[119] It claims to be “_sacado_ del estilo Griego,” and in this imitates one of the common fictions in the title-pages of the romances of chivalry. There are several editions of it,--one at Venice, 1553, 12mo, which is in my library, entitled “Quexa y Aviso de un Cavallero llamado Luzindaro.” [120] Historia de la Reyna Sevilla, 1532, and 1551;--and Libro de los Honestos Amores de Peregrino y de Jinebra, 1548. In the reign of Philip the Second, when the literature of the country began to develop itself on all sides, serious romances appeared in better forms, or at least with higher pretensions and attributes. Two instances of attempts in new directions, and with more considerable success, present themselves at once. The first was by Hierónimo de Contreras, and bears the affected title of “A Thicket of Adventures.” It was published in 1573, and is the story of Luzuman, a gentleman of Seville, who had been bred from childhood in great intimacy with Arboleda, a lady of equal condition with himself; but when, as he grows up, this intimacy ripens into love, the lady rejects his suit, on the ground that she prefers a religious life. The refusal is gentle and tender; but he is so disheartened by it, that he secretly leaves his home in sorrow and mortification, and goes to Italy, where he meets with abundance of adventures, and travels through the whole peninsula, down to Naples. Wearied with this mode of life, he then embarks for Spain, but on his passage is taken by a corsair and carried to Algiers. There he remains in cruel slavery for five years. His master then gives him his freedom, and he returns to his home as secretly as he left it; but finding that Arboleda had taken the veil, and that the society to which he belonged had forgotten him, and had closed over the place he had once filled, he avoids making himself known to any body, and retires to a hermitage, with the purpose of ending his days in devotion.[121] [121] The “Selva de Aventuras” was printed at Salamanca, in 1573, 12mo, and probably earlier, besides which there are subsequent editions of Barcelona, Saragossa, etc. (Antonio, Bib. Nova, Tom. I. p. 572); but it is in the Index Expurgatorius of 1667, p. 529. Philip II., in the _Licencia_, calls Contreras “nuestro cronista.” The Selva was translated into French by G. Chapuys, and printed in 1580. (Bibliothèque de Duverdier, Tom. IV. p. 221.) Contreras wrote, also, a volume of allegories in prose and verse, (Dechado de Varios Subjetos, Zaragoza, 1572, and Alcalá, 1581, 12mo,) which is very formal and dull.