Miguel Cervantes - The Exemplary Novels of Cervantes

Peter of the Corner; rincon meaning a corner, or obscure nook.

The Spanish authorities, under the pretext of being at perpetual war with Infidels, still cause "Bulls of the Crusade," to the possession of which certain indulgences are attached, to be publicly sold in obscure villages. The product of these sales was originally expended on the wars with the Moors, but from the time when Granada fell into the hands of the Spaniards, it has been divided between the church and state. The bulls are carried about by hawkers, who are called "Buleros." — Viardot .

An alguazil , who, while in the service of justice, is also in that of the thieves. He betrays them, nevertheless, whenever it suits his purpose to do so:

"Clean from dust and straw" — limpios de polvo y paja – is a phrase equivalent to "free of the king's dues."

This is a formula used in Spain by those who do a thing for the first time. — Viardot .

The Quarto contains four Maravedis.

Paulinas are the letters of excommunication despatched by the ecclesiastical courts for the discovery of such things as are supposed to be stolen or maliciously concealed.

(This footnote is missing from the printed edition.)

Mala Entrada , the evil way.

In the slang dialect of Spain, Murcian and Murcia , mean thief, and the land of thieves.

In finibus terræ , that is to say, at the gallows, or garotte, which to the thief is the end of the earth and all things.

The Patio , familiar to all who have visited Seville, as forming the centre of the houses, and which serves in summer as the general sitting-room, so to speak, of the family.

The Braves of the Hampa were a horde of ruffians principally Andalusians; they formed a society ready to commit every species of wrong and violence.

The perrillo , or "little dog," was the mark of Julian del Rey, a noted armourer of Toledo, by birth a Morisco.

Ganchuelo is the diminutive of gancho , a crimp.

Our readers will perceive that this relates to the atrocity committed by the Infant Don Juan of Castille, who, while in revolt against his brother, Sancho IV., appeared before the city of Tarifa with an army, chiefly composed of Mahometans; finding the infant son of the governor, Don Alonzo Perez de Guzman, at nurse in a neighbouring village, he took the child, and bearing him to the foot of the walls, called on Guzman to surrender the place on pain of seeing his infant slaughtered before his eyes in case of refusal. The only reply vouchsafed by Don Alonzo was the horrible one alluded to in the text. He detached his own dagger from its belt, and threw it to Don Juan, when the sanguinary monster, far from respecting the fidelity of his opponent, seized the weapon, and pierced the babe to the heart as he had threatened to do This anecdote is related, with certain variations, in Conde, "La Dominacion de los Arabes en Espana." – See English Translation, vol. iii.

The winner.

A large purse made of cat-skin.

The arroba holds about thirty-two pints.

The azumbre is two quarts.

A favourite wine, grown on the shore of the Manzanares.

The Virgin Martyr, Santa Lucia, had her eyes burnt out of her head, and is regarded, in the Catholic Church, as particularly powerful in the cure of all diseases of the eyes. She is usually represented as bearing her eyes on a salver, which she holds in her hand.

The quill-driver.

Fat-face, puff-cheeks, or any other term describing fulness of face, in the least complimentary manner.

The clamberer.

Protector, or more exactly "bully," – to defend and uphold in acts of fraud and violence.

Dandy.

Sor the contraction of Señor.

"Ocaña" is a city at no great distance from Madrid; and if the lady has placed her tiger there, instead of in Hyrcania, as she doubtless intended, it is of course because her emotions had troubled her memory. The "Tarpeian mariner" is a fine phrase surely, but its meaning is not very clear.

"At that time," remarks Viardot, "while wounds were still sewed up by the surgeons, the importance or extent of the cut made was estimated by the number of the stitches."

Secutor for executor.

The goldfinch.

The lop-eared, or mutilated; alluding, generally, to losses suffered at the hands of justice.

Radomagos , phials or bottles of ink, vitriol, and other injurious matters, cast on the face, person, or clothes.

Most of our readers will remember that the "sanbenito" is the long coat or robe, painted over with flames, which is worn by heretics whom the Inquisition has condemned and given over to the civil power.

Calomels , for calumnies

The flat-nose.

The tilde is the mark placed over the Spanish letter n, as in Señor.

Tricks of cheatery at cards.

Cutpurse.

The wolf-cub.

For Peruvians, which the American merchants were then called.

Don Augustin de Arrieta, a Spanish commentator of our author, informs us that the camarada not only journeyed and lived with his companion of the way, but even slept in the same chamber, and not unfrequently in the same bed.

The ex-votos , or pictures and figures here described, are too familiar to the visitor of Catholic churches to need any explanation.

Student: they are so called from the name given to the portfolio in which they carry their books and papers to the university, and which they always have with them.

The reader will be pleased to guess the name of that insufferable insect which the Spaniards denominate Chinche , and with the English equivalent of which I am unwilling to offend his eyes. Happy, indeed, if he cannot guess; but then he cannot have seen either Seville or Granada, and one might almost encounter an acquaintance with the animal called Chinche rather than renounce them .

Such of our readers as have visited Rome, will remember that enormous mound which is seen rising on the right hand as you leave the city, by the Porta Salaria, and is said to have been formed by the numberless fragments of pottery cast on the spot from time immemorial.