The Drive
We discovered why tartanas have bulging hoods. The vehicles roll and rock so much over the bad roads that it is necessary to make room for the passengers' heads to jerk backwards. Otherwise cerebral concussion would be the invariable result.
Luis (to the little monk): "Excuse me, but are not your clothes very hot?"
The Monk (spreading out his hands): "They are hot, but nevertheless they keep out the sun."
We come out of the town into the gardens. There are flat fields of cultivation spotted with mulberry trees, the trunks of which seem vivid purple in the afternoon light.
I make a remark in Spanish. (Jan was still at the stage of appreciative listener).
The Clerkly Man: "Señora, your Spanish is good for a stranger—you can pronounce the Spanish J, which is difficult for foreigners."
I: "I have learned that from speaking German; it is rather like the German ch."
A discussion on idioms at once begins. The Spaniard, though he speaks foreign languages badly, has an inextinguishable interest in the subject of tongues. If ever you are bored in Spanish company start an argument about languages. After the discussion has been going on for some while the pale Señor says: