The Picturesque Antiquities of Spain: Described in a series of letters, with illustrations representing Moorish palaces, cathedrals, and other monuments of art, contained in the cities of Burgos, Valladolid, Toledo, and Seville.Wells, Nathaniel Armstrong
Islamic
The Picturesque Antiquities of Spain: Described in a series of letters, with illustrations representing Moorish palaces, cathedrals, and other monuments of art, contained in the cities of Burgos, Valladolid, Toledo, and Seville.
These unearthly accents assail the ear of the traveller long before he
can perceive the object whence they proceed; but, becoming louder and
louder, there will issue from a narrow road, or rather ravine, a
diminutive cart, shut in between two small round tables for wheels.
Their voice proceeds from their junction with the axle, by a
contrivance, the nature of which I did not examine closely enough to
describe. A French tourist expresses much disgust at this custom, which
he attributes to the barbarous state of his neighbours, and their
ignorance of mechanical art; it is, however, much more probable that the
explanation given by the native population is the correct one. According
to this, the wheels are so constructed for the useful purpose of
forewarning all other drivers of the approach of a cart. The utility of
some such invention is evident. The mountain roads are cut to a depth
often of several yards, sometimes scores of yards, (being probably
dried-up beds of streams,) and frequently for a distance of some
furlongs admit of the passage of no more than one of these carts at a
time, notwithstanding their being extremely narrow. The driver,
forewarned at a considerable distance by a sound he cannot mistake,
seeks a wide spot, and there awaits the meeting.
You need not be told that human experience analysed resolves itself into
a series of disappointments. I beg you to ask yourself, or any of your
acquaintances, whether any person, thing, or event ever turned out to be
exactly, or nearly, such as was expected he, she, or it would be.
According to the disposition of each individual, these component parts
of experience become the bane or the charm of his life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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