I leave the tale, however, so far in its original state, as to make our acquaintance himself relate
THE ADVENTURES OF BLAS EL GUERRILLERO,
Who, having first carefully examined the outer apartment, which was used as a kind of granary, and then closed the door of that we occupied, thus commenced his story.
My name, caballeros, is Blas Maldonado; my present office, that of Corregidor[170] of the neighbouring town of ——.[171] The place of my birth was M——, a small pueblo[172] on the other side of the Serranía de Ronda, of which my father and mother were natives.
I believe, notwithstanding the somewhat Italian sound of my appellido,[173] that there is a tolerable proportion of the red blood of the Moors in my veins, and that my name is corrupted from the Arabic.
My parents were both of respectable, though humble, birth, and owned a small pacienda in the vicinity of Utrera, which, from time immemorial, had been in possession of my mother’s family. Devoid alike of pride, education, and ambition, they lived in monotonous contentment on the proceeds of their miserable farm, which I, as their only child who had reached maturity, was destined to inherit.
I was beloved by my parents, but especially by my mother, with the most unbounded affection; and from my earliest youth was accustomed to have every wish gratified, every whim indulged. As I advanced in years, I soon showed that I possessed a spirit which soared above the pruning of vines and gathering of olives; and my kind mother checked not this rising ambition; for, though unaspiring herself, she was anxious that her child should be distinguished above the common herd of mankind. My father, however, was desirous of bringing me up to the occupation of my forefathers; saying to my mother, that they themselves had always been happy in the state to which it had pleased their maker to call them;—a condition which, if humble, was one of independence, and placed them, in point of worldly wealth, above the most part of their associates; and that, if they consulted their child’s welfare, they should not bring him up above his calling; for he would only thereby lose the friendship and esteem of his neighbours, without increasing their respect; and might, by idleness and pride, be led to his perdition here and hereafter.
These old-fashioned notions were fortunately overruled; though I must needs confess, that in the early part of my career, I often thought my father had been endowed with the gift of prophecy. My more tender-hearted parent declared, that I had a mind above the direction of a plough, even if my bodily frame had been strong enough to bear the fatigue of a life of labour; and closing her arguments with a flood of tears, she reminded my father of the children they had lost in early life, and begged that I, their last hope, might not also be sacrificed.
I was accordingly sent to Seville, to be educated for the church; that being the only profession my well-intentioned father would hear of my embracing. My fond mother paid me constant visits, to convince herself that my health was not suffering from too close an application to study; supplying me with money saved by her household economy, to enable me to purchase books, and whatever else I might stand in need of. Her fears were not perhaps so groundless as, judging from my present strength and health, you might imagine; for, following the natural bent of my inclination, a thirst for knowledge, I gave up the whole of my time to reading; despising the amusements of my schoolfellows, to whom I felt myself as superior in intellect, as they prided themselves on being in the accidental matter of birth.
I soon, however, wearied of the lives of the saints, and other good books placed in my hands; and leaving them for such as wished to learn how to merit canonization, I sought for more worldly knowledge in the pages of Guzman de Alfarache, Gil Blas, and other adventurers, who, like myself, had had their fortunes to seek; and, whilst I considered the last-named hero a mere driveller, devoid of all honourable ambition, I adopted his code of morality, as the only one to be followed by one who has to push his way through the selfish crowd that throngs every avenue to wealth and power.