There
was a general gathering in the evening, of the humble friends and
hangers-on of Dame Antonio to congratulate her, and to pay their
respects to el Senor Medico, who, peradventure, at some future day,
might have all their lives in his hands. One of the most important
of these guests was old Tio Polo; and I gladly seized the occasion
to prosecute my acquaintance with him. "Oh senor," cried Dolores, "you
who are so eager to learn all the old histories of the Alhambra. Tio
Polo knows more about them than any one else about the place. More
than Mateo Ximenes and his whole family put together. Vaya- vaya-
Tio Polo, tell the senor all those stories you told us one evening,
about enchanted Moors, and the haunted bridge over the Darro, and
the old stone pomegranates, that have been there since the days of
King Chico."
It was some time before the old invalid could be brought into a
narrative vein. He shook his head- they were all idle tales; not
worthy of being told to a caballero like myself. It was only by
telling some stories of the kind myself I at last got him to open
his budget. It was a whimsical farrago, partly made up of what he
had heard in the Alhambra, partly of what he had read in Padre Feyjoo.
I will endeavor to give the reader the substance of it, but I will not
promise to give it in the very words of Tio Polo.
The Legend of the Enchanted Soldier.
Pages:
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451