Tales Of The Alhambra Quotes

Perhaps there never was a monument more characteristic of an age and people than the Alhambra; a rugged fortress without, a voluptuous palace within; war frowning from its battlements; poetry breathing throughout the fairy architecture of its halls.

My object is merely to give the reader a general introduction into an abode where, if so disposed, he may linger and loiter with me day by day until we gradually become familiar with all its localities.

It could not be denied, however, that he set a high value upon justice, for he sold it at its weight in gold.

Such were our minor preparations for the journey, but above all we laid in an ample stock of good-humour, and a genuine disposition to be pleased; determining to travel in true contrabandista style; taking things as we found them, rough or smooth, and mingling with all classes and conditions in a kind of vagabond companionship. It is the true way to travel in Spain.

No hay nadie en el mundo que atienda mejor que la pobretería en España el arte de no hacer nada y de vivir de nada; el clima del país contribuye con la mitad , el temperamento de las gentes aporta la otra mitad. Dad, en efecto, a un español la sombra en verano, el sol en invierno, un trozo de pan, ajos, aceite, garbanzos, una vieja capa y una guitarra, aunque no sea propia, los sones de la guitarra, ¡y que ruede el mundo como quiera! Hablarle de estreches! Para él no hay desgracia; la soportan sus hombros sin encogerse, lo mismo que cuando cuelga de ellos la raída capa. El español es siempre un hidalgo, aun en hambre y en harapos.

In the present day, when popular literature is running into the low levels of life, and luxuriating on the vices and follies of mankind; and when the universal pursuit of gain is trampling down the early growth of poetic feeling, and wearing out the verdure of the soul, I question whether it would not be of service for the reader occasionally to turn to these records of prouder times and loftier modes of thinking; and to steep himself to the very lips in old Spanish romance.

it is added, that some of them retain the ancient maps and deeds of the estates and gardens of their ancestors at Granada, and even the keys of the houses, holding them as evidences of their hereditary claims, to be produced at the anticipated day of restoration.

On that day, according to Mateo, the whole city is abandoned to revelry. The great alarm-bell on the watch-tower of the

Alhambra (la Torre de la vela) sends forth its clanging peals from morn till night; the sound pervades the whole Vega, and echoes along the mountains, summoning the peasantry from far and near to the festivities of the metropolis. “Happy the damsel,” says Mateo, “who can get a chance to ring that bell; it is a charm to insure a husband within the year.