“The Spanish Proteus, which, though writ
But in one tongue, was formed with the world’s wit,
And hath the noblest mark of a good booke,
That an ill man doth not securely looke
Upon it; but will loathe or let it passe,
As a deformed face doth a true glasse.”
(Verses prefixed to Mabbe’s translation, and signed by Ben Jonson.)
Ayguals de Izco, Wenceslao, nineteenth century. This author, now often held up as a model to avoid, enjoyed, some fifty years ago, no little popularity as a humorous writer.
“Book of Jokes, The,” is to be found in the collection of “Spanish Salt,” edited by A. Paz y Melía, and published in 1890. Señor Paz believes most of the tales in the “Book of Jokes” should be ascribed to Hurtado de Mendoza.
Calderon de la Barca, Pedro, the great successor and rival of Lope de Vega, was eminently a poet in the national temper, and had a brilliant success. He was born at Madrid on January 17, 1600. After serving as a soldier he was, on the death of Lope, formally attached to the Court, and was subsequently made a Knight of the Order of Santiago. In 1651 he followed the example of Lope de Vega and other men of letters by entering the Church. He died in 1681, on the Feast of Pentecost, when all Spain was ringing with his autos, and was buried in the splendid church of Atocha. Calderon was remarkable for his personal beauty, and was endowed with a benevolent and kindly character. Of his autos, or religious plays, the “Wonder-working Magician” is the most characteristic of the old Spanish stage (the question has been raised if Goethe had not read it before he wrote “Faust,” the plot being very similar). Of the secular dramas, “The Mayor of Zalamea” is in Spain the most popular, and is still frequently represented, while “Life is a Dream” is perhaps pre-eminent for its brilliant flowing verse and philosophic thoughts. “The Mayor of Zalamea,” though boisterous and jolly in the act given in the text, winds up a tragedy of the first water.