The Bible in Spain, Vol. 2 [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. 2 [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
We now turned to the left through a passage which passed under the tower,
and had scarcely proceeded a few steps, when I heard a prodigious hubbub
of infantine voices: I listened for a moment, and distinguished verses of
the Koran; it was a school. Another lesson for thee, Papist. Thou
callest thyself a Christian, yet the book of Christ thou persecutest;
thou huntest it even to the seashore, compelling it to seek refuge upon
the billows of the sea. Fool, learn a lesson from the Moor, who teaches
his child to repeat with its first accents the most important portions of
the book of his law, and considers himself wise or foolish, according as
he is versed in or ignorant of that book; whilst thou, blind slave,
knowest not what the book of thy own law contains, nor wishest to know:
yet art thou not to be judged by thy own law? Idol-monger, learn
consistency from the Moor: he says that he shall be judged after his own
law, and therefore he prizes and gets by heart the entire book of his
law.
We were now at the consul’s house, a large roomy habitation, built in the
English style. The soldier led me through a court into a large hall hung
with the skins of all kinds of ferocious animals, from the kingly lion to
the snarling jackal. Here I was received by a Jew domestic, who
conducted me at once to the consul, who was in his library. He received
me with the utmost frankness and genuine kindness, and informed me that,
having received a letter from his excellent friend Mr. B---, in which I
was strongly recommended, he had already engaged me a lodging in the
house of a Spanish woman, who was, however, a British subject, and with
whom he believed that I should find myself as comfortable as it was
possible to be in such a place as Tangier. He then inquired if I had any
particular motive for visiting the place, and I informed him without
hesitation that I came with the intention of distributing a certain
number of copies of the New Testament in the Spanish language amongst the
Christian residents of the place. He smiled, and advised me to proceed
with considerable caution, which I promised to do. We then discoursed on
other subjects, and it was not long before I perceived that I was in the
company of a most accomplished scholar, especially in the Greek and Latin
classics; he appeared likewise to be thoroughly acquainted with the
Barbary empire and with the Moorish character.
After half an hour’s conversation, exceedingly agreeable and instructive
to myself, I expressed a wish to proceed to my lodging; whereupon he rang
the bell, and, the same Jewish domestic entering who had introduced me,
he said to him in the English language, “Take this gentleman to the house
of Joanna Correa, the Mahonese widow, and enjoin her, in my name, to take
care of him and attend to his comforts; by doing which she will confirm
me in the good opinion which I at present entertain of her, and will
increase my disposition to befriend her.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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