In this manner we proceeded; not, however, with uniform success.In some villages the people were so poor and needy, that they had literally no money; even in these, however, we managed to dispose of a few copies in exchange for barley or refreshments.On entering one very small hamlet, Victoriano was stopped by the curate, who, on learning what he carried, told him that unless he instantly departed, he would cause him to be imprisoned, and would write to Madrid in order to give information of what was going on.The excursion lasted about eight days.Immediately after my return, I dispatched Victoriano to Caramanchal, a village at a short distance from Madrid, the only one towards the west which had not been visited last year.He staid there about an hour, and disposed of twelve copies, and then returned, as he was exceedingly timid, and was afraid of being met by the thieves who swarm on that road in the evening.
Shortly after these events, a circumstance occurred which will perhaps cause the English reader to smile, whilst, at the same time, it will not fail to prove interesting, as affording an example of the feeling prevalent in some of the lone villages of Spain with respect to innovation and all that savours thereof, and the strange acts which are sometimes committed by the real authorities and the priests, without the slightest fear of being called to account; for as they live quite apart * from the rest of the world, they know no people greater than themselves, and scarcely dream of a higher power than their own.
* [Footnote in Greek text which cannot be reproduced]
I was about to make an excursion to Guadalajara, and the villages of Alcarria, about seven leagues distant from Madrid;indeed I merely awaited the return of Victoriano to sally forth; I having dispatched him in that direction with a few Testaments, as a kind of explorer, in order that, from his report as to the disposition manifested by the people for purchasing, I might form a tolerably accurate opinion as to the number of copies which it might be necessary to carry with me.
However, I heard nothing of him for a fortnight, at the end of which period a letter was brought to me by a peasant, dated from the prison of Fuente la Higuera, a village eight leagues from Madrid, in the Campina of Alcala: this letter, written, by Victoriano, gave me to understand that he had been already eight days imprisoned, and that unless I could find some means to extricate him, there was every probability of his remaining in durance until he should perish with hunger, which he had no doubt would occur as soon as his money was exhausted.From what I afterwards learned, it appeared that, after passing the town of Alcala, he had commenced distributing, and with considerable success.His entire stock consisted of sixty-one Testaments, twenty-five of which he sold without the slightest difficulty or interruption in the single village of Arganza;the poor labourers showering blessings on his head for providing them with such good books at an easy price.
Not more than eighteen of his books remained, when he turned off the high road towards Fuente la Higuera.This place was already tolerably well known to him, he having visited it of old, when he travelled the country in the capacity of a vendor of cacharras or earthen pans.He subsequently stated that he felt some misgiving whilst on the way, as the village had invariably borne a bad reputation.On his arrival, after having put up his cavallejo or little pony at a posada, he proceeded to the alcalde for the purpose of asking permission to sell the books, which that dignitary immediately granted.
He now entered a house and sold a copy, and likewise a second.
Emboldened by success, he entered a third, which, it appeared, belonged to the barber-surgeon of the village.This personage having just completed his dinner, was seated in an arm chair within his doorway, when Victoriano made his appearance.He was a man about thirty-five, of a savage truculent countenance.
On Victoriano's offering him a Testament, he took it in his hand to examine it, but no sooner did his eyes glance over the title-page than he burst out into a loud laugh, exclaiming:-"Ha, ha, Don Jorge Borrow, the English heretic, we have encountered you at last.Glory to the Virgin and the Saints!
We have long been expecting you here, and at length you are arrived." He then inquired the price of the book, and on being told three reals, he flung down two, and rushed out of the house with the Testament in his hand.
Victoriano now became alarmed, and determined upon leaving the place as soon as possible.He therefore hurried back to the posada, and having paid for the barley which his pony had consumed, went into the stable, and placing the packsaddle on the animal's back, was about to lead it forth, when the alcalde of the village, the surgeon, and twelve other men, some of whom were armed with muskets, suddenly presented themselves.They instantly made Victoriano prisoner, and after seizing the books and laying an embargo on the pony, proceeded amidst much abuse to drag the captive to what they denominated their prison, a low damp apartment with a little grated window, where they locked him up and left him.At the expiration of three quarters of an hour, they again appeared, and conducted him to the house of the curate, where they sat down in conclave; the curate, who was a man stone blind, presiding, whilst the sacristan officiated as secretary.The surgeon having stated his accusation against the prisoner, namely, that he had detected him in the fact of selling a version of the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue, the curate proceeded to examine Victoriano, asking him his name and place of residence, to which he replied that his name was Victoriano Lopez, and that he was a native of Villa Seca, in the Sagra of Toledo.
