"They would not want to go up there if they lie under the ground throwing out flowers."
"Only hear this all-knowing fellow! Why they stay down there only till they are purified of sin, and then they mount and fly up there. Yes, I believe it, simpleton. Why, what can the stars be if they are not the souls of those who are saved? Do not you know that stars sometimes come down? I, I myself, have seen them fall; down, down, leaving a ray of light behind them. Yes, Señor, the stars come down when they have something to tell us here below."
"Oh, Nela!" Pablo exclaimed eagerly. "Your wild imaginings, absurd as they are, charm and captivate me, for they betray the innocence of your soul and the strength of your fancy. All your errors even are part of an earnest disposition to know the truth, and of great gifts, which would be very superior talents if they were cultivated by reason and education. You must acquire one precious accomplishment of which I am deprived—you must positively learn to read."
"To read!—And who is to teach me?"
"My father will; I will ask him to teach you. You know he never refuses me anything. What a pity it is you should live in such a wretched way; your mind is a mine of treasures. You are goodness and sweetness itself and have a lovely imagination. God has given you a large share of all the gifts that are in his store and part of himself; I know it well—I cannot see what is outside, but I can see within, and I know all the wonders of your spirit that you have shown me since you have been my guide.—It is a year and a half now, and it seems like yesterday, that we first began our walks together—and yet, no; I have known you a thousand years. How is it that there is such a close relationship between your feelings and mine? Just now, for instance, you have talked all sorts of extravagant nonsense, and I, who know the truth about the world and religion, I was stirred to enthusiasm as I listened to you. I feel as if it were a voice speaking in my own heart."
"Holy Mother!" exclaimed the girl, folding her hands. "And can he see something else that I feel?"
"What is that?"
"That I was put into the world expressly to be your lazarillo, and that my eyes would be of no use at all, if it were not to guide you and to tell you how beautiful the world is."
The blind boy turned his head suddenly and eagerly, and putting out his hands to touch the child by his side, he said anxiously: