adapted from A Journey in the Heart of Spain
from Dona Perfecta
by B. Perez Galdos
When they had proceeded some distance on their way and had left behind them the hovels of Villahorrenda, the traveler, who was young and handsome spoke thus:
"Tell me, Senor Solon—"
"Licurgo, at your service."
"How soon shall we reach Orbajosa?"
"By nine o'clock. How delighted the senora will be when she sees her nephew! . . . The young lady will see her cousin and all will be joy and merry-making. All will end happily, as the saying is."
The young man did not hear Uncle Licurgo's last words, for he was preoccupied with his own thoughts. Arrived at a bend in the road, the peasant turned his horse's head in another direction, saying:
"We must follow this path now. The bridge is broken, and the river can only be forded at the Hill of the Lilies."
"The Hill of the Lilies," repeated the cavalier, emerging from his reverie. "How abundant beautiful names are in these unattractive localities! Since I have been travelling in this part of the country, the terrible irony of the names is a constant surprise to me." . . .
Senor Licurgo either did not hear the young man's words, or, hearing, he paid no attention to them. When they had forded the river, which, turbid and impetuous, hurried on with impatient haste, as if fleeing from its own hands, the peasant pointed with outstretched arm to some barren and extensive fields that were to be seen on the left, and said:
"Those are the Poplars of Bustamante."
"My lands!" exclaimed the traveler joyfully, gazing at the melancholy fields illumined by the early morning light. . . .
"It is the best land in the country," said Senor Licurgo, "and for the chick-pea, there is no other like it."
"I am delighted to hear it, for since they came into my possession these famous lands have never brought me a penny."
The wise legislator of Sparta scratched his ear and gave a sigh.
"But I have been told," continued the young man, "that some of the neighboring proprietors have put their ploughs in these estates of mine, and that, little by little, they are filching them from me. Here there are neither landmarks nor boundaries, nor real ownership, Senor Licurgo."
The peasant, after a pause, during which his subtle intellect seemed to be occupied in profound disquisitions, expressed himself as follows:
"Uncle Paso Largo, whom, for his great foresight, we call the Philosopher, set his plough in the Poplars, above the hermitage, and bit by bit, he has gobbled up six fanegas.1"
"What an incomparable school!" exclaimed the young man, smiling. "I wager that he has not been the only—philosopher?"
"It is a true saying that one should talk only about what one knows, and that if there is food in the dove-cote, doves won't be wanting. But you, Senor Don Jose, can apply to your own cause the saying that the eye of the master fattens the ox, and now that you are here, try and recover your property."
"Perhaps that would not be so easy, Senor Licurgo," returned the young man, just as they were entering a path bordered on either side by wheat-fields, whose luxuriance and early ripeness gladdened the eye. "This field appears to be better cultivated. I see that all is not dreariness and misery in the Poplars."
The peasant assumed a melancholy look, and, affecting something of disdain for the fields that had been praised by the traveler, said in the humblest of tones:
"Senor, this is mine."
"I beg your pardon," replied the gentleman quickly. "Now I was going to put my sickle in your field. Apparently the philosophy of this place is contagious."
1. units of land in Spain, similar to acres
1
What are two reasons that the author decides to include information about the Philosopher in this passage?
to indicate what has been happening with the land
to inform Don Jose of how to recover his land
to show the relationship between Don Jose and Senor Licurgo
to illustrate Senor Licurgo's knowledge of the area
to inform the reader of who owns the land in the Poplars