WHAT ANA SAW IN THE SUNBEAM.
"When I lie on the tomillar [59] and look through the sunbeams," saidAna, "I see all the little sprites getting ready the beautiful coloursto paint the flowers and the insects, and the clouds, and others thatdye the tree-leaves green and gild the old walls, and others that teachthe insects to hum and the birds to sing, and little children to smile.
"Do you know, Lolita," pursued Ana, "when a little baby is put into thecradle for the first, very first time, if the Sunbeam plays upon it,the little sprites always look after that baby, and never forget it,but when it is grown up into a big man or woman they still continuetheir care. There was once such a little baby, Lolita, born in a poorlittle cottage; such a poor little cottage, Lolita, that there wereno shutters to the windows of any kind, when it was ever so hot thesun all came in, and made the air suffocating, unless the poor mothercould pin up an old dress; but it was not often she had one besides theone she had on. So it happened that when this little baby was born,Lolita, the sunbeams were streaming in, with the little sprites allbasking in them, and the sprites kissed this little baby, and said,'Dear little girl, we will never leave you; only be good, and so longas you are good we will see that you shall want for nothing at all.'
"A very little while after, Lolita, that little baby's father died,and you might have said the sprites had forgotten her; but it wasnot so. They kept their word exactly. She did not know her fatherhad died. Her mother was there, and took care of her, and she wastoo little to know that other children had more pleasure, so shewanted nothing.
"She did not even know, Lolita, the labour her poor mother had towork for them both, and even when she sang her to sleep with her sad,ceaseless song,--
"En los brazos te tengo, Y considero, iQue sera de ti, nino, Si yo me muero [60]!"
she knew nothing of its meaning; her little face was pressed closeand warm against her mother's breast, and a flower or a fruit, whichthe sprites had painted for her, was enough to complete her happiness.
"Before Pura--such was her name--was two years old, her mother diedtoo. But the sprites had not forgotten her, Lolita: her mother hada sister, and when this sister came to the funeral, they had paintedPura's cheeks with such fresh, clear tints, and lit up her baby facewith such a bright, sweet smile, that her aunt would not part fromher, but took her home and brought her up as her own child, and wasto her as a mother.
"The sprites played with her now just as before; and when she wasasleep they used to dance on her bed, and say, 'Dear little girl,we will never leave you; only be good, and so long as you are goodwe will see that you shall want for nothing at all.'
"Meantime, Pura grew up to learn to be useful: she worked in thegarden, and kept the house tidy, and fetched the water from thefountain, and did all that Tia [61] Trinidad wanted. She was verygood and very obedient, and never wasted her time; her only amusementwas lying on the thyme-bed in the sunshine, because then the spritespainted such pretty dreams for her.
"But Tia Trinidad was growing old, and after her there was no otheraunt, nor any relation to look after Pura; and though she would notsay it aloud to vex Pura, who was always bright and gay, she yetcontinually repeated in her own mind, just as the poor mother usedto sing,--
"En los brazos te tengo, Y considero, iQue sera de ti, nino, Si yo me muero!"
"So things looked very bad again, Lolita; but the sprites had notforgotten Pura, as you shall see.
"Tia Trinidad earned her living by waiting on strangers at the littleinn down in the village, and as few people came that way, she wasoften many days without earning a 'chavo [62]. One day, however, therecame a great gentleman who had returned from the Indies with a greatlot of money; he said he had roamed the world long enough, and seenenough of great cities; he meant now to settle himself in some quiet,remote village, and the only thing he wanted in this world was a nice,good, industrious wife, who would make his home smiling and happy.
"'Then I can fit you to a nicety!' broke in Tia Trinidad, who had beenseized with a most diligent dusting fit all the time the travellerhad been detailing his plans to the Cura [63] of the village, andhad not missed a word.
"'Can you?' said the traveller, not at all displeased at her boldness.
"'That can I,' continued Tia Trinidad, earnestly; 'and there isn'ta girl to match her in Madrid, and the Padre Cura will bear me out!'
"'What ... Pura, you mean ... I suppose?' said the Cura, somewhatembarrassed between his desire to speak the truth, and his fearof crushing the--as it seemed to him--exaggerated ideas of his poorparishioner. 'Yes, Pura is a good girl enough;' and he paused to thinkhow much he could say in her favour; 'young, and--pretty, and--simple,and--lively, and--notable altogether, but----'
"'Well,' interrupted the traveller, hastily, 'out with your but! foryou have named the very qualities which go to make up my ideal of awife; speak, hombre [64]!'
"'Well, I mean--I mean, only that she is a little--a little--whatshall I say?--a little homely for your wife----'
"'Homely, is it? Oh! if that's all, we sha'n't quarrel. I don't wantany of your fine ladies who are only thinking of setting themselvesoff, and attend to nothing but their toilet! Come, good woman, askyour young friend to allow me to come and see her to-morrow.'
"Too overjoyed to answer, Tia Trinidad set off on the instant atfull speed, and ran so fast you could not have told what her gownwas made of as she passed. When she reached home, out of breath,she told her niece to adorn the house, and dress herself in her best,for she expected a visitor next morning.
"Pura--who, though now seventeen, still kept up her simple habit ofdoing whatever she was bid with alacrity--fulfilled the directionsgiven her with great exactness and success, and never thought ofasking who or what the visitor was, or what business brought him.
"When the traveller called next morning, and found the room sosmiling, the sunbeams playing through the muslin blinds upon thesnow-white curtains, the brightly-tinted flowers--which, by the way,the sprites had painted on purpose--so tastefully arranged, and Puraherself looking so neat, and with no thought of display in her head,he was delighted, and left with an air of satisfaction, which convincedTia Trinidad that all was going on right. Only, as he was going away,he turned and asked Tia Trinidad if Pura could make lace; and TiaTrinidad, who deemed her niece such a pearl that there was nothingshe could not do, without thinking, answered "Yes." Nevertheless,poor Pura had had too much labour with the garden and the house-workall her young life to have had leisure for indoor occupation. Shecould take a turn, indeed, at her aunt's spinning-wheel; but such anaccomplishment as making lace she had never practised.
"'Why did you tell the gentleman I knew how to make lace, when Idon't, aunt?' she exclaimed, for she could not bear an untruth aboutthe least matter.
"'Well, I did not know what to say, all in the surprise,' repliedthe good aunt. 'It seemed as if I should give a false impression ofyour habits, which are so industrious, if I said you could not doany thing he expected of you.'
"'Then why didn't you say that I could spin, and scour, anddig?' answered Pura, ingenuously.
"'Dig, and scour, and spin, indeed! Fine recommendations for hispurpose,' rejoined the aunt, mysteriously; and before Pura couldask what on earth this 'purpose' was, a messenger brought in threebobbins of fine black silk, for her to make into a piece of lace,as a proof of her skill.
"'Oh, aunt, what shall we do? What shall we do?' sobbed poor Pura,who could not endure to be thought a deceiver.
"'Don't worry, child,' returned the aunt, 'something or other willturn up. There's nothing so easy as making lace, after all, andthree bobbins are gone like winking. You must get through it somehow,for your fate depends upon it.'
"Pura went to bed that night crying; and cried herself to sleep. Butvery early in the morning, very early indeed, Lolita, the sunbeams wokeher--you see the sprites never lost sight of her. And three beautifulsprites--the three who had most care of her--came floating down theSunbeam. Wit
hout saying a word, they took up the bobbins of silk,for they had brought every thing with them that was wanted for makinglace, as if they had known all about it, and, rattling them about,en un dos por tres [65], they turned off a splendid mantilla, allmade out with flowers, and birds, and every thing you can think of,and then threw it on the bed, and disappeared before Pura had timeto recover from her surprise.
"When the stranger called next day, and saw this extraordinary proofof industry and skill, he could hardly believe his eyes, and wentaway more pleased than the day before.
"'Didn't I tell a su merce [66] that she was a jewel?' whispered theold lady.
"'I begin to think you did not exaggerate,' answered the traveller.
"And then, turning to Pura, he asked her if she was as perfect inhousehold duties as in accomplishments; whether, for instance, sheunderstood cooking.
"'iPues no ha de saber cocer [67]!' interposed the aunt, withoutallowing Pura time to speak; for she knew the good girl would haveanswered the strict truth; and she thought as the sprites had gother out of one scrape, they might be trusted to get her out of another.
"In the evening, the messenger came again, this time followed by twoother porters, each carrying baskets of provisions, which they setdown, with the message that Pura was to make a famous olla podrida,and the gentleman would come in and dine off it the next day.
"Pura's tears fell fast on the beautiful market spoil, on whichTia Trinidad stood feasting her gaze. Never had such a provisionof generous diet stood within sight of her hearth! But Pura onlyreflected on her incapacity to deal with such choice materials, andshe knew there was no help to be got from her aunt, to whose cuisineeven a piece of bacon was a rare delicacy.
"Pura went to bed that night as sad as the night before, for she keptsaying to herself, 'Suppose the gentleman should think it is I whohave been deceiving him!'
"But the sprites did not forget her, Lolita. Very early in themorning--very early!--they came in on the Sunbeam, as bright andas beautiful as before; and in a trice they had laid the fire in thestove and blown the charcoal into a fine red glow; then, while one tookdown the large ollas [68] from the shelf, and filled them with waterat the well, one was busy plucking the fowls, and another washing andpreparing the vegetables. The vegetables were soon put on in one ollawith the bacon; and then the fowls, the ham, the sausages, the tripe,the pigs'-fry, the rolls of lean meat nicely larded and stuffed, allset to stew in another, and all seasoned with the greatest care anddelicacy. The whole morning Pura watched the sprites. And though TiaTrinidad saw nothing but the Sunbeam playing about the kitchen, Purasaw them, as they carefully skimmed the pots, added to the liquor orthe flavouring, made up or slackened the fire; then, an hour beforedinner-time the contents of the two ollas were mingled with care,and once more set on to simmer, while with herbs, and bread-crumbs,and garlic, pimento, and parsley, certain albondigas gruesas [69] werebeing made ready, and fried in sparkling oil to a fine golden hue,ready to drop into the olla the moment before serving up.
"The traveller came, faithful to his appointment, and the deliciousodours of the olla met him directly he entered the garden-gate,overpowering the perfume of the carnations on the window-sills. ProudlyTia Trinidad bore in the lordly dish, for she knew that never inthe palace was a more perfect stew served. The traveller dined withundisguised satisfaction; he confessed it was the ne plus ultra ofcooking. Nothing was wanting, of nothing was there too much, everything was in its due proportion and proved the handiwork of a trueartist in cooking.
"'As you understand so well how to prepare this homely dish,' he said,at the close of many compliments, as he took leave, 'I am sure yourdelicate taste must be equally faultless at confections--I shall askyou to make me a turron [70] to-morrow.'
"Pura, struck dumb with perplexity, was vainly striving to frame somespeech by means of which to explain how little part she had had inthe performances he had been led to ascribe to her; but while shewas yet thinking, her admirer had already plucked a carnation forher hair, and, raising his hand in affectionate farewell, had takenhis departure.
"Tia Trinidad busied herself with putting by the remains of theabundant meal: there was meat enough to last her frugal needs a week,and more, and some to spare for a poor neighbour besides.
While she schemed and portioned, Pura, torn by conflicting thoughts,stood still, with the carnation in her hand, gazing after the formof the stranger as he disappeared among the trees, and wondering whyshe had not courage to run after him and explain all.
"She stood thus leaning against the window-pane, and still gazing,perplexed, hours afterwards, when the same messenger who had visitedher on the two evenings before, again appeared, with a load of almondsand filberts, pine-kernels and walnuts, honey and eggs. Pura took thethings from him with a heavy heart, for she was much too humble andsimple to expect that the sprites could be so kind as to help heragain; so she went to bed in as great distress as on the precedingnights. Nevertheless, early in the morning--very early, very soonafter sunrise, that is as soon as the sun was up high enough forhis beams to get in at her window--in came the three sprites, and,without saying a word, set to work, just as they had the day before;then began such a wonderful bruising, and pounding, and mixing, thatPura soon lost all fear of the work not being performed as perfectlyas on the two former occasions. They had not yet half finished theirmixing, when all of a sudden she noticed a soft buzzing sound, likethe humming of bees, but all in beautiful melody; and then she sawthe Sunbeam full of sprites of every hue like living flowers. Theywere the genii of the flowers, and they wore the very forms of theflowers, their bright petals making so many wings, and they came andpoured each its own perfumed nectar into the confection, giving ita flavour such as no turron, of earth at least, ever possessed before.
"'We have done all these things for you,' said the sprites, whenthey had completed their handiwork; 'now, we want you to do one thingfor us.'
"'Oh, whatever you like! only tell me any thing I can do!' answeredPura, with a ready grace.
"'Well, it is this. We know three poor girls, very poor and very sick;they are all terribly deformed cripples. They are so deformed and sougly that they live in the hospital, and never get asked any where. Itwould be such a pleasure to them to come to your wedding-fete. Theywill be no ornament to it, I know; but still, will you let them come?'
"'Oh, yes; to be sure, poor things;' answered Pura, with grateful andcharitable alacrity; 'that is, whenever I get married. But who wouldmarry a poor penniless orphan-girl, who can do nothing? More likelyI shall have to go to the hospital too, when aunt dies.'
"'Oh, no; you're going to be married very soon, to that travellerwho has been here so often.'
"'What; to that kind, handsome gentleman!' cried Pura, in raptures. Buta moment after, a cloud stole over her joyous countenance; and,hiding her face in her hands, she said, sadly, 'No; that can neverbe. I dread even to meet him again, because we have been deceivinghim. Oh, it was very wrong; I would not have done it for the worldif I had had time to speak. If he wants to marry me, it's because hethinks I'm so clever; and when he finds I can do nothing he will turnhis back, and that is not the worst. When he finds he is deceived, andI can do nothing, oh, how he will despise me!' And she sobbed again.
"'No, it is not because you are clever,' answered the sprites; 'itis because you are good. If you have not learned more, it is becauseyou had not the opportunity. You have always been industrious at doingwhat you did understand; and as to deceiving him, that has never beenyour will and intention. So cheer up! we will make it all right. Onlydon't forget to invite the three poor girls from the hospital to thefeast.' And the sprites floated away on the sunbeam.
"'Be sure I shall not forget them, poor things!' cried Pura after them.
"The next day the stranger came again; and having tasted the exquisiteturron, which seemed indeed to have been perfumed by no ordinarytaste, he told Tia Trinidad he hoped she would let him marry herniece at once.
"There was nothing t
he old lady desired more; for she had inquiredabout him meantime, and found he was a worthy man, as well asabundantly supplied with this world's goods; so all was speedilyarranged.
"To her surprise, when she came to announce her good fortune to herniece, and to arrange preliminaries with her, she found she was anything but pleased, and only burst into tears.
"'Why, child! what ever is the matter with you?' she exclaimed. 'Youdon't mean you don't like him? I'm sure he has spoken kindly andfondly enough to you. And what is more, he has spoken kindly andfondly enough behind your back, too; which shows his esteem is genuine,and no mere flattery.'
"'That's it. That's just what makes me so wretched,' sobbed Pura.
"'What, wretched to think a good man loves you!'
"'No, aunt, no; but to think that he is so good and so kind, and wehave been deceiving him. When he finds I can do none of the things hehas fancied I am so clever at, what will he think of me? With whatface can I meet him? Will he ever respect me again?' and she sobbedharder than ever.
"'Nonsense, child, don't take on like that,' responded theaunt. 'You've got through it all so far. Do as I bid you, and it willall come right in the end.'
"Pura, used to obey, and trusting in great measure also to thepromises of the sunbeam-sprites, prepared to do her aunt's bidding,though with somewhat mixed feelings.
"When the wedding-day was fixed, and all preparations made, Pura didnot forget to go out early into the tomillar, and ask the sprites ofthe sunbeam how she should find their protegees, the three cripples ofthe hospital. 'Leave that to us,' said the sprites. 'You have done yourpart in remembering them. We will take care they have the invitation;only give us the token by which they may be sure of being admitted.'
"'A red and white carnation will suffice,' answered Pura; and a cloudovershadowed the sunbeam.
"The wedding came, and the fetes, and the cripples. A pitiable sightthey were, indeed. They were still young; but their distorted formsonly made their youth a motive for greater compassion. The back ofone was curled over so that her chin touched her waist, and her armswere so short they were no longer than the fins of a fish. Those ofthe second were so swollen that each was the size of her whole body,and you could scarcely tell which was which; and on her forehead wasa great swelling like the horn of a rhinoceros. The skin of the thirdwas all shrivelled and seamed with scars, and her eyes were red allround, and stood out from her head worse than those of a lobster.
"'Pura!' exclaimed the bridegroom, as they made their approach,'how on earth did these three scarecrows get in? they are almostenough to cast an evil eye on our happiness.'
"'Say not so, beloved,' replied Pura; 'they are three poor girls whomight have been as happy as you and I, but that misfortune overtookthem. Their life is sad enough, shall we not try to make them gladfor once, on our own happy day?'
"'Sweet child, you are right, and I was hasty,' answered thebridegroom; 'but how did you come to know them?'
"'Some one who was very kind to me seemed to take an interest in themtoo, and asked me to invite them, that they might have one brightday at least.'
"'Then, if that is the case, they have my heartiest welcome; I hadrather see them here than if they were the highest duchesses ofthe land.'
"And with that he sent the friend who attended to marshalling theguests, to put them in the best places, nearest to the bride andhimself.
"Nevertheless, he could not get over his curiosity, to know why theywere formed in such an extraordinary manner; and when the conversationbegan to get sufficiently general and familiar, he went up to thefirst, and after an exchange of ordinary compliments, and feelinghis way by little and little, at last allowed himself to say in thepolitest tone,--
"'May I ask, dear friend, how it is your back comes to be so bent,and your arms so very short?'
"And while he waited in great perturbation, lest he should haveoffended or hurt the poor thing, she answered cheerfully enough,--
"'By all means, I am not at all ashamed of it. I used to be a famoushand at making lace, and my step-mother, finding she could make alot of money out of my work, kept me at it so hard that from bendingover it so much my back never came straight again; and my arms, fromcontinually twisting the bobbins, got quite worn away and screwedlike into the sockets, and never would come out any more.'
"'Indeed!' exclaimed the bridegroom, almost abruptly, for his alarmgot the better of his courtesy; and with that he sprang to the sideof his bride, and exacted from her a promise that she would nevernever make any lace from that day forward.
"Pura gave the promise willingly enough; and, his composure somewhatrestored, her husband before long found his curiosity lead him tothe side of the second 'scarecrow' guest, to ask her why her armswere so very thick, and why she had such a bump on her forehead.
"'Because,' she answered, in a tone which seemed to show she waspleased to have the opportunity of explaining the circumstance,'because I used to be a rare hand at making almendrado [71] andturrones of every kind, and from continually pounding, pounding atthe almonds and nuts, my arms grew as thick as you see; and as I oftenknocked my forehead with the big pestle we used, I got this ugly bump.'
"With greater trepidation than before, he darted, at hearing this,to Pura's side, and taking her hand in his, required her to promisehim with the greatest solemnity that she would never touch anyconfectionary again.
"Encouraged by the good-natured reception his curiosity had metwith in the two former cases, he soon found himself by the side ofthe third cripple, asking her why her eyes were so red and goggled,and her skin so scarred.
"'Because I was a famous cook,' was the answer. 'I was married veryyoung, and my husband was very particular about his dinner. I nevercould be away from the cooking-stove, there was always somethingto be got ready; and that injured my eyes. And worse than that,one day I had a frying-pan in my hand, full of boiling oil, and Iwas just going to drop in the chops, when bang went a pane of glass.Some one had frightened the cat, and in he had bounded through thewindow, scattering the glass right and left. The noise gave me sucha start, that I upset the frying-pan over the heated stove, the oilflared up in my face, and burnt me all over as you see me.'
"Without retaining sufficient self-command to say the few words ofsympathy and consolation which would not have failed him at anothertime, he hasted back to Pura, and insisted that then and there shewould promise him never to touch a frying-pan or an olla more.
"Then Pura understood why the sprites had bid her invite the cripplesto her wedding; and she had her reward for her charity. And you see,Lolita, dear, how they kept their promise. So no wonder I am fond oflooking into the sunbeam."