Patrañas; or, Spanish Stories, Legendary and Traditional

  IV.

  THE WHALE OF THE MANZANARES.

  A modern Spanish writer gives the following solution of apopular tradition that a whale was once seen making its way up theManzanares. The Manzanares is a singularly shallow river, at certaintimes of the year not half covering its bed, which rendered thetradition still more marvellous [75].

  The solution is this: "A wine-merchant living on its banks was onceunfortunate enough to have an accident in his storehouse or cellar,by which a number of wine-skins were sent floating down the stream. Thewine-merchant ran along the bank, calling on the neighbours to arrestthe float, the rather that one of the skins was full of wine; and asthe danger of losing them increased, he went on crying frantically,"Una va llena!" ("One of them is full!")

  Now Spaniards make but a scarcely perceptible difference between thesound of b and v, so that his cry sounded in the people's ears likeuna ballena, which would have meant a whale!