[[7-19]] para sí, 'to himself.'
[[7-25]] hay que, 'I must' (lit., 'one must').
CASILDA
Antonio de Trueba y Quintana, b. 1821, in the Basque country of northern Spain; d. 1889. Trueba was a poet and writer of popular tales. He was conservative and monarchic; but he loved the common people and delighted in collecting their traditions, which he worked over and embellished to suit his taste before publishing. His works are pervaded by a genial, kindly humor. Works: verse,—El libro de los cantares and El libro de las montañas; tales,—Cuentos populares, Nuevos cuentos populares, Cuentos de color de rosa, Cuentos campesinos, Narraciones populares, Cuentos de madres é hijos, et al.
Casilda is one of the prettiest,—perhaps the prettiest,—of the many Spanish-Moorish traditions. Trueba took the story from a Spanish poem by the Jesuit Pedro de Reynosa (printed at Madrid in 1727), and he put it into simple, graceful prose. Saint Casilda is held in especial veneration in the province of Burgos.
The student of Spanish literature must keep in mind that the Mohammedan Moors and Arabs entered Spain from Africa in 711 and became possessed of a large part of the peninsula, and it was only after seven centuries of warfare that the Spaniards were able to reconquer the entire country (with the capture of Granada, in 1492). The Moorish invasion has left a deep impress on the Spanish race,—on the character of the people, and on their languages and customs.
8.—[[8-2]] Fernando el Grande, the first king of Castile (1037-1065).
[[8-11]] pierden á la que, 'lose the one who.'
[[8-12]] María. The Spaniards worship the Virgin Mary perhaps more than any other people do.
[[8-13]] fué creciendo, was growing (fué is pret. ind. of ir: see ir in Vocab.).