The Life of George Borrow [116]
there lurks not the slightest desire to magnify myself and produce an effect, that I am eager to lay down my life in this cause, and whether a Carlist's bullet or a gaol-fever bring my career to an end, I am perfectly indifferent."
He was not averse from martyrdom; but he objected to being precipitated into it by another man's folly. In his interview with Count Ofalia, he had been solemnly warned that if a second time he came within the clutches of the authorities he might not escape so easily, and had replied that it was "a pleasant thing to be persecuted for the Gospel's sake."
In his decision to make Villa Seca his temporary headquarters, Borrow had been influenced by the fact that it was the home of Maria Diaz, his friend and landlady. Her husband was there working on the land, Maria herself living in Madrid that her children might be properly educated. Borrow left Madrid on 10th July, and on his arrival at Villa Seca he was cordially welcomed by Juan Lopez, the husband of Maria Diaz, who continued to use her maiden name, in accordance with Spanish custom. Lopez subsequently proved of the greatest possible assistance in the work of distribution, shaming both Borrow and Antonio by his energy and powers of endurance.
The inhabitants of Villa Seca and the surrounding villages of Bargas, Coveja, Villa Luenga, Mocejon, Yuncler eagerly bought up "the book of life," and each day the three men rode forth in heat so great that "the very arrieros frequently fall dead from their mules, smitten by a sun-stroke." {269a}
It was in Villa Seca that Borrow found "all that gravity of deportment and chivalry of disposition which Cervantes is said to have sneered away" {269b} and there were to be heard "those grandiose expressions which, when met with in the romances of chivalry, are scoffed at as ridiculous exaggerations." {269c} Borrow so charmed the people of the district with the elaborate formality of his manner, that he became convinced that any attempt to arrest or do him harm would have met with a violent resistance, even to the length of the drawing of knives in his defence.
In less than a week some two hundred Testaments had been disposed of, and a fresh supply had to be obtained from Madrid. Borrow's methods had now changed. He had, of necessity, to make as little stir as possible in order to avoid an unenviable notoriety. He carefully eschewed advertisements and handbills, and limited himself almost entirely to the simple statement that he brought to the people "the words and life of the Saviour and His Saints at a price adapted to their humble means." {270a}
It is interesting to note in connection with this period of Borrow's activities in Spain, that in 1908 one of the sons of Maria Diaz and Juan Lopez was sought out at Villa Seca by a representative of the Bible Society, and interrogated as to whether he remembered Borrow. Eduardo Lopez (then seventy-four years of age) stated that he was a child of eight {270b} when Borrow lived at the house of his mother; yet he remembers that "El ingles" was tall and robust, with fair hair turning grey. Eduardo and his young brother regarded Borrow with both fear and respect; for, their father being absent, he used to punish them for misdemeanours by setting them on the table and making them remain perfectly quiet for a considerable time. The old man remembered that Borrow had two horses whom he called "la Jaca" and "el Mondragon," and that he used to take to the house of Maria Diaz "his trunk full of books which were beautifully bound." He remembered Borrow's Greek servant, "Antonio Guchino" (the Antonio Buchini of The Bible in Spain), who spoke very bad Spanish.
The most interesting of Eduardo Lopez' recollections of Borrow was that he "often recited a chant which nobody understood," and of which the old man could remember only the following fragment
"Sed un la in la en la la Sino Mokhamente de resu la."
It has been suggested, {271a} and with every show of probability, that "this is the Moslem kalimah or creed which he had heard sung from the
He was not averse from martyrdom; but he objected to being precipitated into it by another man's folly. In his interview with Count Ofalia, he had been solemnly warned that if a second time he came within the clutches of the authorities he might not escape so easily, and had replied that it was "a pleasant thing to be persecuted for the Gospel's sake."
In his decision to make Villa Seca his temporary headquarters, Borrow had been influenced by the fact that it was the home of Maria Diaz, his friend and landlady. Her husband was there working on the land, Maria herself living in Madrid that her children might be properly educated. Borrow left Madrid on 10th July, and on his arrival at Villa Seca he was cordially welcomed by Juan Lopez, the husband of Maria Diaz, who continued to use her maiden name, in accordance with Spanish custom. Lopez subsequently proved of the greatest possible assistance in the work of distribution, shaming both Borrow and Antonio by his energy and powers of endurance.
The inhabitants of Villa Seca and the surrounding villages of Bargas, Coveja, Villa Luenga, Mocejon, Yuncler eagerly bought up "the book of life," and each day the three men rode forth in heat so great that "the very arrieros frequently fall dead from their mules, smitten by a sun-stroke." {269a}
It was in Villa Seca that Borrow found "all that gravity of deportment and chivalry of disposition which Cervantes is said to have sneered away" {269b} and there were to be heard "those grandiose expressions which, when met with in the romances of chivalry, are scoffed at as ridiculous exaggerations." {269c} Borrow so charmed the people of the district with the elaborate formality of his manner, that he became convinced that any attempt to arrest or do him harm would have met with a violent resistance, even to the length of the drawing of knives in his defence.
In less than a week some two hundred Testaments had been disposed of, and a fresh supply had to be obtained from Madrid. Borrow's methods had now changed. He had, of necessity, to make as little stir as possible in order to avoid an unenviable notoriety. He carefully eschewed advertisements and handbills, and limited himself almost entirely to the simple statement that he brought to the people "the words and life of the Saviour and His Saints at a price adapted to their humble means." {270a}
It is interesting to note in connection with this period of Borrow's activities in Spain, that in 1908 one of the sons of Maria Diaz and Juan Lopez was sought out at Villa Seca by a representative of the Bible Society, and interrogated as to whether he remembered Borrow. Eduardo Lopez (then seventy-four years of age) stated that he was a child of eight {270b} when Borrow lived at the house of his mother; yet he remembers that "El ingles" was tall and robust, with fair hair turning grey. Eduardo and his young brother regarded Borrow with both fear and respect; for, their father being absent, he used to punish them for misdemeanours by setting them on the table and making them remain perfectly quiet for a considerable time. The old man remembered that Borrow had two horses whom he called "la Jaca" and "el Mondragon," and that he used to take to the house of Maria Diaz "his trunk full of books which were beautifully bound." He remembered Borrow's Greek servant, "Antonio Guchino" (the Antonio Buchini of The Bible in Spain), who spoke very bad Spanish.
The most interesting of Eduardo Lopez' recollections of Borrow was that he "often recited a chant which nobody understood," and of which the old man could remember only the following fragment
"Sed un la in la en la la Sino Mokhamente de resu la."
It has been suggested, {271a} and with every show of probability, that "this is the Moslem kalimah or creed which he had heard sung from the