Why There Should Ever
Have Been A Town Built There In The Prehistoric Beginning, Except That
The Rock Was So
Impossible to take, and why it should have therefore
been taken by that series of invaders who pervaded all Spain
- By the
Phoenicians, by the Carthaginians, by the Romans, by the Goths, by the
Moors, by the Christians, and after many centuries by the French, and
finally by the Spaniards again - it would not be easy to say. Among its
many conquerors, the Moors left their impress upon it, though here as
often as elsewhere in Spain their impress is sometimes merely a
decoration of earlier Roman work. There remains a Roman bridge which the
Moors did not make over into the likeness of their architecture, but
built a bridge of their own which also remains and may be seen from the
magnificent structure with which the Spaniards have arched the abyss
where the river rushes writhing and foaming through the gorge three
hundred feet below. There on the steps that lead from the brink, the eye
of pity may still see the files of Christian captives bringing water up
to their Moslem masters; but as one cannot help them now, even by the
wildest throe, it is as well to give a vain regret to the architect of
the Spanish bridge, who fell to his death from its parapet, and then
push on to the market hard by.
II
You have probably come to see that market because you have read in your
guide-books that the region round about Ronda is one of the richest in
Spain for grapes and peaches and medlars and melons and other fruits
whose names melt in the mouth. If you do not find in the market the
abundance you expect of its picturesqueness you must blame the lateness
of the season, and go visit the bull-ring, one of the most famous in the
world, for Ronda is not less noted for its _toreros_ and _aficionados_
than for its vineyards and orchards. But here again the season will have
been before you with the glory of those _corridas_ which you have still
hoped not to witness but to turn from as an example to the natives
before the first horse is disemboweled or the first bull slain, or even
the first _banderillero_ tossed over the barrier.
The bull-ring seemed fast shut to the public when we approached it, but
we found ourselves smilingly welcomed to the interior by the kindly
mother in charge. She made us free of the whole vast place, where eight
thousand people could witness in perfect comfort the dying agonies of
beasts and men, but especially she showed us the chamber over the gate,
full of bullfighting properties: the pikes, the little barbed pennons,
the long sword by which the bull suffers and dies, as well as the
cumbrous saddles and bridles and spears for the unhappy horses and their
riders. She was especially compassionate of the horses, and she had
apparently no pleasure in any of the cruel things, though she was not
critical of the sport.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 180 of 197
Words from 93984 to 94504
of 103320
