PREFACE
No apology need be offered for the introduction to American schools of another selection from the works of so eminent a dramatist as Manuel Tamayo y Baus (1829-1898).
The proverbio here presented, while one of his less pretentious works, was produced when Tamayo was at the prime of his dramatic power and popularity, and well exemplifies his consummate skill in the teaching of a moral lesson by the ingenious and artistic handling of a situation chosen from the commonplaces of everyday life.
Más vale maña que fuerza was first presented at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, November 26, 1866, less than six months before the initial appearance on the same stage, May 4, 1867, of the author's masterpiece, Un drama nuevo.
The situation treated in Más vale maña que fuerza was suggested by a
one-act French comedy entitled La diplomatie du ménage, by Mme. Caroline
Berton, which was first given at the Théâtre Français, January 6, 1852.
Otherwise, Tamayo's work is entirely original.
With the exception of orthographic changes made in conformity with the latest rules of the Royal Spanish Academy, the text is that of the fourth volume of Obras de D. Manuel Tamayo y Baus, published by the Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, Madrid, 1900.
The piece is well adapted for reading in the second year of high school, or in the latter part of the first year course in college, after completion of selections in an easy Spanish reader.