The Bible in Spain, Vol. 1 [of 2]: Or, the Journeys, Adventures, and Imprisonments of an Englishman in an Attempt to Circulate the Scriptures in the PeninsulaBorrow, George
Religion
The Bible in Spain, Vol. 1 [of 2]: Or, the Journeys, Adventures, and Imprisonments of an Englishman in an Attempt to Circulate the Scriptures in the Peninsula
Borrow, George
Borrow, George, 1803-1881 -- Travel -- Spain; Spain -- Description and travel; Spain -- History -- 19th century
“Worse than the he-wolf,” said the soldier, “is the female; for, as the
_señor pastor_ has well observed, there is more malice in women than in
males. To see one of these she-demons with a troop of the males at her
heels is truly surprising: where she turns they turn, and what she does
that do they; for they appear bewitched, and have no power but to imitate
her actions. I was once travelling with a comrade over the hills of
Galicia, when we heard a howl. ‘Those are wolves,’ said my companion;
‘let us get out of the way.’ So we stepped from the path and ascended
the side of the hill a little way, to a terrace, where grew vines, after
the manner of Galicia. Presently appeared a large grey she-wolf,
_deshonesta_, snapping and growling at a troop of demons, who followed
close behind, their tails uplifted, and their eyes like firebrands. What
do you think the perverse brute did? Instead of keeping to the path, she
turned in the very direction in which we were; there was now no remedy,
so we stood still. I was the first upon the terrace, and by me she
passed so close that I felt her hair brush against my legs; she, however,
took no notice of me, but pushed on, neither looking to the right nor
left, and all the other wolves trotted by me without offering the
slightest injury, or even so much as looking at me. Would that I could
say as much for my poor companion, who stood farther on, and was, I
believe, less in the demon’s way than I was; she had nearly passed him,
when suddenly she turned half round and snapped at him. I shall never
forget what followed: in a moment a dozen wolves were upon him, tearing
him limb from limb, with howlings like nothing in this world. In a few
moments he was devoured; nothing remained but the skull and a few bones;
and then they passed on in the same manner as they came. Good reason had
I to be grateful that my lady wolf took less notice of me than my poor
comrade.”
Listening to this and similar conversation, I fell into a doze before the
fire, in which I continued for a considerable time, but was at length
roused by a voice exclaiming in a loud tone, “All are captured!” These
were the exact words which, when spoken by his daughter, confounded the
gypsy upon the moor. I looked around me. The company consisted of the
same individuals to whose conversation I had been listening before I sank
into slumber; but the beggar was now the spokesman, and he was haranguing
with considerable vehemence.
“I beg your pardon, _Caballero_” said I, “but I did not hear the
commencement of your discourse. Who are those who have been captured?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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