But Fray Luis did not make a speech. He faced the schoolroom full of his pupils and others who had come to hear him, and, taking up the daily lesson, he remarked simply, "As we were saying yesterday—" just as if he had never been away!
Salamanca sits upon the banks of the River Tormes (tôr´mās) across an old Roman bridge. It is a city of domes and spires, of quiet memories of art and culture.
St. Teresa of Avila
Once upon a time, long, long ago, there lived in the town of Avila (ä´vē̍-lä) a little girl named Teresa. Often Teresa would read stories to her brother. These stories were not about fairies, kings, and queens, nor even robbers. They were about saints.
Little Teresa wished very much to become a saint and to live in heaven. So one day she and her brother set off for the country of the Moors. Their reason for doing this was because they thought that they might be beheaded.
But this great pleasure was to be denied them. An uncle found them on the road and brought them home. It is a blessing that he did and that young Teresa was allowed to grow up. For she became a very holy woman, who did much good in the world.
The city of Avila seems to breathe the holiness of St. Teresa. It is surrounded by a treeless desert and giant rocks. Its perfect Roman walls clasp it tightly as if to safeguard its mystery and charm.
| SALAMANCA |
Do you hear the ding-donging bells of the many churches? They carry one off to dreamland. Do you hear the clink-clinking hoofs of the tiny donkeys? They carry hens and roosters to market in crates upon their backs. Avila is an old-fashioned town.
The Cid of Valencia