The Moors.—"Of what country are you?"
Traveller.—"Engleez."
The Moors (brightening up).—"That is good. Yes, we are very glad. We thought you might be a Spaniard, or a Frenchman. Now we'll tell you all; we don't fear. God will give us this country again, when Seedna Aïsa [4] comes to deliver us from these curse-smitten dogs of Spaniards." [5]
Traveller.—"Well, never mind the Spaniards. Have you seen anything you like here?"
The Moors.—"Look at this knife; it is rusty; it should not be so."
Traveller.—"How!"
The Moors.—"We read in our books and commentators that in Andalous
(Spain) there is no rust, and that nothing rusts here." [6]
Traveller.—"Nonsense; have you seen the hundred pillars of your mosque?" (Now converted into a cathedral.)
The Moors.—"Ah, we have seen them," with a deep sigh; "and the pillars will stand till to-morrow." (End of the world.)
I was obliged to say farewell to these poor pilgrims, wandering in the land of their fathers, and worshipping at the threshold of the noble remains of Moresco-Spanish antiquity, for the diligencia was starting off to Seville.