Chapter XXIII: Book VI (3)

TIMBRIO.
Who is he who to his pain
Placeth his feet in the eyes,
And although no hurt arise,
Makes them sing with might and main?
And to pull them out is pleasure,
Though at times, who doeth so,
Doth by no means ease his woe,
But achieveth more displeasure.'

It fell to Nisida to reply to Timbrio's question, but neither she nor Galatea who followed her were able to guess it. And Orompo, seeing that the shepherdesses were wearying themselves in thinking what it denoted, said to them:

'Do not tire yourselves, ladies, nor weary your minds in solving this riddle, for it might well be that neither of you in all her life has seen the figure that the question conceals, and so it is no wonder that you should not hit upon it; for if it had been of a different kind, we were quite sure, as regards your minds, that in a shorter time you would have solved others more difficult. And therefore, with your leave, I am going to reply to Timbrio, and tell him that his query denotes a man in fetters, since when he draws his feet from those eyes he speaks of, it is either to set him free or to take him to execution; so that you may see, shepherdesses, if I was right in thinking that perhaps neither of you had seen in all her life jails or prisons.'

'I for my part can say,' said Galatea, 'that never have I seen any one imprisoned.'

Nisida and Blanca said the same. And straightway Nisida propounded her question in this form:

NISIDA.
Fire it biteth, and its bite
To its victim harm and good
Bringeth; but it doth no blood
Lose, although the blade doth smite;
But if deep should be the wound,
From a hand that is not sure,
Death comes to the victim poor,
In such death its life is found.

Galatea delayed little in answering Nisida, for straightway she said to her:

'I am quite sure that I am not mistaken, fair Nisida, if I say that your riddle can in no way be better applied than to candle-snuffers and to the taper or candle they snuff; and if this is true, as it is, and you are satisfied with my reply, listen now to mine, which I hope will be solved by your sister with no less ease than I have done yours.'

And straightway she spoke it, and it ran thus:

GALATEA.
Children three, who love inspire,
And the children of one mother,
One was grandson of his brother,
And another was his sire;
These three children did distress
And o'erwhelm her with such woes,
That they gave her countless blows,
Showing thus their skilfulness.

Blanca was considering what Galatea's riddle could denote, when they saw two gallant shepherds crossing at a run near the place where they were, showing by the fury with which they were running that something important constrained them to move their steps with such speed, and straightway at the same moment they heard some mournful cries, as of persons seeking help; and on this alarm all arose and followed the direction whence the cries sounded; and in a few steps they issued from that delightful spot and came out on the bank of the cool Tagus, which, close at hand, was flowing gently by. And scarcely did they see the river, when the strangest thing they could imagine was presented to their gaze; for they saw two shepherdesses seemingly of noble grace, who were holding a shepherd fast by the lappets of his coat with all the strength in their power, in order that the poor fellow might not drown himself, for he already had half his body in the river, and his head below the water, struggling with his feet to release himself from the shepherdesses, who were hindering his desperate purpose. They were already almost on the point of letting him go, being unable to overcome his obstinate determination with their feeble strength. But at this point the two shepherds approached, who had been coming at a run, and seizing the desperate man, drew him out of the water just as all the others were already approaching, astounded at the strange sight, and they were more so, when they learned that the shepherd who wished to drown himself was Artidoro's brother, Galercio, while the shepherdesses were his sister Maurisa and the fair Teolinda; and when these saw Galatea and Florisa, Teolinda ran with tears in her eyes to embrace Galatea, saying:

'Ah, Galatea, sweet friend and lady mine, how has this luckless wretch fulfilled the word she gave you to return to see you and tell you the news of her happiness!'

'I shall be as glad for you to have it, Teolinda,' replied Galatea, 'as you are assured by the good-will you know I have to serve you; but it seems to me that your eyes do not bear out your words, nor indeed do these satisfy me so as to make me imagine a successful issue to your desires.'

Whilst Galatea was thus occupied with Teolinda, Elicio and Artidoro with the other shepherds had stripped Galercio, and as they loosened his coat, which with all his clothes had been wetted, a paper fell from his bosom, which Thyrsis picked up, and, opening it, saw that it was verse; and not being able to read it because it was wet, he placed it on a lofty branch in the sun's ray so that it might dry. On Galercio they placed a cloak of Arsindo's, and the luckless youth was as it were astounded and amazed, without saying a word, though Elicio asked him what was the cause that had brought him to so strange a pass. But his sister Maurisa answered for him, saying:

'Raise your eyes, shepherds, and you will see who is the cause that has set my unfortunate wretch of a brother in so strange and desperate a plight.'

The shepherds raised their eyes at what Maurisa said, and saw a graceful and comely shepherdess on a beetling rock that overhung the river, seated on the same crag, and watching with smiling countenance all that the shepherds were doing. She was straightway recognised by all as the cruel Gelasia.

'That loveless, that thankless girl, sirs,' went on Maurisa, 'is the mortal enemy of this my unhappy brother, who, as all these banks already know and you are not unaware, loves her, worships her and adores her; and in return for the ceaseless services he has always done her, and for the tears that he has shed for her, she this morning, with the most scornful and loveless disdain that could ever be found in cruelty, bade him go from her presence, and never return to her now or henceforth. And my brother wished to obey her so earnestly, that he sought to take away his life, to avoid the occasion of ever transgressing her bidding; and if these shepherds had not by chance come so quickly, the end of my happiness, and the end of my hapless brother's days would by now have come.'

What Maurisa said set all those who listened to her in amazement, and they were more amazed when they saw that the cruel Gelasia, without moving from the spot where she was, and without taking account of all that company who had their eyes set on her, with a strange grace and spirited disdain, drew a small rebeck from her wallet, and stopping to tune it very leisurely, after a little while with a voice of great beauty began to sing in this wise:

GELASIA.
The pleasing herbs of the green shady mead,
The cooling fountains, who will e'er forsake,
And strive no more the fleet hare to o'ertake
Or bristling wild-boar, following on with speed?

Who will no more the friendly warblings heed
Of the dear, simple birds within the brake?
Who in the glowing noon-tide hour will make
No more his couch within the woods at need,

That he the fires may follow, and the fears,
Jealousies, angers, rages, deaths, and pains,
Of traitorous Love, that doth the world torment?

Upon the fields are set my loving cares
And have been, rose and jessamine my chains,
Free was I born, on freedom am I bent.

Gelasia was singing, and showing in the motion and expression of her face her loveless disposition; but scarcely had she come to the last verse of her song, when she rose with a strange swiftness, and, as if she were fleeing from some terrible thing, she began to hurry down by the crag, leaving the shepherds amazed at her disposition and astounded at her swift course. But straightway they saw what was the cause of it, on seeing the enamoured Lenio, who with dragging step was ascending the same crag, with the intention of coming to where Gelasia was; but she was not willing to wait for him, so as not to fail in a single instance to act in accordance with the cruelty of her purpose. The wearied Lenio came to the summit of the crag, when Gelasia was already at its foot, and seeing that she did not check her steps, but directed them with more haste through the spacious plain, with spent breath and tired spirit he sat down in the same spot where Gelasia had been, and there began with desperate words to curse his fortune, and the hour in which he raised his eyes to gaze on the cruel shepherdess Gelasia, and in that same moment, repenting as it were of what he was saying, he turned to bless his eyes, and to extol the cause that placed him in such a pass. And straightway goaded and urged by a fit of frenzy, he flung his crook far from him, and, stripping off his coat, cast it into the waters of the clear Tagus, which followed close by the foot of the crag. And when the shepherds who were watching him saw this, they believed without a doubt that the violence of his love-passion was depriving him of reason; and so Elicio and Erastro began to ascend the crag to prevent him from doing any other mad act, that might cost him more dear. And though Lenio saw them ascending, he made no other movement save to draw his rebeck from a wallet, and with a new and strange calm sat down again; and turning his face to where his shepherdess heard, he began with a voice mellow and accompanied with tears to sing in this fashion:

LENIO.
Who drives thee on, who leadeth thee aside,
Who makes thee leave all loving thought behind,
Who on thy feet hath rapid pinions tied,
Wherewith thou runnest swifter than the wind?
Wherefore dost thou my lofty thought deride
And think but little of my loyal mind?
Why fleest thou from me, why leavest me?
Harder than marble to my agony!

Am I perchance so lowly in estate
That I may not behold thy eyes so fair,
Or poor or niggard? Have I proved ingrate
Or false since I beheld their beauty rare?
I am in naught changed from my former state,
Does not my soul hang ever from thy hair?
Then wherefore dost thou go so far from me?
Harder than marble to my agony!

Let thy o'erweening pride a warning take,
When it beholds my will, once free, subdued,
My ancient daring, see, I now forsake,
To loving purpose changed my former mood;
Behold, the forest life, that doth not make
A care of aught, 'gainst Love is nowise good,
Now stay thy steps, why wearied should they be?
Harder than marble to my agony!

Once I was as thou art, now I behold
That I can ne'er be what I was before,
The force of my desire doth wax so bold,
So great my love, I love myself no more;
Love can me now within his prison hold;
This is thy palm, thy trophy in the war,
Victorious o'er me, dost complain of me?
Harder than marble to my agony!

While the hapless shepherd was intoning his piteous plaints, the other shepherds were reproving Galercio for his evil design, condemning the wicked purpose he had displayed. But the despairing youth replied to nothing, whereat Maurisa was not a little distressed, believing that, if left alone, he must carry out his evil thought. In the meantime Galatea and Florisa, going aside with Teolinda, asked her what was the cause of her return, and if by chance she had already heard of her Artidoro. To which she replied weeping:

'I know not what to say to you, friends and ladies mine, save that Heaven wished that I should find Artidoro, to lose him utterly; for you must know that that same unconsiderate and traitorous sister of mine, who was the beginning of my misfortune, has been the cause of the end and termination of my happiness. For learning, as we came with Galercio and Maurisa to their village, that Artidoro was on a mountain not far from there with his flock, she went away to look for him without telling me anything. She found him, and, pretending that she was I (since for this wrong alone Heaven ordained that we should be alike), with little difficulty gave him to understand that the shepherdess who had disdained him in our village was a sister of hers, who was exceedingly like her; in a word, she recounted to him, as though they were hers, all the actions I have done for his sake, and the extremes of grief I have suffered. And as the heart of the shepherd was so tender and loving, with far less than the traitress told him would she have been believed by him, as indeed he did believe her, so much to my hurt, that without waiting for fortune to mingle any new obstacle with his pleasure, straightway at the very moment he gave his hand to Leonarda, to be her lawful husband, believing he was giving it to Teolinda. Here you see, shepherdesses, where the fruit of my tears and sighs has ended; here you see all my hope already torn up by the root; and what I feel most is that it has been by the hand that was most bound to sustain it. Leonarda enjoys Artidoro by means of the false deception I have told you, and although he already knows it, though he must have perceived the trick, he has kept it to himself like a wise man. The tidings of his marriage came straightway to the village, and with them those of the end of my happiness; the stratagem of my sister was also known, who gave as excuse that she saw Galercio, whom she loved so much, going to ruin through the shepherdess Gelasia, and that therefore it seemed to her easier to bring to her will the loving will of Artidoro than Galercio's despairing one, and that since the two were but one as regards outward appearance and nobility, she counted herself happy and fortunate, indeed, with Artidoro's companionship. With this the enemy of my bliss excuses herself, as I have said; and so I, not to see her enjoy that which was rightly due to me, left the village and Artidoro's presence, and accompanied by the saddest fancies that can be fancied, came to give you the news of my misery in the company of Maurisa, who likewise comes with the intention of telling you what Grisaldo has done since he learnt Rosaura's abduction. And this morning at sunrise we fell in with Galercio, who with tender and loving words was urging Gelasia to love him well; but she with the strongest disdain and scorn that can be told, bade him leave her presence, nor dare ever to speak to her. And the hapless shepherd, crushed by so harsh a bidding, and by cruelty so strange, wished to fulfil it, doing what you have seen. All this is what has happened to me, my friends, since I went from your presence. Think now whether I have more to weep for than before, and whether the cause has grown for you to busy yourselves in consoling me, if perchance my woe might admit of consolation.'

Teolinda said no more, for the countless tears that came to her eyes, and the sighs she wrung from her soul, hindered her tongue in its office; and though the tongues of Galatea and Florisa wished to show themselves skilful and eloquent in consoling her, their toil was of little avail. And while this converse was passing between the shepherdesses, the paper which Thyrsis had taken from Galercio's bosom became dry, and being anxious to read it he took it and saw that it ran thus:

GALERCIO TO GELASIA.

Angel in the guise of maid,
Fury with a lady's face,
Cold, and yet a glowing blaze,
Wherein my soul is assayed;
Hearken to the bitter wrong,
By thy lack of passion wrought,
Which hath from my soul been brought
And set these sad lines among.

I write, not to move thine heart,
Since against thy breast of mail
Prayers nor cleverness avail,
Loyal service hath no part;
But that thou the wrong mayst see
Which thou dost inflict, I write,
And how ill thou dost requite
All the worth there is in thee.

Just it is that liberty
Thou shouldst praise, and thou art right,
Yet, behold, 'tis held upright
Only by thy cruelty;
Just it is not to ordain
That thou wouldst be free from strife,
And yet thine unfettered life
On so many deaths sustain.

That all men should love thee well
Do not fancy 'tis dishonour,
Do not fancy that thine honour
In the use of scorn doth dwell;
Nay, the cruelty restrain
Of the wrongs that thou dost do,
And be pleased with lovers few,
Thus a better name attain.

For thy rigour doth proclaim
That wild beasts did give thee birth,
That the mountains of the earth
Formed thee, harsh, whom none may tame.
For therein is thy delight,
In the moorland and the mead,
Where thou canst not find indeed
One to set thy wish alight.

Once I saw thee all alone,
Seated in a pleasant glade,
And, as I beheld, I said:
''Tis a statue of hard stone.'
Thou didst move and thus my view
Thou didst prove to be mistaken,
'Yet in mood,' I said, unshaken,
'She is more than statue, true.'

Would that thou a statue were,
Made of stone, for then I might
Hope that Heaven for my delight
Would thee change to woman fair!
For Pygmalion could not be
So devoted to his queen,
As I am and aye have been
And shall ever be to thee.

Thou repayest, as is due,
Good and ill, I murmur not,
Glory for the good I wrought,
Suffering for the ill I do.
And this truth is shown abroad
In the way thou treatest me,
Life it gives me thee to see,
Thou dost slay me by thy mood.

Of that breast which maketh bold
Love's encounters to despise,
May the fire that in my sighs
Gloweth, somewhat melt the cold,
May my tears this boon obtain,
Tears that never, never, rest,
That for one short hour thy breast
May be sweet and kind again.

Well I know thou wilt declare
That I am too long; 'tis true,
My desire make less, I too
Then will lesser make my prayer;
But according to the way
Thou dost deal with my requests,
Thee it little interests
Whether less or more I pray.

If I might in words essay
To reproach thy cruelty,
And that sign point out to thee
Which our weakness doth display,
I would say, when I did learn
What thou art, no longer blind:
'Thou art rock, bear this in mind,
And to rock thou must return.'

Whether rock or steel thou art,
Adamant or marble hard,
Steel, I am thy loving bard,
Rock, I love with all my heart;
Angel veiled, or fury, know
That the truth is all too plain,
I live, by the angel slain,
By the fury brought to woe.

Galercio's verses seemed better to Thyrsis than Gelasia's disposition, and wishing to show them to Elicio, he saw him so changed in hue and countenance that he seemed the image of death. He went up to him, and when he wished to ask him if any grief were distressing him, there was no need to await his reply in order to learn the cause of his pain, for straightway he heard it announced amongst all those who were there. Now the two shepherds who helped Galercio, were friends of the Lusitanian shepherd to whom the venerable Aurelio had agreed to marry Galatea, and they were coming to tell him how the fortunate shepherd would come in three days' time to his village to conclude that most happy betrothal. And straightway Thyrsis saw that this news must needs cause in Elicio's soul newer and stranger symptoms than had been caused; but nevertheless he went up to him and said to him:

'Now it is necessary, good friend, that you should know how to make use of the discretion you have, since in the greatest peril hearts show themselves courageous, and I assure you that there is something assures me that this business must have a better end than you think. Dissemble and be silent, for if Galatea's will takes no pleasure in conforming wholly with her father's, you will satisfy yours, by availing yourself of ours, and also of all the favour that can be offered you by all the shepherds there are on the banks of this river, and on those of the gentle Henares. And this favour I offer you, for I feel quite sure that the desire all know I have to serve them, will constrain them to act so that what I promise you here may not turn out vain.'

Elicio remained amazed, seeing the generous and true offer of Thyrsis, and could not nor did he know how to reply to him save by embracing him closely and saying to him:

'May Heaven reward you, discreet Thyrsis, for the consolation you have given me, by which and by Galatea's will, which, as I think, will not differ from ours, I understand without doubt that so notorious a wrong as is being done to all these banks in banishing from them the rare beauty of Galatea, shall not go further.'

And, as he turned to embrace him, the lost colour returned to his face. But it did not return to Galatea's, to whom hearing of the shepherds' embassy was as if she heard her death-sentence. Elicio noted it all, and Erastro could not ignore it, nor yet the discreet Florisa, nor indeed was the news pleasing to any of those who were there. At this hour the sun was already descending by his wonted course, and therefore for this reason, as well as because they saw that the love-sick Lenio had followed Gelasia, and there was nothing else left to do there, all that company, taking Galercio and Maurisa with them, bent their steps towards the village, and on coming close to it, Elicio and Erastro remained in their huts, and with them remained Thyrsis, Damon, Orompo, Crisio, Marsilio, Arsindo and Orfenio, with some other shepherds. The fortunate Timbrio, Silerio, Nisida, and Blanca took leave of them all with courteous words and offers, telling them that on the morrow they intended to set out for the city of Toledo, where the end of their journey was to be; and embracing all who were remaining with Elicio, they departed with Aurelio, with whom went Florisa, Teolinda and Maurisa, and the sad Galatea, so heart-broken and thoughtful that with all her discretion she could not fail to give tokens of strange unhappiness. With Daranio departed his wife Silveria and the fair Belisa. Thereon the night closed in, and it seemed to Elicio that all the roads to his pleasure were closed with it, and had it not been for welcoming with cheerful mien the guests he had in his hut that night, he would have spent it so badly that he would have despaired of seeing the day. The wretched Erastro was passing through the same trouble, though with more relief, for, without regarding anyone, with loud cries and piteous words he cursed his fortune and Aurelio's hasty resolve. This being so, when the shepherds had satisfied their hunger with some rustic victuals, and some of them had yielded themselves to the arms of peaceful sleep, the fair Maurisa came to Elicio's hut, and finding Elicio at the door of his hut, took him aside and gave him a paper, telling him it was from Galatea, and that he should read it at once, for, since she was bringing it at such an hour, he should understand that what it must contain was important. The shepherd, wondering at Maurisa's coming, and more at seeing in his hands a paper from his shepherdess, could not rest for a moment until he read it, and entering his hut, read it by the light of a splinter of resinous pine, and saw that it read thus:

GALATEA TO ELICIO.

'In my father's hasty resolve lies the resolve I have taken to write to you, and in the violence he uses towards me lies the violence I have used towards myself to reach this extreme. You well know in what an extreme pass I am, and I know well that I would gladly see myself in a better, that I might reward you somewhat for the much I know I owe you. But if Heaven wishes me to remain in this debt, complain of it, and not of my will. My father's I would gladly change, if it were possible, but I see that it is not, and so I do not try it. If you think of any remedy in that quarter, so long as prayers have no part in it, put it into effect with the consideration you owe to your reputation and hold due to my honour. He whom they are giving me as husband, he who shall give me burial, is coming the day after to-morrow; little time remains for you to take counsel, though sufficient remains to me for repentance. I say no more save that Maurisa is faithful and I unhappy.'

The words of Galatea's letter set Elicio in strange confusion, as it seemed to him a new thing both that she should write to him, since up till then she had never done so, and that she should bid him seek a remedy for the wrong that was being done her. But, passing over all these things, he paused only to think how he should fulfil what was bidden him, though he should hazard therein a thousand lives, if he had so many. And as no other remedy offered itself to him save that which he was awaiting from his friends, he made bold, trusting in them, to reply to Galatea by a letter he gave to Maurisa, which ran in this manner:

ELICIO TO GALATEA.

'If the violence of my strength came up to the desire I have to serve you, fair Galatea, neither that which your father uses towards you, nor the greatest in the world, would have power to injure you. But, be that as it may, you will see now, if the wrong goes further, that I do not lag behind in doing your bidding in the best way the case may demand. Let the faithfulness you have known in me, assure you of this, and show a good face to present fortune, trusting in coming prosperity, for Heaven which has moved you to remember me and write to me, will give me strength to show that I merit in part the favour you have done me, for, if only it be obeying you, neither fear nor dread will have power to prevent me putting into effect what befits your happiness, and is of such import to mine. No more, for what more there is to be in this, you will learn from Maurisa, to whom I have given account of it; and if your opinion does not agree with mine, let me be informed, in order that time may not pass by, and with it the season of our happiness, which may Heaven give you as it can and as your worth deserves.'

Having given this letter to Maurisa, as has been said, he told her also how he was intending to assemble as many shepherds as he could, and that all should go together to speak to Galatea's father, asking him as a signal favour to be so kind as not to banish from those meadows her peerless beauty; and, should this not suffice, he was intending to place such obstacles and terrors before the Lusitanian shepherd that he himself would say that he was not content with what had been agreed; and, should prayers and stratagems be of no avail, he was resolved to use violence and thereby set her at liberty, and that with the consideration for her reputation which could be expected from one who loved her so much. With this resolve Maurisa went away, and the same was taken straightway by all the shepherds that were with Elicio, for he gave to them account of his intentions, asking for favour and counsel in so difficult a plight. Straightway Thyrsis and Damon offered to be those who should speak to Galatea's father. Lauso, Arsindo, and Erastro, with the four friends, Orompo, Marsilio, Crisio and Orfenio, promised to look for their friends and assemble them for the following day, and to carry out with them whatsoever should be bidden them by Elicio. In discussing what was best suited to the case, and in taking this resolve, the greater part of that night passed away. And, the morning having come, all the shepherds departed to fulfil what they had promised, save Thyrsis and Damon, who remained with Elicio. And that same day Maurisa came again to tell Elicio how Galatea was resolved to follow his opinion in everything; Elicio took leave of her with new promises and confidences; and with joyous countenance and strange gaiety he was awaiting the coming day to see the good or evil issue fortune was bestowing on his work. With this night came on, and, Elicio repairing with Damon and Thyrsis to his hut, they spent almost all of it in testing and taking note of all the difficulties that could arise in that affair, if perchance Aurelio was not moved by the arguments Thyrsis intended to bring before him. But Elicio, in order to give the shepherds opportunity for repose, went out of his hut, and ascended a green hill that rose before it; and there, girt round with solitude, he was revolving in his memory all that he had suffered for Galatea, and what he feared he would suffer, if Heaven did not favour his plans. And without leaving this train of thought, to the sound of a soft breeze that was gently blowing, with a voice sweet and low he began to sing in this wise:

ELICIO.
If 'midst this boiling sea and gulf profound
Of madness, 'midst the tempest's threatening strife,
I from so cruel a blow rescue my life,
And reach the haven, fortunate and sound,

Each hand uplifted to the air around,
With humble soul and will contented, I
Shall make Love know my thanks, and Heaven on high,
For the choice bliss wherewith my life is crowned.

Then fortunate shall I my sighings call,
My tears shall I account as full of pleasure,
The flame wherein I burn, refreshing cold.

Love's wounds, I shall declare, are to the soul
Sweet, to the body wholesome, that no measure
Can mete his bliss, which boundless I behold.

When Elicio ended his song, the cool dawn, with her fair cheeks of many hues, was beginning to reveal herself by the Eastern gates, gladdening the earth, sprinkling the grass with pearls, and painting the meadows; whose longed-for approach the chattering birds straightway began to greet with thousand kinds of harmonious songs. Thereon Elicio arose and, stretching his eyes over the spacious plain, discovered not far away two troops of shepherds, who, as it seemed to him, were making their way towards his hut, as was the truth, for he straightway recognised that they were his friends Lauso and Arsindo with others whom they were bringing with them. And the others were Orompo, Marsilio, Crisio and Orfenio, with as many of their friends as they could assemble. Elicio then recognising them, descended from the hill to go and welcome them; and when they came near to the hut, Thyrsis and Damon, who were going to look for Elicio, were already outside it. In the meantime all the shepherds came up and welcomed each other with joyous countenance. And straightway Lauso, turning to Elicio, said to him:

'In the company we bring, you can see, friend Elicio, whether we are beginning to give tokens of our wish to fulfil the word we gave you; all whom you see here, come with the desire to serve you, though they should hazard their lives therein. What is wanting is that you should not be wanting in what may be most essential.'

Elicio, with the best words he could, thanked Lauso and the others for the favour they were doing him, and straightway told them all that it had been agreed with Thyrsis and Damon to do in order to succeed in that enterprise. What Elicio was saying seemed good to the shepherds; and so, without more delay, they made their way towards the village, Thyrsis and Damon going in front, and all the others following them, who might be some twenty shepherds, the bravest and most graceful that could be found on all the banks of the Tagus, and all were minded, if the reasonings of Thyrsis did not move Aurelio to act reasonably in what they asked him, to use force instead of reason, nor to consent that Galatea should yield herself to the foreign shepherd; whereat Erastro was as happy, as if a fair issue to that demand were to redound to his happiness alone, for, rather than lose sight of Galatea, absent and unhappy, he held it a good bargain that Elicio should win her, as he thought he would, since Galatea must needs be so much indebted to him.

The end of this loving tale and history, with what happened to Galercio, Lenio and Gelasia, Arsindo, Maurisa, Grisaldo, Artandro and Rosaura, Marsilio and Belisa, with other things which happened to the shepherds mentioned hitherto, is promised in the Second Part of this history. Which, if it sees this First received with favourable wishes, will have the boldness shortly to come out in order to be seen and judged by the eyes and understanding of mankind.

[The following brief notes, based on Barrera's commentary, and corrected or supplemented in the light of subsequent research, have been drawn up in the hope that they may be of use to the general reader. In a certain number of cases it has, unfortunately, been impossible to trace the writings of those mentioned in the text. I should gratefully receive any information concerning the men or their works. In dealing with famous authors like Lope de Vega or Góngora, whose subsequent careers have fulfilled Cervantes's prophecies, it has been thought unnecessary to give details which can be found in every history of Spanish literature. It has occasionally happened that a writer is made the subject of a longer note than his actual importance might seem, at first sight, to deserve. The justification for this lies in the fact that such minor authors are more or less intimately associated with Cervantes, or that the mention of their names affords a convenient opportunity for discussing some point of interest in connexion with his life or writings.

For the sake of convenience in referring from one author to another, the notes to the _Canto de Calíope_ have been numbered consecutively throughout. J. F.-K.]

FOOTNOTES:

[117] As the _Canto de Calíope_ professes to deal solely with living poets--_algunos señalados varones que en esta vuestra España viven, y algunos en las apartadas Indias á ella sujetas_--the Diego Mendoza mentioned in the twentyfifth stanza cannot refer to the celebrated historian who died ten years before the _Galatea_ was published. But the above lament for Meliso is unquestionably dedicated to his memory. The phrase _el aprisco veneciano_ is an allusion to Diego Hurtado de Mendoza's embassy in Venice (1539-1547). It is not generally known that Mendoza visited England as special Plenipotentiary in 1537-1538 with the object of arranging two marriages: one between Mary Tudor and Prince Luiz of Portugal, and one between Henry VIII. and Charles V.'s handsome, witty niece, Dorothea of Denmark (afterwards Duchess of Milan), who declined the honour on the ground that she had only one head. Mendoza's mission was a diplomatic failure: nor does he seem to have enjoyed his stay here. He was made much of, was banqueted at Hampton Court, and confessed that life in England was pleasant enough; but he sighed for Barcelona, and was glad to pass on to the Low Countries and thence to Venice. See the _Calendar of State Papers (Spain)_, vol. v. J. F.-K.

[118] Leiva's work would seem to have disappeared. In the _Casa de Memoria_, which forms part of the _Diversas Rimas_ (1591), Espinel refers to an Alonso de Leiva in much the same terms as Cervantes uses here:--

El ánimo gentil, el dulce llanto,
El blando estilo, con que enternecido
Don Alonso de Leyva quando canta
A Venus enamora, á Marte espanta.

[119] Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga was born at Madrid in 1533. He was page to Philip II at the latter's marriage with Mary Tudor in Winchester Cathedral. He sailed for South America in 1555, served against the Araucanos under García Hurtado de Mendoza, Marqués de Cañete, quarrelled with a brother officer named Juan de Pineda, was sentenced to death, reprieved at the last moment, and is said to have been exiled to Callao. Ercilla returned to Spain in 1562, bringing with him the First Part of his epic poem, _La Araucana_, which he had composed during his campaigns. The original draft was scribbled on stray pieces of paper and scraps of leather: "que no me costó después poco trabajo juntarlos." This First Part was published at Madrid in 1569: the Second Part appeared in 1578, and the Third in 1590. The author died, a disappointed man, in 1594. For a sound appreciation of his talent see _L'Araucana, poème épique por D. Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga. Morceaux choisis précedés d'une étude biographique et littéraire, suivis de notes grammaticales, et de versification et de deux lexiques_ (Paris, 1900) by M. Jean Ducamin. A critical edition of _La Araucana_ by the eminent Chilean scholar, Sr. D. José Toribio Medina, is in preparation.

Cervantes expresses the highest opinion of _La Araucana_ in _Don Quixote_ (Part I., chap. vi.) where he brackets it with Rufo's _Austriada_ and Virués's _Monserrate_:--"These three books," said the curate, "are the best that have been written in Castilian in heroic verse, and they may compare with the most famous of Italy; let them be preserved as the richest treasures of poetry that Spain possesses."

[120] Barrera believed that the reference is to Juan de Silva, Conde de Portalegre, afterwards Governor and Captain-General of the Kingdom of Portugal. A collection of his letters is said to be in the Biblioteca Nacional at Madrid: Silva is further stated to have revised the manuscript of Hurtado de Mendoza's _Historia de la Guerra de Granada_, first published (posthumously) by Luis de Tribaldos de Toledo at Lisbon in 1627. He certainly wrote the introduction to Tribaldos de Toledo's edition.

Juan de Silva, Conde de Portalegre, is said by Jacques-Charles Brunet (_Manuel du libraire et de l'amateur de livres_, Paris, 1861-1880, vol. ii., col. 217) to be the author of a work entitled _Dell' unione del regno di Portogallo alla corona di Castiglia, istoria del Sig. Ieronimo di Franchi Conestaggio, gentilhuomo genovese_ (Genova, 1585). This volume was in Montaigne's library (see M. Paul Bonnefon's valuable contribution--_La Bibliothèque de Montaigne_--in the _Revue d'Histoire littéraire de la France_, Paris, 1895, vol. ii., pp. 344-345): so also was the Spanish version of López de Castanheda's _Historia_ (M. Paul Bonnefon, _op. cit._, p. 362). A trace of both these works is observable in the 1595 edition of the _Essais_ (liv. ii., chap. 21, _Contre la fainéantise_).

[121] The soldier, Diego Santisteban y Osorio, is known as the author of a sequel to Ercilla's _Araucana_: his fourth and fifth parts were published in 1597.

[122] Barrera conjectures that the allusion is to Francisco Lasso de Mendoza who wrote a prefatory sonnet for Luis Gálvez de Montalvo's _Pastor de Fílida_: see note 24.

[123] Barrera states that Diego de Sarmiento y Carvajal contributed verses to the _Primera parte de la Miscelánea austral de don Diego d'Avalós y Figueroa en varios coloquios_ (Lima, 1603). I have not seen this work.

[124] Barrera fails to give any particulars of Gutierre Carvajal of whom, also, I find no trace in recent bibliographies.

[125] Prefatory sonnets by the Toledan soldier, Luis de Vargas Manrique, are found in Cervantes's _Galatea_ and in López Maldonado's _Cancionero_, both published in 1585: see notes 23 and 34.

[126] Francisco Campuzano practised medicine at Alcalá de Henares, Cervantes's birthplace. In 1585 he contributed to López Maldonado's _Cancionero_ and to Padilla's _Jardín espiritual_: another copy of his verses precedes Gracián Dantisco's _Galateo español_ (1594): see notes 23, 27, and 34.

[127] Francisco Suárez de Sosa, a native of Medina del Campo, practised as a physician. Barrera states that Suárez de Sosa wrote _Del arte como se ha de pelear contra los turcos_ (1549) and _De las ilustres mujeres que en el mundo ha habido_; but I do not understand him to say that either of these works was printed. Barrera conjectures that Suárez de Sosa is introduced in the _Galatea_ under the name of Sasio.

[128] Nothing seems to be known of Doctor Baza.

[129] I have not succeeded in identifying the Licenciado Daza with any of the Dazas mentioned by Bartolomé José Gallardo, _Ensayo de una biblioteca española de libros raros y curiosos_ (Madrid, 1863-1889), vol. ii., cols. 750-754.

[130] The Maestro Garay, praised as a _divino ingenio_ in Lope de Vega's _Arcadia_, is represented by a _glosa_, a copy of _redondillas_, and five sonnets in Manuel Rivadeneyra's _Biblioteca de autores españoles_, vol. xlii., pp. 510-511.

[131] Cervantes's praise of the Maestro Córdoba is confirmed by Lope de Vega in the _Laurel de Apolo_ (silva iv.):--

Hoy á las puertas de su templo llama
Una justa memoria,
Digna de honor y gloria,
Antes que pase el alto Guadarrama,
Que mi maestro Córdoba me ofrece,
Y las musas latinas me dan voces,
Pues con tan justa causa la merece.

[132] Francisco Díaz, lecturer on philosophy and medicine at the University of Alcalá de Henares, published a _Compendio de Cirujia_ (Madrid, 1575). In 1588 Cervantes contributed a complimentary sonnet to Díaz' treatise on kidney disease: _Tratado nuevamente impreso acerca de las enfermedades de los riñones_. The occasion is certainly singular. It does not seem that Díaz himself published any verse.

[133] No trace of Luján's writings has, to my knowledge, been discovered. It seems unlikely that Cervantes can refer to the Pedro de Luján whose _Coloquios matrimoniales_ were published at Seville as early as 1550: see Gallardo, _op. cit._, vol. iii., col. 553.

[134] A prefatory sonnet by Juan de Vergara is found in López Maldonado's _Cancionero_: see note 23.

[135] It may be to this writer that Agustín de Rojas Villandrando alludes in the _Viaje entretenido_ (1603):--

De los farsantes que han hecho
farsas, loas, bayles, letras
son Alonso de Morales,
Grajales, Zorita Mesa, etc.

Two romances by an Alonso de Morales are given in Rivadeneyra, vol. xvi., p. 248.

[136] This prophecy has not been fulfilled: Hernando Maldonado's writings appear to be lost.

[137] Lope de Vega also finds place in the _Laurel de Apolo_ (silva iii.) for

Aquel ingenio, universal, profundo,
El docto Marco Antonio de la Vega,
Ilustre en verso y erudito en prosa.

[138] This can scarcely refer to the famous diplomatist who died in 1575. Possibly Cervantes may have alluded here to Captain Diego de Mendoza de Barros, two of whose sonnets are included in Pedro Espinosa's collection entitled _Flores de poetas ilustres de España_ (1605). The sonnet on f. 65--

"Pedís, Reyna, un soneto, ya lo hago--"

may have served as Lope de Vega's model for the celebrated Sonnet on a Sonnet in _La Niña de plata_. A still earlier example in this kind was given by Baltasar del Alcázar: see note 43. For French imitations of this sonnet, see M. Alfred Morel-Fatio's article in the _Revue d'Histoire littéraire de la France_ (Paris, July 15, 1896), pp. 435-439. See also Father Matthew Russell's _Sonnets on the Sonnet_ (London, 1898), and a note in Sr. D. Adolfo Bonilla y San Martín's Castilian version of my _History of Spanish Literature_ (Madrid, 1901), p. 344.

[139] Diego Durán contributed a prefatory poem to López Maldonado's _Cancionero_: see note 23. Casiano Pellicer conjectured that Durán figures in the _Galatea_ as Daranio: see the _Introduction_ to the present version, p. xlviii, _n._ 2.

[140] López Maldonado seems to have been on very friendly terms with Lope de Vega and, more especially, with Cervantes. In _Don Quixote_ (Part I., chap. vi), the latter writes:--"es grande amigo mio." Lope and Cervantes both contributed prefatory verses to López Maldonado's _Cancionero_ (1586) of which the Priest expressed a favourable opinion when examining Don Quixote's library:--"it gives rather too much of its eclogues, but what is good was never yet plentiful: let it be kept with those that have been set apart."

[141] Luis Gálvez de Montalvo is best remembered as the author of the pastoral novel, _El Pastor de Fílida_ (1582); see the _Introduction_ to the present version, pp. xxvi and xxxi.

[142] Pedro Liñán de Riaza's poems have been collected in the first volume of the _Biblioteca de escritores aragoneses_ (Zaragoza, 1876). Concerning some supplementary pieces, omitted in this edition, see Professor Emilio Teza, _Der Cancionero von Neapel_, in _Romanische Forschungen_ (Erlangen, 1893), vol. vii., pp. 138-144. Sr. D. Adolfo Bonilla y San Martín conjectures that Liñán de Riaza may have had some part in connection with Avellaneda's spurious continuation of _Don Quixote_: see the elaborate note in his Castilian version of my _History of Spanish Literature_ (Madrid, 1901), pp. 371-374.

[143] Alonso de Valdés wrote a prologue in praise of poetry to Vicente Espinel's _Diversas rimas_: see note 46.

[144] Pedro de Padilla and Cervantes were on excellent terms: "es amigo mio," says the latter in _Don Quixote_ (Part I., chap. vi). Cervantes contributed complimentary verses to Padilla's _Romancero_ (1583), to his _Jardín espiritual_ (1585), and to his posthumous _Grandezas y Excelencias de la Virgen_ (1587). Padilla died in August 1585, shortly after the publication of the _Galatea_: his _Romancero_ has been reprinted (1880) by the Sociedad de Bibliófilos españoles.

[145] I have met with no other allusion to Gaspar Alfonso.

[146] The _heróicos versos_ of Cristóbal de Mesa are of no remarkable merit. Besides translations of Virgil, and the tragedy _Pompeyo_ (1615), he published _Las Navas de Tolosa_ (1594), _La Restauración de España_ (1607), the _Valle de lágrimas_ (1607), and _El Patrón de España_ (1611).

[147] Many Riberas figure in the bibliographies, but apparently none of them is named Pedro.

[148] Benito de Caldera's translation of Camões's _Lusiadas_ was issued at Alcalá de Henares in 1580. Láinez, Garay, Gálvez de Montalvo, and Vergara--all four eulogized in this _Canto de Calíope_--contributed prefatory poems.

[149] Besides a well-known _glosa_ on Jorge Manrique's _Coplas_, Francisco de Guzmán published the _Triumphos Morales_ and the _Decretos de Sabios_ at Alcalá de Henares in 1565.

[150] This stanza is supposed by Barrera to refer to Juan de Salcedo Villandrando who wrote a prefatory sonnet for Diego d'Avalós y Figueroa's _Miscelánea austral_ (Lima, 1602).

[151] This Tomás Gracián Dantisco was the grandson of Diego García, _camarero mayor_ at the court of the Catholic Kings, and son of Diego Gracián de Alderete, Secretary of State and official Interpreter during the reigns of Charles V. and Philip II. The latter studied at the University of Louvain where his name was wrongly Latinized as Gratianus (instead of Gracianus), and, on his return to Spain, he adopted the form Gracián. He married a daughter of Johannes de Curiis, called (from his birthplace) Dantiscus, successively Bishop of Culm (June, 1530) and of West Ermeland (January, 1538), and Polish ambassador at the court of Charles V.: see Leo Czaplicki, _De vita et carminibus Joannis de Curiis Dantisci_ (Vratislaviae, 1855). Some of Diego Gracián de Alderete's letters are included by Sr. D. Adolfo Bonilla y San Martín in his very interesting collection entitled _Clarorum Hispaniensium epistolae ineditae_ (Paris, 1901), printed in the _Revue Hispanique_ (Paris, 1901), vol. viii., pp. 181-308.

Tomás Gracián Dantisco succeeded his father as official Interpreter, and published an _Arte de escribir cartas familiares_ (1589). His brother, Lucás Gracián Dantisco, signed the _Aprobación_ to the _Galatea_: see the _Introduction_ to the present version, p. x, _n._ 4. Another brother, Antonio Gracián Dantisco, secretary to the King, was a good Greek scholar. He translated a treatise by Hero of Alexandria under the title _De los Pneumaticos, ó machuinas que se hazen por atraccion de vacio_. The manuscript has apparently disappeared; but it existed as late as the time of Nicolás Antonio (_Bibliotheca Hispana_, Romae, 1672, vol. i., p. 98). See also Charles Graux' _Essai sur les origines du fonds grec de l'Escurial_ (Paris, 1880), which forms the 46th _fascicule_ of the _Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Etudes_, and an interesting note by M. Alfred Morel-Fatio in the _Bulletin hispanique_ (Bordeaux, 1902), vol. iv., p. 282.

[152] In the _Dorotea_ (Act iv. sc. ii.) Lope de Vega speaks of "Bautista de Vivar, monstruo de naturaleza en decir versos de improviso con admirable impulso de las musas"; but Vivar's merits must be taken on trust, for his writings have not been printed. A certain Vivar, author of some verses _á lo divino_, is mentioned by Gallardo (_op. cit._, vol. i., col. 1023), but no specimens are given from the manuscript which was in existence as late as November 1, 1844.

The phrase--_monstruo de naturaleza_--applied by Lope to Vivar was applied by Cervantes to Lope in the preface to his _Ocho Comedias y ocho entremeses nuevos_ (Madrid, 1615). It occurs also in Lope's _Hermosa Ester_, the autograph of which, dated April 5, 1610, is in the British Museum Library, Egerton MSS. 547. Mr. Henry Edward Watts (_Miguel de Cervantes, his life & works_, London, 1895, p. 109) contends that Cervantes uses the expression "in bad part" (i.e. in a sense derogatory to Lope), and cites as a parallel case the employment of it in _Don Quixote_ (Part I. chap. xlvi) where Sancho Panza is described as "monstruo de naturaleza, almario de embustes, silo de bellaquerías, inventor de maldades, publicador de sandeces," and so forth. The words _monstruo de naturaleza_ are, no doubt, open to two interpretations. It is, however, inconceivable that Cervantes would offer so gross an insult to his successful rival as is thus imputed to him. In his bickerings with Lope, Cervantes may sometimes forget himself, as will happen to the best of men at times; but such vulgarity as this is absolutely unlike him. It may be as well to note that the expression--_monstruo de naturaleza_--was current as a compliment long before either Cervantes or Lope used it; it will be found in Pedro de Cáceres y Espinosa's preliminary _Discurso_ to the poems of Gregorio Silvestre published in 1582.

Students of Spanish literary history will remember that Vivar's name was introduced by one of the witnesses who appeared against Lope de Vega when the latter was prosecuted for criminal libel at the beginning of 1588. Luis Vargas de Manrique (mentioned in note 8) was reported by this witness as saying that, on the internal evidence, one of the scandalous ballads which formed the basis of the charge might be attributed to four or five different persons: "it may be by Liñán (mentioned in note 25) who is not here, or by Cervantes, and he is not here, and, since it is not mine, it may be by Vivar, or by Lope de Vega, though Lope de Vega, if he had written it, would not so malign himself." See the _Proceso de Lope de Vega por libelo contra unos cómicos_ (Madrid, 1901) by the Sres. Tomillo and Pérez Pastor.

[153] Baltasar de Toledo's writings have not been traced.