The Life of Lazarillo of Tormes: His Fortunes and Misfortunes as Told by HimselfAnonymous
General
The Life of Lazarillo of Tormes: His Fortunes and Misfortunes as Told by Himself
Anonymous
Picaresque literature, Spanish; Spain -- Social conditions -- 16th century -- Fiction; Spanish fiction -- Translations into English
I went away, happier than a bride in June. I spent thirty
coppers on supper, and kept ten to pay for a room. I thought
about the power of money. As soon as that old woman gave me the
forty coppers I found myself lighter than the wind, more valiant
than Roland, and stronger than Hercules. Oh, money, it is not
without reason that most men consider you their God. You are the
cause of all good, and the root of all evil. You are the
inventor of the arts and the one who keeps them excellent.
Because of you some maidens remain pure and other maidens give up
their purity. Finally, there is no difficulty in the world
difficult for you, no hidden place that you do not penetrate, no
mountain you do not level, no humble hill you do not raise up.
The next morning I went to the old lady's house the way she asked
me. She told me to go back with her and pick up the trunk she
had left the day before. She told the people at the house that
she had come back for it because when she was about a mile from
Madrid, on the way to Segovia, she had met her relative who had
had the same idea she did and was coming to visit her, and that
she had to have it now because there were clean linens in it that
she needed for her relative's room. The plumpish girl gave her
back the key, kissing and hugging her more eagerly than the first
time; and after she had whispered to her again, they helped me
load the trunk on my back, and it seemed to me lighter than the
day before because my belly was fuller.
As I went down the stairs I stumbled over something that the
Devil must have put there. I tripped and fell with the baggage,
and as I rolled down to the bottom of the stairs where the
parents of the innocent girl were waiting, I broke both my nose
and my ribs. With the knocks that damned chest got, it opened
up, and inside there appeared a dashing young man with sword and
dagger at his side. He was dressed in traveling clothes, without
a cloak. His trousers and jacket were of green satin, and in his
hat he wore a feather of the same color. He had on red garters
with pearl-white stockings and white sandals. He stood up very
elegantly, and making a deep bow he walked right out the door.
Everyone stood there agape at the sudden vision, and they looked
at each other like wooden puppets.
When they came out of their trance, they quickly called two of
their sons and told them what had happened. With a great outcry
the sons grabbed their swords, and shouted, "Kill him, kill him!"
They ran out looking for that dandy, but since he had left in a
hurry, they weren't able to catch up with him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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