[442] “This word,” says Covarruvias, in his Tesoro, “is used in Salamanca, and means Carnival. In the villages, they call it Antruydo; it is certain days before Lent.... They savor a little of heathenism.” Later, Antruejo became, from a provincialism, an admitted word. Villalobos, about 1520, in his amusing “Dialogue between the Duke and the Doctor,” says, “Y el dia de Antruejo,” etc. (Obras, Çaragoça, 1544, folio, f. 35); and the Academy’s dictionary has it, and defines it to be “the three last days of Carnival.”
[443] The “Antruejo” eclogue begins “Carnal fuera! Carnal fuera!”—“Away, Carnival! away, Carnival!”—and recalls the old ballad, “Afuera, afuera, Rodrigo!” It is found at f. 85 of the edition of 1509, and is preceded by another “Antruejo” eclogue, represented the same day before the Duke and Duchess, beginning “O triste de mi cuytado,” (f. 83,) and ending with a villancico full of hopes of a peace with France.
[444] It begins “Deo gracias, padre onrado!” and is at f. 80 of the edition of 1509.
[445] These are the two eclogues, “Pascuala, Dios te mantenga!” (f. 86,) and “Ha, Mingo, quedaste atras” (f. 88). They were, I have little doubt, represented in succession, with a pause between, like that between the acts of a modern play, in which Enzina presented a copy of his Works to the Duke and Duchess, and promised to write no more poetry unless they ordered him to do it.
[446] There is such a Doric simplicity in this passage, with its antiquated, and yet rich, words, that I transcribe it as a specimen of description very remarkable for its age:—
Cata, Gil, que las mañanas,
En el campo hay gran frescor,
Y tiene muy gran sabor
La sombra de las cabañas.
Quien es ducho de dormir