Short and quickly finished was the supper, but to sup without fear made it savoury. They replaced the torches with fresh ones, and although there was a good deal of smoke in the apartment, it was warm. The dishes on which the supper was served were neither of silver nor china; the hands of the young host and hostess were the plates, and the drinking cups were made from the bark of some tree more suited to the purpose than cork would have been. The young girl kept at a distance, and supplied them with water, fresh, clear and cool. Clelia soon fell asleep, for sleep is more welcome to age than any conversation however pleasant it may be. The elder hostess made her a couch in the inner apartment, of which the mattrass and blankets were skins. She then returned to sit with the others, to whom the Spaniard now spoke as follows: "Although by rights I should hear your story first, yet will I tell you who and what I am, that you may conceal nothing from me after having heard my history of myself. "As my good fortune would have it I was born in Spain, in one of her best provinces. My family is respectable though not noble, I was brought up in affluence; I learned grammar, which is the step that leads to the other sciences, but my star inclined me rather to that of arms, than of letters. In my youth I had no friendship for either Bacchus or Ceres, nor had Venus any charms for me either. Impelled then by my inclinations, I left my country, and went to the wars, which at that time his Majesty the Emperor Charles V. was waging in Germany with some of its potentates. Mars befriended me; I acquired the name of a good soldier. The emperor distinguished me, I made friends, and above all, I learned liberality and good breeding--one learns this in the school of a Christian soldier. I returned home with riches and honours, intending to remain some days there in order to enjoy the society of my parents, who were both living, and of the friends who expected me. But that which men call fortune,--for my part I know not what she is,--envious of my tranquillity, turning the wheel she is said to hold, threw me down from the summit on which I had been placed into the depths of misery wherein you see me now, using, as her instrument wherewith to effect this, a gentleman, the second son of a nobleman who had an estate near my home. He came to our village on a festival-day. In the square there was a circle of gentlemen of whom I was one. Coming up to me, with an arrogant air and manner, he said, smiling, 'So you are a valiant soldier, Señor Antonio, and the public talk of all Flanders and Italy has declared you to be truly a most gallant and generous gentleman.' 'And my good Antonio must know how glad I am to hear this,' I answered (being myself this Antonio). 'I thank you a thousand times, my lord, for the praise you bestow on me, your lordship does well to honour your countrymen and servants; but with all this, I