[9] The desire to conform with foreign notions has produced a Spanish export in which the true genius of the Spanish dance is lost. To see Seville or Córdoba, you must go to Andalusia. To see the Andalusian dance, you must do likewise.
[10] Of the many explanations for this strange use of flamenco, that of Federico de Onís strikes me as plausible. He believes that flamenco was first applied to the dress of Flemish courtiers of Carlos I. Nobles of Spain imitated these styles; the people of Andalusia finally adopted them, and so at last flamenco was applied to the song and dance accompanying a style.
[11] To the reader who fears the difficulty of the old Spanish, I recommend a modern Castilian version of this perennial poem in which none of the flavor is lost: it is by Alfonso Reyes, the Mexican poet, and is published in the Collección Universal of Madrid.
[12] It must not be forgotten that the Jesuits of France who contributed so greatly to the creation of the Catholic strongholds of Canada were the instruments of a spirit and of a method born in Spain.
[13] Must I assure the reader that this is pure legend? The historical Cid was probably raiding “on his own” in Valencia when his king, who had exiled him, entered Toledo.
[14] El Gréco: ou Le Secret de Tolède.
[15] Author of the authoritative life of El Greco, and one of the world’s few truly great art critics.
[16] Like many other major works of art, the Escorial has its imperfections. The murals on the vaults of the Church are absurd; the murals in the cloisters of the Patio de Los Evangelistas are monstrous; and the pretty interiors of many of the Palace chambers are impertinent. But the blame for these defects does not lie with Philip II: they are the deed of successors. There is another flaw in the Escorial more significant, and miraculously appropriate. It is the presence of the San Marcial of El Greco in the Salas Capitulares. Philip ordered this painting; and when it was delivered he disliked it and refused it admission. The story goes that El Greco insisted on being paid. Philip paid him and thrust the work into the cellar. It is customary, on this point, to make sport of the bad taste of the King. El Greco is the greatest of Spanish painters; the San Marcial is perhaps his greatest picture. But Philip was right. This luminous and parabolic life did not belong in the frozen rigor of El Escorial. Today it serves with its gyrant aspirant forms to offset the brooding stillness in which it lives: a flame in an impenetrable night.
[17] The relatively great importance of honor to women in all lands is perhaps to be explained by analogue. The inherent social sense in women (beyond the family sense) is weaker than in men: hence their need of social approval is the more intense.
[18] There was of course Ramón Lull, the great scholastic poet and mystic of Majorca.