Maria. 'Tis a sweet tale:
Such as would lull a list'ning child to sleep,
His rosy face besoil'd with unwiped tears.
And what became of him?

Foster-Mother. He went on shipboard
With those bold voyagers, who made discovery [225]
Of golden lands; Leoni's younger brother
Went likewise, and when he return'd to Spain,
He told Leoni that the poor mad youth,
[[574]] Soon after they arrived in that new world,
In spite of his dissuasion seized a boat, 230
And all alone set sail by silent moonlight,
Up a great river, great as any sea,
And ne'er was heard of more; but 'tis supposed
He liv'd and died among the savage men.

Enter Velez.

Velez. Still sad, Maria? This same wizard haunts you. 235

Maria. O Christ! the tortures that hang o'er his head,
If ye betray him to these holy brethren!

Velez (with a kind of sneer). A portly man, and eloquent, and tender!
In truth, I shall not wonder if you mourn
That their rude grasp should seize on such a victim. 240

Maria. The horror of their ghastly punishments
Doth so o'ertop the height of sympathy,
That I should feel too little for mine enemy—
Ah! far too little—if 'twere possible,
I could feel more, even tho' my child or husband [245]
Were doom'd to suffer them! That such things are——

Velez. Hush! thoughtless woman!

Maria. Nay—it wakes within me
More than a woman's spirit.

Velez (angrily). No more of this—
I can endure no more.