Part 3

Night had already cast her shadow over the valley, and the stars were beginning to shine forth. Welcoming lights were seen burning in Covadonga. But it seemed as though we should never reach them. However the prospect of a bed lent us strength, and at half past eight we stumbled painfully over the threshold of a clean hospitable house. I went to bed exhausted, and my restless dreams were haunted with the beautiful and terrible wanderings in the Picos de Europa (266-274).

* * * * *

=My pilgrimage to the Yuste Convent (153).=--I left soon after midnight, for marching is delightful in southern nights when the glittering stars shed their soft light from the great vault of heaven. In the south the cool night is succeeded by summer days that are the misery of the pedestrian.--The hours melted by but slowly in the furnace heat of the day. I was beset with all possible ills: infernal heat, thirst, and no water. Not a tree or a shrub was to be seen for miles; no shade; hours without passing a house; not a soul abroad; the melancholy mood that comes in the train of solitude. My path was obstructed by a river--at any rate, water--but nary a bridge! So I had to wade, and continue my journey. At last I spied a shepherd. What joy to feel that I was no longer alone!

“Is this the right road to Yuste?" I enquired of him.--“Yes, but where doest thou come from, and what countryman art thou?" The good fellow addressed me with the fraternal _tutoyer_, as though we were brothers.

When he heard that I was a German he was quite surprised. He willingly agreed to accompany me to the next village, and was quite curious to hear something about my country. The news of the war had penetrated to this remote part of the world. It was charming to listen to the questions of this child of nature. He knew nothing of the three Rs; had never seen a railway, had never left the neighbourhood of his village. We soon met another shepherd on the mountain-side who was just as pleased and interested as the other. And I must say, that wherever I was in Spain, all classes of the population were friendly towards Germans.

It was not long before we encountered other wayfarers who joined us, for Sunday enticed them into the village. My entrance was therefore almost a triumphal procession. We entered the inn, ordered some wine, and sat down to a well-earned rest. When I wanted to pay the landlord, he refused, telling me that Pepa had settled the bill. However, this wouldn’t do. And at last he agreed to my paying on condition that the next time I returned I should be his guest. They all shook hands with me most-heartily and I continued joyfully on my way.

At last I stood in front of the monastery gates. They were opened, and the white haired abbot rode out on a little donkey, holding a green parasol over his head. I saluted the venerable Father and enquired of him whether I could stay at the monastery for the night. “No", he replied, “impossible."--Discomfitted I exclaimed: “But where am I to go to-day? I have travelled fifty kilometres and have come from Navalmoral."--“What, on foot? Impossible!" “Yes, but I have. I am a German and want to see the spot which the emperor Charles V. exchanged for all the crowns in the world, and where he closed his eyes."--“You are a German? Of course you can’t continue your journey."

I was most kindly and touchingly taken care of.

I was shown the monastery which had once been destroyed by the French. Decay and mould have continued the work of destruction. But nature’s eternal youth triumphs victoriously amongst the ruins and beautifies the decay of age. And yet this is a place to think about the everlastingness of all things, of the end of all terrestrial happiness.--Once that great monarch who had fled from the turmoil of the world had paced these halls.

At supper, I, the infidel sat at the monks’ board and was treated like a brother.

The next morning I was awakened long hours before sunrise. A lay brother lit me with a lantern through the dark and ancient park. The monastery gate swung on its hinges, the latch fell heavily, and I was again out in the world all silvery with the moonlight. For a moment I stood entranced.--I heard the mass bell calling the monks to prayers. And the gates of Paradise were closed behind me.

* * * * *

=The last echoes.=--My wanderings through Spain filled me with the joy of life. She had become my second home. It was with a heavy heart that I left.

“O follow me ye southern days ’Neath colder skies and paler stars. And fill my thoughts with golden rays!"

The hour of departure had arrived.--It was a wonderful moonlight night in which the little Spanish steamer which was to bear me homewards sailed slowly out of Ferrol harbour. The moon cast a silver bridge over the water, and along it my thoughts fled back to other moonlight nights when she had often shown me the way in picturesque Spain.

The lights along the coast shone like the eyes of anxious friends looking a last farewell before darkness closed their lids. And then the little ship ploughed homeward through the eternal waters with the eternal sky above us, and the old old song of the waves accompanied me back to my familiar home.

* * * * *

And now that days and weeks of cloudy skies hang heavily over my country where the sun is not so generous as in southern climes, my heart is filled with yearning for Spain, with nostalgia for the sun.--Then I look at my pictures, and we hold converse together, and re-live those unfettered days spent in wanderings in sun-kissed Spain.

In this volume I send forth my sun harvest. May it cast its light in the hearts of many! May it tell of my love of Spain, and of my heartfelt thanks to her chivalrous people for all their kind hospitality!

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF NAMES AND PLACES

Albarracin 192-194

Albufera 116

Alcala de Guadaira 71

Aldeanueva de la Vera 154

Algatocin 76

Alhambra 1-16, 22

Almazan 227

Alquezar 210-212

Andújar 44, 115

Antequera 64-66

Aranjuez 136-138

Arcos de la Frontera 48, 49, 72

Arranda de Duero 240

Autol 224, 225

Avila 165-169

Barcelona 200

Batuecas 260, 261, 263

Bielsa 213

Bilbao 284

Burgo de Osma 226

Burgos 234-238

Butron 277

Brachimañasee 216

Caceres 83, 84

Candelario 252, 253

Cangas de Onis 274

Carmona 43, 70

Castellbó 208

Castellfullit 204

Cave Dwellings 92-99

Cenaruza 282

Cepeda 155

Chorro 73

Ciudad Rodrigo 250, 251

Coca 184-187

Cordoba 50-60

Cuenca 120, 121

Daroca 195-197

Debotes Valley 207

Durango 279, 283

Ecija 68, 69

Elché 101-103

Elorrio 285

Escorial 129-135

Fuenterabia 298

Gerona 202, 203

Granada 1-25

Guadalajara 178-181

Guadalest 118

Guadix 100

Güejar-Sierra 77

Hermida 266

Hurdes 259

Jativa 111-113

Javea 108

Jerez de la Frontera 67

Jerica 191

La Alberca 254, 256, 257

Lagartera 150, 151

Madrid 126-128

Maladeta 219

Mañaria 278

Manzanera 42

Martos 74, 75

Medinaceli 176, 177

Mochagar 91

Mogarraz 258

Mombeltran 183

Monte Agudo 119

Montserrat 201

Niebla 80, 81

Nuria 206

Ondarroa 276

Orihuela 104-107

Oviedo 264, 265

Pancorbo 231-233

Pasages 291-296, 304

Peñafiel 182

Peña Montañesa 214

Pic de Aneto 217, 218

Pic du midi 216

Picos de Europa 266-274

Pontevedra 301

Potes 270-273

Pyrenees 205-219

Ronda 62, 63

Sagunt 109, 110

Salamanca 246-249

San Esteban de Gormaz 229, 230

San Juan de Plan 209

San Sebastian 286-290

Santander 275

Santiago de Campostela 300

Sarragoza 220, 221

Segovia 157-164

Segretal 205

Sepulveda 172-175

Seville 28-41

Sierra Nevada 79

Sigüenza 188-190

Soria 228

Tarifa 45, 46

Tarazona 223

Tarragona 198, 199

Toledo 139-148

Toro 244

Trujillo 85-87

Turrégano 170, 171

Valencia 114, 117

Valladolid 241-243

Vigo 303

Yuste 153

Zafra 82

Zamora 245

Towns: 2, 4, 16, 21, 28, 62-64, 72, 74, 80, 91-99, 120, 128, 139, 157, 166, 172, 191, 192, 195, 202, 204, 210, 223, 226, 227, 232, 246, 276, 286, 287, 290, 293.

Gateways, Towers, Fortified Walls: 5, 29, 75, 80, 81, 85-87, 143, 167-169, 186-188, 193, 196.

Streets, Squares: 24, 25, 31, 60, 65, 66, 75-77, 83, 85, 86, 147, 148, 154, 155, 163, 170, 173, 174, 175, 176, 189, 190, 193, 197, 198, 203, 208, 209, 211-213, 231-233, 247, 251, 253, 270-273, 278, 295, 296.

Churches, Convents, Chapels, Cemeteries, etc.: 23, 31, 41, 50-59, 66, 67, 86, 108, 146, 147, 152, 153, 158, 164, 165, 169, 177, 199, 220, 221, 228, 229, 234-241, 244-246, 260-262, 264, 265, 282-285, 300.

Squares, Public Buildings, Typical Houses: 6-15, 17-21, 30, 32, 33, 36-40, 68, 69, 114, 116, 117, 126, 127, 129, 130, 132, 134-137, 144, 162, 178-181, 250, 279, 280, 298.

Courts (Patios) and Gardens: 6-8, 12-15, 17, 34, 35, 37, 40, 42-49, 58, 69, 82, 90, 131, 138, 145, 179-181, 200, 238, 242, 243, 249, 298.

Stairways, Lattice Windows: 39, 68, 115, 144, 200, 203, 248.

Fountains: 9, 12-15, 20, 37, 49, 60, 197, 232.

Bridges: 63, 140-143, 268, 270, 274, 276.

Castles (Castillos): 1-5, 22, 70, 71, 110-112, 118, 119, 141, 161, 170, 171, 182-186, 277.

Views of Landscapes: 2-4, 21, 62, 63, 72, 73, 79, 88, 92-99, 101-107, 113, 116, 194, 201, 204-207, 214-219, 224, 225, 230, 260, 263, 266-269, 274, 275, 286-289, 291, 292, 294, 299, 301-304.

Costumes and Life of the People: 26, 27, 61, 78, 84, 90, 122-125, 149, 150, 151, 155, 156, 160, 174, 175, 222, 252, 254-259, 262, 281, 296, 297.