It was Ercilla’s fate to be imitated not only by writers of talent, but also by a stupid writer who essayed to continue or to complete his epic. This was Diego de Santistevan Osorio, who undertook a work that was designed to be written in the style of Ercilla’s poem and to continue the story of the Indian war and Ercilla’s part in it. It was called the fourth and fifth parts of _La Araucana_.[82] But in every respect it falls far below its forerunner. Medina characterizes it as the production of a juvenile brain rendered enthusiastic by reading a masterpiece written by one intensely interested in his subject.[83] Biographical knowledge of Santistevan Osorio is limited to a few facts: that he was born in León in Spain; that he published his principal work in 1597; and that he published another work on the wars of the knights of Malta and the capture of Rhodes. [Sidenote: Character of Osorio’s work] The continuation of _La Araucana_ is composed of two parts, the first part embracing thirteen cantos, and the second part twenty. One of the noteworthy features of Santistevan’s work is the reckless mingling of the Virgin Mary and the characters of pagan mythology. Then out of the depths of his imagination the author calls forth a being whom he designates Caupolicán the Second; and in the course of the narrative one encounters Zoroaster, Dido, Semiramis and Zenobia, not to mention less conspicuous ornaments of ancient history and mythology; and these are all jumbled together in obscure confusion. The independence, the stoicism and bravery that Ercilla found in the enemy do not appear in the Indians as presented by Santistevan Osorio. Here they are timid, shrinking, and brought into battle only by the employment of various incentives. The moral reflections with which the author introduces the several cantos are vapid dissertations on the instability of fortune. The strength and the passion which move heroes to action seem to appear to our author as mistakes of creation. These early “historical poems” continued to impress their style upon later writers both in Spain and America, and to call American affairs to the attention of the people of Europe. Gabriel Lasso de la Vega wrote _La Mexicana_, published first in 1588 under the title of _Cortés valeroso_. The theme of the poem on Chilean affairs was taken up by the stage in Spain. _Algunas hazañas de las muchas de Don García Hurtado de Mendoza_ was a mediocre work by a number of authors. _Arauco domado_, by Lope de Vega, had Ercilla as one of its characters; he appeared on the stage beating a drum. Other dramas dealing with the same general subject were _Gobernador Prudente_, by Gaspar de Ávila, and _Españoles en Chile_, by Francisco González de Bustos. In the drama by Bustos the baptism of a prominent Indian chief, the empalement of Caupolicán, and the greatness of the family of Mendoza are presented as three of Spain’s claims to distinction. CHAPTER VII JUAN DE CASTELLANOS