seek for a better translation.
In my early youth I had obtained a slight acquaintance with the
Euscarra, as it exists in books. This acquaintance I considerably
increased during my stay in Spain; and by occasionally mingling
with Basques, was enabled to understand the spoken language to a
certain extent, and even to speak it, but always with considerable
hesitation; for to speak Basque, even tolerably, it is necessary to
have lived in the country from a very early period. So great are
the difficulties attending it, and so strange are its
peculiarities, that it is very rare to find a foreigner possessed
of any considerable skill in the oral language, and the Spaniards
consider the obstacles so formidable that they have a proverb to
the effect that Satan once lived seven years in Biscay, and then
departed, finding himself unable either to understand or to make
himself understood.
There are few inducements to the study of this language. In the
first place, the acquisition of it is by no means necessary even to
those who reside in the countries where it is spoken; the Spanish
being generally understood throughout the Basque provinces
pertaining to Spain, and the French in those pertaining to France.
